2016 UConn football preview: The Mega Mailbag

By
Kevin Meacham
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Bryant Shirreffs (Jessica Hill/AP)

Hi there! As UConn’s season opener against Maine has drawn closer, the ADB twitter account has been soliciting football-related mailbag questions from you, the reader, and #DimeBackNation (thanks to all who voted throughout the summer in the official A Dime Back hashtag contest!) came out in force, seeking the wisdom possessed only by someone who once stayed to the final whistle of a 59-point win over Liberty.

So while yes, there are a ton of questions to answer, and this will almost certainly be the largest ADB mailbag in history, we will power through. What, do you think UConn alum and football patriarch Batman would shy away from a bunch of questions?

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I think fucking not. Let’s get to it:

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1) Probably not, although Boston College can send us a thank you card in advance for the boost in sales if they like. 2) I hope there are never gators in Rentschler Field. They are very dangerous, especially around children. As for our lovably semi-lit fanbase, it’s possible the earlier tailgate will get fans moving to their seats earlier after more funtime, but there’s still got to be a compelling on-field product to motivate them (and some kind of audible cue for everyone to pack up might be useful, too).

Under’s always a safe bet when we’re talking UConn passing TDs (the only Huskies to throw three in a game this decade are Casey Cochran against Memphis in 2013, Chandler Whitmer against Western Michigan in 2012, and the immortal Johnny McEntee against WMU in 2011), so I’ll go with that. I think UConn will want to see if it can physically dominate and run over Maine Thursday, but if all goes well, I could see Shirreffs end up with numbers along the line of 15-22, 205 yards, 2 TD in a blowout win.

By my count, 14 quarterbacks have thrown at least two passes since Dan O graduated (I’m not counting Garrett Anderson, since his throw against Houston was a halfback option).

I would break those 14 into the following tiers:

INCOMPLETE (bad coaching/no playing time): Scott McCummings (2011-12), Michael Nebrich (2011), Michael Box (2010), Dennis Brown (2005-07)

Nebrich went on to be a minor star for Fordham at the FCS level, so I’m perfectly willing to blame the previous coaching staff for running him off regardless of what actually happened. And remember when McCummings would come in to run the wildcat and never actually passed the ball? Man, that sucked.

Box was the starter in perhaps the worst UConn game ever in a 2010 loss to Louisville, that team’s last regular-season loss before the Fiesta Bowl, and never started again, transferring before the start of the 2011 season. Brown was a semi-touted recruit who started two games as a freshman, and then fell behind a series of incoming QBs before transferring to Norfolk State after the 2007 season, depriving us of the Dennis Brown/Donald Brown backfield we deserved.

FULL-TIME STARTERS, “EH” DIVISION: 10. Tim Boyle (2013-15), 9. Matt Bonislawski (2004-06), 8. Johnny McEntee (2011-12), 7. Zach Frazer (2008-10), 6. D.J. Hernandez (2005-06)

Boyle, Bones and McEntee never had the kind of accuracy you’d need from a Division I QB (all three hovering around 50 percent completions), but Bones and Johnny Mac would occasionally find the end zone. Boyle was thrown into the fire early on, maybe too early, and never panned out; obviously, we’re all rooting for him down at Eastern Kentucky.

Zach Frazer was like if those three guys had a better supporting cast, but he’ll always be the quarterback who won at Notre Dame and played in the Fiesta Bowl, so…

frazer

Hernandez is a sentimental favorite, because he has one of the great game-winning plays in school history and then transitioned into being a really solid slot receiver in 2007-08, but his seven non-Pitt starts at QB weren’t anything overwhelming.

FULL-TIME STARTERS, “DECENT” DIVISION: 5. Cody Endres (2008-10), 4. Chandler Whitmer (2012-14), 3. Casey Cochran (2013-14), 2. Bryant Shirreffs (2015-16), 1. Tyler Lorenzen (2007-08)

I had a really hard time ordering the top five; Endres had a good, abbreviated year in 2009 stepping in for an injured Frazer, including a 378-yard passing day in the close loss to West Virginia, meanwhile discovering that Marcus Easley was a great receiver. He was off to a decent start in 2010 before getting kicked off the team. Happens.

Whitmer is fourth because his numbers during his main season as a starter, 2012, are spookily similar to Shirreffs’ 2016, except he offered no running threat and he was intercepted 16 times (Shirreffs only had 8 picks).

I have Cochran third, because he came the closest to succeeding Orlovsky as an Actually Good Quarterback — and mullet champion of the world — before his career was sadly ended by concussions after just nine games.

