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

[itsbigmike]

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

The Madden stuff is awesome, but LOL @ 14 QB/TE's going in the first round. That's fantastic.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Love what you doing with integrating Madden, adds so much. Wish I still had M25.

The Madden stuff is awesome, but LOL @ 14 QB/TE's going in the first round. That's fantastic.

The only reason I still have M25 is for stuff like this .. I refuse to buy Madden anymore now that I can't import draft classes (and the fact I don't have a PS4/XB1 )

It's been a lot of fun following so far, and I haven't even really looked too much at the rosters and the overall landscape of the NFL.. It will be quite interesting starting this year, as you mentioned Mike, with the 7 first round QB's plus 4 that were taken in Round 2. Further, every first overall pick from 2015-2020 was a QB so a lot of turnover in general around the league, it looks like. I hope the tight end run is purely an anomaly hahaha.. it's cool.. but it won't be if it happens again!

Looking at my very vague notes to this point, the Titans won back to back Super Bowls in 2016-17.. with Jimmy Johnson as their head coach and Peyton Manning as their QB. No lie. The Eagles have won it all twice, and the Packers are quite the dynasty with NFL MVP Michael O'Connor under center.. not Aaron Rodgers.. 3 NFC titles in the past seven years. Johnny Manziel led the Browns to the Super Bowl, despite losing. Seeing guys like Treon Harris do well is really cool too considering how good he was in this dynasty, winning the Heisman and such.

It's our alternate world, and it's awesome! There will definitely be more of that coming your way as we progress. I can't wait to see some of our current stars head to the pros.. especially Shav Wade hahah.

[thesportsguru11]

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

CAC Preview 2021

What better way to start off your college football Saturday than with our favorite time of dynasty season?!?

I thought about giving full rosters with each coach like I used to do, but I'm not crazy enough to do that right now.. It's a lot of work! However, if anyone is interested in seeing a full roster, I will gladly provide it upon request. Just shoot me a PM or leave a comment and we'll talk. If you like this and want to be a CAC member, keep following the thread and you can sign up when we get further into the new season.

And now.. Let's Meet our 26 Operation Sports Create-A-Coaches!

[whughes]

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

Thanks again Guru for taking the time to make us a part of your crazy little universe you've got going here. Good luck to all CAC this season

Except anyone else in the MAC. Ya'll better look out, it's our year!
Fire Up Chips🔥🔥

[itsbigmike]

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



Edit: I love having so many coaches in the MAC. Going to be plenty of smack talking this year.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Thanks again Guru for taking the time to make us a part of your crazy little universe you've got going here. Good luck to all CAC this season

Except anyone else in the MAC. Ya'll better look out, it's our year!
Fire Up Chips����

This sort of comprehensive side story is the least I can do for you guys who have shown me a lot of support for a long time. This is your dynasty just as it is mine at this point. It's fun to be all-knowing about other teams and players outside of UConn and our conference as well.

Now, keep in mind that I was absolutely certain it'd be your year last season, and I was pretty much right: You have a very good shot at winning the MAC Title this year, or at least the West division. The MAC West has been weak in recent seasons; Toledo has won the conference the last two years despite a pair of 7-5 records.

If you guys get by them.. could be yours for the taking. Western needs more time (Sorry Mike), Eastern could surprise but shouldn't contend, Ball State lost their star QB, I don't think NIU is supposed to be any good either. Then it's Miami Ohio in the East who will be the real competition.

Not trying to jinx anything, but with the star QB, RB, the good O-Line you have... I really think you have a good chance to win 8-9 games and maybe move up the ladder at year's end. And even if you don't, you've got some really interesting kids coming through who could keep Central toward the front of the MAC pack in a few years time. Your top four tailback backups are true freshmen, there's a kid named Riley Hodge who is a dual threat QB and will likely be your starter next year. Plus, you've got a couple good young pass catchers too (Christian Coleman, J.D. Rankin, Jacob Yates, Marques Brigham).

You guys took a big step forward last year. I hope 2021 can finally be the year where Coach Crenshaw jumps into the national spotlight and maybe snags a head coaching job. I want it really bad for you -- join the rest of the Original 5 CAC guys in the Power 5.

Edit: I love having so many coaches in the MAC. Going to be plenty of smack talking this year.

Yessssssssssssssss I love it!!!! I'm really happy you're excited with your job off the bat.

The MAC and the Big 10 are fun conferences to follow in the CAC world for that exact reason. RT and Coach Freday used to be at Bowling Green before moving up, and the games between BG and CMU used to be marquee matchups every season. With CAC guys now at all of the Michigan directional schools, the rivalry series gets a lot more fun to follow for sure!

