In today's JI

Good morning to all. It's been busy around here and Tuesday's are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. type days, so I wasn't able to flesh everything out. In today's paper we have a story on Brad Kanuch and his last go around.    Kanuch is pretty intense, and he is sick of hearing about how bad the receivers are.

Kanuch watched as what was supposed to be his breakout junior season turned into a nightmare. He had seven catches for 69 yards and the Connecticut wide receivers were among the least productive in the FBS last season ranked 109th out of 119 teams. Kanuch would go entire halves without the ball being thrown his way.


It wasn’t what Kanuch was expecting. The passing game around the Huskies had collapsed and in every way it was a lost year for the speedy wide receiver from Johnstown, Pa.

“Miserable,” Kanuch said when asked to reflect on last season. “I was hurt all the time and the hamstring nagged at me all year. That was miserable and then getting nothing thrown my way. It wasn’t that great a year. It wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. I came in with such high expectations and it went to hell five days into practice. After that, it was whatever.”

I am working on a Jerome Junior story for today and of course there is the advance.  On some other things, take a look at the Courant's Jeff Jacobs' column today on Zach Frazer. I thought the exact same thing when talking to Frazer. It was a Hernandez or Lorezen double take.  Just because you are the starting quarterback doesn't mean you have to be boring. I want my Zach back!

Everyone works hard and wants to win. We know that, it's how you do that that we are intersted in. Perhaps he was just nervous...no not with the game coming up, rather the wrath of Randy Edsall.  I have a good feeling about Frazer.

I don't like the fact that pundits are picking this as an upset. A 4-8 MAC team from a year ago against a UConn team that blew out the MAC champion last year? I know it's on the road, but I have to figure out if Ohio's defensive line can take the size and strength of UConn's. That was the difference in the Buffalo game. UConn's line mauled Buffalo.

Last tip. I checked out ESPN360 yesterday and for some who can't figure it out here is an option. First off, go directly to espn360.com to access the network (assuming your ISP is a provider).

If you are bummed you have to watch it on your computer, have no fear.

If you have a somewhat fast processor on the laptop and an HDTV, I would look into hooking your laptop up to the TV through the VGA connection (nearly all plasma's and LCD TVs have this).  Check out this link to figure it out: http://www.techlore.com/article/10061/How-To-Connect-a-Computer-To-Your-TV/.

DON'T BUY the VGA cables for monitors over 32 inches. Get the cheaper VGA cable for "smaller" monitors. You won't notice any difference at all. The difference in quality won't be noticeable off a streaming internet feed. Instead, the extra $20 you save you can send to me.

Now for audio, you are going to have to hook up your laptop or computer to your sound system. Either use an input on the TV or connect it straight to your home theatre system. A regular stero red and white cable will work fine. Just go to Radio Shack if you don't have one. They should be about $10.

Now if you have a digital outs on your computer, well then you know what your doing anyway.

Good luck. I did this for the NCAA tournament MMOD and it was terrific. As long as your computer can handle the streaming video (needs a high-powered processor and memory).

Tuesday presser

This was as ho-hum as it gets. After nine months and countless stories about the offense game week is here. The Huskies will travel to Athens, Ohio Saturday at 7 p.m. against Ohio University.


It was as routine a press conference today as there can be.  It's been that kind of camp too., No drama, little conflict, more just intrigue. We have to wait and see the offense before we can make any conclusions. It's 5 days away.

Randy Edsall, as he has for much of the summer and spring, was much more relaxed and comfortable. Incredibly, there have been few injuries this year and OT Jimmy Bennett's surgery last week went well and he is doing better than doctors expected. Too early to speculate whether he can return by spring.


Spoke with Jerome Junior and Brad Kanuch among others today.


Junior is a great story coming out of Baltimore, Md. He is another one of those lightly recruited players and had invitations to UConn and Northwestern for football camp.  Junior's father told him he only had money to get to one place, and he decided it was going to be UConn. He woke up at 3 a.m. and took a train from Baltimore to Connecticut by himself. Who does that?


He arrived in Storrs and the coaching staff told him to sleep. Junior was so excited he wanted to jump right into camp. He never played safety in high school and had no idea what a cover 2 was when he camped in Storrs. Junior loved it in Storrs the moment he got here. A couple of weeks later when he received a scholarship offer he immediately said "yes." Then, he went and told his father.


The thing about Junior when you look at him is his build -- he looks like a linebacker. He is 6-foot-1 215 pounds with room to grow right now. Broad shoulders, and he plays the deep ball better than Dahna Deleston according to Edsall. His footwork has improved dramatically and he hits like a Mac truck. Junior is still raw, but if he can play safety at that size and strength this early in his career they have a find there.


As far as Kanuch, he has a chip on his shoulder this year. When asked about last year's season the word that came to his mind was "miserable."

"Miserable,” Kanuch said when asked to reflect on last season. “I was hurt all the time and the hamstring nagged at me all year. That was miserable and then getting nothing thrown my way. It wasn’t that great a year. It wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. I came in with such high expectations and it went to hell five days into practice. After that, it was whatever.”

Will up date with some quotes and audio of Kanuch. Kanuch is tired of hearing how unproductive the wide receivers are. He mentioned how when you get the ball thrown to you once a half "in the second half you are shocked” when the ball comes your way.


More importantly, Kanuch believes the talent here is far superior at wide out than before. If we can remember, Kanuch started two games into his true freshman year at wide receiver. He said that if he were a freshman coming in there would be virtually no shot that he would play.


That's an important point for me because that shows there has at least been some progress. The results aren't there on the field as of yet, but the receivers are better.

“It’s a lot of unheard talent,” Kanuch said. “No one knows what we are capable of doing because of what the offense was of doing the last couple of years.”

My own opinion? I think the unit is going to surprise this year. I don't know if there is a big play guy in the bunch that is going to be the dominant receiver, but I think they will be productive.


Other notes:


*Edsall on Zach Frazer playing this week:

"He is completely ready to run the show and the offense and be a leader. He got a lot better as preseason wore on. After second scrimmage he played very well. In game week, he is very focused and very intent on going out there and doing what we want him to do. He has to go out and execute the game plan we have. If Zach does that, we will be fine. Zach needs to take what the defense gives him."

What does Zach offer? For those who haven't seen much of him.

"Zach throws the football well," Edsall said. "He is a good passer and has a strong arm. He is a tough competitor and understands things. He has a presence that the offensive guys like."


"...How he is in the huddle on the field -- confident and reassuring. He has a strong arm and can make the throws he needs to make."

A QB whose strength is throwing? I'll take it. The key for Frazer this week is avoiding turnovers. He threw six interceptions and against Pittsburgh in a relief outing last year threw three interceptions in 4 passes. It's more decision making with Frazer than ability.

• We also talked with Frank Solich, Ohio University coach, about the game and facing a new offense. Solich has faced Akron every year and knows Joe Moorhead's offense well. Stop the run first. As far how Ohio will prepare? They are watching both UConn's film last year (for the running game) and Akron's film last year to get ready for Moorhead's scheme.
• 
  Edsall addressed a couple of national topics. He was asked about the Michigan possible violations of working more than 20 hours a week on football and he doesn't feel it's possible to ask more than that for players. The coaching staff has the week scheduled down to the minute and they use about 19:30 hours. He doesn't feel with the academic rigors its even possible to ask more of the players.

There is some more, but it's time to pay the bills.