Connecticut 2012 Recruiting

Connecticut Huskies 2012 ... Head Coach: Paul Pasqualoni

Connecticut Huskies

2011 Record: 5-6

Sep. 3 Fordham  W 35-3
Sep. 10 at Vanderbilt L 24-21
Sep. 16 Iowa State L 24-20
Sep. 24 at Buffalo W 17-3
Oct. 1 Western Mich L 38-31
Oct. 8 at West Virginia L 43-16
Oct. 15 USF W 16-10
Oct. 22 OPEN DATE
Oct. 26 at Pitt L 35-20
Nov. 5 Syracuse W 28-21
Nov. 12 OPEN DATE
Nov. 19 Louisville L 34-20
Nov. 26 Rutgers W 40-22
Dec. 3 at Cincinnati

2010 CFN Prediction: 7-5
2010 Record: 8-4

Sept. 4 at Michigan L 30-10
Sept. 11 Texas Southern W 62-3
Sept. 18 at Temple L 30-16
Sept. 25 Buffalo W 45-21
Oct. 2 Vanderbilt W 40-21
Oct. 8 at Rutgers L 27-24
Oct. 16 OPEN DATE
Oct. 23 at Louisville L 26-0
Oct. 29 West Virginia W 16-13 OT
Nov. 6 OPEN DATE
Nov. 11 Pitt W 30-28
Nov. 20 at Syracuse W 23-6
Nov. 27 Cincinnati W 38-17
Dec. 4 at USF W 19-16
Fiesta Bowl
Jan. 1 Oklahoma L 48-20
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. LB Jason Sylva
6-2, 250, Scout.com 39th ranked, three-star, middle linebacker. As a sophomore, Sylva rushed for 900 yards and nine touchdowns. On defense, he had 83 tackles, eight sacks, three forced fumbles, four forced fumbles, three interceptions and a blocked punt that he returned 70 yards for a touchdown.

2. DT Mikal Myers
6-0, 310, Scout.com 48th ranked, three-star defensive tackle.

3. LB Jon Hicks
6-3, 235, Scout.com 49th ranked, three-star middle linebacker.

4. LB Jazzmar Clax
5-11, 235, Scout.com 51st ranked, three-star middle linebacker.

5. QB Chandler Whitmer
6-2, 190, Scout.com three-star JUCO transfer.

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... Quarterbacks. Paul Pasqualoni didn’t have a chance to do much of anything last year, and it showed with a mediocre class that might have been the weakest in the Big East. This year, he needs an upgrade in talent across the board, but he also needs to find a quarterback to build around – or at least challenge Scott McCummings and/or Mike Nebrich down the road. The running game was bad last year, but the passing game has to improve quickly if Johnny McEntee can’t get the job done.

Team Concerns For 2012: Defensive tackle. The Huskies have a nice defensive back seven returning, and they look great on the end, but the middle of the line is an issue with Twyon Martin and Kendall Reyes gone. This year’s class doesn’t seem to be concentrating on the line, but it’s going to be an issue next year.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: The Huskies have to find an offensive identity after doing nothing in any phase. Three starters return to a line that didn’t generate any sort of a push, and the top receivers are gone, but the backfield returns intact with Johnny McEntee needing to shine if he can hold on to the starting quarterback gig. RB Lyle McCombs put together a solid season, but he needs more help if Scott McCummings isn’t under center. The defense that rocked against the run loses starting tackles Twyon Martin and Kendall Reyes, but Sio Moore and the linebacking corps should be terrific. The secondary gets all four starters back after finishing 113th in the nation in pass defense.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Variety. New head coach Paul Pasqualoni didn’t have time to do much, but he was able to come up with his bookend offensive tackles for the near future with Paul Nwokeji and Xavier Hemingway talented prospects who’ll be great with two years in the weight room. Kamal Abrams should be the team’s No. 1 target in 2014, and linebackers Marquise Vann and Jefferson Ashiru fit the UConn mold and Deson Foxx has more speed than the normal Husky running back, but all eyes will be on quarterback Michael Nebrich to see if he can finally add some pop to the passing game. With his 4.5 speed, he’ll be more of a runner than a bomber.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 67. That Class Was Heavy On ... Linebackers. The stars of the class might be quarterbacks Scott McCummings and Ty-Meer Brown, and they'll have dangerous receiver prospects to throw to in Tebucky Jones and Geremy Davis, but the best aspect of the class is at linebacker with Brandon Steg a sure-thing All-Big East star for the inside and Reuben Frank, Yawin Smallwood, and Josh Alexander all defenders to get excited about.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 72. That Class Was Heavy On ... receivers. Although the Husky quarterbacks haven’t exactly been crisp since Dan Orlovsky graduated, they haven’t been helped by the receivers either. Connecticut had one of the worst units in the country a year ago, which explains why the position got so much attention from Randy Edsall and the staff. Three of the four commits rank among the top 150 receivers, led by Ft. Lauderdale product Dwayne Difton.

