Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Today’s UConn football links can be found in the Thursday links section of the Stony Brook vs UConn preview.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Stewart hopes youth is served at USA camp [carl adamec – sny uconn]

Source Says Geno Complaint About Mo’ne Did Not Come From ACC [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Auriemma Believes Mosqueda-Lewis OK With Roster Omission [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn’s Stewart excited to compete for USA spot [ct post]

Auriemma: School Objected To His Call To Little Leaguer Mo’ne Davis [hartford courant]

Breanna Stewart Hopes To Become 4th Collegian To Make USA Team [hartford courant]

UConn’s Breanna Stewart eager to land spot on U.S. team [new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Kentan Facey: ‘That Was A Dark Place, But It Builds Character’ [dom amore – hartford courant]

Jeff Adrien Chosen in D-League Expansion Draft [the uconn blog]

Beefed-Up Kentan Facey Hopes To Make Impact In Sophomore Season [dom amore – hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

Field Hockey. Former UConn Player Sue Lundy Maute Passes Away [uconn huskies]

Baseball. UConn Baseball Holding Open Walk-On Tryout [uconn huskies]

UConn Club. Champions Unleashed: Invest In UConn Athletics [uconn huskies]

W. Volleyball. UConn Volleyball Heads To NC State Tournament [uconn huskies]

W. Soccer. Huskies Return To Nutmeg State To Face CCSU And Stony Brook [uconn huskies]

M. Soccer. No. 21 UConn Opens Road Schedule Against Wake Forest On Friday [uconn huskies]

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Breaking Bread With Bob – 9/2/14 [sox & dawgs]

UConn Football Depth Chart For Stony Brook Seawolves [sox & dawgs]

Checking In With the Newest UConn Football Commit From Miami [desmond conner – hartford courant]

Newsome’s Rentschler Field history (best on his current team) [lee lewis –  waterbury republican-american]

Tuesday presser: In for the long haul [john silver – sny uconn]

Commit No. 14: WR Frank Battle, (Miami, Fla.) [john silver – sny uconn]

For UConn, it’s about progression, not wins and losses [ct post]

UConn’s Abrams Moving Forward After Injury, Personal Loss [hartford courant]

Diaco May Have His Process, But It’s Results That Matter [hartford courant]

UConn receiver Kamal Abrams finds peace on field after death of friend [new haven register]

It was worth the wait for Marriner [the day]

With a heavy heart, UConn’s Abrams plays in honor of a lost friend [the hour]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Former UConn star to help out at national team camp [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

DeAndre Daniels Has Elbow Surgery … Kevin Ollie’s Thought For The Day [dom amore – hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

W. Cross Country. Lauren Sara Named The American’s Female Athlete of the Week [uconn huskies]

UConn Huskies football coach Bob Diaco held his press conference for the game against the Stony Brook Seawolves on Saturday and spent a good portion of the time talking about last week’s loss to the BYU Cougars.

Diaco started out by saying everyone was disappointed in the loss. He’d stated that they are a process team and that process is success. The objective was to get better as a team and they got better.

He said they need to have a detailed understanding of their jobs. He said not everyone has a depth of knowledge as it relates to college football in general.

He stated that it was incredibly challenging to defend an offense like BYU in general, let alone in the first game of the season.

They trained the players to read and react. Some of them didn’t. He said the players need to fall back on their training.

He said everyone needs to continue to get reps. He said they tried as hard as they could on Friday.

Of all the positive things that happened, nothing surprised him.

Despite the fact the three starting linebackers, Marquise Vann, Jefferson Ashiru and Graham Stewart combined for 33 tackles (11 each), Diaco said the overall play of the linebackers was below average to poor.

He said the high substitution plans will continue for two more weeks (Stony Brook and Boise State).

He was pleased with how the offensive line played.

He said Andreas Knappe is closer to playing and will do more in practice each day this week.

He stated he’s pleased with the defensive line. They are coming along as far as learning the new system.

He said RB Arkeel Newsome showed great burst, hits everything at full speed, has excellent contact balance and power to run through tackles.

He said the situation with the two QB’s went well. Casey Cochran saw 47 snaps while Chandler Whitmer had 36.

He said opponents are not the main focus right now. It’s about the team getting better and correcting the mistakes. He sees it as they will work to attack their defense offensively.

