University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Football Announces Fall Depth Chart
8/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
August 22, 2003
STORRS, CT - University of Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall announced his team’s depth chart on Friday for the Huskies’ season opener on August 30 against Indiana University at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
Four true freshmen are included in the two-deep, including Allan Barnes and Dontá Moore in the defensive secondary along with Sam Dorvil and Bloomfield’s Matt Lawrence holding down backup roles in the offensive backfield. All of the starting roles on both offense and defense are determined with the exception of tight end where a shoulder injury to projected starter Tim Lassen has left senior Terry McClowry and redshirt freshman Dan Murray in a dead-heat heading into game week. UConn will enter the season with Keron Henry and Shaun Feldeisen listed as the starting receivers, but a group of five players will share time at that position with Brandon Young to rejoin the mix once he fully heals from a hamstring injury. The offensive line, defensive line and linebackers fell exactly into the form projected after spring drills with the exception of Jason McKee earning the backup post at right guard and Craig Berry taking charge at backup right tackle. Several new faces will see action in the Husky secondary where Ernest Cole edged out Cathlyn Clarke for the starting post at right corner in another tight fall camp battle. Adam Coles and Matt Nuzie are set to handle punting and place kicking duties, respectively. M.J. Estep and Lawrence will continue to compete to return kickoffs for UConn while David Sanchez and Dan Desriveaux have a duel going for the punt returning chores with Young on the mend.
The following are coach Edsall’s comments on the depth chart:
"I think we’re in pretty good shape coming out of camp. Other than Tim Lassen and Brandon Young not being there, this is pretty much what I anticipated the two-deep to be. It was good to see Craig Berry have a good camp and elevate himself. The play of Dan Murray was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect him to come along as quickly as he did and that will help us with Lassen out. I think Sam Dorvil and Matt Lawrence are both great additions to our backfield as true freshmen. They’re just what I had hoped for when we signed them and the same is true of some of our freshmen who will have a chance to play in the secondary."
"At tight end, we’ll see who continues to have a good week of practice to decide who our starter is at tight end, but both of them will play anyway when we go to a double tight end formation."
"I like the depth in the backfield. We’ve got five guys that can carry the ball and can also block. You think you have enough people but in the game of football you never know. Hopefully those five guys will provide enough depth there to take us through the season."
"With our receivers, who is listed as a starter doesn’t matter to me. We’ll have a five-man rotation. They will all play and I consider them all starters in my mind. But, you have to list somebody and Keron Henry had an excellent camp. I think we’ve got those five that can play, plus Brandon Young who will make it a six-man rotation when he gets back. It’s nice to have that kind of depth and ability there."
"There are no surprise starters on the offensive line. Those guys have played together before. They played together in the spring and they’re gelling well. The same for the backups. Jason McKee and Craig Berry elevated themselves into their positions and that makes me very happy. Most of them have two or three years of experience playing together and that experience on the offensive line will make us a much better football team."
"This is exactly what I expected going into the fall on the defensive line and with the linebackers. The same is true with the secondary except for some juggling due to the defections, but we don’t worry about that. We worry about who is here. We’ve got two true freshmen on that two-deep in Allan Barnes and Dontá Moore. John Fletcher has experience playing for us on special teams and some on defense. Cole and Clarke played some last year on special teams. When you look at it though, we have a lot of young players with some inexperience. You only have two out of the top eight who have played extensively for us in the past, but I like the makeup of that group. We’re just going to have to coach the heck out of them and they’ll have to mature quickly, but I think that they have the capability to handle what we’ll throw at them."
"Coming out of camp, those are the four true freshmen that will play significantly (Dorvil, Lawrence, Barnes and Moore) along with possibly Brian Ushler as a backup deep snapper. But, that’s where you want your program to be. If your program is developing, there shouldn’t be much room for freshmen unless they’re so far ahead of every body else. I thought coming in that the skill position freshmen would have an opportunity to help us, especially in the secondary. I think it will be good to get a lot of the freshmen a year under their belts in the program. We’ll reap more benefits from them in the fifth year than we would have in the first year."
"We’ll wait to see how our returners play out during practice this week before making final decisions. Brandon Young would have been our punt returner but he’s not in there right now. We just have to make some decisions."