My hope is that eventually all of our followers will move up to the head coach ranks at bigger schools.. the more popular rivalry games in CFB will be more entertaining and meaningful with our CACs manning those teams. We shall see!

Thanks to the both of you and thanks for all who have liked the CAC post! Season 8 of UConn 'ball starts really soon!

[itsbigmike]

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

With all directional schools in MI having some CAC, you should definitely keep track of the Michigan MAC Trophy.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Spring/Summer Ball Newsflash; Notes from Practice

Chamarkelle Byrom is off to a phenomenal start, holding his own against All-Everything corner Shav Wade (left) and torching UConn's lesser defenders (center, right).

Byrom steals the show in early practices

UConn’s second ever five-star recruit is living up to the hype already. True freshman wideout Chamarkelle Byrom has wasted little time impressing new head coach Stephen Belichick. Byrom made an array of impressive catches, including a couple spectacular in traffic grabs against All-American corner Shav Wade -- arguably the best press corner in the nation. Byrom also toyed with other UConn corners when assigned them. Matched up against Kyler Parks and incumbent starter Sam Barnett, Byrom had no problems turning them around and using his 6’5 frame to snag deep balls with ease.

“He made.. Incredible plays”, commented Coach Belichick. “He went against the best corner in the nation and didn’t back down. He made catches, he created space against him, he made him look less immortal. That is not easy to do. Marky was simply fantastic.”

Fellow incoming freshman athlete Lonte’ Speier also got extensive reps in early practices and impressed first year head coach Stephen Belichick as well.

Speier was placed in the slot receiver position and made some good catches of his own, showing a good understanding of route running for someone so young. “Lonte’ won’t play slot if he starts, we’d switch him to the outside and place [Devin] Brown in the middle, but Lonte’ looked good too. He showed that he can be a capable wideout for us right away.”

Byrom and Speier are competing with sophomore Devin Brown, fifth year senior Johnny Williams, a former walk-on, and several other second and third year receivers for starting wideout roles. UConn’s receivers this fall have one career collegiate catch between them (contrary to the previous number of zero, which I gave in error).

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Brown shakes off slow start, looks sharp in first action under center

As for QB Jordan Brown, the true freshman got a rude welcome to UConn when his first two passes in a Husky uniform were intercepted by Shavlion Wade and Thomas Willis from his linebacker spot. However, Brown bounced back and showed superb accuracy and great touch on his passes the rest of the way, including several perfectly placed throws against Shav Wade.

“I’m happy he showed the mental toughness to bounce back and make the throws he’s capable of making. The kid’s a winner, and he doesn’t get rattled much. I’m beyond pleased to have seen that on display today”, commented fourth-year offensive coordinator Bill Cubit.

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Linebackers Willis, Coffman, Hill ready for expanded roles

With graduation gutting the linebacking unit from last year, UConn is relying on several veterans to fill those spots. To replace three year starter Marcus Bradford, UConn will turn to fifth year senior Thomas Willis and junior Mike Hill. Willis has never started a game, while Hill started two games in 2020 before being benched for senior Tim Duchane.

On the outside, John Cox returns to start for the third straight year, but on the weak side the Huskies need to replace Sammie Leonard. Hill’s classmate Scott Coffman is expected to beat out redshirt freshman Jevon Sapp for that starting job. Coach Belichick commented that Sapp played well, tallying two sacks on Jordan Brown and a tackle for loss against J.P. Byers later in practice, but Coffman is the man to beat still.

Both Hill and Coffman were both members of the highly touted linebacker class of 2018, which has been largely unseen because of depth up until now. Four years later, however, we finally get to see if they can live up to the praise we (I) once gave them as young recruits.

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Sykes moved to Right Tackle; Leak named starting center

Versatile lineman Joe Sykes Jr., who worked at center last year, is now moving back to his natural position of right tackle to fill Trent Ginn’s starting spot. The sophomore was one of the top O-Line backups last year, and now the 6’7 Illinois native will get to try his hand starting full time, being expected to edge out fellow sophomore Michael Clark.

Meanwhile, with Ryan Smelley in the NFL and Sykes at right tackle, that leaves junior Lawron Leak as the projected starter at center. Leak has also worked as backup the last two seasons, but has never started a game. Redshirt freshman Travonte Glascock will be the backup.

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Tony Rush named starting free safety; second corner spot up for grabs as Greening shines

Tony Rush (left, #6 in white) and Tory Greening (right, #27 in white) have played well in practice.

