Rentschler Field will be quiet and dark during the month of October.
UConn (1-4, 0-2) will not play at home until November 1, due to two road games and two bye weeks. With a full week of extra practice time before its next game at Tulane (1-4, 0-1), coach Bob Diaco should have a full agenda for the team’s next few practices, and it should include the following:
1. Build Up/Take Pressure Off Offensive Line
I’m not suggesting the front five to double their weekly protein intake, but the protection of the quarterback is the weak link of this Husky team. Almost no progression has shown through five games and it’s clear that Chandler Whitmer doesn’t seem comfortable in the type of offense that is being run.
Some would say that Whitmer doesn’t read his options as quick as he should be. If that can’t be changed, then another option could be to take some of the pressure off of the O-line and run a quicker offense to get the ball out of Whitmer’s hands faster and into UConn’s big playmakers like Geremy Davis and Arkeel Newsome. Short, quick passes. Screens. Read-option? I’ll get into that later.
2. Establish Run Game Early
UConn’s first drive against Temple had success written all over it. That was until a pick-six that went for 93 yards the other way. The key to moving the chains on the first drive was, as Diaco likes to say, tapping the rock.
Credit Max DeLorenzo with running the ball for a fresh set of downs three times on the drive. He did rush for five plays consecutively during that span, but finished the day with 55 yards on the ground. They aren’t eye-popping impressive numbers, but when you take into account DeLorenzo had five touchdowns last year (four in the lone three games where he had 15 or more carries), there should be more interest in running the ball in the first half. Let Newsome’s speed burn them in the second half.
3. Mix Offensive Formations
Like I said before, screen passes should become UConn’s new best friend. A back like Newsome or a receiver like Deshon Foxx can spread the field with their speed alone, but lining them up in different formations will, at the least, bring uncertainty and confusion to defenses that aren’t expecting changes to the Husky offense. Foxx is seen in the slot for most of the game, but what if Diaco threw in one of his three freshman running backs there instead?
Diaco has stated that he can’t wait for this young group to develop for future seasons, but why not now? Ron Johnson caught two touchdown receptions in his senior year of high school and Joshua Marriner is capable of making plays outside of the backfield too. Both already have a reception on the year that has gone for more than 10 yards.
4. Deshon Foxx at Quarterback?
If you stuck around for the final minutes of UConn’s loss to Temple Saturday, you were lucky enough to see glimpses of a read-option offense with Foxx taking the snaps. Foxx broke one for a 26-yard gain and even completed a pass to Noel Thomas. Apparently, this is something Diaco has had up his sleeve, and could be more relevant with rising questions at the quarterback position.
If Tim Boyle sees increased playing time throughout the second half of the season, then Foxx should too. The only downside to Foxx throwing the ball is the depleted receiver core without him — the team’s second-leading receiver. This correlates with the previous point of mixing up offensive formations, and would suggest to lead to multiple options for Foxx out of the backfield, and lined up in the slot as well. He played significant time at quarterback during his high school days, and c’mon, the extra ‘x’ in his name clearly stands for X-factor.
5. Fill the Stands
Once again in Diaco’s post-game press conference, he took the time to thank the fans for coming out to the game.
“I want to thank all the Husky fans that came out today,” Diaco said. “When the buses rolled into the stadium footprint and to see that awesome tailgate scene, it was energizing to the group. …This is a young football team and one you can rally behind. There’s names that you can cheer for that you will be seeing for the next three or four years.”
UConn’s announced attendance at the game was 27,755 — about 8,000 less than the home opener and only about 4,000 more than their lone victory against Stony Brook. Sure, wins bring in fans, but let’s flip that. UConn is already holding opponents to an impressive third-down rate (37 percent), but the louder the stadium is, the better. Now that the third-down sound byte from a wolf has changed to an air siren (thanks to many complaints), perhaps Rentschler Field won’t be so quiet when the Huskies return home next month.
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