Nov. 26 at Connecticut 40 … Rutgers 22
CFN Analysis: COMING

(AP) EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Running back Lyle McCombs and quarterback Scott McCummings each ran for two touchdowns as Connecticut upset Rutgers 40-22 on Saturday, ending the Scarlet Knights' hopes for a share of the Big East championship.

Nick Williams had 158 return yards, setting up the Huskies in good field position all afternoon, and defensive tackle Kendall Reyes returned a Chas Dodd fumble for a touchdown.

Brandon Coleman had 223 receiving yards and two touchdowns for Rutgers (8-4, 4-3 Big East), which had an outside chance at a BCS bowl bid if it had won. Mohammad Sanu caught nine balls for 133 yards, extending his conference record to 109 receptions this season.

UConn (5-6, 3-3) can become bowl eligible with a win at Cincinnati next Saturday.

McCombs carried the ball 20 times for 95 yards. He now has 1,109 on the season, the fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season for a Huskies running back.

Freshman Gary Nova threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns to Brandon Coleman. His 17-yarder made it 40-16 and the pair hooked up on a 92-yard catch and run with 2:15 left in the game. The two-point conversion attempts failed.

Nova completed 11 of 18 passes for 298 yards, all in the fourth quarter in relief of Dodd. He was 11 of 22 for 141 yards, but he fumbled and was intercepted, and both turnovers turned into UConn touchdowns.

The Huskies held Rutgers to 26 yards rushing and had six sacks, four by defensive end Trevardo Williams.

UConn had just 290 offensive yards, but started five drives in Rutgers' territory and two others near midfield.

Williams had three kickoff returns for 128 yards, and a 30-yard punt return.

He returned the second-half kickoff 54 yards and McCombs took a handoff on the next play and ran right for 36 yards. His 4-yard run up the middle two plays later gave the Huskies a 31-10 lead. Williams' long punt return set up UConn's next touchdown, a 14-yard option keeper by McCummings that put the Huskies up 37-10. The extra point was blocked, giving Dave Teggart his first miss in 128 point-after attempts.

But Teggart came back to hit a 47-yard field goal after UConn ate up almost six minutes of the clock on its next possession, aided by a roughing the punter call on Rutgers.

Connecticut turned two early Rutgers turnovers into touchdowns.

UConn linebacker Sio Moore forced a fumble by Jawan Jamison on the third play of the game, giving the Huskies the ball on the Scarlet Knights' 24-yard line. UConn then handed the ball off twice to McCombs, who ran for 14 yards one first down and then went into the end zone from 10 yards out to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

Safety Ty-Meer Brown intercepted a pass tipped by Byron Jones on Rutgers' next drive, giving UConn the ball at the 40. McCummings ran the ball in from the 5-yard line, making a nice spin move after keeping the ball on an option play.

Rutgers had just one yard rushing in the first quarter.

The Scarlet Knights put together a 13-play, 5 minute drive, but had to settle for a 25-yard San San Te field goal that cut the lead to 14-3.

A second-quarter UConn punt pinned Rutgers at its own 1-yard line. Dodd fumbled five plays later and the ball was picked up by defensive tackle Reyes, who rumbled 9 yards for the Huskies third score and UConn's fourth defensive touchdown this season.

Rutgers' Brandon Coleman out-jumped cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson for a 45-yard reception during a seven-play 80-yard drive, which ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Jamison with just over four minutes left in the half.

But UConn took the kickoff and drove 11 plays over the final 4:04 of the half. Teggart's 33-yard field goal gave the Huskies a 24-10 halftime lead.

Rutgers had been giving up under 17 points per game.

McCummings ran 10 times for 47 yards and attempted just one pass for UConn, a 22-yard one-handed completion to tight end Ryan Griffin in the second half. UConn starter Johnny McEntee was 10 of 16 for 90 yards.

The Scarlet Knights were trying to become the first team in league history to go from worst to first in consecutive seasons. The eight-win season likely will mean a trip to the Pinstripe Bowl.

UConn's loss to Louisville last week took the Huskies out of the Big East championship picture. But the Huskies are still hoping for a .500 season and a bowl bid.

