Tomorrow’s UConn Football Notebook Is Here Right Now

What’s goin?

Here’s look at tomorrow’s notebook for the paper…

By DESMOND CONNER

dconner@courant.com

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STORRS – Senior right guard Adam Masters, also a captain, broke down what’s breaking down the offensive line like this Tuesday:

“Our offensive line, physically, is capable of competing with any defensive front in the nation. I honestly believe that,” Masters said Tuesday. “The issue is, all it takes is one minor breakdown, one person missing his assignment and that can blow the play up. We’ve had that. We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds and that was basically the downfall of the game on Saturday.”

That’s certainly a plausible explanation. for the woes that have felled the Huskies up front to the point where sSophomore running back linebacker Lyle McCombs, add who rushed for more than 1,100 yards last season, end is still in search of his first 100-yard game. He had 82 yards yards on 23 carries in the season-opening 37-0 win against UMass and 60 yards on 20 carries in a 10-7 loss to N.C. State Saturday.

“There weren’t many issues against UMass but there was also more room for error because N.C. State was a better defensive front,” Masters Master said. “There’s less margin for error as the competition steps up.”

Running the ball has been tough and the . The offensive line has struggled to pave the way. It cannot continue or the Huskies (1-1) could very well continue to lose.

Although the defense is already in late-season form already, the offense can’t count on the defense to carry the team do what it does to the effect it has every week (although it . It probably could get Herculean herculean efforts from the defense every gameweek). The mindset is there for it that’s for sure but thThe offense shouldn’t expect to be bailed out because it can’t get its act together.

The Huskies (1-1) face another ACC squad Saturday, when they visit the Maryland Terrapins (2-0) where and former UConn Huskies head coach Randy Edsall is now in charge.

The Terps haven’t given up a lot of rushing yards – 156 in two games – but it remains to be seen if their whether the Terps defense is as good as what the Huskies saw this past weekend from the Wolfpack.

The point for the UConn front? is it It has to get better, plain in simple. Scheme, play-calls, are not the issue, Masters said.

“Everything is there, we do it in practice every day,” he said. “It’s a matter of execution and taking care of your responsibilities on game day. We have the answers for the test but we’ve got to go out and do it. It’s us on to make the blocks. That’s it.”

Spin On Rotation

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni, when asked about specific players in the wide receiver group, pivoted to say the whole unit needs to improve.

What that particular unit needs to do is get used to the rotation. it is in but it can’t be easy.

“Four of us are rotating on every other drive,” sophomore transfer Shakim Phillips said. “If it goes three and out, that’s it, the next group is on for the next series. It has some challenges to it but when your number is called you have to make a play. That’s what it is. It really doesn’t matter which of us [are] is in the game. If the ball is thrown we have to complete the play, have to execute. That’s what it is.”

Sophomore Geremy Davis leads all UConn receivers with seven catches for 106 yards or (53 yards per game). Nick Williams is second with four catches for 75 yards and Phillips, who had high expectations all over his game this season but is behind Davis in the rotation, has caught three passes for 30 yards.

Homecoming For Brown

UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown could have very well stayed at Maryland under Randy Edsall. He was had been retained but after three weeks, he got out of Dodgedodge.

“Bottom line is, family comes first and this was a great opportunity for me to get back to New England, get back to my family and coach at a great university. I couldn’t pass up.”

Sources Insiders say Brown and under Edsall would have been like an oil and watermix. Brown is an aggressive-style coach who and he wants his players to play the same way. Edsall’s philosophy was the exact opposite when he was at UConn.

That’s why reserve senior linebacker Ryan Donohue left Maryland.

“Part of the reason I left is because, when Coach Edsall came over, you know, he had a different mentality than a lot of coaches,” said Donohue, who had to sit out last season per NCAA transfer rules but played under Brown in College Park. “Everyone has their own. It wasn’t that I didn’t like him as a person. I just didn’t agree with some of his philosophies and the defensive scheme he wanted to run. I just didn’t feel like I fit in there. I explained it to him and he said, ‘No, I understand,’ and then Coach Brown leaves after two weeks. … I thought he was staying and then I was like ‘Oh, I get into another defense’ either like Coach Brown’s or as close as possible. I didn’t think I would wind up here but made a few calls, ended up following Coach Brown which is great for me.”

It is because Donohue is an aggressive linebacker who plays like his hair is on fire all the time. The 6 foot 242, backup to and backs up outside linebacker and captain Jory Johnson. Donohue , played in all 13 games for the Terps in 2010 in a reserve role.

Pasqualoni The Scout

Here’s Pasqualoni’s scouting report on the Maryland offense, which will be facing the nation’s third-ranked total defense (158.5 yards) and scoring defense (five points) and the No.1 rush defense (28.5 yards allowed): , too.

“I really think the offense and the system that they’re in , really fits the personnel they’ve put together,” Pasqualoni said. “Their wide receivers fit the job description of what they’re being asked to do. The backs are good backs. [Wes] Brown was a highly recruited kid. He’s getting some touches. He’s pretty athletic and big. I think that Perry Hills, the freshman quarterback, fits into this system really well; the zone-read system.”

Brown is coming off a of seven-carry, 50-yard effort against Temple but sophomore Justus Pickett scored what was the game-winning TD against William & Mary and leads the team in rushing with 114 yards on 32 carries and two TDs. Hills is 27 of 45 for 335 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, all in his first game. He bounced back with a better effort (11 of 21, 190 yards and two TDs) against the Owls. … Junior kicker Chad Christen said he tried at he came out during halftime Saturday to see if he could hit what would have been a 47-yarder into the wind, had the Huskies elected to go for a field goal on fourth-and-4th and 2 at the N.C. State 29 – into the wind. “You know it’s funny, when we went into halftime I told [punter Cole Wagner], reserve kickers David [Goodrich] and Bobby [Puyol] ‘after halftime I’m going to go out and when I’m done warming up I’m going to set the ball up and see if I can make. I literally could not make the field goal. It was a 47-yarder into that wind and I tried it twice. I came up short both times.” … UConn junior defensive end Tim Willman (Fulton, Md.), lives on the same street as Edsall and he saw his former head coach from time to time. “I see him at Harris Teeter, which is the grocery story right in our neighborhood, you know, shake his hand, have a little conversation. It’s fine.” Willman said the conversations don’t go much further than that. He said former special teams coach Lyndon Johnson, who followed Edsall to do the same job, also lives in the area. “His kids have come over trick or treating,” Willman said. … Pasqualoni said junior defensive tackle Shamar Stephen (knee) is still being listed as questionable. “If he works [Tuesday] and it doesn’t swell up then I’ll be encouraged.” The coach didn’t give an answer on the status of defensive end Teddy Jennings (knee). Pasqualoni anticipated having a recovered quarterback Casey Cochran (left hand) ready, “but my sense is, it’s going to be one more week.” Pasqualoni said.