The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
QB Shirreffs to miss game
STORRS — There are times when it appears that if the UConn football team didn’t have bad luck, the Huskies wouldn’t have any luck at all.
Normally, news that top running backs Arkeel Newsome and Nate Hopkins are set to return to the field would be a cause for celebration. However, having the Huskies’ second and third leading rushers returning to practice was offset by the news that concussions will keep starting quarterback Bryant Shirreffs and reserve running back Jason Thompson from playing in Saturday’s game at No. 14 UCF (noon, ESPNU).
Shirreffs, who has started the last eight games, is challenging Shane Stafford’s single-season program record in passing efficiency. Stafford had a mark of 154.2 in 1997 while Shirreffs is at 153.6, aided by the fact that he is completing 65.8 percent of his passes, which is the highest total for any UConn quarterback to average at least 10 attempts per game.
David Pindell, who started in the season opener, will get the call against UCF.
“He has done a good job and taken a lot of hits, so in the one game I had to come in and just take advantage of the opportunity,” said Pindell, who completed 3 of 4 passes for 37 yards and had a 10-yard touchdown run in relief of Shirreffs in Saturday’s loss to South Florida. “I made sure I came in and did my job. He has a concussion and obvi-
ously can’t play this week, so I have to step up and do my part.”
Pindell completed 68 percent of his passes in his lone start Aug. 31, but with the Huskies trailing against Holy Cross, a Football Championship Subdivision team currently sitting with a 4-6 record, Shirreffs was summoned off the bench. Shirreffs returned to his familiar role as the starting quarterback, leaving Pindell to be relegated to mop-up duty late in games, as he attempted 16 passes in the last two games.
“I was a little disappointed, but I didn’t get too down about it because I found some positives,” Pindell said. “I felt like I could learn from what Bryant did, the things he did well and the things he could correct, I just correct those the next time I get that opportunity. I didn’t take it as a bad thing; I took it as a learning process for me.”
If there was a concern about Pindell’s performance in his previous start it was the lack of a vertical passing game, as he settled for high-percentage passes that didn’t net much yardage.
“Game 1, maybe there wasn’t as much available for him to be able to run as there is now, even from my standpoint, I was getting to know him a little bit,” UConn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. “I don’t want to say ‘protect’ him is the right word, but not put him in situations that aren’t fair to him. Now he’s to a point that he’s played in some games now, we have to turn him loose and let him go play. I think he’s more prepared for that.”
With UCF leading all Football Bowl Subdivision teams in scoring offense (48.5 points per game), while ranking second in passing efficiency as well as being in the top 15 in both yards per rushing attempt and rushing touchdowns, there could be some pressure on the Pindell-led offense to produce plenty of points if the Huskies want a chance at the upset.
UConn likely having the services of Hopkins, who leads the Huskies with seven touchdown runs, and Newsome, the team’s leader in receiving yards at the time of his upper-body injury, will give Pindell more playmakers to work with.
“They were looking good, looking normal,” Pindell said. “Arkeel was moving and catching the ball, Nate was running the ball pretty good. He (Newsome) can definitely catch; he’s a good playmaker out of the backfield, so if we decide to throw the ball down the field he’s a big threat and he can also run the ball. He’s quick and he can hit holes hard.”
Brandon Bisack goes into the UCF game as the No. 2 quarterback. Donovan Williams, who was UConn’s starting quarterback for the final three games of the 2016 season, has moved to receiver but has seen some quarterback snaps in the wildcat formation.
UConn will be without freshman safety Brayden Brown, who recently had a death in his family and has returned home. Cornerback Jamar Summers returns to the starting lineup after being held out of the first three quarters against USF as a result of his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Missouri. Senior Tre Bell, who started for Summers, remains in the lineup ahead of true freshman Jordan Swann.