Earlier in the week, I wrote up a post about members of the UConn Huskies football team playing in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday afternoon at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL. Had I looked at the rosters a few days ago, I would have seen that Zach Hurd and Lawrence Wilson were no longer on it.
And the following release from UConn explains why they aren’t.
MOBILE, Ala. – University of Connecticut senior linebacker Lawrence Wilson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and senior offensive guard Zach Hurd (Waterford, Conn.) will play in the 2011 Senior Bowl, which will take place on Saturday, Jan. 29 at Mobile’s Ladd-Pebbles Stadium. The game will be televised live on the NFL Network and kickoff is at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Wilson will be celebrating a homecoming in Mobile as the Tuscaloosa native returns to his home state after a standout career at UConn. The linebacker was a first team All-BIG EAST selection this season after leading the conference in tackles with 123. He also added 10.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks for the Huskies this year.
Among his many highlights in 2010 was a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown against South Florida. Wilson started 50 games for the Huskies the past four years and leaves the school ranked second all-time in tackles (449). He had five career interceptions and returned three of those for touchdowns.
Hurd, who originally was scheduled to play in the East-West Shrine Game, blocked for four 1,000 yard rushers in his career and started all 13 games for the Huskies in 2010. He started all 39 games over the past three years for UConn and appeared in a school-record 52 games during his career.
Three other Huskies will take part in the 86th East-West Shrine Game. The game will be held this Saturday at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., kicking off at 4 p.m. EST and will be televised by the NFL Network. The three Huskies are defensive end Greg Lloyd (Clermont, Fla.), linebacker Scott Lutrus (Brookfield, Conn.) and fullback Anthony Sherman (North Attleboro, Mass.).
Lloyd was a Second Team All-BIG EAST pick during 2009 and battled injuries late in his career. Lutrus was a Second Team All-BIG EAST pick in his sophomore year of 2008 and started a total of 41 games over four years. Sherman played in 51 games as a fullback over his Husky career and again played a critical blocking role for the UConn tailback position.
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Earlier in the week while he was at the East-Shrine Game practices, Hurd had been playin center. Now he along with Wilson will have a chance to prove themselves against some of the nation’s top seniors.
Here is one of Todd McShay’s of Scouts, Inc (ESPN Insider link). top performers for the practice that was held on Thursday.
East: Connecticut FB Anthony Sherman (ESPN Insider link)
He’s undersized (5-11, 240 pounds) and fullbacks border on extinct in the NFL, but I was impressed with Sherman. He’s competed all week. He’s tough and has some power at the point of attack. He also has good hands. He caught the ball smoothly and got up the field. It’s a pretty good fullback class and right now he’s No. 6 in the class. He’s a longshot to get drafted yet he’s done nothing but help himself this week.
After you’re done watching the UConn men’s basketball team take on the Tennessee Volunteers (2 p.m.), switch your cable or satellite box over to the NFL Network at 4 p.m. and support your UConn boys.
