OK, I guess we’re doing this again.
Welcome to football season, Husky fans. UConn opens its 2015 campaign on Sept. 3 against Villanova at PAWS ARF.
Please try to contain your excitement. I know it’s difficult.
The Huskies hope to improve on their 2-10 season a year ago, but experts aren’t enthusiastic about their chances. UConn was picked to finish last in the AAC East Division by league coaches and even head coach Bob Diaco is trying to manage expectations.
Diaco: “Win. We’re going to win every game. We’re going to play as one of the four teams in the playoff and win a national championship.”
— Neill Ostrout (@NeillOstrout) August 4, 2015
Oh.
Let’s all take a deep breath. I’ll take you through everything you need to know about the season ahead and answer whatever questions you might have (or at least some of them).
Question 1: So how bad will they be this year? Tell me what to expect.
Probably pretty bad. Sorry.
But remember: this group is young, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Here are some things to look for:
In all likelihood, UConn will have a new starting quarterback in NC State transfer Bryant Shirreffs. It’s possible that Tim Boyle and Garrett Anderson will see some time as well, but Diaco has hinted that Shirreffs is the guy to start the season.
Ron Johnson and Max DeLorenzo return to anchor the running game and both showed promise a year ago. Look out for Arkeel Newsome and Josh Marriner to step in and play serious minutes, too.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, they’ll have to make up for the losses of Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx, their top two wide receivers in 2014. Diaco said during media day that he expects Noel Thomas to establish himself as one of the best receivers in the nation. We’ll see about that, but at least the staff has confidence in him. The Huskies will also look to get more out of Dhameer Bradley, who had 15 catches for 100 yards last year.
As for the defense, Bill Connelly of SB Nation points out how freakishly large the Huskies are. That’s nice. He also noted that UConn was able to prevent other teams from making big plays (long rushes and such). That’s a major reason why the Huskies were able to stay within striking distance in several conference games last year — opponents really had to work to get on the board. If UConn can improve its pass defense, maybe, JUST MAYBE, it can keep opponents at bay while the offense figures out how to end a drive with something other than a punt or turnover.
Question 2: Do the thing where you predict which games they’ll win, then turn out to be wrong about everything.
That’s not a question.
That Villanova game is huge to start off. Not only because that’s the one FCS game on the schedule, but because the Wildcats are actually pretty good. A close win here would mean a whole lot more than last year’s near-disaster over Stony Brook.
Army figures to be kind of crap this year, so the Huskies could also win their second game. The Black Knights ripped the hearts out of UConn fans last year at Yankee Stadium, inspiring this masterful piece of art, and the Huskies should be hungry to avenge that loss.
After that, it gets tough. Missouri, Navy and BYU might all see the Top 25 at some point this year, and the Missouri and BYU games happen to be on the road. Let’s chalk those three games up as losses.
BUT THEN THERE’S THE CIVIL CONFLICT WHERE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! THROW THE RECORDS OUT THE WINDOW WHEN THESE TWO TEAMS PLAY, FOLKS! Let’s call the UCF game a win, just for fun.
USF comes to East Hartford after that for a winnable home game. My prediction: The Bulls jump out to an early lead then completely USF the thing away in the end. Duh.
Next up: At Cincinnati. Lost to them 41-0 last year, probably not beating them this year. Bearcats good.
The remaining schedule consists of East Carolina (non-conference), Tulane, Houston and Temple. The Pirates should be down this year and UConn almost beat them last year, so you never know. UConn lost to Tulane last year in perhaps the worst game in the history of sports. If I it through that entire game sober, we can call it a win.
UConn football fans can’t have nice things, so a senior day win against Houston is out the window. As for the season finale against Temple? Could go either way. I’ll give you some unwarranted hope and call it a win.
Best-case scenario: 6-6
Worst-case scenario: The floor is the limit.
Prediction: 4-8, with a much brighter outlook headed into 2016.
Question 3: I seem to remember UConn having a good quarterback at one point. Can we get back to that?
/Dials Dan Orlovsky
Russ: Hey…Doug?
Doug: It’s Dan.
Russ: Sorry, Dan?
Dan: Yeah, who is this?
Russ: It’s Russ. Wanted to see if you could come back to UConn.
Dan: I’ve told you a million times, I can’t. Stop calling here.
Russ: OK, talk soon. Love you.
Dan: I don’t know you. Please don’t say that to me.
OK, maybe the Huskies will have to go with what they have.
I’ve never seen Sherriffs play, so let’s give the kid a chance. He supposedly has a good arm and is pretty fast, though he sat out last year as a transfer, so expect some rust.
As for Boyle, there were flashes of good and a whole lot of bad last year. What will happen after an offseason of development? We’ll see. He was dealt a tough hand last year, having to burn his redshirt and jump in after Casey Cochran and his mullet were forced to step aside with concussion issues.
Question 4: And the offensive line?
Question 5: Diaco said that weird thing about Noel Thomas. Is he as good as advertised?
Gosh, wouldn’t that be great? He was one of the few bright spots in UConn’s first scrimmage a few days ago and seems to have built a nice on-field rapport with Sherriffs. If he can be a reliable go-to at wide receiver, I think the Huskies would settle for that. Then again, Diaco doesn’t sound like he’s ready to settle for much.
Question 6: What about the running game?
Johnson, a rising sophomore, is the Huskies’ most prolific returning rusher. He carried the ball 114 times last year for 429 yards and three touchdowns, and should get the bulk of the opportunities this year. Newsome had a few nice moments last year, but he fumbled four times in just 47 attempts. The senior DeLorenzo will also get plenty of chances.
Also don’t be surprised if Sherriffs gets in on the action himself, given his speed and apparent ability to avoid tackles.
Question 7: What things will cause losing?
Remember how frustrating it was in middle school algebra when you’d get a huge problem, do everything right, then torpedo the entire thing by mixing up a positive/negative? UConn did the on-field equivalent of that way too much last year, and if the preseason is any indication, you can expect more. False starts, fumbles, unforced penalties, stuff like that.
Hopefully by the time the season starts, some of that will have been cleaned up.
Question 8: What things will cause winning?
Prayer.
Question 9: What hashtag will you be using whenever a freshman converts a field goal?
