Bradley catching on at UConn

True freshmen receivers Brian Lemelle (84) and Dhameer Bradley (1)
each had touchdown catches in 28-17 win over Rutgers

With catches in six of the last seven games true freshman receiver Dhameer Bradley has quietly made an impact at UConn.

Well, there was nothing quiet about his performance yesterday. Starting for an injured Shakim Phillips, Bradley was targeted on the Huskies' fourth offensive play. Although he failed to come up with the slightly low throw from Casey Cochran, there was no hesitation from Cochran four plays later when he connected with Bradley for an 18-yard touchdown reception.

With the Huskies clinging to a four-point lead in the fourth quarter and facing a key 3rd and 9, Cochran connected with Bradley again. This one went for a career-long 19 yards for Bradley as UConn was add the insurance touchdown on a TD pass to fellow true freshman Brian Lemelle.

Bradley was targeted six times and came up with three catches for 41 yards. Bradley had a reception on three of the Huskies' four scoring drives. He also was asked to throw blocks on a multitude of bubble screens thrown to teammate Deshon Foxx as UConn took advantage of Rutgers rolling their coverage to the other side of the field where leading receiver Geremy Davis was lining up..

"Dhameer has always been a tough player," UConn interim coach T.J. Weist said. "He is still a freshman but he stepped up and has been a good football player because he is tough. He is one of our best blockers, I think he is a better blocker than Geremy – at times. When you find a receiver like him who will block as hard as he does, without a lot of experience, to me that is a tough football player. He came in the spring and worked really hard. He kept it all together, showed great maturity and did a great job."

When Phillips was limited to seven snaps because of an ankle injury which would also sideline him for the Rutgers game, Bradley had a chance to see the field for most of the game against Temple. Bradley was targeted four times and had two catches for 18 yards in a 28-21 win.

"I had to step up for Shak Phillips," Bradley said. "He comes in and makes a lot of plays and I had to step in and make plays like he does. Last week he got hurt and I pretty much had started that game, he played seven plays and I had to step in. I knew after that I had to come in and to do what I did.It felt good."

Bradley was eager to atone for his earlier drop and was thrilled to get the chance to get the Huskies on the board. His TD catch marked the first time this season UConn scored a touchdown on its opening possession.

"Coach Weist always says that you move to the next play when something bad happens, I just moved onto the next play and made it happen," Bradley said.

Casey Cochran quietly taking leadership role at UConn

When UConn interim coach T.J. Weist reflected back on the scene at halftime in Saturday's win at Temple, he mentioned two players who displayed remarkable leadership in the locker room as the Huskies faced a 21-0 deficit at halftime.

The first name is hardly a surprise as team captain and leading tackler Yawin Smallwood gathered the defense around him and acted like the leader that he is. An offensive player did the same thing but it was not one of the veteran players but redshirt freshman Casey Cochran.

Cochran was quick to spread the credit around when he recalled that scene at halftime before the offense had three scoring drives in the second half of at least 50 yards en route to a come from behind 28-21 victory.

"It is important to get everybody on the same page," Cochran said. "It is more than just yelling at the guys. I don’t do that as a quarterback of the offense. I try to get the offense more cohesive, try to get everybody on the same page and I think that is how I lead the offense. The leadership is thee on every single guy, I don’t do that much it revolves around everybody else on the offense.

"The thing that was weird was at halftime it didn’t feel like we were down 21-0. (A) 21-0 (deficit) to some people is a big deal and not a lot of people come back from that but I didn’t feel like we were out of the game at all. I think everybody on the team knew we were going to win that game even in the first half, we just had a bad half. The second half we came out and won it and that was a big deal for us."

Veterans come through to lead UConn to first win

Since being elevated to interim coach T.J. Weist has walked into the visiting locker room at halftime on the wrong side of the scoreboard and knew he had to play the role of cheerleader and self-help guru as much as a football coach.

However, when Weist stepped into the locker room at halftime of last night's game at Temple, he saw a different scene. There were few bowed heads but a sense of  "enough is enough" from the leaders of the winless team.

"What did we say at halftime?" Weist said on a Sunday afternoon conference call. "Everybody wants to know ‘what did we say at halftime?’ I got a little (ticked) off and kind of challenged them a little bit but the players came together, Yawin (Smallwood) grabbed the defense and really Casey (Cochran) did a good job at halftime and really grabbed the offensive guys and brought the offense together in the locker room and challenged them. That was good to see some of our leaders challenge the team at halftime to get back to playing smart football, tough physical football. I was proud of their second half effort, shutting those guys out. Really everything came together for us in all three phases in the second half and that is what we have to do."

UConn trailed 21-0 against Temple at halftime but did not allow the Owls to score another point and had three offensive scoring drives of at least 50 yards to rally for a 28-21 win. Fittingly, it was the Huskies' veteran players who delivered many of the key plays. Junior linebacker and team captain Yawin Smallwood scored the game-winning TD on a 59-yard interception return and also had a sack on Temple's final drive. Defensive end Tim Willman had two sacks and two fumble recoveries, Geremy Davis opened the scoring with a 33-yard touchdown catch.

"That is what makes some of the (plays) special," Weist said. "Yawin, a team captain, makes the plays in the end. Tim Willman guys that the players really respect, comes through and the character shows through in the end and he makes a play when you need it. That is what you have to have. You want to win games you have to make plays and somebody’s got to make them, it is the guys who work the hardest, guys who are the starters and the team leaders those are the guys who usually come through and that is what we have been missing. It is really good for this team to see Yawin and Tim make those plays. Geremy only had four catches but they were four critical catches, every one of those catches made a difference in the game and the players trust him when he gets the ball that he does what he is supposed to do and make plays. The same thing with Yawin and that is what good teams and that is why I said we just have to learn how to win and they only learn how to win by making plays, making them at critical times and we finally did last night."


Weist had to deal with the frustration after returning home with losses following road games against Central Florida, Cincinnati and SMU so there was a different feel when the team headed back to Connecticut this time.

