What’s The Deal At QB?
The Story: UConn has had four games and now has three starting quarterbacks as Randy Edsall anointed Steve Krajewski the starter after a 56-21 loss to UCF on Saturday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The king is dead. Long live the king. Jack Zergitois‘ reign as quarterback lasted less than a month as he was pulled after one awful quarter for Krajewski, a redshirt freshman. Krajewski, who threw a terrible pick-six in his first possession, eventually settled down and despite the blowout threw for 273 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Edsall announced that Krajewski is the starter going forward.
WHAT IS GOING ON? We aren’t sure. A week before the season started, Edsall named Mike Beaudry the starting quarterback. Beaudry got hurt against Wagner and Zergiotis had an impressive debut against Illinois, throwing for 275 yards. Edsall said the Z-Man had the “it” factor and named him the starter. Beaudry hasn’t been heard from since. Zergiotis wasn’t good in a loss to Indiana and Edsall pulled him against UCF. Now we have three quarterbacks UConn has played and we don’t know what’s going on at the position. It makes us want to grab a Molson and drown out our sorrows.
WHAT ABOUT KRAJEWSKI? The 6-foot-4 Georgia native looked the part of a quarterback. He can use his feet to escape, throws an accurate ball and read through his progressions against UCF’s second- and third-string units. To us, Krajewski did look the most comfortable of the three, though we aren’t ready to dismiss Beaudry yet. We like the talent of Zergiotis but if he isn’t going to start in the next several weeks, he could sorely use a redshirt year (which he is still eligible to take).
WHAT HAPPENED SATURDAY NIGHT? We told you UConn needed a miracle and didn’t get it. The Knights are in a different league and level and took a 56-0 lead over the Huskies. UCF ran up 610 yards and dominated the opening half on its way to a 42-0 advantage. We expected UConn to lose big, but the way the game got out of hand is disappointing. A lot of that had to do with poor QB play that made the defense’s job impossible. We won’t dwell on the game or the 1-3 start. The game was never going to be close or competitive. We knew that when the schedule came out in March. There’s no faux coach outrage here.
BRIGHT SPOTS: The run game showed up with Kevin Mensah rushing for 123 yards in the loss. Of course, Krajewski did throw three touchdowns passes and we liked how he looked when he settled down. Most importantly? UConn entered the game -44.5 and was down 56-0. That setup a stellar backdoor cover by the Huskies as the Knights cycled through their roster.
OUR TAKE: What’s the deal with Beaudry? He was in pads on Saturday so we are assuming he was available. How much is he hurt? We don’t know because UConn doesn’t disclose injuries or provide a depth chart. This lack of information makes the program look unstable. We aren’t opposed to Edsall changing quarterbacks and we think Krajewski has looked the best of the three. This is likely the way to go to win against a very vulnerable USF on Saturday. UConn needs a win against an FBS team and the Bulls and Charlie Strong are under siege in Tampa after an embarrassing loss to SMU.
GAME MOVED TO NOON: UConn’s game against USF has been moved to noon from 7 p.m. due to fears about EEE. We are assuming TV plans remain the same. Hope so anyway.
SO WHO STARTS AT QB? Hell if we know. 🤷♂️
Morning Reads
SPRINGER’S HISTORIC YEAR: George Springer finished his best year with the Astros with a .292 average, 39 home runs and 95 RBIs. (Dom Amore on Twitter)
HURLEY HAS THAT FEELING: Dan Hurley has a good feeling about the men’s basketball team this season and that means we have a really, really good feeling about the team. (The Day)
THAT CHAMPIONSHIP VIBE: Hurley’s Huskies have their eye on that AAC conference trophy. (Hartford Courant)
LANE CANCELS VISIT: UConn recruit Niels Lane canceled his official visit this past weekend. We treat this as a sign there is another recruit the Huskies are close on (Cough, Andre Jackson. Cough) (Hearst Connecticut Media)
FH BLANKS BU: Svea Boker and Sophie Hamilton each scored twice as No. 3 UConn blanked Boston University 4-0 on Sunday. (UConnhuskies.com)
