What Time Is It? Game Time, Woo!
The Story: It’s time to put the nightmares of the past in the past: UConn gets a chance to erase the historic humiliation of 2018 when it kicks off its season tonight against Wagner at Rentschler Field (7 p.m., ESPN3).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn, finally, gets a chance to be known for something other than having the worst defense in the history of college football. Whether it has the worst ever after allowing more than 50 points per game last year is debatable, but it is definitely in the argument. UConn revamped nearly its entire defensive staff, bringing in Lou Spanos to be the defensive coordinator, and we are expecting more competent and competitive play. The defensive line is led by sophomore DT Travis Jones and DE Kevon Jones and a linebacking corps led by Notre Dame transfer D.J. Morgan, Omar Fortt and Ryan Gilmartin. Yes, we are worried about the secondary, but that beats panicking over all 11 starters, which we were last year.
KEEP THE TEAM GROUNDED: As in, keep it on the ground. UConn has an entirely new receiving corps and a new quarterback in Mike Beaudry, but it has options in the backfield in holdover Kevin Mensah and Toledo grad transfer Art Thompkins. Mensah is a productive, physical running back and a veteran presence as a junior who rushed for 1,045 yards last season. Thompkins is an interesting case study. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry at Toledo and projects as a third-down and change-of-pace back. Perhaps UConn can go with a run-heavy look and have both on the field at the same time.
BEST GUESS AT A DEPTH CHART? Randy Edsall won’t put out a depth chart, but our intrepid friend at the Journal Inquirer in Neill Ostrout said damn the man, I will make my own!
BEAUDRY’S TEAM: Beaudry transferred to UConn to play quarterback, and when you look at the cadre of quarterbacks that have been brought in from the outside (Tyler Lorenzen, Zach Frazer, Chandler Whitmer, Bryant Shirreffs and David Pindell), he is by far the most proven and productive. Beaudry threw for 3,215 yards and 29 TDs two years ago as a Division II player at West Florida, leading the Argos to the national title game. That was Division II, however, and while this is two steps up in class, that is superior to junior college or just being a scout-team player. He missed nearly all of last season with a knee injury, but there is veteran talent and production there, albeit at a lower level.
ABOUT WAGNER: The Seahawks, who went 4-7 last year and 3-3 in the NEC, are returning a combined nine starters on offense and defense and are somehow welcoming an astonishing 56 new players this season. One of those is quarterback Christian Alexander-Stevens, a graduate transfer from FIU who was a backup for three years but stepped in, started and won the Bahamas Bowl in December. On defense, linebacker Cam Gill is the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year after he had 61 tackles, including 24.5 for a loss and 13.5 sacks last season.
BEWARE THE SEAHWKS: We are beginning the nightmare portion of this newsletter: UConn is 16-1 all-time against FCS teams. The one loss was a painful thumping in 2013 at the hands of Towson, 33-18, in what turned out to be the beginning of the end for Paul Pasqualoni as head coach.
Wagner, which plays in CCSU’s conference, is also the school that sent UConn’s men’s hoops on a sour path. The Seahawks beat the Huskies in the season opener in 2016. So, if Wagner happens to win on Thursday, we are calling for a ban from playing Wagner in any sport.
WHAT DO THE SHARPS SAY? UConn is -18.5 against the Seahawks, which to us is a scary bet. We have no depth chart, no frame of reference and no idea if UConn’s defense can stop a paper airplane from flying around. I guess that’s why it’s called gambling.
BOTTOM LINE: UConn opens the season against an FCS team and there is nothing it can do to make fans feel better about the season. UConn can’t lose this game, and to take the pressure off, it needs to win handily, especially with games against Illinois, Indiana and UCF looming. We are just looking for competitive play, some semblance of an ability to tackle on defense and would like to see some dominance somewhere. The Huskies’ lone win last season was 56-49 over Rhode Island. If UConn gives up 49 points again, we will have a bigger problem than whether they won or lost.
Morning Reads
INTRASTATE RIVALRY: The women’s soccer team will try to build on its win against Fairfield when it travels to face CCSU tonight. (UConnHuskies.com)
TIME FOR FALL BALL: The baseball team announced its fall schedule yesterday, including an alumni game at Dunkin’ Donuts Park on Sept. 22 and a game at Rhode Island a week later. (UConnHuskies.com)
GOING HOME AGAIN: After spending last season with the Seattle Seahawks, Shamar Stephen is pleased to be back with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him out of UConn in 2014. (Rivals.com)
LANE EYES HUSKIES: Class of 2020 shooting guard Niels Lane, from New Jersey, will take an unofficial visit to UConn tomorrow and has official visits lined up with Florida, Miami and Texas. (Ari Rosenfeld on Twitter)