Rutgers had taken five of the last six games between the two teams, including the last three by a total of nine points. Last year's win came on a 34-yard field goal with 13 seconds left. In 2009, Rutgers won on an 81-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds left.

Nov. 19 Louisville 34 … at Connecticut 20
CFN Analysis: The Huskies needed this home win, and now it’ll take wins over Rutgers and at Cincinnati to become bowl eligible. The offense isn’t consistent enough to beat either team. … Johnny McEntee completed 18-of-43 passes for 253 yards and a touchdown with a pick and the running game couldn’t go anywhere. Scott McCummings led the way with 40 yards on just eight carries. … Sio Moore and his 13 tackles, sack, and two tackles for loss paced the defense that was better than the final score. The offense wasn’t consistent enough. … The Huskies kept fighting. They had a chance late after recovering an onside kick, but instead the Cardinal defense took it back for a late score. No matter what the count, this was still a disappointing and disastrous loss. 

Nov. 5 at Connecticut 28 … Syracuse 21
CFN Analysis: Paul Pasqualoni got the win over his old team by using the running game to overcome a nightmare of a day in several ways. The Huskies managed to win despite turning the ball over five times with Johnny McEntee throwing two picks and with the ground game, even with 152 yards from Lyle McCombs and two scores from backup quarterback Scott McCummings, coughing it up three times. The defense wasn’t great, but it kept the Orange off the board over the final 19 minutes, doing just enough to overcome all the problems. Stopping a string of three losses in the last four games, the Huskies are still in the mix for a bowl game by winning two of the last three games. However, there’s no way, no how they’re coming up with a win over Louisville, Rutgers, or Cincinnati if the turnovers continue.  

Oct. 26 at Pitt 35 … Connecticut 20
CFN Analysis: The Huskies were never in the game. Down 21-3 at halftime, Johnny McEntee connected with Kashif Moore for a 62-yard play to make it more interesting, but the secondary couldn’t slow down the Panther passing game. The D gave up more than 529 yards of total offense, and for a UConn attack that’s inefficient and ineffective, getting behind early is a death blow. With three home games up next against Syracuse, Louisville, and Rutgers, there’s still time to get to six wins and a bowl, but the lines have to play better and the defense has to go back to playing like it did two weeks ago against USF. 

Oct. 15 at Connecticut 16 … South Florida 10
CFN Analysis: The UConn defense saved the offense as Twyon Martin’s big strip and Byron Jones’ fumble recovery for a score made all the difference. Johnny McEntee only threw for 103 yards and, and while Lyle McCombs ran for 130 yards on 32 carries, the ground game didn’t really work. The difference was that USF made the mistakes UConn didn’t. The Huskies turned it over twice, but they still won the turnover battle and only committed three penalties. No, the offense wasn’t great, but it did enough to milk the clock to get just enough third down conversions to control the game. It might not have been pretty, but it was a nice bounceback win after the West Virginia debacle and with a trip to Pitt up next.  

Oct. 8 at West Virginia 43 … Connecticut 16
CFN Analysis: The Huskies didn’t have a chance after halftime. The defense did a great job of holding firm early, but the offense didn’t do its job to get up and couldn’t make the Mountaineers sweat. Johnny McEntee wasn’t bad, throwing for 193 yards, but he couldn’t keep the chains moving and the running game couldn’t take control. UConn has to own the time of possession, and averaging 2.3 yards per carry isn’t going to get it done. Against South Florida and its rested, swarming defense, McEntee will have to be flawless.

Oct. 1 Western Michigan 38 … at Connecticut 31
CFN Analysis: Connecticut might have lost to Western Michigan but it took another step forward in the passing game. For the second straight week, Johnny McEntee showed that he’s the quarterback to revolve the offense around completing 22-of-39 passes for 300 yards and four scores, while Lyle McCombs balanced things out with 136 yards on 24 carries. The ten penalties were a problem but the breakdowns in the secondary were the reason for the loss, and now the Huskies get Geno Smith and West Virginia. McEntee and the Huskies have to be ready for another firefight.

Sept. 24 Connecticut 17 ... at Buffalo 3
CFN Analysis: Is this finally the moment when Connecticut found its quarterback? Johnny McEntee only completed 12-of-21 passes, but he connected on a few big passes rolling for 213 yards and two scores. The running game still isn’t anywhere near as good as it needs to be, and it took way too long and too much of an effort to put away a bad Buffalo team, but the team needed a win after two straight close losses. To beat Western Michigan, the offense will have to keep up the pace against a high-powered attack. The UConn pass defense has been terrific and the pass rush has been tremendous. Against WMU, both have to be even better.  

