We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

[njdevils14]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Looks awesome, I'll definitely be following

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Looks awesome, I'll definitely be following

Thanks for tagging along!

[Yankeesfan224]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Hope your season goes better than UConn actual season went. Boy sitting through some of those games at "The Rent" this season was hard to do.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Hope your season goes better than UConn actual season went. Boy sitting through some of those games at "The Rent" this season was hard to do.

First off, thanks for checking in bud. Much appreciated.

But yes, I watched part of the SMU-UConn game and that was atrocious. I feel if I can straighten out the QB situation between Whitmer and Boyle, I think we can win 3-4 games at least.

The way I see it, if Whitmer wins the starting job, he's only there for a year and Shirreffs likely gets the nod coming off a transfer next year. If Boyle wins, I'd expect him to start as long as he can hold onto the job.

Obviously there's lots of other factors into 2014 I'll cover shortly, but QB is obviously the biggest.

More updates coming soon, I've had 3 basketball games in the past 5 days so the schedule is starting to calm itself a bit.

[LopaKa]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

interesting choice with UConn guru, i'll be following!

[ALG]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

I was a silent follower of your Massachusetts State dynasty, so I'll definitely be following this as well. UConn was always a team I was interested in trying, but never did. Good luck with them!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

interesting choice with UConn guru, i'll be following!

I was a silent follower of your Massachusetts State dynasty, so I'll definitely be following this as well. UConn was always a team I was interested in trying, but never did. Good luck with them!

Thanks you very much Lop and ALG!

[RoundingThird]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Hope your season goes better than UConn actual season went. Boy sitting through some of those games at "The Rent" this season was hard to do.

Same. I'm marveling at how smart I now seem for choosing not to go to any games this season. Even when they beat UCF, it was absolutely crummy weather.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Life After McCombs; DeLorenzo or the field?


Max DeLorenzo in action.

Continuing on with our coverage of fall camp in East Hartford, another starter to replace on the offensive side of the ball is tailback Lyle McCombs, who was dismissed from the team due to what was determined to be conduct violations by coach Bob Diaco.

McCombs became a sensation in 2011, rushing for over 1000 yards and continuing a proud tradition of stud tailbacks in Husky Blue.

Though he never rushed for 1000 yards again due to patchwork offensive lines, McCombs was still effective enough to guide an offense, at least somewhat, for 3 years.

With McCombs and key backup Martin Hyppolite gone, who does Diaco call on to replace them?

Junior Max DeLorenzo is the only returning back with experience, rushing for 349 yards and 5 scores last season and 119 yards in 2012. DeLorenzo, more of a balanced back who can show flashes of speed, is clearly the most talented of the returning backs, but his starting spot is not etched in stone just yet.

Redshirt freshman Joshua Marriner, an undersized speedster, will almost certainly see some carries, but will be pushed by a trio of true freshmen.

Local prospect Arkeel Newsome was rated highest of the trio, but at 5'7 could be only used in short spurts. Florida's Ron Johnson is a bigger back, but may need a year to develop. Brice McAllister is another developmental prospect who could be effective down the line.

Coach Diaco offered some insight on the position battle.

Max is the #1 as of right now, but I think I'm going to stick to a committee approach in the interim, and figure out definitive depth chart spots as we get further into the season.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

If I could point you back to the first page, 8th post I've gotten half of my UConn Hall Of Fame into the opening 9 background posts.

Basically, I've collected pictures of 3 of the top UConn players, regardless of position, rating or impact player status, from each game of the past 9 years or so (NCAA 06-14), and I will "induct" 3 deserving players from each season of the 'chise into the Hall of Fame (I will allow a voting type thing when we get that far).

I currently have posted the PS2 section of the Hall of Fame (NCAA 06-10). The PS3 section (NCAA 11-14) will go up tomorrow evening.

