University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Football Ready To Cap Spring Practice
4/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 16, 2004
A successful spring football season will draw to a close on Saturday, April 17 when the Huskies face off in the annual Blue-White Spring Game, which for the first time will be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT. Both admission and parking are free. For more information on the game's policies and its marketing promotions,
A full day of free football excitement awaits UConn fans in East Hartford on Saturday on what is expected to be a warm and sunny afternoon.
Offensively, Dan Orlovsky has gotten a good amount of work in after missing all but two plays of the 2003 spring drills with a broken bone in his foot. With Jermell Williams injured this spring, Matt Bonislawski has again shown great poise with the extra reps as backup. One of the offensive stars of last spring, Bonislawski completed nine of his 13 passes in last Saturday's scrimmage for 161 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Shane Fogarty and Peder von Harten have also gotten in a lot of work at the quarterback position.
Head coach Randy Edsall has a problem at tailback but it's a good problem as three different backs are vying for the starting nod. Sophomore Matt Lawrence of Bloomfield has picked up 206 yards and three TDs on 29 carries in the team's two previous scrimmages and has made the biggest improvement from the 2003 season. Cornell Brockington has led all rushers this spring with 223 yards in the two scrimmages on his 38 carries, also scoring one touchdown. New Britain's Chris Bellamy has been in the mix as well. Meanwhile, Terry Caulley is not practicing, but continues to see progress in the rehabilitation of his knee injury, suffered last fall at Virginia Tech.
It again appears like UConn will have a healthy stable of wide receivers in 2004. Keron Henry was the offensive star of the team's first scrimmage, catching four passes for 95 yards, including a 25-yard TD strike from Orlovsky. Junior walk-on Brian Sparks has been the biggest surprise of this group, playing solidly in both scrimmages.
The offensive line has been steady, as one would expect with four returning starters. The spring has afforded the UConn staff a good opportunity to evaluate several promising players, including redshirt freshmen Chad Atwell and Brian Kersmanc, along with sophomore Craig Berry who has been shifted over from tackle to right guard.
A jumble of young players on the defensive line has stared to settle into place. Tyler King, the lone returning starter in the unit, missed part of the spring due to injury but is back with the team and looking sharp.
The starters at linebacker are all returnees in Alfred Fincher, James Hargrave and Maurice Lloyd, but several players have fought hard for back up roles and had a good competition. Darius Leak, Taurien Sowell and Danny Lansanah each finished in the team's top five tackle totals for one of the scrimmages as a backup linebacker.
In the secondary, Justin Perkins and John Fletcher look poised to retain their starting nods but two other spots are still wide open. A variety of young players have performed well in the secondary. Both redshirt freshman Marvin Taylor and sophomore Allan Barnes have returned interceptions for touchdowns during previous spring scrimmages.
