Paul Pasqualoni had one last parting gift on his way out the door as he let slip that plans were in place to have true freshman Tim Boyle, a member of three state championship teams at Xavier High, start at quarterback beginning with the Oct. 12 game against South Florida.
“We had made that decision last week that would be the direction to go in and we tried to fair about everything there,” former UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said on a teleconference Monday night. “We tried to give Timmy some time to develop, give him some time to be on the road and experience the whole thing before we threw him in there so I think would probably be the way T.J. goes, that was something we were going to do.”
The 6-foot-3 Boyle has been working his way up the depth chart since he arrived on campus in June. He quickly established himself as the best of the three true freshmen quarterbacks signed by the Huskies and was seeing time as the No. 3 quarterback when preseason camp started. After the season-opening loss to Towson, Boyle moved into the No. 2 quarterback behind Chandler Whitmer.
When the Huskies were getting blown out by Buffalo, Pasqualoni opted to put in Casey Cochran rather than put Boyle into a no-win situation in his first road game.
In between the Michigan and Buffalo games Boyle discussed his development as a quarterback since he arrived at UConn.
“I worked really hard in this offseason coming in and trying to pick up the offense,” Boyle said. “(UConn quarterbacks) Coach (Shane) Day, Chandler (Whitmer) and the other quarterbacks have done a great job of helping me. I didn’t want to sit on the bench my whole career at UConn so I really worked at the offense. This being my freshman year I didn’t think I was going to be a factor but I have worked hard and I think it has paid off.”
So where has Boyle made the biggest strides since the start of preseason camp?
“I would say recognizing defenses and making reads, my pre-snap reads seeing defenses and trying to slow down a little bit,” Boyle said. “There is a ton I have to change and become better at but at this point in time what I have become better at since my high school career is seeing defenses, trying to adjust and know where I go with the ball.”
Boyle is aware that he is the most high-profile in-state quarterback recruit to sign with UConn since Shelton Dan Orlovsky, the Huskies’ career leader in total offense, passing attempts, completions and passing yards who is now a quarterback with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Just being an in-state guy I think people rely on me a little bit more than other people but I can tell you one thing just being in the meeting room with Chandler, I know the fans are putting a lot of blame on him but he is a tremendous quarterback,” Boyle said. “I wouldn’t sit here and lie to you; if he was bad I would tell you he is bad. He is a really good quarterback, he is very smart and has a really good work ethic and it comes down to execution so we need to do a better job with that.”
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