To virtually no one’s surprise, redshirt sophomore Tony Rush has been named the starting free safety, replacing departed four-year starter Ross Sinclair. Rush got extensive PT in dime packages last year, and made some nice plays against West Virginia in particular. Rush will team with classmate Victor Castalanetta, a freshman All-American a year ago, at the safety spot.

As for that second corner spot, Coach Belichick may be taking be a deeper look there in finding who could team up with Shav Wade. Sam Barnett, who started the last eleven games of 2020, has struggled a bit in early practices, getting beat on comeback routes and deep a few times. Coach Belichick liked what he saw out of senior Kyler Parks, noting that “he held up well in man coverage”. This is a nice change considering Coach Diaco turned away from Parks a handful of times because of his long-standing struggles in man coverage.

Additionally, redshirt freshman Tory Greening stood out, especially guarding sophomore wideout Marcus Rodgers. Greening made a fantastic play knocking away a sure catch by sticking his hand in Rodgers’ chest before the ball got there without interfering. He also made a nice interception of Jordan Brown late in practice. His performance surely will get him on Coach Belichick’s radar and one has to imagine he gets a long look at the second corner spot - Coach Diaco really liked him when he committed.

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Freshman kicker Ricciardi opening eyes

A not very well kept secret from last season was the struggles UConn faced at kicker. Between day one starter Mike Miller and punter Tyler McCray, UConn was 24-for-35 on field goal attempts last year. With freshman Anthony Ricciardi, Coach Belichick is hopeful he has found a stable option for the next four years. Ricciardi successfully converted all five of his field goal attempts from 47 yards out in practice. Coach Belichick was reluctant to push it any further, but thinks Ricciardi is capable of hitting from 50.

“He needs to work on his accuracy but the kid’s got a good leg.”

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

HOT
WR Chamarkelle Byrom - Kid looked like Randy Moss out there.
LB Jevon Sapp - recorded two sacks and a TFL on J.P. Byers in limited time.
CB Shav Wade - made some sensational plays in coverage and rarely let his assignments get a step.
CB Tory Greening - had a couple really nice pass breakups.
Running Backs - all four (Williamson, Byers, Mike Molden and Jonathan Shaffer) looked good.. Williamson is fully recovered from his back injury from the end of last year.
QB Jordan Brown - showed phenomenal touch and accuracy.

NOT
RB/WR Carlton Parker - several catches that will be forgotten amongst several drops, and did not receive a carry in practice, which would relegate him to 4th or 5th string tailback.
CB Sam Barnett - gave up several catches, looked lost in coverage. Got juked out by J.P. Byers as well (though that’s a little more understandable)
C Lawron Leak - Gave up pressure a little too often, especially when tasked with guarding Jeremy Broadricke
DT Johnquez Blair - fifth year guy was easily outplayed by Jeremy Broadricke; struggled to shed blocks from inexperienced linemen.

Other Comments and Observations from Coach Belichick

Coach Stephen Belichick’s first series of practices, in his eyes, has gone very well. “I’ve seen a lot of things I liked. Our skill position players are looking good, our young guys up front are playing well. Front seven has a lot of veteran talent, and our secondary has a lot of talent there as well.”

Belichick has already spoken highly of several of the young freshmen. As for other players who stood out?

“I can’t wait to see Shav [Wade] in game action, he’s a special player. Every receiver he took on, matched them step for step.

Kevin Jones is a rock at left tackle.. He could be an All-American very soon. And Isaac [Jackson].. He’s a leader. He made all the throws. His accuracy looked really good; better than what Bob [Diaco] told me in phone conversations. There’s this sort of edge to him, and I think the national title loss is the reason. He wants to win and knows this is his last shot to do it. I love this fearless, no guts no glory attitude.

I’m really looking forward to getting on the field against Penn State in a few weeks, seeing what we’ve got ahead.”

With all directional schools in MI having some CAC, you should definitely keep track of the Michigan MAC Trophy.

I most certainly will!

[young22]

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

I'm hype for this season. Hopefully Byron lives up to the hype.

Sent from my SM-G386W using Operation Sports mobile app

[thesportsguru11]

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

I'm hype for this season. Hopefully Byron lives up to the hype.

Sent from my SM-G386W using Operation Sports mobile app

I am too.. I'm really looking forward to Week 1 against Penn State and hopefully I'll finally get to play it this weekend. Unlike playing a mid-major or FCS team to open the year, we're throwing ourselves into the fire; we're going to find out immediately what we have this season, and that's nice considering all the new faces we have and the new opponents we'll be playing.

I was absolutely blown away by how well Byrom played in practice. The fact that he was torching our "lesser" corners like Parks and Barnett was impressive. Making catches over and around Shav Wade, however, had me sold.

