Still in flux
Huskies’ quarterback situation unclear with season-opener in two weeks
STORRS — The UConn football team will open its season on the road against Utah State in just two weeks. In the meantime, the quarterback situation is still in flux.
While there have been clues as to the direction the coaching staff is leaning, none of the four options have definitively established themselves as the guy.
On Saturday the Huskies held a scrimmage and situational practice. The day was dominated by the defense, and a less than impressive showing out of the quarterback group highlighted potential concern.
“Unfortunately, I would have to say (nobody helped themselves today),” head coach Jim Mora said. “I wish I could stand here and say this guy jumped out at me, but unfortunately I can’t say that. That doesn’t mean I’m disappointed in any of them because I am not. They work at it. Am I disappointed in the day we had at that position? Yes. I am still encouraged, but we have to start making some real time progress.”
Ta’Quan Roberson, Tyler Phommachanh, Zion Turner and Cale Millen rotated in and out throughout the scrimmage and situational work.
“It is becoming more clear,” offensive coordinator Nick Charlton said. “I am going to sit down with coach, and we are going to go through it. It is not just today; it is the body of work we look at and who is working with who. We have a good idea as to where it is going, but we have to evaluate that.”
Roberson saw most of his work with the first team on Saturday, while Turner and Phommachanh split a majority of their snaps with the second team.
Roberson, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Penn State, entered camp with the advantage of having spent the spring season with the team.
“No matter where you stand on the depth chart, you always have to have that starter mentality,” Roberson said. “At the end of the day, you never know what may happen.”
While Roberson is regarded highly for his throwing ability, he needs to make strides when it comes to decision making in game.
“With (Roberson) we talked about critical errors in the spring, but he would do some outstanding things because he is very gifted,” Charlton said. “He is one of the best throwers of the football purely that I have been around. But in terms of understanding the game, (he needs to know) when to eat it when the play isn’t there.”
Stratford’s Phommachanh, who started in three games for the Huskies last season, has seen his camp slowed as he recovers from an ACL tear that cut his 2021 starting experience short.
The redshirt freshman has shown signs of fatigue in camp and is still working his way back into full game speed as he nurses his knee.
“I have never lost any confidence in myself or who I am,” Phommachanh said. “It has definitely been hurting me, but you’ve got to push through it. We are out here ever y day working and those are the things you have to deal with when you are coming back from a tough injur y like that.”
In the early stages of camp, Phommachanh stood out to Mora. He is the only one of the four quarterbacks who have started a game at the Division I level, but his lesser workload during camp might have set him back somewhat.
“(Tyler) is definitely handling it ver y well,” Charlton said. “We are tr ying to progress him back and take care of him, do it the right way. He took some reps today after we kind of shut him down the other day. Took a bunch with the two’s today, started to get him go ing a bit. It is all about getting back into the speed of the game for him.”
Turner, a tr ue freshman, is still in consideration for the starting job as well, hailing from one of the top high school programs in the country at St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida.
“(Turner) is ver y cerebral. He obviously played at a ver y high level in high school, so he is extremely coachable,” Charlton said. “He is ver y physically gifted, he understands the game and he is calm out there. He had a couple of things today, most of those were operational as well, but he makes plays too. He is ver y much in the thick of this thing right now and I am proud of where he has gotten to at this point.”
While Turner has a high football IQ, he is facing the challenge of adjusting to the increased game speed at the collegiate level.
“It has been great, I have definitely seen improvements in my game just listening to the coaches,” Turner said. “I think I have improved in my decision making, just being able to go over the film ever y day and assessing what we are doing is helping me get better .”
Turner was drawn to UConn by the opportunity to help turn a program around. When asked what led to his decision, Turner responded, “The challenge. Not ever y player gets to come and turn a whole program around. I know coach Mora has a really great plan for us to make this a program of dominance.”
Millen, the redshirt sophomore who transferred from Northern Arizona, was worked into the scrimmage later than the other three. He is seemingly behind there st of the group on the depth chart.
While Saturday was a less than impressive showing out of the group, optimism remains pr evalent within the coaching staff that acknowledges a step forward from last year.
“In terms of where it was a year ago with the room to where we are now, it is night and day ,” Charlton said .“These guys have really improved everyday. There were mistakes out thereof course, but the progress is definitely there.”