"There is no comparison because winning solves so many things," Weist said. "It makes everybody feel better, there is no comparison to it. This kind of win is so sweet because these players have put in so much work, the players and staff have put in so much work, so much time and so much effort to get a victory that this one is that much more special and means that much more. It may not mean anything to anybody in the country that a winless team won a game but this is one of our best victories, one of my best victories as a coach just because of how much it means to the players, to this program, to this university to come back and finally put it together. There is no comparison to the feeling you have, the satisfaction of coming back after a bad first half, coming back and getting a victory like this – there is just nothing like it."

On Thursday's conference call Weist said he brought cigars a while back with the intention of breaking them out for the staff following the first win of the season. He just didn't think it was going to take this long.

"Right after we met as a team (he broke them out)." Weist said. "We sang the fight song, we prayed, the assistant coaches got to meet with the offense and defense and we (had) a nice victory cigar. We have been waiting to do that a long time and it was a little something special."

Weist said wide receiver Shakim Phillips turned an ankle early in the game but he is hoping that Phillips can play on Saturday against Rutgers. He said he hopes to have offensive tackle Kevin Friend, DB Jhavon Williams and WR John Green back as well. Friend and Williams are dealing with concussions and Green had a quad issue. He was able to practice a little bit last week but not enough for him to play.

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UConn looks to put road struggles behind them

The results and numbers have not been pretty in UConn's first three road games.

It started with a 41-12 loss at Buffalo in Paul Pasqualoni's final game as UConn's head coach. Humbling defeats to Cincinnati and Central Florida followed.

Heading into today's game at Southern Methodist UConn has surrendered an average of 33 points per game in three road games and the Huskies are facing the No. 1 passing offense in the American Athletic Conference and SMU senior quarterback Garrett Gilbert is first nationally in total offense per game.

"We just haven't played well," UConn senior offensive lineman Steve Greene said. "We haven't come out and executed like we are capable of really all year. We have another chance to come out and get this thing rolling."

UConn knows it will be challenged by a potent SMU passing attack.

"It is a big opportunity," UConn sophomore safety Andew Adams said. "We don't look in the past, we are always moving forward and I feel like we are to step up to the challenge. As a defense we haven't been a good tackling team on the road so Coach (Hank) Hughes emphasized tackling this past weekend so if we minimize our missed tackles I feel like we will be OK on the road."

UConn interim coach T.J. Weist hasn't had the easiest matchups since he became head coach especially when it came to defending the opposing quarterbacks. Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, Central Florida's Blake Bortles, Brendon Kay of Cincinnati and now SMU's Gilbert are all players with the capability to playing football professionally.

"You watch them move up and down the field, they throw the ball all across the field, down the field and every which way there is to throw the ball and he (Gilbert) does a good job of managing that," Weist said. "He does a good job of tempo, you can see him moving fast, you can see him getting lined up and spreading the ball vertically, horizontally to multiple receivers, they have three of the best receivers in the league, two of the best receivers in the country."

DeLorenzo could have larger role for UConn

When the season began the UConn running game consisted of "let's hand the ball to Lyle McCombs and hope for the best."

McCombs carried the ball 17 times and no other running back had a career (although converted running back Deshon Foxx did carry the ball once).

However, as time went on Max DeLorenzo has been featured more in the running game. Last week's loss to Louisville marked the first time that he had more carries than McCombs as DeLorenzo ran 13 times for 38 yards and McCombs ran the ball 12 times for 30 yards.

With all the hype surrounding the switch from Tim Boyle to Casey Cochran at quarterback, could there be a switch at tailback as well with DeLorenzo emerging as the go-to guy?

I posed that question to UConn interim coach T.J. Weist at Tuesday's press conference.

"We are in good position with Max and Lyle," Weist said. "I think they complement, I think they both do a good job of playing hard and being productive, we have to get them the ball and find ways to run the ball. It is not the case of Max taking the place of Lyle, it is both of them, they both have to do a good job."

DeLorenzo has run the ball 48 times for 167 yards this season with 30 of those carries coming since Weist became the interim head coach.

"It was tough at first," DeLorenzo said. "I told myself to keep plugging away, keep plugging away and good things will come. I always said I am a gamer so if I get a chance to do well in a game, I tend to do well when I get a chance I get to do the best I can. It happened for me on Friday night. We have to play better obviously but as for me, I like the way it is going but team wise this isn’t good. That has always been my goal through every game, move the chains because that is what we need. I have been saying for the last year that we complement each other nicely. I hope I can get loose and break one so I can be that style of back too and not just be a battering ram, I like running inside, I like being the tough (inside runner) and taking hits, if that is what needs to be done than that is what needs to be done."

Obviously with a new starting quarterback, it would be a huge help if the Huskies can establish the run early against SMU.

"You have to establish the run every game, if you can’t stop the run you are not going to win," DeLorenzo said. "We moved the ball on Louisville because of the run, Louisville the No. 2 defense against the run, our line has been doing a good job up front and if we can get a lead for once and establish the run, I think we are going to be tough to beat."

DeLorenzo and his teammates want to get off the snide and pick up the first win of the season after an 0-8 start.

"It is too late now (to make a bowl) but we are playing for the seniors because it has to be hard for them but maybe it carries momentum into spring ball and next year," DeLorenzo said.

Announcement of UConn's starting QB could come tomorrow

If interim head coach T.J. Weist has made a decision on who is going to be UConn's starting quarterback against Southern Methodist, he is not ready to announce it just yet.

Chandler Whitmer started the first four games of the season but when Weist was named interim coach following the firing of Paul Pasqualoni, he named true freshman Tim Boyle as the starting quarterback. In four games as a starter Boyle has no touchdowns and eight interceptions. Redshirt freshman Casey Cochran came in late in three of those four games and threw touchdown passes in the last two games.

"We are still evaluating it," Weist said on Monday's American Athletic Conference coaches' call. "We put him (Boyle) down as the starter on the depth chart yesterday. At practice yesterday we reevaluated it and will make my decision tomorrow on who I am going to go with."

I asked him if he split first-team reps three ways when UConn hit the practice field yesterday.

"I wouldn’t say that," Weist said. "I will look at things tomorrow and decide who our starting quarterback is going to be and go from there, open up competition a little bit and see how things shake out."

