A Challenge That Will Be Tough to Wrangle
The Story: The football team will attempt to win a game for the first time this season for the fifth consecutive week when it hosts Wyoming at Rentschler Field tomorrow. (3:30 p.m., CBS Sports)
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: This is the portion of the newsletter when reality sets in and we realize what’s going to happen tomorrow. (Yes, it takes just two paragraphs to get to that point.) What do we want to see from the Huskies?
• Solid play from the quarterback. Tyler Phommachanh was named the Huskies’ starter last week and became the third player in four weeks to have that role. He completed 11 passes for 109 yards, which needs to be improved upon, and also ran for 60 yards, with one 38-yard run ending in a touchdown. The freshman looked good. Can he keep it going?
• Some kind of competence on defense. It’s the Huskies’ more experienced unit but it’s allowing 491.8 yards and 46 points per game. Neither of those things are acceptable, unless you’ve somehow drifted here from The Wyoming Daily.
• The offense in general. Analyst Noel Mazzone had his week-to-week contract renewed and it seemed like his input was taken seriously given some of the Huskies’ play designs. We’d hand him the reins if we were signing the checks, but sadly, we’re not.
WHY OH WHY WYOMING? Such is life when you’re an independent, hustling for as many games as you can possibly get to fill out a schedule. (It’s kind of like an AAC slate, just lots of random opponents thrown into your Saturdays for four months.)
• It’s a one-off game that involves a $1 million payment, but that’s thankfully not being provided by UConn. Instead, Clemson will pay it, because Wyoming was supposed to play at Clemson in the season opener and it instead decided to play Georgia in the kickoff game in Charlotte. As we now know, that was a mistake.
• Between Fresno State and Wyoming this season and Utah State the next two seasons, there’s no word as to whether UConn is being considered for Mountain West membership.
ROPE ‘EM IN? The Cowboys’ pro-style, West Coast offense should put UConn’s defense at ease after it faced Army and the triple option last week. But that’s the only bit of relief the Huskies should experience.
• Wyoming is 3-0 and has averaged 38 points per game this season, just more than the 33 points the Huskies are allowing in the first half. Still, two of its three victories were earned on winning 75-yard drives.
• Junior quarterback Sean Chambers has thrown for 200 yards a game with four touchdowns and one interception. Senior running back Xazavian Valladay has run for 100 or more yards 11 times, including against Northern Illinois two weeks ago.
• Senior linebacker Chad Muma is ranked No. 3 in the nation with 11.8 tackles per game and has already returned two interceptions for a touchdown this season. But he’s no Jackson Mitchell.
Morning Reads
• St. John’s scored in the 43rd minute and added a goal in the first minute of the second period as the Red Storm blanked the women’s soccer team 3-0. (UConnHuskies.com)
• After it picked up a pair of much-needed victories last weekend, the No. 15-ranked field hockey team (4-4) hits the road for a Big East game against No. 13 Liberty this afternoon and then a nonconference game against No. 7 North Carolina, the reigning national champions. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The women’s volleyball team, which is 8-4 and off to its best start in many years, will play its first two Big East games this weekend when it hosts Seton Hall tonight and St. John’s tomorrow. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Hockey East released its preseason poll and the women’s hockey team is predicted to finish fourth, behind Northeastern, Providence and Boston College, in the 10-team conference. (UConnHuskies.com)
