The bye week is here for the UConn football team and not a moment too soon. At 1-4 and mired in a three-game losing streak, the Huskies need a break to collect themselves and work some things out.
First-year head coach Bob Diaco has made no bones about the program being in rebuild mode while at the same time trying to keep a positive outlook. Whether brighter days are ahead for the Huskies remains to be seen but there are some areas that they need to shore up coming out of the break to have any chance of success.
“We have a bye-week so we are going to practice a bunch and get better. So we are resolute and our spirit is not cracked,” Diaco said. “The team and coaches are upset but we also know, big picture, where we are going.”
With East Carolina – a ranked team on a totally different level – UCF, Cincinnati and even Memphis left on the schedule, UConn may only have three winnable games left: Tulane, Army and SMU. There isn’t much margin for error so to win any of the games left on its schedule, so here’s where the Huskies need to improve.
Slow Starts: UConn has been outscored 52-6 in the first quarter and while that looks bad for the defense, it’s a stat that really highlights the Huskies’ problems on offense. UConn has committed some kind of turnover that has led to a first quarter score for the opponent in each of its five games.
QB Play/Passing Game: Chandler Whitmer has to be better, there’s just no other way around it. UConn was controlling the first half against Temple but could not capitalize on its drives and Whitmer made a bad read and a pond drive ended in a pick-six for the Owls instead of points for the Huskies. UConn’s TD/Int ratio is even so far (5-5) and that’s not going to get it done for a team that has had trouble run blocking up front for large parts of the season.
Give Arkeel the Damn Ball: Freshman Arkeel Newsome is one of the few players on the team that has shown the capability to make a play so maybe the Huskies will think about giving the former Ansonia (CT) High School star the ball more often.
UConn has two runs of 20-plus yards this season and Newsome has one of them, a 22-yard scamper, and he has the longest pass reception on the team so far, a 74-yard TD reception in the third quarter against Temple that made it 28-10.
Newsome is an in-state product and has shown he’s an electrifying playmaker, it wouldn’t hurt the stat sheet or fan interest if he was turned loose a lot more.
DEFENSE: Actually, the defense has been a bright spot for the Huskies as they rank 29th in the country in total defense (329.6). It would help the offense if the UConn D could force a few more turnovers, but it is hard to gripe about a unit that has been put behind the eight ball as much as this one has.
*Quotes were obtained first hand.
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