Since UConn normally doesn't practice on Mondays and we meet with Weist before Tuesday's practice, he either has made his decision but doesn't want to announce it until tomorrow or he wants to sleep on things before announcing the QB.

There are no such quarterback issues at SMU. Senior Garrett Gilbert, the American Athletic Conference's reigning offensive player of the week. He leads all AAC quarterbacks and is seventh nationally in passing yards (3037 in eight games). He is averaging 379.6 passing yards per game and only Oregon State's Sean Mannion and Fresno State's Derek Carr average more passing yards per contest.

"It is impressive that he gets the ball to his weapons," Weist said he has some good weapons obviously, three of the best receivers in the league and two of the best receivers in the country so he spreads the ball around and he is very efficient. He has a very strong arm and he is physical."

Andrew Adams, Taylor Mack starters on latest UConn depth chart

UConn released its depth chart for the game against Southern Methodist and the only changes are in the secondary as cornerback Taylor Mack is listed as a starter ahead of Jhavon Williams and Andrew Adams is a starting safety as Ty-Meer Brown, who started the first seven games before missing the Louisville game with a shoulder stinger. Brown is not listed on the two-deep chart.

There were no changes on the offensive two-deep chart as Tim Boyle is still listed as the starting quarterback and Deshon Foxx is listed as the second-string receiver and as one of the two kickoff returners.

"Ty-Meer is still out as of now, we are still evaluating him," UConn interim head coach T.J. Weist said on Monday's American Athletic Conference coaches' call. "Obviously he didn’t dress for the game. He had a neck injury, a pretty serious stinger in practice, we are still evaluating and letting the swelling going down. He had too much pain to really do anything in the game or too much stiffness I should say. We are waiting for more results to see how he is and he is week to week right now.

"Deshon Foxx practiced yesterday. He got a stinger during the game and it really didn’t go away but after the game he was fine. He was fine in practice yesterday so he is good to go."

UConn quarterback situation could be addressed again

UConn interim head coach T.J. Weist didn't exactly give freshman quarterback Tim Boyle a ringing endorsement on a conference call earlier today when he was asked whether he was committed to Boyle moving forward.

"It is always a thought," Weist said of potentially changing quarterbacks again. "You say you are committed to him but I am not really committed to any player and keep him in the game no matter how he is playing. I think he has to do a better job throwing the football, handling the offense and he has to get better at it. We will reevalute it and we have to make some decisions on who our quarterback is and if we keep him there, we will look at the film and make the best decision for the team. I am watching film a couple times, I am going to meet with our staff. I am going to put pressure on him and the quarterback, really decide who is best for our team and who is the best quarterback. Tim has to show improvement, significant improvements every game for us to be patient with him. He has to be more efficient throwing the ball, handling the offense. We are going to evaluate that and see what is best for our team."

Boyle was 14 of 29 passing for 113 yards and three interceptions in a 31-10 loss to Louisville.

It was the third straight game that Boyle was pulled in the fourth quarter with UConn being blown out and redshirt freshman Casey Cochran finished off the game.

"That is another challenge," Boyle said after the Louisville game. "Casey is my teammate, we spend a lot of time together all the quarterbacks and he works his butt off, he watches a lot of film and he knows what he is doing out there. It comes down to being a competitor and watching somebody else do my job, it is a challenge but it is what is best for the team at that point so I can’t get too sour about it."

Boyle was named the starting quarterback after Weist was elevated to the role of interim head coach after the fourth game of the season. Boyle has not thrown a touchdown and has eight interceptions in the four games he has played.

"I haven’t done my job to the best of my ability in my four starts," Boyle said. "We have played a lot of good teams since I have been starting and I don’t look at the game and see what I did well, I see more what I didn’t do well so I can try to fix it. Seeing defenses, seeing blitzes, seeing when I am hot and stuff like that is something I am really going to have to work on this next week. I don’t see myself doing too much good out there which is a problem I am having right now and I need to fix.

"I don’t think it is confidence. It just comes down to me executing my job on every single play and I am not doing it as well as I should be and knowing I could be doing better. It is just me going week to week trying to fix that."

So where does Boyle think he needs to make the most strides to successfully lead the UConn offense?

"Seeing blitzes and knowing when to get rid of the ball quickly and seeing hot (reads)," Boyle said. "The pass rush is definitely different at the college level and the D-linemen are a lot faster, the linebackers disguise blitzes and until I am a senior in college it is something I am going to have to work on throughout my career. It is something I am going to have to go watch film, try to correct and spend time on."

Casey Cochran now No. 2 QB at UConn

UConn released its depth chart for Friday's game against Louisville and the most noteworthy change came at quarterback when redshirt freshman Casey Cochran is listed as the No. 2 QB instead of former starter Chandler Whitmer.

Since freshman Tim Boyle replaced Whitmer as the starting quarterback, Cochran is the only other quarterback to see the field for the Huskies. Cochran was 2 for 3 for 11 yards against Cincinnati and was 7 of 11 for 95 yards including a 46-yard touchdown pass to Brian Lemelle in a loss to Central Florida.

Whitmer started the first four games and passed for 896 yards with five touchdown passes and six interceptions.

Obviously I will have more on this tomorrow when we meet up with UConn interim coach T.J. Weist and selected players on the weekly media interview session.

Also, senior Tyler Bullock is listed as the starting right offensive guard but also as the second stringer at left guard, a spot previous held down by freshman Kyle Schafenacker.

Cornerback Taylor Mack is back in the two-deep but listed as the backup to Jhavon Williams.. Linebacker Graham Stewart is also back on the two-deep chart. Like Mack he began the season as a starter before being sidelined by injury.

Also, more than 30,000 tickets are already out for the next two home games against Louisville on Friday and against Rutgers on Nov. 30.

Players aren't only ones being critiqued by UConn coach

Since taking over as UConn's interim head coach T.J. Weist has prided himself with being blunt but fair in his evaluations when he looks at the game tapes. His breakdowns are not limited to just the players he coaches, however.

Weist is aware that the UConn offense, which he is in charge of, has been dreadful for most of the season. So as he watches the footage of the Huskies' latest defeats, he can't help but look in the mirror.

