Well since this is the first year that I have really devoted to writing about the UCONN Football team, I decided that I will announce the Random Thoughts Players of the Year for the UCONN Huskies and also the game of the year.
There will be 4 categories: Offense, Defense, Special Teams and Game of the Year.
OFFENSIVE Player of the Year:
At first, I didn’t really think that the Huskies really had anybody who stood out on offense. But after discussions with a few people, they all said the same person and I agree with them. I have decided that redshirt Freshman running back Donald Brown II is the Random Thoughts Offensive Player of the Year.
For the season, Brown rushed for 896 yards on 161 carries reaching the endzone for 7 touchdowns. He also caught the ball 13 times for 66 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brown had four 100 yard rushing games and 3 of those came in Big East games.
Defensive Player of the Year:
There were a lot of worthy candidates for Defensive Player of the Year including Dan Davis, Rhema Fuller, Ryan Henegan and Lindsey Witten. But I felt as though Danny Lansanah was the Defensive Player of the Year.
Lansanah led the team in tackles with 99, 45 of them being solo. He also tied for the team lead with 4 interceptions and had 2 sacks on the season. He is expected back to lead the Huskies on defense for 2007.
Special Teams Player of the Year:
This one is a no brainer. Larry Taylor is my Special Teams Player of the Year.
Larry Taylor’s speed and elusiveness made teams kick the ball away from him. On the season, he returned 20 punts for 255 yards, taking one of them to the endzone for a touchdown. He also returned 11 kickoffs for 279 yards. He ended up missing the last 3 games of the season with concussion-like symptoms.
Game of the Year:
This one is also a no brainer. For those of you who were at the UCONN-Pittsburgh game, you witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in UCONN football history. Down 14 in the final quarter, QB DJ Hernandez rallied UCONN to tie the game with 2 seconds left and then go onto win it in overtime.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
JYp7kVOUN-8[/youtube]
Players to watch next season:
On the offensive side of the ball, the player to watch is Donald Brown II. He will most likely be the starter at running back for the Huskies next season. While he did play in all 12 games this past season, he was not the featured back until 8th game of the season against Rutgers.
On the defensive side of the ball, the player to watch is Lindsey Witten. As a true freshman, Witten had 39 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Although he is 6’4″ 225 lbs, his speed allowed him to get around some of the bigger offensive lineman. I’d expect him to come into next season with a lot more bulk and even more speed.
Technorati: UCONN Huskies, College Football, Randy Edsall, Larry Taylor, Danny Lansanah, Donald Brown II
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