Injuries continue to pile up
Veterans Tyler Coyle, Tahj Herring-Wilson, Marshe’ Terry could miss game
STORRS — The impossible might have taken place in the Burton Family Football Complex on Tuesday morning as the UConn football team actually got a little younger on defense.
No Football Bowl Subdivision team has started more defensive players this season than the 21 utilized by the Huskies in their first three games. Just seven of those starters have been with the program for at least three seasons. When the final few drills were being run Tuesday, four of those veterans were nowhere to be found, which is not good news for a unit ranked last nationally in scoring defense and total defense, and which has given up more plays of 10, 20 and 30 yards than any other FBS program this season.
Redshirt senior defensive lineman James Atkins has a required quantitative meth- ods class preventing him from taking part in practices on Tuesday and Thursday. Redshirt junior safety/ linebacker Marshe’ Terry and redshirt sophomore cornerback Tajh HerringWilson were knocked out of Saturday’s win over Rhode Island with ankle injuries and did not prac- tice Tuesday. Redshirt sophomore safety Tyler Coyle suffered a lower-body injury late in practice.
While there were no updates on the playing status of Coyle, HerringWilson and Terry for Saturday’s game at Syracuse (4 p.m., ESPNews), a trio of
freshman defensive backs (cornerbacks Ryan Carroll and Jeremy Lucien and safety Oneil Robinson) could all be in the starting lineup when the Huskies go up against a Syracuse team ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense and rushing offense.
“You never want to see a leader go down but it’s the game of football so the next man is up,” said Robinson, who had an interception in his first career start Saturday while filling in for sophomore safety Omar Fortt, who is expected to return to the lineup.
Depending on how quickly UConn’s veterans heal, the Huskies could start six true freshmen and eight total freshmen while squaring off with a Syracuse offense with 180 career starts between them.
“I know the (UConn defensive) numbers aren’t good and all that sort of stuff,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “I don’t care who you are, if you’re playing as many young guys as we are, you’re not going to have the stats. If we can keep getting them to keep playing hard, keep giving the great effort each and every day in practice and in the meeting room, it’s going to pay off. We have to take some lumps now, it is what it is but the one thing is that the kids are trying, they’re trying to do everything but they’re not ready, but that’s the situation we’re in. These kids are just coming from high school, they had 25 practices and now ...
“You see certain improvements every day, but is it going to be exactly where we want it? No. It’s a process that we have to go through with these kids. Now, if they weren’t giving effort and they weren’t trying, that’s a different story, but they aren’t big enough yet weight-wise, they aren’t strong enough yet weightwise, but what else are you going to do?”
Edsall has some decisions to make. The Huskies have used 19 true freshmen in the first three games and a new NCAA rule allows players to appear in as many as four games while being able to recapture the year of eligibility. Edsall said the decision has been made not to use defensive back Terrence Ganyi the rest of the season, and there’s a possibility of some of his classmates also being held out of game action so they don’t lose a year of eligibility.
Robinson is a player who seems likely to remain in the lineup.
The former Capital Prep star opened eyes early in camp with some huge hits but he’s learning that while launching his shoulder into ball carriers gets the job done in high school, that is not always the case at the collegiate level.
Edsall said he needs Robinson to grow up quickly, and he’s trying to do just that.
“I have to learn how to wrap up,” Robinson said. “I can’t lead with my shoulder anymore. I think I’m improving.”