"Matt Nuzie has become more consistent. He’s hitting the ball very well. Now he’s just got to carry that over to a game situation and I know he will. We’ve gotten him a lot of work this preseason. I’m very confident in Matt. I think Matt’s going to have an excellent year for us. Plus, Adam Coles as our punter is as steady as they come. Our kicking game should be in good shape."
OFFENSE WR: 87 Shaun Feldeisen (Sr., 6-1, 223) 80 Jason Williams (So., 6-0, 175) 17 Matt Cutaia (Jr., 5-11, 182) WR: 1 Keron Henry (Jr., 6-2, 219) 88 O’Neil Wilson (Jr., 6-2, 189) LT: 73 Ryan Krug (Jr., 6-4, 310) 74 Michael Kodish (So., 6-5, 294) LG: 54 Brian Markowski (Jr., 6-2, 2890 66 Laurence Oliver (Sr., 6-3, 275) C: 58 Billy Irwin (Jr., 6-2, 281) 56 Jeff Fox (Jr., 6-2, 296) RG: 64 LeAndre Dupree (Jr., 6-1, 30) 67 Jason McKee (Jr., 6-2, 315) RT: 78 Grant Preston (So., 6-4, 295) 72 Craig Berry (Fr., 6-5, 325) TE: 36 Terry McClowry (Sr., 6-2, 253) OR 46 Dan Murray (Fr., 6-5, 246) QB: 7 Dan Orlovsky (Jr., 6-5, 226) 19 Jermell Williams (So., 6-2, 189) TB: 44 Terry Caulley (So., 5-7, 183) 33 Cornell Brockington (Fr., 5-11, 190) OR 42 Matt Lawrence (Fr., 6-0, 191) FB: 30 Deon Anderson (So., 5-11, 241) 8 Sam Dorvil (Fr., 5-11, 236) DEFENSE DE*: 97 Uyi Osunde (Sr., 6-3, 248) 40 Shawn Mayne (Fr., 6-4, 223) DT: 92 Ryan Bushey (Sr., 6-3, 288) 76 Deon McPhee (So., 6-1, 280) DT: 99 Sean Mulcahy (Sr., 6-6, 292) 93 Rhema Fuller (Fr., 6-2, 281) DE: 52 Tyler King (Jr., 6-6, 255) 95 Hakeem Kashama (Sr., 6-4, 279) SLB#: 32 James Hargrave (So., 5-11, 224) 20 Kinnan Herriott (Jr., 5-11, 221) MLB: 9 Alfred Fincher (Jr., 6-1, 240) 51 Darius Leak (Fr., 6-1, 250) WLB: 11 Maurice Lloyd (Jr., 5-11, 228) 47 Taurien Sowell (So., 6-1, 225) LCB: 2 Justin Perkins (Jr., 5-11, 166) 26 Allan Barnes (Fr., 6-0, 167) LS: 12 John Fletcher (Jr., 5-9, 176) 21 Dontá Moore (Fr., 6-0, 186) RS: 22 Terrance Smith (Sr., 5-11, 202) 35 M.J. Estep (Fr., 6-1, 183) RCB: 41 Ernest Cole (Fr., 5-10, 173) 23 Cathlyn Clarke (So., 5-11, 185) * referred to as the “bandit” end # referred to as the “husky” linebacker SPECIAL TEAMS P: 6 Adam Coles (Sr., 6-5, 227) 6 Chris Pavasaris (Fr., 6-2, 210) PK: 98 Matt Nuzie (Fr., 5-11, 195) 94 Graig Vicidomino (Fr., 6-1, 193) H: 6 Adam Coles (Sr., 6-5, 227) 16 Matt Bonislawski (Fr., 6-4, 205) LS: 56 Jeff Fox (Jr., 6-2, 296) 61 Brian Ushler (Fr., 6-4, 259) PR: 85 David Sanchez (Fr., 5-8, 171) OR 3 Dan Desriveaux (Fr., 5-9, 194) KR: 35 M.J. Estep (Fr., 6-1, 183) OR 42 Matt Lawrence (Fr., 6-0, 191)
