UConn QB Tim Boyle (14) gets the ball off just as he is hit by Temple DB Khiry Lucas (20) at Rentschler Field.

There are going to be many story lines for the UConn football team as they begin spring practice on Saturday morning.

But the main one is who will be the starting quarterback for the UConn football program in 2015?

With the graduation of Chandler Whitmer and the retirement of Casey Cochran due to concussions, the UConn Huskies will have a battle for the top spot at quarterback. Tim Boyle, a junior next season, Bryant Shirreffs, a redshirt sophomore, and Tyler Davis, a true freshman, will all get a chance to take the first offensive snap against Villanova on September 3.

Head coach Bob Diaco has gone on record saying that he wants the quarterback situation to be settled by the end of spring practice. And on Wednesday afternoon on a conference call with the media, he didn’t shy away from that statement.

“I am not backing away from it, I would like to see a leader emerge from those,” Diaco said. “Everybody for practice one is expected to be full speed, so through that competition I’m very hopeful that not only will a leader emerge, but we’ll have a pecking order of 1-2-3.”

“That’s what we’re working toward, no doubt.”

Boyle has been given the chance to be QB1 over the last two seasons but has struggled mightily. He’s also the only one of the three who has taken a snap at UConn.

Shirreffs played in seven games for the North Carolina State Wolfpack in 2013 before transferring to UConn last fall. But he was mostly used as a wildcat QB running for 158 yards on 34 carries with a touchdown. He also was 4-of-5 passing with a touchdown as well.

Davis is fresh out of high school and will get a chance to compete since he enrolled early at UConn.

This will be an interesting battle to watch as all three possess different strengths.

Hopefully someone from this group will emerge. We definitely don’t need a situation like last season at the beginning where no one from the group of Whitmer, Cochran and Boyle put their best foot forward.

From UConn:

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – After leading the No. 1 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team to its 21^st regular season conference title, Husky head coach Geno Auriemma has been selected as the American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, as announced by the league on Friday. Additionally, junior forward Breanna Stewart (Syracuse, N.Y.) was named as the conference’s Player of the Year, while guard Kia Nurse was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year.

Auriemma picks up his second-straight and 12^th overall conference Coach of the Year honor after leading UConn to a 29-1 overall record in the regular season. The Huskies finished conference play with a perfect 18-0 record, defeating league opposition by an average of 48.7 points per game. The squad clinched The American’s regular season crown outright on Feb. 28 with an 87-24 victory over Memphis at Gampel.

Over the course of 30 seasons at Connecticut, Auriemma was named Coach of the Year in the former Big East conference a total of ten times and garnered National Coach of the Year honors seven times. Auriemma has guided the Huskies to a record nine national championships and owns the record for consecutive Final Four appearances with seven. In total, he has overseen 16 UConn trips to the Final Four.

Stewart, who became the 12^th Husky to win a conference Player of the Year accolade in 2013-14, is the first Connecticut player to win consecutive Player of the Year honors since Maya Moore in 2007-09. Stewart’s accomplishment marks the program’s 19^th conference player of the year nod for a Husky in the last 27 years.

At 17.4 points per game, Stewart is third in the conference and also ranks in the top-10 in field goal percentage (.540), blocks per game (2.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6). This season, the junior forward has notched 10 20-point games and has reached double figures in 26 of UConn’s 30 games.

Last week, she was named as one of 10 finalists for the 2015 Naismith Trophy and earned a spot on the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America Second Team.

Stewart is currently tied with former standout Stefanie Dolson (1,797) for 13^th on the Huskies’ all-time scoring list. Additionally, she stands in fifth on the program’s all-time blocks list with 259 career rejections.

Nurse secures the Huskies’ first conference Freshman of the Year honors since Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis took home the award in the 2011-12 season. In total, 13 Huskies have garnered the league award, including five selections since the 2005-06 campaign.

Nurse, who has helped the Huskies earn 29 wins in their first 30 games, has established herself as one of UConn’s most consistent offensive weapons. The guard is one of five Huskies averaging double-digit points (10.9) and ranks second on the squad with 99 assists. The Canadian was tabbed as the league’s Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1 and Dec. 29.

