Much like Richmond in the season opener, Connecticut’s football program has quite a few ties to Virginia.
Head coach Bob Diaco enters his third season at UConn, but prior to climbing the coaching ranks he was the linebackers coach and special teams coach from 2006-2008 for Al Groh at UVA. Beyond that, three members of his coaching staff also have ties to the Cavaliers.
Co-Defensive Coordinators Anthony Poindexter and Vincent Brown also worked on Groh’s staff at Virginia. Poindexter was a special teams assistant with Diaco in that 2006-2008 window and worked for six years overall at the school. Of course, Poindexter is also a UVA playing legend after an incredible career in the 1990’s. Brown worked as a graduate assistant in 2007 while Diaco was on the Cavalier staff and later returned from 2010-2013 to work on Mike London’s staff.
Finally, Connecticut’s receivers coach and Special Teams Coordinator Wayne Lineburg overlapped on the same UVA staff as Diaco when he was an assistant from 2007-2009. Lineburg also was a graduate assistant in 1998-99 after graduating from Virginia in 1996. He was a backup quarterback for the Hoos.
While Hoo fans will recognize many of the faces, the UVA coaching staff won’t have the same deja vu. New coach Bronco Mendenhall and most of his staff moved across the country from Utah to try to revive the Virginia program. Here’s what everyone can expect from the matchup against UConn, which was picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference’s East Division.
Connecticut Peek
- Head Coach (record at school): Bob Diaco (8-17, 2 seasons)
- 2015 Record: 6-7 (lost to Marshall in St. Petersburg Bowl)
- Offense 2015 Total Yards/Game (National FBS Rank): 310.3 (124th)
- Offense 2015 Points/Game: 17.2 (t-121st)
- Defense 2015 Total Yards/Game: 355.1 (33rd)
- Defense 2015 Points/Game: 19.5 (15th)
What To Expect On Game Day
Offense: The Connecticut offense struggled to put up points in 2015, finishing near the bottom of the FBS heap in that regard after scoring 17.2 points per game. Yes, that’s worse than Virginia football fans in Charlottesville have moaned about in recent seasons. Still, the Huskies believe there is room for optimism with several key pieces returning to the field this season.
That starts up front where Ryan Crozier is back after missing all of 2015 with an injury. In 2014, Diaco said Crozier “was one of the best, if not the best, offensive linemen” on the team. His return helps bolster a line that has a lot of experience anyway with Andreas Knappe, Richard Levy, and Tommy Hopkins. Knappe is expected to start at right tackle for the third straight season, while Levy has 25 games under his belt as a starter too. Hopkins started 13 games last season.
The hope is better experience and better play on the line will help boost the other spots on the offense as well. The Huskies are expecting a big year from running backs Arkeel Newsome and Ron Johnson, who shared the load last season. Newsome ran for 792 yards and six touchdowns, while Johnson added 277 and five touchdowns. UConn ran the quarterback a ton last season too with Bryant Shirreffs getting 154 carries, which produced 503 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw for 2,078 yards and nine touchdowns. Garrett Anderson is the backup quarterback, but you could see him on the field at receiver here and there too.
The top target in the passing game in 2015 was receiver Noel Thomas, who tallied 54 catches for 719 yards and three touchdowns. Newsome grabbed 45 catches out of the backfield for 465 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Tyraiq Beals could be a factor too – he posted 24 catches for 275 yards as a freshman last fall.
Defense: Connecticut’s run to a bowl game in 2015 was built with a strong defense. The Huskies allowed just 19.5 points per game, good enough for 15th nationally – ahead of BYU’s 22.8/34th under Mendenhall in 2015. With Poindexter helping orchestrate the defense, long-time Virginia football fans can enjoy his success in that regard … even though they hope the Cavaliers slice through his defense in September.
The Huskies are led by Obi Melifonwu, a redshirt senior that posted 88 tackles and two interceptions in 2015. Diaco called Melifonwu “the best safety in America” and believes he is an NFL level talent. It should be interesting to see how the safety battle shapes up with Quin Blanding on the UVA side also considered a high-level safety with some preseason All-American recognition already by his name. Cornerback Jamar Summers posted eight interceptions to lead the AAC last season so the secondary is a strong suit for Poindexter’s group.
Another key player for the defense is linebacker Junior Joseph, the team’s leading returning tackle after making 93 stops a year ago. Senior Matt Walsh and redshirt junior E.J. Levenberry, a Florida State transfer that played in 13 games for the Seminoles in 2014, give the linebacker corps even more punch. Junior linebacker Vontae Diggs could be in the mix as well.
Up front, junior defensive end Luke Carrezola enters his third year of action. He started 12 games last season and posted 45 tackles with 8.5 tackles for loss. All-AAC honorable mention tackle Folorunso Fatukasi is back too after making 11 starts last season. He had 50 tackles with 7.5 sacks.
Special Teams: You’ve seen Newsome’s name heavily involved in the running and receiving categories above, but he’s also a factor on special teams where he had 19 kickoff returns for 22.6 yards per return.
The special teams’ headliner though is probably kicker Bobby Puyol, who enters his redshirt senior season with the Huskies. Puyol made 16 of 18 field goal attempts last season and 26 of 33 overall in his career. He’s hit 42 of 48 extra points. He also handles the kickoff duties.