Sept. 16 Iowa State 24 … Connecticut 20
CFN Analysis: The Huskies can’t throw the ball a lick. Inefficient over the first two games, the passing attack got even worse against Iowa State with Johnny McEntee completing only 13-of-30 passes, but they went for 188 yards helped by Isiah Moore and his tremendous day, catching eight passes for 143 yards. Turnovers were a problem with three killers, and the inability to run effectively against a mediocre Iowa State defense was a big issue going forward. UConn won under Randy Edsall by running the ball on everyone, and 112 yards isn’t going to cut it in a few weeks after facing Buffalo and Western Michigan. 

Sept. 10 at Vanderbilt 24 … Connecticut 21
CFN Analysis: The UConn defense was fine, and it forced three takeaways, but the offense couldn’t stop screwing up with a fumble and three Johnny McEntee interceptions. Lyle McCombs was able to pace the way against Vandy, but even with all the problems, there was still a chance to win the game late. The collapse after being up in the fourth quarter is a disaster considering the Huskies are supposed to easily run the ball, but the pass protection broke down late. Iowa State is coming off a big win over Iowa and is a tough out. A win will quickly right the ship with Buffalo and Western Michigan to follow. 

Sept. 3 at Connecticut 35 .. Fordham 3
CFN Analysis: The Huskies weren’t going to have anything more than a light scrimmage against an overmatched Fordham team, and they played around with several options and got several players time including Lyle McCombs, who was a bit of a surprise as the main back and came through big with 24 carries for 141 yards and four scores. UConn won’t have any problems running the ball, but the passing game has to click better than it did last year, and John McEntee was solid completing 8-of-12 passes for 113 yards. He didn’t have to push it like he’ll have to at Vanderbilt next week, but he showed enough to stay ahead of Mike Nebrich and Scott McCummings. 

The 2011 Recruiting Class Is Heavy On … Variety. New head coach Paul Pasqualoni didn’t have time to do much, but he was able to come up with his bookend offensive tackles for the near future with Paul Nwokeji and Xavier Hemingway talented prospects who’ll be great with two years in the weight room. Kamal Abrams should be the team’s No. 1 target in 2014, and linebackers Marquise Vann and Jefferson Ashiru fit the UConn mold and Deson Foxx has more speed than the normal Husky running back, but all eyes will be on quarterback Michael Nebrich to see if he can finally add some pop to the passing game. With his 4.5 speed, he’ll be more of a runner than a bomber.

Five Connecticut Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. QB Michael Nebrich
Nebrich has been a very productive quarterback who has led his team to a state championship and shows great poise and pocket presence. He spreads the ball around, has good field vision and isn't afraid to throw the ball into tight spots or get vertical in the passing game. He has very good mobility and is a speedy runner who can make people miss in the open field and is dangerous outside of the pocket.

2. RB Deshon Foxx
5-10, 173, Scout.com’s 81st ranked running back

3. S Wilbert Lee
6-2, 205, Scout.com’s 63rd ranked outside linebacker

4. LB Marquise Vann
6-0, 230, Scout.com’s 63rd ranked outside linebacker

5. WR Kamal Abrams
6-0, 175, Scout.com’s 143rd ranked receiver

2011 Entire Recruiting Class

Kamal Abrams WR 6-0 178 Dover, Del./Dover
Andrew Adams FS 5-11 185 Fayetteville, Ga./Woodward Academy
Kenton Adevemi DT 6-4 255 Wethersfield, Conn./Kingwood-Oxford/Fork Union
Jefferson Ashiru LB 6-3 230 Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern
Julian Campenni DT 6-0 285 West Pittson, Pa./Wyoming Area
Tyler Clark CB 5-10 170 Tampa, Fla./Alonso
Max DeLorenzo RB 6-0 200 Berlin, Conn./Berlin
Deshon Foxx RB 5-10 175 Lynchburg, Va./Brookfield
Dalton Gifford OT 6-5 275 Fairhaven, Mass./Barnstable/Bridgton Academy
Xavier Hemingway OT 6-4 255 Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern
Wilbert Lee SS 6-1 205 Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys and Girls
Sean McQuillan TE 6-2 252 Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury/Avon Old Farms
Michael Nebrich QB 6-1 190 Fairfax Station, Va./Lake Braddock
Paul Nwokeji OT 6-5 265 Randolph, Mass./Thayer Academy
David Stevenson CB 5-9 175 Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson
Marquise Vann LB 6-0 223 Cincinnati, Ohio/Fairfield