Huskies are through sneaking around
UConn ready to build off breakthrough year
STORRS, Conn. - There it sits, on the second glass shelf in a display case inside the Burton Family Football Complex: the 2007 Big East championship trophy, almost majestic with golden light reflecting off its polished frame.
The University of Connecticut players and coaches believed it was destined to be there. Outside the program, though, expectations were different and seemingly more realistic.
The Huskies weren't supposed to compete with West Virginia, Rutgers, and South Florida. Yet, they did, and then some. What the Huskies accomplished last season - winning a share of the Big East title, tying a school record with nine wins, and earning their second bowl berth ever - showed the goals established among players and coaches were indeed reachable.
"A lot of people outside our inner group don't have high expectations for us," said senior quarterback Tyler Lorenzen.
Coach Randy Edsall said he didn't know last year's team would win the league title, but he's certain of one thing this year.
"Now we're not going to sneak up on anybody."
From hunter to hunted, the Huskies have garnered more attention. But this season, they will be facing expectations of the highest order.
UConn has the experience for another successful run. Nineteen starters return, including eight defenders and two forces at defensive end: Cody Brown and Julius Williams (a combined 16 sacks and 28 1/2 tackles for loss). At linebacker, sophomores Scott Lutrus, a Freshman All-American last season, and Lawrence Wilson (113 tackles) are a formidable duo. Darius Butler and Robert Vaughn are fine cornerbacks, and Butler - perhaps the most athletic player on the roster - will see time at wide receiver, too.
The Huskies' offensive strength lies in junior tailbacks Donald Brown (821 yards) and Andre Dixon (828), who lead the league's most talented backfield other than West Virginia's Pat White and Noel Devine.
Though Brown and Dixon are potent, Lorenzen averaged just 6.82 yards per pass last year, and Edsall knows UConn must improve its passing game.
"No question," he said. "We've got to be more productive and more proficient in the passing game than what we were a year ago. I'm sure we will be this year."
Lorenzen seems eminently comfortable with that mandate.
"If we have to run the ball 100 times to win, we'll do that. Throw it 100 times? We'll do that," he said.
Since the defense seems sound and Lorenzen is a steady quarterback with two fine backs behind him, the issue becomes the schedule, particularly the Nov. 1 date against visiting West Virginia. Last season, the Mountaineers embarrassed the Huskies, 66-21.
Edsall has emphasized moving on, though, and his demands reflect that. Several players recently had to participate in "sixes" - 6 a.m. punishment conditioning sessions in which players run the bleachers or do bear crawls on all fours. One player had to run 12 "sixes," said wide receiver D.J. Hernandez.
The goals are to win an outright Big East championship and reach a BCS bowl. They haven't changed from previous seasons. And the possibility to redefine future perceptions hasn't changed those goals.
"It's nothing about a legacy," said Lorenzen. "It's nothing about proving to people we're not a one-hit wonder. We play football because we want to win championships. We want to win games. It's fun to win. It's no fun to lose. We're going to go out here and play to win every game. That's our focus and our only goal." 