If you could check that out and look back for the PS3 section tomorrow, that'd be much appreciated. THANKS!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Davis, Foxx to lead UConn receivers in 2014

Geremy Davis

Receiver could be an interesting spot for our Huskies this year. Geremy Davis returns for his final year, and as a Biletnikoff Award contender he is one of the best in the nation. Whoever becomes the starting QB should be thankful that Davis and fellow senior stud Deshon Foxx return.

Davis accounted for 1085 yards last year while playing with 3 QB's, and is closing in on some career receiving records. Foxx had 43 catches for 543 yards and a pair of scores and were the top 2 receivers last year.

From there, though, the lineup gets murky. Kamal Abrams is the elder of the remaining receivers, and should see time somewhere. Sophomore Noel Thomas and 2nd year freshman Thomas Lucas are unproven. Dhameer Bradley and Brian Lemelle, despite playing a bit last year, may be back on the bench.

For the unit to be successful, a slot man needs to emerge, whether it be Abrams, Thomas or Lucas. Shakim Phillips was the man there last year, but his transfer to Boston College hurt the Huskies in that capacity. We know defenses will be trying to shut down Davis and Foxx all season, so any of the three could have solid campaigns.

Tight end spot was underutilized last year following the graduation of Ryan Griffin in 2012.

Sean McQuillan, who doesn't really excel at any one thing, will start for the second year with freshmen Tommy Myers and Quinn Thompson will back him up. Both are, like McQuillan, balanced tight ends. True freshmen Alec Bloom and Steve Hashemi will be redshirted.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Two more Huskies call it quits over injury concerns

If losing starting QB Casey Cochran to injury concerns was bad enough, UConn saw 2 more players retire today over injury concerns.

Angelo Pruitt, a senior defensive end expected to start again this season, called it quits after discovering a leg injury that stemmed from a genetic issue.

The other player, senior offensive lineman Bryan Paull, reportedly had an upper body injury and had not been seen at camp yet this season.

Pruitt and Paull become the 2nd and 3rd players to retire due to injury this season, following Cochran earlier in camp.

With Pruitt out, it is reported that junior Kenton Adeyemi will start at the vacated end slot.

[Coach P]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Love the way you've set this up so far.. I'll definitely be following. Good luck!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Love the way you've set this up so far.. I'll definitely be following. Good luck!

Thank you sir!

Want to get one more defensive preview post up, then an NCAA preview, UConn preview, then some games!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

With Smallwood gone, Jones becomes defensive leader

Byron Jones

Yawin Smallwood had a great run at UConn. He racked up a team high 118 tackles last season, and had 4 sacks while acting clearly as the team's leader.

But Smallwood declared for the NFL and was taken in the 7th round this spring.

With Smallwood gone, who steps up and fills the leadership void?

The answer is clearly Byron Jones. The senior corner is back after bursting onto the scene in 2013, recording 60 tackles and 3 INT's, tied for the team high. And with Bob Diaco being a defensive minded coach, he could only get better in 2014. Safety Obi Melifonwu, who had a sensational freshman campaign and is a freak athlete, returns and could blossom into a star this year. Andrew Adams is also back.

Filling Smallwood's spot will likely be Graham Stewart, a one-time Florida Gator who has 2 years of eligibility. Stewart was Smallwood's understudy last year, and had 14 tackles last year in limited action.

He will join Jefferson Ashiru and two other new linebackers, likely Marquise Vann and/or Cameron Stapleton/Jon Hicks, the latter two young linebackers (redshirt freshman, sophomore, respectively.) Stewart will have to step up in run defense and show he can cover tight ends.

With Angelo Pruitt retired, B.J. McBryde becomes the leader of the line. He'll have to be, because versatile Reuben Frank has rotated between DL and linebacker and will try to settle into an end spot in 2014, and Kenton Adeyemi has never started a game and will likely jump into Pruitt's role.

But amid all the uncertainty, Jones is the clear leader.

We need Byron to mentor and guide our younger players this year. We have some talent, they just aren't mature enough yet. Even if he can't keep his stats up from last year, as long as our younger guys are playing well, he'll be doing his job.