Byrom will be slotted as our #1 wideout this fall, with our other freshman Speier at #2 and Devin Brown as the slot. I have little doubt Byrom will play well in-season but looking at Penn State, he's going to get a nice test early on. The Nittany Lions have three very good corners.

Thanks as always bud!

[thesportsguru11]

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

Orlovsky hired as QB Coach/Offensive Assistant

While not a splashy hire, UConn has brought in a “big” name into the fray for 2021, at least in UConn circles. The Huskies announced officially the hiring of the greatest quarterback in school history, Dan Orlovsky, as QB’s coach for the 2021 season. Orlovsky will also serve as an assistant to UConn offensive coordinator Bill Cubit and head coach Stephen Belichick.

A fifth-round pick in 2005, Orlovsky re-wrote the UConn record book as a three-year starter;
he still holds most of UConn's major passing records over a career and a season.

Orlovsky played for four different teams in a 12-year NFL career before retiring in 2017. He saw the most playing time with the Detroit Lions in the winless 2008 season and the Indianapolis Colts in the Peyton Manning-less 2011 season. Orlovsky is best known for inadvertently running out of the end zone against the Vikings while with those ‘08 Lions.

Since his retirement, the now 38-year old has been doing some work with local TV stations discussing UConn football, and running QB camps in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut; the same hometown as former UConn QB Tanner Dean-Lowry.

I’m excited for this opportunity. I love the game and want to keep at it in some capacity - I’m looking forward to working with some of UConn’s younger guys. I wish TDL were still here (Bridgeport connection!) but so it goes. Thanks to Bobby V, Coach Belichick and the rest of the staff!

Blair will wear #95 in ‘21

While the Quintin Harrell Sportsman Award will likely go the way of the buffalo now that a new regime is in place and the last remaining players who shared the field with Harrell now redshirt seniors, that won’t stop one Husky senior from keeping the tradition alive.

Fifth-year senior nose tackle Johnquez Blair has been granted permission to wear Quintin Harrell’s jersey number 95 in the 2021 season.

Typically an award granted to seniors who possess leadership, versatility and perseverance, teammates encouraged Blair to discuss the number change with Coach Belichick, who gladly obliged.

“Johnquez showed a lot of initiative in coming to me to discuss the issue. This is something he wanted to do, and I’m proud of him for working towards it. Bob [Diaco] filled me in a bit on the significance of #95 so I was hoping we could work with someone to make it happen.”

The second-highest rated recruit in the class of 2017, Blair has not panned out well to this point; he has been a reserve for the past four years. However, with last year’s starter Brent Howard graduated, Blair will likely assume the starting job over sophomore Jeremy Broadricke in Coach Belichick’s projected 3-4 set.

[thesportsguru11]

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

It's. Time.

Author's Note:

I personally edited the overall of a couple of our players, primarily for Madden related reasons, but we can pretend that these guys had "good" or "bad" spring practices or something like that.

Those affected: CB Shav Wade (up, now 93 ovr), DE Altarri Gardner (up, now 85 ovr), LB John Cox (up, now 89 ovr), Luke Williamson (up, now 90 ovr), Vince Jones (down, now 85 ovr) and Johnquez Blair (down, now 83 ovr).

UConn Impact Players:

QB Isaac Jackson
RB Luke Williamson
LB John Cox
CB Shavlion Wade

UConn Captains:

QB Isaac Jackson
WR Johnny Williams
LB John Cox
CB J.D. Rudie

Again, a shoutout to Hellisan for inspiration for the clean looking, in-depth roster graphics!

Guru's Thoughts:

I-Jax chased TDL away.. It’s his show now. He’s played well in the last two years, and now it’s his chance to put that production together through a whole season. We’re really excited for Jordan Brown. Don’t be surprised to see Alex Paige get chased out of the QB rotation by this time next year.

Williamson is back from injury and hopefully better than last year - a tough task after he ran for nearly 2000 yards as a sophomore. His production may be hampered by the emergence of J.P. Byers, however, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mike Molden get touches as well.






Guru's Thoughts:

We’ve talked all about Byrom, and we know about Speier as well. Now it’s time to put up or shut up. Speedy Devin Brown could be a really important player this year. Look out for Drew Talley if any of those three go down hurt; he practiced well this summer.

Thomas and Jones are the only two left after Royce Archie went pro. Thomas played fairly in place of Archie when he was injured in 2019, but the former four-star prospect Jones will be considered a bust if he doesn’t produce as a senior. He’s slotted at fullback as well in those particular formations, so he’ll be given ample opportunity.






