During the 2009 season for the UConn Huskies football team, it was Marcus Easley who stepped up his game and became one of the prime targets for Zach Frazer and Cody Endres. And while Dwayne Difton came to UConn with a lot more promise than Easley, could it be Difton that becomes the go to guy at wide receiver?
Difton was a four-star recruit out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Yes we know that head coach Randy Edsall doesn’t put a lot of stock in those rankings and who can blame him.
It was thought that Difton would step right in and help out the Huskies receiving corps last year. But he didn’t. His adjustment from high school to college football didn’t come as fast as he would have liked. Difton was also stung hard, like the entire UConn community, when Jasper Howard tragically passed away.
Howard had taken Difton under his wing and was acting as a role model to the freshman since they were both from south Florida.
Difton eventually worked his way onto the field in the West Virginia game last year where he had just one reception. He would finish the season with eight catches for 45 yards and then coming out of spring football, he was listed as backup at wide receiver.
The start of the 2010 season brought along the same fortune for Difton. He was stuck as a back up at wide receiver. So far this season, Difton has caught one ball for 27 yards in two games this season as a backup wide receiver.
But now he’ll have that chance to become the next Easley as Edsall, who had made some changes to depth chart on Monday, announced during his pre-game presser for the Buffalo game on Saturday, that Difton has moved ahead of Isiah Moore and will get the start.
The one thing UConn is lacking in the wide receiving department is a receiver who can rack up some YAC (yards after catch). It would be great to see Difton step up his route running and get open enough for Frazer or whomever Edsall decides to be his quarterback this week and get the valued YAC.
Now’s the time for Difton to shine and live up to the hype.
Photo credit: Hartford Courant
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