Weist gave serious consideration to handing off some of the offensive play calling duties to fellow offensive assistants Kermit Buggs, Shane Day and Mike Foley although he told the media on Thursday that he will continue to call the plays when UConn plays at Central Florida tomorrow.

"We are going to have some changes," Weist said earlier in the week. "I am going to focus on Coach Buggs, Coach Day and Coach Foley getting more involved in the play calling because me as the head coach I have to focus on the whole team. At times I think it may cost us because of things going on the field and we are a no-huddle team, we have a lot in the flow of the game, lining up so we are evaluating that and are still talking about, we have a great plan for it.

"The truth is our offense is not doing very good, I have been the coordinator since I have been here and we are not very good so I need to improve. I talk about being honest and that is being honest. I am the one calling the show. I am the one calling these plays. Sure our players have to make plays but I have to keep it simple, put our players in the best position and I want to make it enjoyable for the fans, want to make it enjoyable for the players. I want our players to enjoy the game, I want recruits to look at our games and 'say I want to play for that offense, I want to make plays in that offense.' I want fans to say that is an exciting offense. It is not 3 yards and a cloud of dust. My wife sits up in the stands and she hears it all the time, sometimes she calls out the plays. The best one was Jackie Harbaugh. Everybody talks about John and Jim and Jack but Jackie (the mother of NFL head coaches John and Jim Harbaugh), she is probably the most competitive of the whole group. She sits up in the stands, she calls plays and she gets after the coaches if they aren’t getting the plays in on time and being very critical. I understand when you are in college football, you want it to be exciting offense, you want to have an unpredictable offense and the biggest thing is you want an offense to score."

With Weist saying that his wife calls out plays from her seat, I couldn't let that pass without asking him what kind of play caller she is.

"She is probably better than me, she can probably call better runs. I may have to try her out this week."

On a serious note, UConn is 0-6 and staring at 0-8 with games coming up against Central Florida and Louisville. A year ago the Huskies rose to the challenge when they went on the road and upset nationally-ranked Louisville. However, in two road games this season the Huskies have been outscored 82-28 so there is the potential for tomorrow's game to get ugly.

"Players are not down, they are excited," Weist said. "They are together and I have been pleased by their response with us in us keeping them together in an 0-6 situation because they know that so we will get that changed around in everything we do is focused on this team and getting a victory this weekend.

"We are settled and we know the direction. In the locker room after the game you never know how a team is going to react after 0-6 and after a loss like that. Against South Florida we really felt like we beat ourselves and against Cincinnati it was more of a combination of them beat us and at times we beat ourselves. We didn’t stop them, you don’t know how they are going to react in the locker room, they are very positive, very upbeat, they were disappointed, they were mad. You can’t accept losing under any circumstance because as soon as you accept it, it is going to happen again so we will never accept it. "

Boyle trying to deal with the pressure

Nobody ever promised freshman Tim Boyle that taking over as UConn's starting quarterback was going to be a walk in the park.

After nearly coming away with a victory against South Florida in his first career collegiate start Boyle ventured into rougher waters in Saturday's loss at 2012 co-Big East champion Cincinnati.

Boyle threw three interceptions and was sacked eight times in the 41-16 loss.

Boyle took responsibility for the mistakes that he made against the Bearcats.

"I put a lot of those sacks on myself just not going through my progressions as fast as I can," said Boyle, who was 22 of 39 for 310 yards. "I think our offensive line did a great job of protecting me, everyone sees the stat of eight sacks and they are in awe. I think a key thing I have to do is keep getting up from the sacks and showing the team that I can take them and keep getting up.

"One interception I left it inside, the one by the goal line was just me being a freshman and throwing the ball up. That is something I am going to have to learn from and the last one, I just left it short. I think I could have had a touchdown to Shak (Phillips) on that play but that is something I have to learn from."

Boyle didn't have to deal with a ton of pressure from opposing teams during his days at Xavier High. His tendency to step up right into the area where the defensive pressure is coming from is just one of the areas where Boyle knows he needs to improve.

"It’s a double-edged sword because I feel like if I make a lot of mistakes, I learn from those mistakes but at the same time I don’t want to make those mistakes and do the right thing," Boyle said. "It is hit or miss, either I do the right thing and it looks really good or I don’t do the right thing and I learn from it. I think I did more bad than good in the game and that is something that Coach Weist (has talked about)."

When quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck were squaring off in a highly-anticipated showdown on Sunday night Weist called Boyle and suggested that he not only watch the game but also see how the two quarterbacks are able to step up in the pocket and make throws down the field.

"You sit there and watch the game the other night with Peyton Manning, you watch Luck and Manning and you watch them step up into the pocket and they are throwing the ball as they are getting hit," Weist said. "I talked to him about it and you see them handling pressure because everybody has pressure, you look at the sacks that are happening in any league. You see pressure, how does he handle it? How does he secure the football? How fast does he make decisions? How fast does that ball come off his hands in those situations? That is where he has to learn from that last game that he had pressure and he has to learn to make that decision and let that ball go before the pressure closes in on his and how to move around in the pocket with that pressure. The pocket is always changing and any good defensive coach is going to do a good job of learning what our pocket is and how to put different pressure angles on it so that is what he has to do."

UConn is last among 123 FBS teams by surrendering 5.17 sacks per game and future opponents are going to see how Cincinnati was able to harass Boyle and attempt to do the same thing.

"When we didn’t handle it earlier, they kept bringing the pressure," Weist said. "The overall speed of the game is what he is learning. It is different from high school because it is always faster and they bring pressure, they bring pressure again and they keep bringing pressure. It is not just handling it once, it is handling it again and again and again. That is what he learned in this game, that is where he was deficient in this game than against South Florida. He didn’t handle the pressure as well and it happened in some critical situations, down in the red zone. Some of the sacks were due to him taking one more step, not throwing the ball on time. He has to trust that when he lets that ball go that the receiver is going to make plays. He held the ball a couple of times which cost us and other times we went empty and we had hot throws that he didn’t really see and he has to work on. He will get better at that."

