Big East Football 2010: UConn Huskies Have to Stop Making Mistakes

UConn has been outmatched in two football games this season: one in which they should have been at Michigan, and one in which they shouldn't have been at Temple.

No disrespect to Al Golden and what he has done at Temple, but Randy Edsall needed to find a way to win that game. The Big East hasn't beaten anybody this season, and as far as I'm concerned, they would struggle against the Mountain West Conference.

TCU, Utah, Air Force, and BYU all would cause matchup problems on both sides of the ball for the teams in the Big East. This Huskies team, who many predicted to win their conference, needs to get its act together.

I don't want to pin UConn's struggles on a single player, but QB Zach Frazer has to start finding his wide receivers. How good is a strong running attack when you can't throw the football? Sorry Zach, but a 50 percent completion rate isn't going to cut it.

It is time to make the right reads and connect on throws down the field! If Frazer fails to accomplish that at home Saturday against Buffalo, he needs to be pulled. I don't know how much longer Edsall is going to wait for the senior QB to come around.

Sure, he hasn't thrown an interception this season, but some of his passes have been awful. If I had to grade his performance thus far, it would be hard to give him better than a D.

It all starts with the quarterback and it is about time for Frazer to step up and lead this football team.

At running back, Jordan Todman has been superb. Yet, I believe he was injured from the fall he took on the sideline last week. He finished the game, but a costly fumble was the difference in the fourth quarter. If Todman can't go, that means more work for Robbie Frey and USC-transfer D.J. Shoemate.

Look for Dwayne Difton, a 4-star recruit from Miami, to make an impact on Saturday. He will make his first start, replacing Isiah Moore at split end. He struggled last season, but has worked hard in the offseason. Somebody other than Michael Smith needs to start catching passes. Maybe Difton is the answer to this reoccurring problem.

On defense, nobody really knows how serious LB Scott Lutrus' injury is. I don't think he comes back until conference play, if that. If it is a stinger, then he could be out indefinitely. It will be a tough loss, because he was healthy going into the year.

Jory Johnson, who took over for an injured Lutrus, has performed at times in his absence. Sio Moore is also contributing at linebacker.

Jerome Junior is once again starting at strong safety. He will have to play at a high level to keep that starting job. Harris Agbor hasn't performed early in the season, will now back up Junior.

Kendall Reyes needs to step up and lead the defensive front. The captain from Nashua, N.H., moved to defensive end, as Edsall looks to shuffle the front four in an attempt to jump-start the defensive pressure.

The big rock in the defense is LB Lawrence Wilson. His size and strength is the dominating force on the D; he leads the Huskies in tackles this year.

Enough talk, I just want to see this team go out and compete. That's all I ask: to see a team take the field and give it everything they have. Edsall said it is not time to panic, but it is getting pretty darn close. If UConn expects to win the Big East, it needs to use the next two games as a strong tune-up.

The Huskies don't want to go down to Piscataway after dropping a winnable game at home. If Uconn loses to Buffalo or Vandy, they don't belong in any type of conversation about the conference champion.

If the Huskies play mistake-free football, then they will be in good shape. Stop the turnovers; it is time to put points on the board early and often. For a team that received lots of buzz in the offseason, it has underperformed mightily three weeks into the season.

Fortunately, there is still plenty of time to turn it around. The sooner the better, because once Big East play starts, there is no going back. Come on Randy, do what needs to be done.