The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
The Redshirts are coming
Juniors Peart, Terry enjoy leadership roles for Huskies
NEWPORT, R.I. — Standing just a few feet apart inside a room featuring the best and brightest football stars in the American Athletic Conference, UConn redshirt juniors Matt Peart and Marshe Terry certainly looked and sounded every bit like the cornerstone players they are expected to be for a UConn team picked to finish fifth in the six-team American Athletic Conference East Division.
Peart leads all of the returning UConn offensive players with 24 career starts while Terry’s 11 starts are the most among the defensive group. Their work on and off the field not only landed the duo on the football program’s leadership council but UConn coach Randy Edsall has appointed Peart and Terry in prime leadership roles within the leadership council. Peart is the primary player contact when the coaching staff has offensive issues to address. Terry holds down the same prestigious role with the defense while Donovan Williams is the special teams representative.
“I’m making sure the offense is running as smoothly as possible, so I am kind of the little bridge between players and coaches,” Peart said at Tuesday’s AAC football media day festivities. “I make sure everything moves smoothly so Coach (Edsall) doesn’t have to worry about player personnel (issues) and he can just focus on game day and make sure players feel comfortable to make sure we have success.”
Peart, heading into his third season as a starting offensive tackle, would have been at the top of the list of players that Edsall would expect to provide leadership in the upcoming season. However, Terry is somebody who has opened a few eyes in the offseason.
“One of the guys who surprised me was Marshe Terry, he surprised me and the coaching staff on how he stood out and I didn’t know he had that in him,” Edsall said.
When the 2017 season began, Terry was manning the Husky position in the newly installed 3-3-5 defense.
After the season opener, he was moved to a free safety role. Now he is back at the Husky back position which is a linebacker/safety hybrid.
“I am used to playing high safety, that is what I played for the majority of last season so it hasn’t been much of a change,” Terry said. “I feel like it has brought more of my talents to the surface. I play below the position (he played in 10 of his 11 starts in 2017).
“I have to be quicker with my reads, I have to
see things faster, react faster.”
With the graduation of veterans Luke Carrezola, Vontae Diggs, Foley Fatukasi, Junior Joseph, Cole Ormsby and Jamar Summers, there was a definite need for a leader or leaders to emerge. During spring practice Terry would walk into the locker room either before or after practice and realize how much things have changed.
“It was initially a weird feeling walking into the locker room and I am the guy now,” Terry said. “I am the older guy and everybody else is just coming in so I have to be the one to look out for them and help bring them along, get them ready. Initially it was weird, but it is something I have grown comfortable with and I have grown to appreciate because I have a good personality to bring younger guys along and bring them to a place that they want to be.”
Peart couldn’t help but laugh when it was pointed out that no current UConn player has more career starts than his 24.
“I haven’t really given that much thought,” Peart said. “I guess I am the grizzled vet. I don’t really think about it much but when guys ask me questions, I am always there for them. I try to make sure everybody feels comfortable with the offense. If they have any problems, I try to push them in the right direction. I am the old man of the group; I feel like I just got here.”
Expectations outside the program might be on the low end of the spectrum as only East Carolina and Tulsa received fewer points than UConn’s 51 in the AAC preseason poll. However, Edsall has gone on the record as saying that the UConn offensive line has potential to be as good as any he has coached. Considering that his most successful seasons in his first stint at UConn was built around dominating offensive lines and a productive running game, it is quite the statement.
“He’s kind of made it known that if we put in the
“I am the older guy and everybody else is just coming in so I have to be the one to look out for them and help bring them along, get them ready. Initially it was weird, but it is something I have grown comfortable with and I have grown to appreciate because I have a good personality to bring younger guys along and bring them to a place that they want to be.” UConn defender Marshe Terry
work, continue with our drive and our effort, we could really become one of the more successful lines that we’ve had at UConn,” Peart said. “It is kind of amazing because of all the success he has had over the years, it is kind of amazing that he considers us to potentially be one of the better lines.”
It’s a different story on the other end of the ball as UConn ranked dead last among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision programs in passing defense last season.
“That is not who we are and not what UConn represents and we want to go out and prove that week in and week out,” Terry said of the fifth-place spot in the preseason poll.
“I never let (the porous defensive numbers) get to me. It was our first year under a new system, guys were talented but the communication wasn’t there, the experience in that system wasn’t there. We have a lot better preparation going into the season and it will help moving forward.”
UCF, which will face UConn in the Aug. 30 season opener, was the overwhelming pick to not only win the AAC East Division but also to repeat as conference champions. USF, Temple and Cincinnati were the next three teams in the East Division poll. Memphis is the West Division favorite followed by Houston, Navy and SMU.