DeLorenzo makes an impact

Without providing any specifics, UConn interim coach T.J. Weist vowed that there would be some changes on the offense.

It didn't take long in Weist's second game at the helm to see one difference in how he handled the personnel.

Max DeLorenzo averaged just under 4 1/2 carries in the first five games of the season. He almost topped that mark on the Huskies' second offensive drive as the redshirt sophomore from Berlin carried the ball four times in a span of six plays. DeLorenzo had 25 of his team-high 46 yards on that one drive. DeLorenzo later accounted for the Huskies' only offensive touchdown with a 12-yard scoring run in the third quarter which snapped a streak of scoreless second-half possessions at 20.

DeLorenzo had a couple runs when he simply lowered his shoulders and bulled his way for an additional yard or two which is something that has been missing from the UConn running game in the last couple of seasons.

"We watch on film and Coach says why don’t you stiff arm on here, make a move here and I am trying to mix the game up because Lyle is going to be doing that (outside running) so I try to give them a different look," DeLorenzo said.. Last week we ran the ball well but this week other than a couple of plays, we didn’t get the job done. It comes down to making plays."

DeLorenzo's touchdown was his first on offense although he did return a punt 9 yards for a score in the 2012 season opener against UMass.

"It felt good," DeLorenzo said. "I was confident through the whole game and I wish it had be at a better time, with a better scenario, that touchdown isn’t easy to look at because we lost."

DeLorenzo could play a larger role moving forward as Weist tries to find some answers on offense.

UConn tried to establish the run early especially in the second quarter when the Huskies ran the ball on 12 of 18 plays. But trailing 27-3 at halftime, it was harder to stick with the running game . DeLorenzo only carried the ball twice after halftime with one of them going for the TD.

He was frustrated with the performance of the offense against Cincinnati even if the Huskies managed more yards on Saturday than they did against Cincinnati in the 2012 season finale.

"The offense took a step back," Weist said.

"We still have the players, effort wasn’t an issue in this game. I think they were focused, I think they gave effort. On offense our guys were running, they were coming off the ball they never stopped trying but we just had some breakdowns. We are not ignorant enough to say we are going to do the exact same things because if it ain’t working, you’d better find something. You can only go so far and say we have to get better, sure we have to make some changes and mix things up and that is what we are doing whether it is personnel or scheme, we have to find a way to put our players in better positions and motivate them to make plays. We are constantly working on it and that is a sign of a good staff being able to adjust whether it is at halftime, in game or on Sundays and Mondays get ready for that next game because we have an even better opponent coming up."

DeLorenzo is confident that the Huskies have the pieces in place to be a productive offensive team.

"What we are doing it is not good (enough) right now," DeLorenzo said. "We have talent and we have talent to put points on the board. If we gave what we played with (the intensity) in the first half the way we played in the second half it is a different ball game.

We have too much character. We work too hard, we have too much talent on this team to be 0-6. We still have time but it is running out. We just have to put it together, one play here and we were on the 2 yard line and we had to settle for a field goal and we missed another field goal so we have to score, we can’t be putting pressure like that on our kicker and our defense."

One likely change on offense could come on the offensive line but not by choice. Starting right guard has a cardiac issue and Weist said information is still being gathered on the prognosis for Cruz and if he can return to the field.

"He has a cardiac issue that we are still dealing with," Weist said. "It wasn’t really an injury, it is a cardiac issue and we have to determine exactly what it is. He has to get some tests done and I can’t really say exactly what it is just yet because we are not sure and we have to work through some things."

Cruz didn't make the trip to Cincinnati and sophomore Tyler Samra got the start. As the same wore on, senior Tyler Bullock got worked into the rotation at right guard.

"Tyler (Samra) at times played well and at times he was average and made some mistakes, he made a mistake down on the goal line that cost us," Weist said. "Tyler (Bullock) came in and was a little rusty, played a little better in the run game they just did OK, we have to be better up front."

Weist wasn't happy with the play of freshman quarterback Tim Boyle who threw three interceptions and was sacked eight times. While the line struggled to contain Cincinnati's edge pass rushers, Boyle made things worse by stepping up into where the pressure was. He rarely faced pressure when he quarterbacked at Xavier so that is one area where he needs to get better.

"He has to make better decisions and not turn the ball over," Weist said. "We said we are going to be patient (with Boyle)  and we really have to look at it but he’s got a lot to learn. Last game we felt like we didn’t have as much to learn as this game because this game he had more pressure, he had three interceptions and he had some turnovers that cost us so he has to make a big step to get better this week. Our receivers played better. We got Shak (Phillips_ back, he came back and made some catches. He is not full speed yet but he will give us a weapon on the outside when he gets to be full speed because Geremy (Davis) is playing really good. We had some young receivers who came in, Noel Thomas and Dhameer Bradley came in and had a good game, (Deshon) Foxx stepped it up and played better even after the drop, made some good catches, some good plays after the catch for us. I think the tight ends played a little bit better overall. Our tailbacks, at times they were productive but we just have to get better on the line. Max stepped in as a tailback and made some good plays, Martin (Hyppolite) stepped in late and made some good plays and we feel good about that."

Weist suggested that he is considering a change in play calling duties. If he goes that way, quarterbacks coach Shane Day or running backs coach Kermit Buggs so we'll see what happens with that.

Uncertainty surrounds three UConn commits at Milford Academy

It should not come as a shock the the frequency of calls to the Milford Academy football office concerning UConn commits Jordan Fuchs, Chasz Wright and Jamar Summers have picked up since UConn cut loose head coach Paul Pasqualoni and offensive line coach George DeLeone.

"As soon as they fired Coach Pasqualoni the phone’s been ringing off the hook, they smell blood," Milford Academy coach Bill Chaplick said after a 45-32 loss to the Yale junior varsity team on Sunday. "I feel bad for those guys (Pasqualoni and DeLeone), I like those guys but they never got it going."

Jordan Fuchs' father was cited as a source by multiple recruiting analysts who reported that Fuchs, a tight end who was a Division I recruit in both football and basketball at Christ the King, had decommitted from UConn.

Fuchs, who recently returned to Milford Academy after a few weeks away from the school and football program, chose his words carefully when addressing his college recruitment.