Guru's Thoughts:

Kevin Jones is extremely underrated.. Replacing three starters right in a line is a little concerning, but I think all three (Leak, Davis-Love, Sykes) could be stars very soon. Hopefully none of them get hurt, as we still don’t have a lot of depth just yet.






Guru's Thoughts:

Altarri Gardner and James Mandrell blossomed into two of the better linemen in the nation last year, and both return as undisputed starters with senior Brett Lowery as a quality backup. Coach Belichick may take a long look at redshirt freshmen Kiel Hughes and Brennick Samples. Inside, Johnquez Blair is the guy, but Broadricke has practiced well and will push for time.






Guru's Thoughts:

Cox returns for his senior year and third year as a starter. The captain will be asked to ease in three new veteran starters; Coffman on the outside, and Willis and Hill on the inside. After years of incredible depth, UConn is starting to get a little thinner and will look for instant contributors on the recruiting trail. Jevon Sapp is going to be a future star.






Guru's Thoughts:

Shav Wade is the top corner, best in the nation, yada yada yada. But who starts outside him? Sam Barnett was good last year, but didn’t play well in spring ball. Kyler Parks is the favorite for spot #2, but has already been benched a few times in his career when given chances to start. Like Ja’Montres Jones, Parks has one shot to avoid “bust” status. Tory Greening is a guy to keep an eye on.. Belichick may go for youth over experience.

Vic Castalanetta was a freshman All-American a year ago, and classmate Tony Rush joins him. I like Rush a lot, and same goes for backups Aaron Brook and Kion East.

The familiar faces of Tyler McCray and Michael Miller are both gone, and we’ve got two true freshmen now. Ricciardi has been good in practice, but that means nothing until he kicks in a game.

[thesportsguru11]

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

2021 Preseason 1st Team All-Americans
Pos	Player Name	Ht	Wt	Year
QB	Nelly DeWeaver, Oregon			Sr.
HB	Luke Williamson, UConn			Jr.
HB	Nate Marshall, NC State			Sr.
WR	Nicholas Bass, Mississippi State			Sr.
WR	Nate Young, Florida State			Sr.
TE	Pierre Russell, USC			Sr.
OT	E.J. Farris, Air Force			Sr.
OT	Matt Barrett, Florida			Sr.
G	Anthony Holtby, LSU			Sr.
G	John McKenzie, Texas			Sr.
C	Jason Locke, Ohio State			Sr.
DE	Altarri Gardner, UConn			Sr.
DE	Matt Perkins, Marshall			Sr.
DT	Joey Dreslin, Oklahoma			Sr.
DT	Michael Gooden, Georgia Tech			Sr.
LB	Drew Swotey, Washington			Sr.
LB	John Cox, UConn			Sr.
LB	Carlos Johnson, Maryland			Sr.
CB	Shavlion Wade, UConn			Jr.
CB	Andy Ford, Miami-FL			Sr.
S	Derrick Edwards, Miami-FL			Sr.
S	Victor Castalanetta, UConn			So.
K	Dustin Amos, Tennessee			Sr.
P	Cedric Johnson, Washington			So.
RS	Sammie Crooks, Florida			Sr.

2021 Preseason 1st Team All-ACC
Pos	Player Name	Ht	Wt	Year
QB	Willie Humphrey, Florida State			Sr.
HB	Luke Williamson, UConn			Jr.
HB	Nate Marshall, NC State			Sr.
WR	Robert King, Clemson			Sr.
WR	Nate Young, Florida State			Sr.
TE	Chase Norwood, Notre Dame			Jr.
OT	Kyle Cleveland, Virginia			Sr.
OT	Rob Langford, Florida State			Sr.
G	Matthew Johnson, Miami-FL			Sr.
G	Donald Garrett, Notre Dame			Sr.
C	Anton Garrison, North Carolina			Sr.
DE	Altarri Gardner, UConn			Sr.
DE	James Mandrell, UConn			Jr.
DT	Marcus Tate, Virginia			Sr.
DT	Michael Gooden, Georgia Tech			Sr.
LB	Kevin Mark, Virginia Tech			Sr.
LB	John Cox, UConn			Sr.
LB	Errick Jones, Notre Dame			Sr.
CB	Shavlion Wade, UConn			Jr.
CB	Andy Ford, Miami-FL			Sr.
S	Derrick Edwards, Miami-FL			Sr.
S	Victor Castalanetta, UConn			So.
K	Chris Mason, Virginia Tech			Sr.
P	Alex Stallings, Notre Dame			Jr.
RS	Tavin Stocker, Georgia Tech			So.

[thesportsguru11]

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

NCAA Players of the Week

[RoundingThird]

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

A game at the Linc? Must be a good omen. Even the real UConn won there today!!