2-a-Days: UConn and Yale

UConn Huskies



Not many people saw that season coming. A bowl game? Possibly, but not a tie for the Big East title. The Huskies got it done by doing the right things at the right time. They weren't flashy by any means, but they kept on taking care of business. Can they pull off another season like 2007 again?


THE OFFENSE: Tyler Lorenzen has to step it up. He just hasn't gotten the job done yet. Connecticut's passing offense ranked 97th in the nation and was one of the worst in the Big East. Moving the football through the air is a must if they want to repeat as Big East co-champs. But, grinding it out on the ground won't hurt either. The combination of Andre Dixon, who emerged as the top tailback in the offense, and Donald Brown, both juniors, should be more than solid together. The converted QB D.J. Hernandez is one of the top options at WR, and that's not a good thing. Brad Kanuch is a junior and there really is no #1-quality target. Moe Petrus and Zach Hurd are young guys who kind of stole the spotlight from some other starters and apparently they've been impressive in practice. UConn didn't do a great job in protection last year ranking 77th in sacks allowed.


THE DEFENSE: The defense basically should have gotten all the credit for going to a bowl game. They created enough turnovers to win and, outside of a 66 point meltdown versus West Virginia, only allowed opponents to get past the 20-point plateau twice (Wake Forest, Cincinnati). This year's unit should be every bit as good as last year's, if not better. Lawrence Wilson and Scott Lutrus combine to make for one of the Big East's better LB corps and Cody Brown and Julius Williams should have big years at DE. Darius Butler might get some time at WR this year, but he'll still be the team's top cornerback and he did play great at times last year. Robert Vaughn had seven picks last year and should lock down that safety position. This is a good team on this side of the ball as they ranked 14th in scoring defense. Expect the Huskies to find themselves in more defensive slugfests.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 28 Hofstra
Sept. 6 at Temple
Sept. 13 Virginia
Sept. 19 Baylor
Sept. 27 at Louisville
Oct. 4 at North Carolina
Oct. 18 at Rutgers
Oct. 25 Cincinnati
Nov. 1 West Virginia
Nov. 8 OPEN DATE
Nov. 15 at Syracuse
Nov. 22 at South Florida
Dec. 6 Pitt

The schedule is harder. Temple almost came into UConn's home field and knocked them off (actually, I guess you could say they did). The battle against Hofstra should be tightly contested and Baylor shouldn't be as easy as they have been in the past. North Carolina should get better all-around as should Pittsburgh. The two toughest road games are against Louisville and USF.

Don't Even Think About It: West Virginia
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: @ Louisville, @ Rutgers, Cincinnati, @ USF
Good/Probable Shot At It: Hofstra, Temple, Virginia, Baylor, @ UNC, @ Syracuse, Pitt


THE OUTLOOK: UConn could win seven games at the max. They just seemed too lucky at times last year for their play. The Temple and Louisville games are prime examples of that. It just looks like the real team showed up to play against Cincinnati and West Virginia while USF was reeling at the time UConn beat them last year. They looked alright against Wake Forest, but then again, Wake rarely blows anybody out of the water. The Huskies might get somewhat better offensively, but they won't get as many breaks and they'll lose one between Hofstra/Temple/Baylor.


BOWL GAME?: Nope.








Yale Bulldogs



Let's take a spin around the Ivy League. Last year, the boys from New Haven, Connecticut almost finished undefeated. BUT, a creaming to Harvard ended those hopes. Yale now returns a good nucleus of players and is getting some Top 25 recognition. So, will this team win the Ivy League?


THE OFFENSE: Matt Polhemus is gone and while he wasn't an extremely efficient passer, he did get the job done with his senior leadership. He could also scramble a bit. Replacing him will most likely be Ryan Fodor who played a little bit against Holy Cross and Harvard. He seems to have the most experience, but Yale does have a few more QBs on the roster. Still, the unquestionable leader of this team is Mike McLeod who has gained national notoriety and the attention of NFL scouts even. Yale ranked eighth in rushing last year and McLeod was third nationally in rushing, an extremely impressive total. Even though Yale doesn't pass a whole lot, John Sheffield was a solid go-to-guy at TE and Chris Denny-Brown will be gone for the 2008 season. Stephen Morse and Darius Dale are the most experience vets on the offensive line and should have a good year paving the way for McLeod to get in open space.


THE DEFENSE: The Ivy League isn't necessarily littered with potent offenses, but Yale did a great job all year long (well, except against Harvard). The team finished first in the nation in scoring defense. The run defense was the bread-and-butter of the Bulldogs with a national ranking of 9th. Bobby Abare led the team in tackles at LB and Brady Hart should compliment his skills at the other LB position. Steven Santoro leads the secondary, but Nick Solakian will be missed from the defensive backfield. Jared Hamilton and Kirk Porter are gone from the defensive line. These two guys led the team in sacks last year so that might present a problem down the road if they aren't able to be replaced.


THE SCHEDULE:

Sep. 20 Georgetown
Sep. 27 at Cornell
Oct. 4 Holy Cross
Oct. 11 at Dartmouth
Oct. 18 at Fordham
Oct. 25 Pennsylvania
Nov. 1 Columbia
Nov. 8 at Brown
Nov. 15 Princeton
Nov. 22 at Harvard

The schedule opens up with Georgetown on September 20th and Holy Cross isn't a bad team. They did beat Harvard last year. The Ivy League will present some interesting road challenges towards the Bulldogs with Brown and Harvard coming away.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....:
Good/Probable Shot At It:


THE OUTLOOK: Yale could go undefeated with this. They almost did it in 2007 save for the final game against Harvard where the Crimson shellacked them 37-6. I wouldn't expect that this time around. Watch out for Mike McLeod, he should be one of the top rushers in the FCS yet again. I'll bet Yale drops one between Brown or Harvard, but that could be good enough to get them ranked in the final FCS poll.


FBS UPSET?: Well, they don't play an FBS team but they will face Army in 2010, I believe.