Looking for First Win in Diaco Era

@MattSchonvisky

Saturday marks a day off for many, but Saturday is THE day for some. For the UCONN football program, today’s game against Stony Brook is a chance to get the first win of the 2014 college football season. The new era is all but complete, the only thing missing is a number other than zero in the win column.

Senior quarterback Chandler Whitmer gets the start, as sophomore Casey Cochran has been sidelined with ‘an upper body injury.’ Although there are reports out there of a concussion, UCONN sources have not confirmed to The Boneyard Blog, that this is the case.

Whitmer paid his dues this offseason, starting from scratch and slowly working his way into playing time. He earned the trust and respect of his teammates and already had it from the coaching staff the second he came back to school, according to head coach Bob Diaco, when he announced the starter halfway through camp.

There are a number of former D1-A players on the Stony Brook roster, but this game is and should be all about UCONN.

The biggest improvements always take place between week 1 and week 2 and there are a number of items that need improvement with the Huskies.

Coaching needs to be better, offense needs to be better and linebacker play, absolutely, needs to be better.

“[On the opening drive against BYU], maybe 16, 17 plays, there was a defensive error, basically on every play,” Diaco said at Tuesday’s press conference. “So was there an error on the first drive, absolutely. In terms of how they [the linebackers] can perform, I’d say they performed at a below average to poor level.”

Stony Brook’s John Kinder is a mobile quarterback, much like Taysom Hill at BYU. Containing will be important, but UCONN will not be bringing a ton of pressure.

“We aren’t going to have problems rushing the passer,” Diaco said Tuesday. “But we’re a no crease defense, we believe we don’t see any difference between horizontal and vertical separation. So our defense plays differently. We aren’t an up the field defense and we won’t be. We don’t believe philosophically that that’s what keeps points down.”

Diaco has said true freshman running back Arkeel Newsome will see at least 10 more plays today, than the 5 offensive sets he saw against BYU and he also talked about Stony Brook.

“It’s about doing what we need to do, it’s about defending our way, it’s about putting the game together,” he said. “My impressions are that they [Stony Brook] are an outstanding ball club, particularly on offense. I’ve been very impressed with the collection of players. They are fun to watch on defense. Their defensive line certainly look the part. Two, down-hill running inside linebackers. Talented corner. They are really well coached. Coach Priore, he’s either coaching his 130th or 131st game as a head coach on Saturday, so he’s played up many, many times, including Syracuse on the road in double overtime. We had a chance to see Buffalo and Towson last year that Stony Brook really should have won. So, if you haven’t studied tape on them, they are a good team.”

Despite that, UCONN should be the better team today. FINAL prediction: UCONN 38 Stony Brook 10

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