The UConn football team has had two wide receivers transfer in recent weeks, another one left back in May, and over the summer Mike Smith, the best wideout on the roster, was declared academically ineligible for the 2011. On top of all that, the Huskies are searching for a starting quarterback.
Don't worry about the receiver position, though; there's still plenty of depth there.
"We lost a couple of good guys. They're both friends of mine but that's how football works," senior Kashif Moore said, according to the Hartford Courant's Desmond Conner. "Sometimes things happen like that, where you've got to just keep it rolling."
It's also an opportunity for the younger players to compete for snaps that might have been harder to come by with more names on the depth chart.
"The older guys are playing well, they're playing fast because they know what they're doing and they're able to use their true athletic speed and talent and the young guys are really, really coming on strong and they're really pushing those older guys," receivers coach Matt Cersosimo said. "And the other guys see the competition so the competition is breeding more competition and it's taken those guys to be able to play to their true talent level."
In April we wrote about freshmen wideouts Tebucky Jones, Jr., and Geremy Davis.
“Every day, the coaching staff emphasizes opportunity, and that we have to come out here and prove ourselves,” Jones said at the time. “That’s how I take it every day. Work hard, and hopefully earn a spot on the field. I’m out here every day, me and some of my teammates, and try to be the best we can be. It’s fun to compete against each other, but basically you’re competing against the whole country.”
Four months later both players appear closer to earning more playing time.
"The young guys — Jones, Davis — are playing very well," Cersosimo said, via Conner.
Now head coach Paul Pasqualoni can get back to the business of finding a quarterback. And if he can't settle on one after this season, help is on the way.