"Coach P (Pasqualoni) sent me here and he is not at UConn anymore so I don’t know what is going to happen with that," Fuchs said. "I like UConn but I don’t know. I know Coach Weist, I like him, he is a good guy and what he is trying to do but there is that possibility that he might not be there and they could bring in a new guy and he could bring in a whole bunch of guys with him so I don’t really know, I am protecting myself and keeping my options open.

"I am just seeing how this plays out because I am kind of a tricky situation."

Summers, a cornerback out of Orange, N.J., is the UConn commit who gave an emphatic "yes" when I asked if he still intends to enroll at UConn in January.

His family has a history with DeLeone as DeLeone tried to recruit Jamar's brother out of high school.

"I was disappointed, those are two guys who looked at me, saw me and evaluated me at their camp, they saw potential in me so I was disappointed," Summers said.

"I am looking forward to the competition level, the big lights, the different competition levels that are going to be coming after me."

Wright, a 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle from Woodbridge, Va., admitted he is opening up his recruitment.

"Coach P is a very nice coach and I have been able to sit down and talk to him 1 on 1, my parents sat down and talked to him," Wright said. "We have had him in our hearts since I committed to UConn but it is nothing that is going to hinder me so I have to keep rolling with the punches

"The door is really open for everything because my mind is not really committed to one school right now but UConn is still at the top of my list, I haven’t put them on the back burner, I still have ties with Coach (Mike) Foley so I am not really learning towards anything right now."

Chaplick said he talks to Foley, UConn's offensive line coach every week and that UConn will take in a Milford Academy game. Since UConn has the week off between the Central Florida and Louisville games, I would expect them to make the trip to see Milford Academy play at the Army JV team on Nov. 3.

The big day, however, comes later in the month as Milford Academy runs what is now called a fall practice but is basically a combine for college coaches the Monday after Thanksgiving. If Fuchs, Summers and Wright perform as well as Chaplick expects them to then it is likely that the interest in them among FBS programs will increase dramatically.

As for the experience of playing at Milford Academy, all three seem to thriving there.

"It has been fun, it has been a new experience in my life, a new chapter in my life being that I didn’t qualify for the scholarship but know I got my head right," Summers said. "I got a bunch of guys who are hungry for scholarships who want to go to I-A and I-AA schools."

Said Wright, "It was a very good experience, especially coming out of high school especially when you think you’ve learned everything in terms of the concept of football and you come here, you are surrounded by a lot of top quality coaches you can learn a lot. I have learned a lot as far as being here as a player, as a student in the classroom, a student of the game and an all-around better man."

Fuchs tells a funny story about his reaction when UConn recruiting coordinator Jon Wholley informed him where he would be headed for prep school.

"They told me in March there was a chance I would come here and also a chance I would come straight (to UConn) in June and they told me at the last minute, I was ready for both. I knew this would be a good situation for me because I could still play without losing any eligibility for college so even if I wanted to redshirt I could so I basically would still have those four years.

"When Coach Wholley told me where I was going, I Googled it and asked him where it was and I re-Googled it five times because I didn’t know where it was. Once I got there it wasn’t that bad and I am still adjusting to that."

Uncertainty driving Phillips crazy

A week ago at this time Shakim Phillips thought he had finally overcome his troublesome hamstring issues.

After missing two games after tweaking his hamstring during a 75-yard touchdown reception against Maryland Phillips was able to practice and returned to action against South Florida. Then, six plays later Phillips found himself back on the sidelines.

Phillips has gotten back on the practice field and even he doesn't know what his status is for tomorrow's game against Cincinnati.

"You think you are ready to go, you do certain things and you feel fine and then you actually get out on the field and you are really competing, battling and you are trying to do certain things and you can’t do it," Phillips said. "It is frustrating because hamstring injuries are nagging injuries and you never know when it exactly is healed. We didn’t want to hurt is any more so we shut it down.

"It got worse, it (gradually) got worse. The first play I felt fine just like in warmups and then I made a certain cut and I kept going, going and going. After a while it began hurting.

It is crazy honestly. I just want to be out there with my team and help us win. Now that I can’t do that."

T.J. Weist would love to be able to run the dynamic Phillips out there without restriction tomorrow but hamstring injuries are just so unpredictable.

"A lot of injuries you can put a timeline on, this one takes a week, this one takes a month but this one is anywhere from a week to two months because you just don’t know how severe it is," Weist said.

Suspensions lifted for UConn OL Tyler Bullock, DB David Stevenson

UConn interim head coach T.J. Weist said that senior offensive lineman Tyler Bullock and sophomore defensive back David Stevenson have been reinstated after both were suspended indefinitely.

"We got Tyler Bullock back so he is off his suspension so he will give us some added depth," Weist said on a Thursday conference call. "It was more he and Warde making the decision of what is best for them both, going through the legal process. We said it was an indefinite suspension, we knew it was going to be at least one game with him not having a prior record and not having done anything wrong before we took that into consideration."

Stevenson's return could help fill the void if Taylor Mack misses another game which is looking more likely as Weist said Mack is doubtful and that there could be some nerve damage with his shoulder injury. Linebacker Graham Stewart is also doubtful while linebacker Ryan Donohue could be back this week. Weist said he is still in a wait and see scenario with WR Shakim Phillips and Brian Lemelle.

"We have to see what happens with Lemelle," Weist said. He practiced yesterday but no contact. He is questionable.

"(Phillips) practiced yesterday but not necessarily full speed and still day by day. A lot of injuries you can put a timeline on, this one takes a week, this one takes a month but this one is anywhere from a week to two months because you just don’t know how severe it is. Ryan (Donohue) is back and he is probable, he practiced yesterday it wasn’t contact but he did practice. Graham Stewart is doubtful. He practiced some but didn’t have a full practice. Taylor Mack is doubtful, still hasn’t practiced yet and still hasn’t showed enough strength to come back. (He has) some nerves in the shoulder, it hard to come back from, I think he will play but I have to see in practice. Some of the guys who I thought were probable (last week) didn’t make it (back)."

