University of Connecticut Athletics
Football Opens 2019 Season vs. Wagner on Thursday
8/25/2019 4:31:00 PM | Football
Kick is set for 7 p.m. in East Hartford
2019 Promotional Schedule | Ticket Information
With the 2018 season nothing but a speck in the rear-view mirror, the Huskies will officially start a new chapter when they take the field on Thursday night against the Wagner Seahawks to begin their 2019 campaign.
Head Coach Randy Edsall announced last week that grad transfer Mike Beaudry would be the starting quarterback in the season opener. He said that based on the work in camp, Beaudry got the nod over redshirt freshman Steven Krajewski.
"Just when you look at the overall statistics of everything that we did through preseason, it was really a tough decision," Edsall said in Sunday's press conference. "But Michael ended up doing more things that we wanted to see than Steven, and Steven did a lot of good things but Michael just did a few more things a little bit better."
Beaudry spent the last four years at the University of West Florida, where he led the team to the Division II National Championship game in 2017, which was his only full year as the starter. He said that he made a lot of adjustments in camp this year, but the most important was improving his mental game.
"It's hard to move fast, it's hard to focus on other things when you don't really know what you're doing," he said. "So the big thing is you gotta understand 'What is my job? What am I doing on this play?' and then from there you don't have to think about it anymore and you focus on other things."
Edsall praised the attitude and focus of this year's team, saying that they are really a fun group to be around, but they also are working really hard.
"Everybody is on board," he said. "Everybody understands that there's a role that they're going to have. If you can show us that you have a role, that you deserve to be on the field, then you're going to get an opportunity."
Edsall expressed that he was particularly impressed with the freshman class and the captains for the work they have done both on and off the field this year so far.
Redshirt junior defensive back Tyler Coyle said that it is his job as a captain to be a leader on the defense.
"This year being a redshirt junior, I feel like it's my responsibility," he said. "I'm one of the returning starters on defense, and I'm responsible now. I feel like I have to hone in and I have to get guys going. It's my job."
Edsall has emphasized a real "Next Man Up" mentality for the team this year, which is why he doesn't have a real depth chart. He has designated two squads, the participation squad and the developmental squad, and neither one is set in stone. He said that any of the 67 guys on the participation squad could play on Thursday and should be ready to play.
However, Edsall made sure to say that the developmental squad is not a scout team. They also need to be ready to play in case injuries happen. Over the course of the season, he hopes to develop those players to the point that they will be ready for the participation squad. He considers the developmental squad to be his "waiver wire."
Despite being an FCS opponent, Wagner will be a challenge and Edsall recognizes that.
"We respect them tremendously," he said. "Our thing is we just got to get prepared and then… we got to execute at a very high level. We got to be ready to make some adjustments if we see things that maybe we weren't expecting."
Overall, the sentiment from the coach and the players seems to be confidence and excitement heading into this season, which is a really good sign. Edsall summed it up nicely by saying that he has confidence in whoever he puts out there on Thursday night at every single position.
Husky Nation will finally get its first look at the new UConn football squad at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
