Quarterback Duo, Confident As Ever, High On Season Outlook

@MattSchonvisky

Starting quarterback Casey Cochran and backup Chandler Whitmer both held firm today that this team will get stronger and stronger as the season progresses. A loss on opening night, is not going to deter them from that goal.

It should come as no surprise. Casey is the son of a legendary high school coach. Chandler, has gone from Illinois, to JUCO, to UCONN during his college career. He has been the backup, the starter and the third stringer. As was chronicled leading into the season, he was close to being done with football altogether, but a second, or we’ll call it a third chance, arose and he didn’t bat an eye. He just wanted to be a part of something here at UCONN.

After one game, Chandler saw quite a few reps. He threw for 117 yards on 8 of 17 passes and although there is work to do, many positives stood out on Friday.

“There’s a lot of things we’ve improved on, the offensive line, they did a great job,” Whitmer said following today’s press conference. “We made some big plays and there’s some plays we also left out there, that’s every game. We will continue to work, we will improve on that and we’re excited to get back out there for another game this week.” 

Casey concurred.

“I was impressed with how we fought back and we kept fighting until the end of the game,” he said. “It’s important that we played as hard as we could until the end and I saw that. I saw us taking the field the same way as we did at the beginning of the game. I saw guys finishing blocks. I saw guys catching the ball the same way throughout and that’s a good thing. Coming off the field it’s frustrating with a loss, but it’s a different feeling from last year’s first game and I can see where this offense and this team can go and it’s good places.”

What exactly left him with that feeling?

“I think the biggest thing as players, no one was on each other, no one was down each other’s throats after that loss because we know what we could’ve done and we know what we did,” Cochran said. “I don’t know if the score showed exactly how we played. I think the second half was a good indication of how good our defense can be, how well they can stop the run, how well they can stop a caliber offense like that. The way we drove the ball in the second half on offense, shows what our offense will be like and it’s just correcting the small areas that lead to big outcomes.”

Heading into opening night, both quarterbacks knew the plan, Casey would get the first two series, then Chandler would come in. It went according to plan, sans the opening play fumble, that extended Cochran’s run an additional series to start the game.

“It’s nice to know when you’re going in,” Whitmer explained. “You still have the pregame anxiousness where you want to get out there. It lasted a little longer than usual for me, after pregame, then kickoff and then you wait two series, but I knew that. Coach [Bob Diaco] let us know, so I knew what to expect and I was ready for it.” 

The same held true in the red zone.

“That’s just what’s best for our team, that’s what he [Diaco] wants to do and I’m just going to execute my role,” Whitmer responded. “I don’t know if I’m better than anybody else in that area, but that’s my role and I’m just going to execute it the best I can.”

Once again, Cochran echoed those same sentiments.

“It’s nice that you know what’s going on, but at the same time it could change when I go into the red zone and that’s fine,” he added. “We are both going to work with it. I care about this team, I care about this offense and whatever helps us win, is what’s most important.”

Cochran finished the day 17-31 for 171 yards and an interception on the second drive of the game.

“That was my fault, I moved a little too far up in the pocket and put pressure on the tackle, so it was a tough block for him,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to force anything and I got hit as I threw. At the end of the day, you need to take care of the ball in the red zone. Throughout the rest of the game, Chandler and myself handled the ball very well, getting it to the guy who was open most of the time and we drove the ball really well.”

A lot of that, according to both, is the amount of options they have in the passing game.

“I think we showed that people can’t just zero in on Geremy,” Whitmer noted. “He’s a big play receiver and we want to give him the ball as much as possible, but we don’t need to lock on to him either. We have plenty of playmakers. We have playmakers all over the field and also in the back field. Josh, Ron, Arkeel and Max all did some good things, whether it was pass catching or making big runs. I think we’re diverse in what we’re doing and that’s something we can count on moving forward.”

Not to be left out.

“I think tight end is a position, which, at first, we didn’t think would be too deep, but they’ve proven themselves and they are making plays,’ Whitmer added. “Throwing a freshman in there at tight end [Alec Bloom], that’s something that’s big for us, he’ll keep getting better, just getting his feet wet and getting out there playing. Tommy [Myers] also made a nice one-handed catch out there, so that was good. It was good to see a bunch of positives and we’re just going to keep getting better offensively.”

Cochran echoed head coach Bob Diaco by stressing it’s only a good thing so many guys were able to see game action, for the first time.

“It’s tremendous, how much, both confidence and respect we have with the younger guys, especially with how many guys we played and how many guys made plays, whether it was the running backs, the tight ends or the younger receivers,” he said. “We have tremendous confidence in what those guys can do and we have tremendous confidence in how tough this team can be. Even though we went down early, the defense fought the whole game, held them to seven points in the second half. On offense, we drove the ball well in the second half. We just have to put the ball in the end zone. We know what we have to do, but it’s just doing those things that make you successful.”

How will UCONN do that?

“Today, coming out and practicing and having a good practice today, that should be the biggest thing,” Cochran said. “Us taking it one day at a time and if we do that, then we should be ready for Saturday.”

If there’s anything that should make UCONN fans smile, it’s these two, much like their head coach, are all in.

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