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."

Veteran UCF offense to challenge struggling UConn defense

Like so many others UConn safety Ty-Meer Brown was captivated by the events transpiring in last week's Louisville/Central Florida game.

The Huskies' second-leading tackler watched the majority of the game and saw redshirt junior quarterback Blake Bortles bring UCF from 21 points down to stun previously undefeated Louisville with 31 points in the final 18:02.

"I didn’t catch the whole game as we were in meetings but I caught the majority of it," Brown said. "It was a big-time game with two great teams that came down to the wire, it was exciting."

Aside from the pure entertainment value, Brown came away impressed with what he saw from the offensive playmakers on the Central Florida team.

One running back (Storm Johnson) ran for more than 100 yards and had 79 more yards on four receptions while another (true freshman William Stanback) ran for 65 yards and two TDs. The Knights also had six different receivers with multiple receptions.

Coming off a nightmarish defensive effort in a loss to Cincinnati, Brown knows the Huskies need to be better this week.

"It is going to be a challenge for our defense as a whole, our line getting to him and making him a little unsettled and the defensive backs being able to cover longer," Brown said.

"We have to make sure we cover well on the back end so we give the defensive line to get to the quarterback."

Redshirt freshmen Jhavon Williams and Obi Melifonwu struggled against Cincinnati as it looked as if the Bearcats targeted the two least experienced members of the secondary.

"They are still in there, they are still young and they are still learning," Brown said. "We have faith in them because if we didn’t they wouldn’t be in the game and they are going to continue to grow. Experience is the game is going to give these guys confidence and allow them to play better.

Ty-Meer Brown receives CFPA honor

UConn junior safety Ty-Meer Brown was one of nine defensive backs to earn honorable mention recognition from the College Football Performance Awards site.

Brown had eight tackles,one of the Huskies' season-high 10 tackles for loss, forced a fumble and returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown in Saturday's 24-21 loss to Michigan.

Iowa's B.J. Lowery was named the national FBS Defensive Back of the Week after returning a pair of interceptions for touchdowns in a span of 3:34 in a 59-3 win over Western Michigan.

Brown is the second UConn player to earn CFPA honors this season as receiver Shakim Phillips was an honorable mention selection after his big game against Maryland.

Linebacker Yawin Smallwood was named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll after recording 13 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble against Michigan.

Defense dominates in UConn spring game

                                                                                   (Associated press photo)
Marquise Vann (No. 46) made an impact at UConn's spring game.

In all the years I've been to spring games whether it is the last two years at UConn or at Yale before that I've never quite figured out how to view these events.

When an offensive struggles to run the ball as badly as UConn did on Saturday is that a sign of poor offensive execution or great defense? I guess you could argue that it was a little bit of both.

A signal of what kind of day it was likely came when UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni opened his interview with the media focusing on the players (about 15 of them) who were held out of the scrimmage.

The event started with the "back to the wall" drills which is the offense with the ball on the 1 coming out. It did not go particularly well as it took a couple of series before the offense got a first down.

When it went to a live 11 on 11 offense against defense with no controlled situations, Chandler Whitmer had some nice throws as he finished 8 of 14 for 140 yards but the offense was unable to score a touchdown as the only scoring came on field goals of 46 and 20 yards by Bobby Puyol.

The highlight of the offense were three straight completions by Chandler Whitmer. The first two went Shakim Phillips and the third was to junior Deshon Foxx. Foxx had a 26-yard completion but he stumbled down inside the 1.

"I caught the ball and I tried to turn," Foxx said. "I didn’t know where the defender was so I was stumbling getting out of my turn and I stumbled onto the ground. As long as I can help the offense get down there."

Foxx had three catches for a team-high 70 yards and during the red-zone drills he scored on a reverse to show off some speed and explosiveness.

"I just want to be a threat, just trying to be able to spread the field a little bit and not only make plays for me but help my teammates able to make plays," Foxx said.

Defensively, senior defensive lineman Tim Willman had two sacks, starting safeties Ty-Meer Brown and Andrew Adams each had three tackles and an interception while linebackers Jefferson Ashiru and Brandon Steg had three tackles each while Marquise Vann had two near interceptions before finally picking one off during red-zone drills.

"It felt good to get out there in front of some fans," Willman said. "It was time for some of the younger guys to step up and play their roles and it will be even better when they are back and we are pretty excited about that."

Adams in line for expanded role

The move of starting safety Byron Jones has been a popular story line during UConn's spring practice but if not for the emergence of Andrew Adams, it's unlikely that the Huskies' coaching staff would be able to make such a move.

Adams was a relative unknown heading into fall camp in 2012 but as he continued to make plays his time on the field. It didn't take long for Adams to make an impact as his first tackle went for a 9-yard loss in the season-opening win over UMass and he had back to back five-tackle games against  Maryland and Western Michigan.

Adams made 23 tackles including two behind the line of scrimmage, he recovered a fumble against Rutgers and broke up four passes playing mostly in the five and six defensive back formations. Now he has a chance to have a more expanded role as he is vying for a starting safety spot next to Ty-Meer Brown.

"I am still trying to get a lot of the assignments down but everything has been going good," Adams aid after Saturday's practice. "The biggest adjustment is a new playbook, have a new defensive coordinator (Hank Hughes) so it is kind of mixed between last year and this year.

"I'm just focusing on my assignments, doing what I am supposed to do, being in the right position and all the stuff goes a long way so if you do the little things right you will find the field and you will get a decent amount of playing time."

With the graduation of cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson, who both could be taken by the end of the second day in the NFL draft, and a lack of size among the top returning cornerback candidates the decision was made to move Jones to corner.

"Byron is a good player and I guess they felt like we needed him at corner so of course that moved me up but I am just trying to make the best of my situation," Adams said. "We weigh the same, he might be a little taller but I might be a little more physical but Byron is a great player."

So what will Adams try to bring to the defense if he earns a starting spot?

"I try to be as physical as I can," Adams said. "I try to play hard and play fast."

He is also excited about the potential of a Connecticut defense which lost six starters including four expected to be taken in the NFL draft later this month.

"I think this group can be just as good as last year, I really do," Adams said. "If we keep pushing and do what we’ve been doing day in and day out and I think we can be better than last year, I really do."