The Huskies open postseason play on Saturday, March 7 when they take on the winner of UCF/Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of The American Championship at 2 p.m.

UConn’s Morgan Tuck (3), Breanna Stewart (30), Moriah Jefferson (4) and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (23) all earned First Team All-Conference honors from the American Athletic Conference.

From UConn:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Seven standouts from the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team earned spots on 2014-15 American Athletic Conference All-Conference teams, the league announced on Thursday. Moriah Jefferson (Glenn Heights, Texas), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Anaheim Hills, Calif.), Breanna Stewart (Syracuse, N.Y.), and Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook, Ill.) were placed on the All-Conference First Team, while Kiah Stokes (Marion, Iowa) was named to the Second Team. Kia Nurse (Hamilton, Ontario) and Gabby Williams (Sparks, Nev.) were tabbed as All-Freshman team selections.

In addition to a spot on the All-Conference squad, Stokes was tabbed as the conference’s 2014-15 Defensive Player of the Year, while Jefferson earned Most Improved Player honors. Williams was selected as the league’s Sixth Player of the Year.

Stokes becomes the fifth-ever Husky to earn a conference Defensive Player of the Year and third-straight after Stefanie Dolson grabbed the honor a season ago and Kelly Faris took home the accolade in 2012-13. Stokes (125) is just six blocks shy of Rebecca Lobo’s program single-season blocks record of 131. The senior center leads the Huskies with 7.4 rebounds in just 19.7 minutes per game. Her 5.5 defensive boards per game ranks fourth in the conference and she leads the league with 4.2 rejections per contest.

Jefferson’s Most Improved Player accolade is the third such award in program history and first since Faris earned the distinction in 2012-13. The Texan, who is averaging 11.7 points in 27.1 minutes per game this season, has been one of the Huskies’ most consistent scoring options in In total, she ranks first on the team in assists (139) and steals (79) and is one of seven Huskies shooting over 50.0 percent from the floor (56.4). She provided a spark in UConn’s 87-62 victory over No. 1 South Carolina on Feb. 9, notching 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with a game-high six assists.

Jefferson’s 2.6 steals per game average is tops in the American Athletic Conference. In February, she was selected to the Wooden Award Late Season Top-20 List. Additionally, the guard is among 31 candidates on the 2015 Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List.

Williams earned the Huskies’ third-ever Sixth Player of the Year nod and first since Mosqueda-Lewis in 2011-12. The freshman boasts the conference’s best field goal percentage (.633) and is averaging 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 16.7 minutes off the bench. She was selected as the league’s Freshman of the Week on Dec. 22, Jan. 12 and Feb. 9.

Mosqueda-Lewis, who owns the program record with 371 made 3-point field goals, became the eighth member of UConn’s 2,000-point club when she notched 21 points against Memphis on Senior Day (Feb. 28). The senior forward leads the country with a .539 shooting percentage from beyond the arc this season. Her 3.2 made 3-point field goals per game ranks first in The American and she also stands at sixth overall in the conference in total scoring at 14.6 points per game. 

At 17.4 points per game, Stewart is third in the conference and also ranks in the top-10 in field goal percentage (.540), blocks per game (2.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6). This season, the junior forward has notched 10 20-point games and has reached double figures in 26 of UConn’s 30 games.

Last month, she was selected as a member of the Wooden Award Late Season Top-20 and earned a spot on the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America Second Team.

Stewart is currently tied with former standout Stefanie Dolson (1,797) for 13^th on the Huskies’ all-time scoring list. Additionally, she stands in fifth on the program’s all-time blocks list with 259 career rejections.

Tuck, who holds the nation’s eighth-best field goal percentage (.578), has put together a breakout season after being limited to just eight games in 2013-14. The forward ranks third on the squad at 13.4 points per game and holds a stellar 1.65 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.

Nurse, who has helped the Huskies earn 29 wins in their first 30 games, has established herself as one of UConn’s most consistent offensive weapons. The guard is one of five Huskies averaging double-digit points (10.9) and ranks second on the squad with 99 assists. The Canadian  was tabbed as the league’s Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1 and Dec. 29.

The league will announce its selections for Player, Coach, Freshman and Scholar-Athlete of the Year at a press conference on Friday, March 6 at 2 p.m.