I’ve already stated my appreciation for Shirreffs’ performance with a subpar offensive line elsewhere on this website. I should now also share what might be an unpopular opinion, which is that Tyler Lorenzen is the best UConn QB of the last 11 years. Yes, he was poor in 2008, though very obviously not 100% healthy, and he did not have what you might call “proper throwing mechanics for a Division I quarterback.” But in 2007, he was exactly the QB UConn needed — an accurate passer who didn’t take unnecessary risks (just 6 INT all season) and who could throw for about 180 yards and a TD every week, while handing off to Donald Brown and Andre Dixon 40 times a game. He did enough to lead UConn to its best regular season ever (9-3 against a far tougher schedule than the 2003 team that also won 9 games) and its first-ever FBS conference title. I would absolutely sign up for his stat line from Shirreffs this year.

It’s kind of cheating, but I firmly believe that LITERAL 325-POUND DANISH ROBIN HOOD Andreas Knappe could absolutely shoot an arrow from distance and hit a moving target on a car. Or he could definitely shoot an arrow through a thrown football, like a skeet shooter but with 13th century technology. It’s a whole new spin on the trick-shot video, and one that I need in my life immediately.

A) Andreas Knappe halftime William Tell re-enactment. B) Unfortunately, there’s no gimmick that will get fans to sell out the Rent — it’s all about the wins. UConn fans are fickle and need a team that wins more than it loses. They’ll come when the program demonstrates that it is a consistent winner, and can be, at least, in contention for a conference title. If the Huskies knock off Navy and Virginia and start 3-0, I expect you might see a pretty good crowd for Syracuse; ditto if they’re (say) 7-2 and playing for an AAC East title against Temple in November. Until then, UConn’s going to have to keep working on improving its outreach and the gameday experience to keep the diehard fanbase of ~25,000 that they currently do have.

The answer’s Dan Orlovsky, now and forever. If you’re looking for a non-obvious answer, you’d want someone who would solidify one of the Huskies’ weaker spots, so take your pick of any of the badass offensive lineman from the late 2000s — shouts to Will Beatty, Zach Hurd, Mike Hicks, et al — a pass rusher like Trevardo Williams, or a safety like Robert Vaughn. (For me, it’s probably Beatty at left tackle, because having a freshman there is still a bit unnerving.)

Oh, hey, it’s Tim again. This is a strong question, because there’s a candidate at each level of the defense. Mikal Myers stepping in as a full-time starter at DT for the stout Julian Campenni is a possibility; Vontae Diggs taking his spot at outside linebacker following the graduation of Graham Stewart is another; and the Anthony Watkins/Brice McAllister duo battling to replace Andrew Adams is the third.

I’ll go with whoever emerges as the primary safety. Adams was so sound last year and so crucial to everything the UConn defense is designed to do, and Watkins and McAllister are both more raw/unproven than Myers and Diggs. If they can be adequate early on in the season, UConn should have a lot of success on defense.

This is the most important question ever asked on this website, and I thank you for your courage. For science reasons, I’ve spent most of my summer Googling Bob Diaco’s different looks in order to figure out the answer. Let’s take a look (click to embiggen):

diacopretty

I’m not the sartorial expert half of @NoEscalators, but to me it’s a no-brainer that the Nike shirt is a distant third place. It just looks too casual for someone projecting the kind of confidence and intensity that Bob possesses. I could go either way on the other two — I dig the dress shirt and slacks look in general, and its genteel sensibility is so incongruous with the violence of the game and the grass/mud motif of Rentschler Field, making it a great choice; on the other hand, the man can rock a dang sweater/collared shirt combo.

I won’t argue either way, but I think if you forced me to choose a #1, it’d have to be the dr–

diacosweater

OK, fine, it’s the sweater.

Before we move on, and I know we’re going long here, I should probably disclose that per my contract with ADB, I’m required to get a fairly substantial number of clicks on each article. With that in mind, please pardon the following…

Bob Diaco handsome, Bob Diaco pants, Bob Diaco short pants, Bob Diaco feet and short pants, Bob Diaco chiseled jaw, Bob Diaco Garfield, Bob Diaco better than my dad?, Bob Diaco wish he were my dad, How can I make Bob Diaco my dad, Bob Diaco Nicki Minaj friends?, Legal to write in Bob Diaco for president.

Thank you. Final question!

The short answer is “a second straight bowl trip and remaining in the AAC East hunt into November.” The long answer is something that deserves its own post, and that post will be coming soon…

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