Saturday afternoon at Pratt Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field marked the 11th straight practice for the UConn football team. It was the first time they worked with referees and for some their first time on the home field.
Working with referees on the field during the scrimmage proved to be a little difficult at times for the UConn Huskies. Before the Huskies could even run their first play, they found themselves in a 1st and 15 situation.
Obviously last year, UConn football head coach Bob Diaco had a point of emphasis on limiting pre-snap penalties. At point, the offense was called for back-to-back delay of games. Not to make excuses for them, it was also the first time they had used the play clock as well.
Right now, they’ll need to continue to tidy up things to prevent these mental errors from happening.
At this point of the preseason, the UConn defense is ahead of the UConn offense. That is typical for this time of year.
In watching the defense, Luke Carrezola looks like he could have a breakout season for the Huskies if he can stay healthy. He played in only six games last year and had eight tackles before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
This was the second straight practice that the media has been allowed to see where he was dominant up front.
When you look at the overall picture, the UConn defense is shaping up for what could be a special season for them. That can only be good news for the offense.
And by that I mean that the offense gets to go up against a very solid defense all the way around. This can only make them better.
While Diaco wants to have his starting QB named two weeks before the opener (August 20, which is ironically the next time we get to see the Huskies), it’s evident that Bryant Shirreffs will most likely open up the season at the No. 1 quarterback.
He looks very comfortable running the offense right now and has shown his arm strength and ability to run. He’s made some great passes to Noel Thomas, who could be the breakout star on offense this season.
Still a lot of work to do in all three phases of the game for UConn but it will come as they wind down training camp and then start to prepare for the season opener against Villanova on September 3 at the Rent.
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