He was asked about coaching style and he always tries to stay positive. He doesn’t want the players to hear negative things.

He said the team needs to understand what phase they are in.

The two QB plan will continue going forward but as any coach will say, he has reserved the right to change it if necessary.

He would like to increase the load for the running backs getting Newsome and Ron Johnson as well Max Delorenzo and Joshua Marriner more touches.

He said he was proud of Kamal Abrams in all areas. He said Abrams faced a lot of adversity during camp (more on this later).

He stated he would like to get LB Junior Joseph on the field more because Vann needs a backup.

I asked him about what he wants to see this week and he said he wants a better Tuesday practice than last week and basically the same thing each day going forward.

He ended his press conference by stating the defensive line needs to attack better.

We’ll have more on Abrams as well as few other subjects over the next few days.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

UConn’s Diaco States Again “We’re Not a Good Team Yet” [sox & dawgs]

Two QB Situation at UConn Not Going Away [sox & dawgs]

Former Husky WR Nick Williams Finds Home On Redskins Practice Squad [sox & dawgs]

UConn Football Depth Chart For Stony Brook Seawolves [sox & dawgs]

UConn game a homecoming for Stony Brook coach [jim fuller – new haven register]

Towson Game Of Last Season Not Far From UConn’s Mind [hartford courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Faris to play in Australia [jim fuller – new haven register]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Three Huskies Tally Goals In No. 8 UConn’s 3-0 Victory Over Stony Brook [uconn huskies]

M. Soccer. UConn Soccer Team Shuts Out Stony Brook [hartford courant]

W. Soccer. Gottwik Scores First Career Goal In 1-1 Draw At Syracuse [uconn huskies]

W. Volleyball. Anagu Named The American’s Defensive Player of the Week [uconn huskies]

Ahead of today’s pregame press conference for the Stony Brook Seawolves, UConn Huskies football coach Bob Diaco has released his two-deep for the game and there are no changes to it from the post-camp one.

Honestly, I’m not surprised as they had one game to evaluate players. Plus it’s almost like the two deep didn’t matter as the Huskies played 50 players, 25 on offense and 25 on defense, in the loss to the BYU Cougars last Friday night.

Offense

LT: 71 Richard Levy (RSo., 6-6, 305)
74 Paul Nwokeji (RJr., 6-6, 287)

LG: 65 Gus Cruz (RSr., 6-4, 296)
77 Trey Rutherford (Fr., 6-5, 289)

C: 73 Alex Mateas (RSr., 6-4, 309)
70 Kyle Bockeloh (RSo., 6-3, 284)

RG: 60 Tyler Samra (Jr., 6-2, 288)
63 Ryan Crozier (Fr., 6-4, 297)

RT: 78 Dalton Gifford (RJr., 6-4, 304)
62 Thomas Hopkins (RFr., 6-6, 298)

TE: 49 Sean McQuillan (RJr., 6-3, 239)
80 Tommy Myers (RFr., 6-5, 238)

WR: 85 Geremy Davis (RSr., 6-3, 216)
8 Thomas Lucas (RFr., 6-2, 198) OR
5 Noel Thomas (So., 6-1, 187)

QB: 12 Casey Cochran (RSo., 6-1, 224)
10 Chandler Whitmer (RSr., 6-0, 192)

FB: 34 Jazzmar Clax (RFr., 5-11, 241)
36 Matt Walsh (So., 6-1, 227)

TB: 44 Max DeLorenzo (RJr., 5-11, 210)
26 Joshua Marriner (RFr., 5-9, 193)

WR: 4 Deshon Foxx (Sr., 5-10, 172)
9 Kamal Abrams (RJr., 5-11, 182) OR
1 Dhameer Bradley (So., 5-9, 166)

Defense

DE: 56 Angelo Pruitt (RSr., 6-2, 287)
93 Folorunso Fatukasi (RFr., 6-4, 307)

NG: 90 Julian Campenni (RJr., 6-0, 299)
92 Mikal Myers (RSo., 6-1, 312)

DT: 97 B.J. McBryde (RSr., 6-5, 304)
95 Kenton Adeyemi (RJr., 6-4, 268)

DE: 47 Reuben Frank (RSr., 6-4, 246)
57 Cole Ormsby (RFr., 6-3, 248)

LB: 46 Marquise Vann (RJr., 6-0, 226)
55 Jon Hicks (RSo., 6-2, 236)