Weist said they made more game-type practices this week as he followed up on his vow to open up the competition at receiver and tight end following the issues with dropped passes last week. Weist said that freshman receiver Dhameer Bradley and Noel Thomas looked good and could have larger roles in the offense while E.J. Norris could see more time at tight end.

Sleep is optional for UConn's T.J. Weist

Perhaps the most entertaining portion of today's press conference with UConn interim head coach T.J. Weist centered around his sleep or lack of sleep during weekends throughout the football season.

Weist said he needs to watch the game film before he can attempt to nod off.

"Me personally, I can’t go to sleep without watching the game," Weist said. "I can’t. I got the game film. Right when I got on the bus I put the game film on. I have to either confirm my thoughts of what I thought and see what happened so I can coach the players, I can coach the coaches and get a true evaluation right away. I can’t just let it sit not understand what just happened so we can get better.

"(He was) pleased in some areas because you never have a great sense for the effort, you can feel it on the field, you can feel the energy but you don’t have a feel for the overall effort because you don’t watch everyone. I was pleased with our effort. The rest of it you don’t see a lot of things on all the special teams, all the penalties that happened. I always have to judge the penalties, were the called right and where they called wrong? I may argue during the game which doesn’t help much with the referees but I still have to get the feel for what was called and what wasn’t called. It helps me to watch every play, the obvious plays when we should have made plays those were obvious when we watched the film. Watched it again and again."

Naturally I had to ask Weist that if he couldn't sleep before watching the film, how does watching what transpired in the 13-10 loss to South Florida impact his sleep pattern.

"Sleep pattern? There is no sleep pattern, there is not much sleep," Weist said. "On Friday night there is not much sleep because you are thinking about everything that is going to happen and Saturday night you are thinking about everything that just happened so you try to relax, you try to watch other games but you can’t, you are so focused on what just happened and how we can make it better and what needs to be done the next game. Not a lot of sleep, I don’t know if coaches have a sleep pattern."

Weist also reacted to Kenbrell Thompkins, a receiver he coached at Cincinnati, making the game-winning 27-yard TD catch with 5 seconds remaining to lift the New England Patriots to a 30-27 win over New Orleans on Sunday.

"I am not surprised with KT," Weist said. "He is a player that helped us win a lot of games at Cincinnati, he is a very competitive guy. His cousin is Antonio Brown, he is from Miami and he comes and works out with all the great wide receivers and he did that when he was at Cincinnati. He fully understood the NFL game before he even got there, when he got there he struggled to learn the speed of the game but I knew he would keep working to get better and there is no surprise that he made that catch and I will not be surprised when he continues to have success."

On a more serious subject, Weist said UConn players will wear a No. 77 sticker on their helmets in memory of Cincinnati freshman offensive lineman Ben Flick who died in a car accident last month.

"I think it is an appropriate gesture for us and seeing when other teams did things for us with Jasper Howard, it was the right thing to do," Weist said.

Tragedy at Cincinnati hits close to home for UConn coach

UConn interim coach T.J. Weist got to know Ben Flick and his family pretty well when he helped convince the talented offensive lineman from Hamilton, Ohio to come to Cincinnati.

Following Butch Jones departure to Tennessee and the hiring of Tommy Tuberville as the new Bearcats' head coach, Weist moved on and became the offensive coordinator/receivers coach at UConn. However, when he heard about Flick's death in a car accident that also injured Cincinnati players Mark Barr and Javon Harrison, Weist was absolutely devastated.

With UConn set to play at Cincinnati on Saturday I asked Weist for his thoughts on the tragic events at his former school.

"It becomes personal for the coaches that are outside the program who knew those kids," Weist said. "I knew Ben and his family. We were involved, all the coaches who were at Tennessee who were at Cincinnati we were close with them because we recruited them, had them over at the facility had their families, (hosted them on) official visits and all of those things. It becomes less of a football death, it is about people and about families. It is devastating. We all have families and we all go home and hug our kids, you hug your wife and pray. It becomes less of an 'us against Cincinnati' when I step on the field for the people that I know who are still there, the players and it has nothing to do with football, it is all about life.

"I called to talked to the staff members, some I still know there and even some of the players because it is not about football. Our sympathies are with them and whatever we do in terms of recognition, we will have recognition for Ben and the Cincinnati program."

Weist wasn't at UConn when star cornerback Jasper Howard was murdered but he knew about the heart-felt response from coaches and programs across the country who did what they could to help the Huskies deal with the loss of one of their own.

"When our program went through tragedy with Jasper Howard, other teams reached out to us and did things to us for recognition," Weist said. "I have already talked to the athletic director at Cincinnati about things we can do to memorialize him as a person, as a football player. Other teams have reached out when we were in this situation and we will do the same."

Clock mismanagement dooms UConn

Despite all of the missed steps, the blocked field goal and a sack that turned into South Florida's only touchdown, UConn has in position to possibly send the first game during the T.J. Weist/Tim Boyle era into overtime.

Boyle had just hooked up with fellow true freshman Dhameer Bradley for a 16-yard completion with 16 seconds to play. With the clock stopping while the officials set the chains, the Huskies needed to either quickly snap the ball and spike it or call a timeout. They did neither. Nearly 10 seconds ran off the clock before Weist finally used UConn's final timeout.

No longer able to try to pick up the 15-20 yards to give Chad Christen a chance to attempt the game-tying field goal, the Huskies were left with little choice but to have Boyle loft a pass into the end zone and hope Geremy Davis could make the catch. However, a pair of South Florida defenders were in better position and the Bulls' Mark Joyce made a play to knock the pass down to give the Bulls a 13-10 victory.

Weist, who doubles as UConn’s offensive coordinator, took the blame for the disarray at the end of the game which dropped UConn to 0-5 for the first time since 1977. A loss to Cincinnati next week and the Huskies will open the season with six straight losses for just the third time since 1935.

