THE DEFENSE CAN'T REST
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Today, some thoughts on the UConn defense, which has been a key to their success over the last two years.
The line lost lots of talent in Cody Brown, Julius Williams,Rob Lunn and Marcus Campbell. But the cupboard isn't bare.
The experience is in the middle with Kendall Reyes, Twyon Martin, Alex Polito and Brandon Dillon back. Reyes and Martin could be as good a pair of defensive tackles as there are in the conference.
This is Lindsey Witten's chance to be the man at defensive end. He is an outstanding pass rusher and now has to be a full time player and leader. Mike Cox returns as Witten's backup after missing a year with a knee injury. At the other side, it will be Jesse Joseph and Trevardo Williams, both freshman who started school in Janaury last year and have the benefit of playing spring ball. They have BIG shoes to fill.
Linebacker is the strong point of this team..It is the second year in a row that Scott Lutrus, Greg Lloyd Jr and Lawrence Wilson have been together and they each have all conference potential.
Lutrus is the leader, Lloyd is the power man in the middle and Wilson the strong silent playmaker. Greg Robinson Jr and Sio Moore give the Huskies five talented linebackers.
In the secondary, Robert Vaughn is a third year starter at safety and Jasper Howard is in his second year at cornerback. I think both will have huge seasons. Co Capt Robert McClain and Jerome Junior must fill the shoes of Darius Butler and Dahna Deleston. The depth will be provided by youngsters like Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Kijuan Dabney.
Desi Cullen and David Taggert return as the punter and placekicker, there are NO worries in those departments. It's hard to believe it's Desi's fourth year.
Desi and Reggie McClain will be the guests on the first edition of the Coaches Show from the video studio of the Burton Family Football Complex tonite at 6:10.
Don't forget, Chip Malafronte of the Register has a live chat today @ 2 which you can access thru www.nhregister.com and Desmond Connor chats with you Monday's @ noon @ blogs.courant.com/uconn_football.
Ok, more tomorrow .
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