Spring fever: UConn starters pushed by youngsters

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, April 15, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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(Sixth in a series on Big East spring football.)

For college football coaches like Randy Edsall of the University of Connecticut, the operative phrases during spring practice are "what if?" and "I wonder?"

The printable ones, anyway.

It's a chance to comfort the afflicted (giving some previously forgotten team members some significant on-field time) and afflict the comfortable (letting the returning starters know that their jobs are not necessarily safe).

Such a moment came during UConn workouts last week when redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kevin Poles scored on a long pass from redshirt QB Cody Endres, turning veteran free safety Robert Vaughan around in the process. Poles' teammates celebrated with him, while Edsall reportedly laid into Vaughan. Earlier this spring, quarterbacks Tyler Lorenzon and Zach Fraser felt Edsall's wrath.

The veteran UConn coach didn't turn down a possible job offer from Georgia Tech to suffer through a losing season, and one of Edsall's goals this spring is to fine-tune the Huskie defense to make it faster. His reasoning? Two words: Pat White.

UConn went into a final game with West Virginia tied for the Big East lead and lost 66-21. White, the Mountaineers' nimble quarterback, and WVU running back Noel Devine treated Huskie defenders as if they were the pylons in an agility drill, gaining close to 250 yards between them.

But what if ... Dahna Deleston could play linebacker?

That's the plan right now, putting the 6-foot-1, 200-pound former safety on one side of new middle 'backer Scott Lutrus, with Lawrence Wilson on the other side. Lutrus, who had 107 tackles last season, is 25 pounds lighter than 2007 middle man Danny Lansanah, but several steps quicker. Deleston, meanwhile, said he'd always felt like a linebacker, anyway.

If Deleston's position change lasts into the fall, either Kijaun Dabney or Jonathan Jean-Louis -- both redshirt freshmen with excellent acceleration -- should replace him at strong safety.

UConn has five interior line starters returning -- center Keith Gray, tackles Dan Ryan and Will Beatty and guards Mike Hicks and alex LaMagdelaine. But Edsall wasn't satisfied with the aggressiveness displayed by that group last season, so he decided to juggle. Redshirt freshman Zach Hurd (6-7, 307) has moved into Hicks spot, with the latter switched to tackle and Ryan the odd man out. Edsall liked the way Hurd attacked the opposition of special teams last year.

He also likes the attitude of backup running back Kelmetrus "Meme" Wylie, who told the Hartford Courant: "I feel like I'm a big dude -- why should I move out of the way of most defenders?"

He is a big dude -- 6-10, 210 -- and he rushed for over 2,000 yards as a prep senior in Washington, Ga. Fellow redshirt freshman Robbie Frey put up similar numbers for Lehighton (Pennsylvania) High, and Edsall has been using this up-and-coming pair to inspire incumbent backs Andre Dixon and Donald Brown.

What if?

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