LB: 32 Jefferson Ashiru (RSo., 6-2, 233)
39 Junior Joseph (RFr., 6-1, 242)

LB: 2 Graham Stewart (RJr., 6-1, 227)
10 Cameron Stapleton (RFr., 6-4, 226)

CB: 16 Byron Jones (RSr., 6-1, 196)
7 John Green (RSo., 5-10, 179)

S: 22 Andrew Adams (RJr., 6-0, 197)
28 Jordan Floyd (RSo., 6-0, 206)

S: 20 Obi Melifonwu (RSo., 6-3, 210)
23 Junior Lee (RJr., 6-0, 214) OR
19 Ellis Marder (RSo., 6-1, 193)

CB: 6 Jhavon Williams (RSo., 5-10, 190)
21 Jamar Summers (Fr., 6-0, 180)

Special Teams

K: 17 Bobby Puyol (RSo., 5-10, 174)
94 Chase Briley (Fr., 5-11, 165)

P: 42 Justin Wain (RSo., 6-3, 204)
94 Chase Briley (Fr., 5-11, 165)

HL: 82 Blake Feagles (RFr., 5-10, 205)
12 Casey Cochran (RSo., 6-1, 224)

KR: 4 Deshon Foxx (Sr., 5-10, 172)
26 Joshua Marriner (RFr., 5-9, 193)

PR: 4 Deshon Foxx (Sr., 5-10, 172)
18 Brian Lemelle (So., 5-10, 165)

LS: 66 Dominick Manco (RJr., 6-0, 213)
67 Adam Mueller (RSr., 6-1, 212)

UConn head coach Bob Diaco looks up at a replay during the first quarter against the BYU Cougars on August 29, 2014 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.

On March 10 of this year, just about three months into the job and after his first spring practice, UConn Huskies football coach Bob Diaco told the assembled media the Huskies weren’t a good team.

“We’ve got enough players to have a good team, but we’re not a good team,” Diaco said. “We’re not a good team.”

On Monday’s American Athletic Conference coaches call, Diaco repeated those same words.

“We’re not a good team yet. We’ve got a lot to work on.”

Like it did in March, it caught me off guard.

One of things he emphasized in March was they weren’t good because they continued to do the things that cause losing. And yes that happened again on Friday night.

After allowing a BYU touchdown, Deshon Foxx took the kickoff back to his 44 yard line giving the Huskies excellent field position for their first possession of the 2014 season. Or so we thought.

Jazzmar Clax was called for a block in the back putting UConn back a their own 19 yard line. On the first offensive touch, Max Delorenzo fumbled the ball and the Cougars recovered at the 26.

BYU made them pay when Taysom Hill hit Mitch Mathews for a 26 yard touchdown on bad coverage from the secondary.

Block in the back penalty. Fumble. Bad coverage. All things that cause losing.

“You can’t start a football game like that and think you’re going win, come on.” said Diaco after Friday night’s game.

So it makes it understandable as to why Diaco said what he said about the team not being good. But does that make UConn a bad team?

In the grand scheme of things, they are a 1,000 times better than when Diaco took over. Are they still doing some things that cause losing? Yes. But, they are doing it less and will eventually get there sooner rather than later.

They are better men, they are better football players. They believe in their coaches. Most importantly, they believe in each other.

As far as the football part goes, they’re only going to get better over time. And if Diaco employs the same tactics he did with playing 50 players including 18 players who had not played a down of college football, they will be a much better football team then they were when they took the field.

“The only way players are going to get better is to play,” Diaco said on Monday. “We played 50 players – 25 on offense, 25 on defense – in the first half. It was meaningful snaps. We stayed on that plan the whole game and didn’t change, so the players got better.”

Being down on the field affords me a different perspective to the game.

I never once saw the guys get down despite the score. I saw them battle hard. I saw a cohesive team on the sideline. If a player wasn’t playing in the game and his unit (offense or defense) was on the field, he was standing as close to the game action as he could be soaking it all in.

The coaches weren’t yelling at the players if something bad happened, they were coaching and correcting it making sure it didn’t happen again.

Overall, the scoreboard might have shown a 25 point loss. But I can tell you, UConn was a better football team on Friday night than they were on Friday afternoon.

And folks, that is progress which I expect you’ll see all season long.