“This loss is on me, it is my responsibility to win this game and we didn’t,” said Weist, who was named interim coach on Sept. 30 after UConn director of athletics Warde Manuel fired head coach Paul Pasqualoni. “We had the opportunity, the defense played a great game and didn’t allow a touchdown and they gave us every opportunity on offense with field position, they gave us every chance to make play
“I am calling plays and I thought the clock was stopped at 16 (seconds) and it wasn’t. I didn’t make the play call, I was deciding what play to call and whether to call timeout and I didn’t and the clock started again. I made a mistake in clock management. I have to learn from it.”

The lessons will come with the Huskies trying to avoid starting a season with six straight losses for just the third time since 1935. They will take on Cincinnati with Boyle once again the starting quarterback.
Boyle, a member of three state championship teams at Xavier, was 15 of 43 for 149 yards in his first collegiate action. He showed the ability to make plays with his feet, running for three first downs but he was also hurt by at least a half dozen dropped passes including three within the shadow of the goal line.
Still, through it all Boyle had a chance to walk out to Rentschler Field with a victory, something he did in each of his final three high school seasons.

“I felt pretty comfortable, I didn’t get rattled,” Boyle said. “We didn’t execute like we planned.
“We are all football players, we all want to win coming that close and losing by three points obviously sucks but we have to turn the page.”

Connecticut back since McCombs’ 63-yard run against Syracuse in 2011. He finished with a career-high 164 rushing yards. However, 135 of those came in the first half.

The Huskies got back some key offensive players as Friend and receiver Shakim Phillips returned after missing the last two games due to a high-ankle sprain and hamstring injury respectively. However, Phillips only lasted a series before being sidelined again. Starting cornerback Taylor Mack (shoulder) and linebacker Ryan Donohue (concussion) miss the game.

UConn lost freshman receiver/punt returner Brian Lemelle was knocked out of game in first half and did not return.

UConn’s Cole Wagner became the program’s all-time leader in punting yards on a day when he had two punts downed inside the 5. He also tied Adam Coles’ program record for most career punts.

It's been quite a ride for long-time friends Weist and Taggart

A year ago when Willie Taggart was the head coach at his alma mater Western Kentucky and T.J. Weist was the receivers coach at Cincinnati there wasn't anybody would could peer into a crystal ball and predict that they would be on opposing sidelines on a mid-October Saturday afternoon at Rentschler Field.

Yet here they are ready to lead their teams against each other.

Taggart is in his first season as the head coach at South Florida and coming off the Bulls' first win of the season. Weist is preparing for his first game as a head coach as UConn's interim coach.

There figures to be an enthusiastic greeting between the two energetic coaches who worked together for six years at Western Kentucky.

"We started coaching together when we won the I-AA national championship at WKU and coached a few years after that together,' Taggart said. "We’ve had some time together, we’ve coached together and we know each other very well. We had some pretty competitive basketball and ping pong games. Coach Weist is a highly-competitive guy like myself and we always challenged each other, I don’t care what it was, we were doing it was always that way."

Weist said it was inevitable that if the two were on the basketball court today he would end up guarding Taggart and Taggart would draw the assignment on hi,.

"I would say this, we are probably 50-50 because we respected each other," Weist said. "We used to play a lot of basketball, we were together a long time and the one thing we always did is we played against each other no matter what the situation was, who was playing GAs (graduate assistants) or whatever it was it was always me against him because we developed into the two most competitive guys out there. I would have to say we were 50-50 but I would have to say I won the last one, the last competition we had and make sure he knows that."

All the good-natured bantering aside, both Taggart and Weist have their work cut out for them.

Taggart has five true freshmen on the two-deep chart and had 32 and 28-point losses during an 0-4 start. Weist is the offensive coordinator of a team ranked dead list in FBS in rushing offense and in the bottom five in total offense and sacks allowed.

However, when they cross paths in East Hartford before the game there will be time for a quick down memory lane before they get down to business.

"Me and him have been friends for a long time," Weist said. "We have been colleagues together on offense, we have developed game plans and worked on motivation. I think the thing that sets him apart is that he is very confident, he is very competitive in everything that he does. He has found a way to bring out that competitiveness with the team, not just with his position but with his team. Willie was a great player in college, a great player at Western Kentucky one of the best players in the country at his level. Learning from Jack Harbaugh and learning from Jim (Harbaugh) he has been around great coaches, he was a great player and he will have success. He had success at Western Kentucky and there is no doubt he will have success because he is a winner, he is very competitive, he is very driven and he is smart and to put him in that kind of situation with great talent down there and he will get that thing rolling."

OT Kevin Friend close to returning for UConn

It has not been the easiest of senior seasons for starting right offensive tackle Kevin Friend.

Friend missed the season opener as he recovered from a concussion suffered in practice. He returned the next week against Maryland but injured his ankle after he was pushed to the ground during the first quarter. He attempted to come back in and play but simply couldn't put enough weight on the ankle to play. He missed the last two games as well. However, on a conference call earlier today interim UConn coach T.J. Weist said Friend has been able to practice all week long.

"Kevin has practiced, basically all week and he looks better in terms of being able to go," Weist said. "We are taking it day by day but he has practiced well."

That would be a major boost for the UConn offense as Friend's replacements (Xavier Hemingway and Dalton Gifford) are still a bit raw and have struggled.

When he met with the media on Tuesday Weist discussed the impact that Friend could have on a struggling offense if he were able to return.

"If your starting tackles are out on either end you’ve got problems. We haven’t had the depth, the quality of depth that we need to step up and take their place. Obviously we need that and we can’t go on the waiver wire to get more guys so yes he is very important for us, any offensive line that has movement, that has guys moving around."

Of the players considered to be questionable, WR Kamal Abrams seems to be the most likely to play against South Florida followed by Friend, CB Taylor Mack and WR Shakim Phillips. Don't expect to see either LB Graham Stewart or DB Andrew Adams out there on Saturday.

Weist said that Phillips practiced yesterday and today will be a key day to see how his tender hamstring feels.

"We’ll see how he feels," Weist said. "Taylor Mack practiced and he is still questionable. He looks a little bit better and we will find out at practice today.  Andrew Adams had a little bit of contact yesterday, he is truly questionable coming off of surgery so he is just starting back into contact from that standpoint. Kamal has practiced and he is almost full go for us and he is ready to go. Stewart is not probable, he hasn’t practiced for us."