University of Connecticut Athletics
Football Holds First Spring Practice On Tuesday
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 15, 2010
STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut football team opened spring practice on Tuesday afternoon at the Mark R. Shenkman Center. The Huskies will practice each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for the next five weeks with the annual Blue-White Spring Game taking place on Saturday, April 17 at Rentschler Field. Kickoff for the game is at noon with gates opening at 10:30 a.m. and parking lots at 9:00 a.m. Admission and parking for the game are free.
This year's Husky football team enters spring practice with three-straight bowl appearances to their credit, including two wins in a row and a victory over South Carolina in the 2010 Papajohns.com Bowl. The Huskies won their final four games of the 2009 season - a streak which started with an emotional double overtime win at Notre Dame.
The Huskies also return a strong nucleus this year from the 2009 season. Eight starters return on each side of the ball along with one of two specialists. UConn is stocked with young talent that started to blossom in '09.
UConn enters 2010 with optimism, but head coach Randy Edsall knows that there is only one way to make this season another successful one - hard work and playing as a team.
"After the bowl game, I told our team in the locker room to enjoy the win, but when they start the spring semester the work starts all over again and 2009 does not mean a thing," says Edsall, who enters his 12th season in charge of the Husky program and is now the most tenured coach in the BIG EAST Conference. "I am very happy with how our off-season conditioning program has been going. Our players have shown a commitment that they want to even be better in 2010."
The Husky offense is led by a pair of quarterbacks who both have started games over the past two seasons. Redshirt senior Zach Frazer started seven games last season - the first two and the final five, including the bowl win, with a knee injury in between. Frazer developed as the season progressed and threw eight TD passes in the final five games of the year and had just two interceptions in the final four games. Redshirt junior Cody Endres started six games last year when Frazer was hurt and has eight career starts under his belt. He also became increasingly effective the more he played last year and threw for more than 250 yards in three of his starts.
Also at the quarterback spot for the Huskies this spring are redshirt sophomore Johnny McEntee, redshirt freshman Michael Box and freshman Leon Kinnard.
Junior Jordan Todman leads the returning running backs as he rushed for 1,188 yards in 2009 and earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors. He rushed for 100 yards or more in five games last season, including three of the final four regular season games. Redshirt junior Robbie Frey has played in 21 career games and is also a strong kickoff returner for the Huskies. A knee injury cut his 2009 season short in the eighth game of the season.
Redshirt junior Jonathan Jean-Louis moves from defense to tailback this spring while redshirt junior Kelmetrus Wylie and redshirt freshman Martin Hyppolite are also in the mix.
The fullback position is also experienced with seniors Anthony Sherman, who has made 21 career starts, and Bret Mannning. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Griffin started 10 games at tight end in his first college season in 2009 and established himself as a dependable receiver with 23 receptions for 272 yards - including six receptions combined in the final two regular season games. Redshirt sophomore John Delahunt also saw valuable playing time last year while senior Alex Kaiser and redshirt sophomore Corey Manning provide depth.
UConn losses two top receivers from last year in Marcus Easley and Brad Kanuch, but there is experience returning with a number of young players waiting to emerge. Redshirt junior Kashif Moore has 22 receptions last season for three touchdowns, including one in overtime vs. Notre Dame and another in the Papajohns.com Bowl. Redshirt junior Isiah Moore had 24 receptions for one touchdown while junior Michael Smith had 15 receptions. Other returnees at the receiver spot are: redshirt sophomore Gerrard Sheppard and sophomores Dwayne Difton, Mike Lang and Nick Williams - in addition to redshirt freshmen Malik Generett, Cole Wagner (who will also work at punter) and Eric Sawicki. Joshua Massey moves to the wide receiver position this spring.
The offensive line has four starters back from last year, but takes a hit with the departure of Mike Hicks, who started 48 games in his Husky career. Redshirt junior Moe Petrus returns at center after being moved to that position in 2009 and has made a total of 25 starts over the past two seasons.
At the guard spot, redshirt senior Zach Hurd was a First Team All-BIG EAST pick in 2009 while redshirt senior Mathieu Olivier is back after starting eight games last year. Redshirt sophomore Eric Kuraczea also started five games at guard last year while redshirt sophomore Adam Masters and redshirt freshmen Tyler Bullock and Steve Green are also back.
Redshirt junior Mike Ryan started nine games at left tackle in 2009 and returns as does redshirt sophomore Jimmy Bennett, who has not seen any collegiate game action yet after a preseason knee injury last year. Redshirt freshman Stephen Brown and Kevin Friend and freshman Greg McKee are also at the tackle spot.
Eight starters also return on the UConn defensive unit. Sophomore Jesse Joseph started all 13 games for the Huskies at one defensive end spot and made 38 tackles. He was the first true freshman to start for UConn in its FBS history. Senior Greg Lloyd makes the move to defensive end this year after playing linebacker last year. He missed the final three games of 2009 with a knee injury and his recovery from that will also keep him out of spring drills. He was a second team All-BIG EAST pick last year with 91 tackles. Sophomore Trevardo Williams played in all 13 games last year and had 19 tackles while redshirt sophomore Marcus Campbell returns to the team after not being on the squad in 2009. Redshirt sophomore A.J. Portee and Ted Jennings are also at defensive end along with freshman Jonathan Louis.
The defensive tackle spot is highly experienced with a pair of redshirt juniors in Twyon Martin and Kendall Reyes. Martin has started 20 games for the Huskies over the past two years while Reyes has made 18. The depth at that position comes in redshirt senior Alex Polito, redshirt sophomores Beau Brunelli and Ryan Wirth and redshirt freshman Shamar Stephen and Tim Willman.
The linebacker position has two starters back at that position, with Lloyd moving to the line. Redshirt senior Scott Lutrus was an All-BIG EAST pick in 2008 and missed five games last year with an injury. Lutrus still managed to come back and make 69 tackles, including a team-high nine in the Papajohns.com Bowl. Redshirt senior Lawrence Wilson was a First Team All-BIG EAST selection last year and was the team leader in tackles with 140 and was tied for tenth nationally in tackles. Redshirt sophomore Jory Johnson played in 12 games and made 28 tackles while senior Kijuan Dabney also is back after missing most of last year with a shoulder injury, but has played in 20 games. The other linebackers are redshirt sophomores Sio Moore, Jerome Williams and Mark Hinkley, redshirt junior Emmanuel Omokaro and incoming freshman Michael Osiecki.
Experience at cornerback was lost with the departure of Robert Vaughn, who made 40 career starts. Redshirt sophomore Blidi Wreh-Wilson had nine starts in 2009 and improved as the season moved on. Redshirt sophomore Dwayne Gratz played in all 13 games last year while redshirt junior Gary Wilburn played in six. Also looking for time at cornerback is redshirt freshmen Tevrin Brandon and Chris Lopes along with freshman Gilbert Stlouis. Redshirt freshman Markeith Cirinna is also at cornerback.
The loss at safety comes from Robert McClain - a starter in all 13 games last year with 18 career starts. Redshirt sophomore Jerome Junior started 12 games last year and had 48 tackles and looks to gain even more experience. The rest of the safety crew is young with redshirt juniors Harris Agbor and John Yurek along with redshirt sophomore Matt Edwards, redshirt freshmen Marcus Aiken and David Kenney and freshman Andrew Opoku.
The special teams loses experienced punter Desi Cullen, who graduated as UConn's career leader. Redshirt freshman Chad Christen will challenge for that spot in the spring as Cole Wagner will also see time there. Junior Dave Teggart is back at placekicker after making all 46 of his extra point attempts last year and hitting the game-winning field goal in the regular season finale against
