QB struggles in second start
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Start No. 1 for UConn’s Jack Zergiotis, two weeks ago against Illinois, was a whir of promise and potential.
Start No. 2 for the freshman quarterback, Saturday against Indiana, was something a bit different.
Zergiotis completed only 14 of 28 passes for 90 yards and an interception in a 38-3 road loss, with none of the gun-slinging highlights he generated in his debut.
“My performance wasn’t what I needed it to be,” Zergiotis said. “And it wasn’t what the team needed from me.”
Some of Zergiotis’s issues, coach Randy Edsall said, owed to playing on the road against a tough opponent, in front of an announced crowd of 40,084.
“It was a freshman on the road for the first time, in a Big Ten place,” Edsall said. “He got rattled a little bit early and never could get out of the funk that he got in there early in the first quarter.”
The freshman’s biggest mistake Saturday came during UConn’s first drive of the third quarter, on third-and-8 near midfield. After an Indiana defender burst through the offense line and wrapped his arms around Zergiotis, the quarterback attempted to flip a left-handed pass to running back Art Thompkins. Linebacker Cam Jones grabbed the ball and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
“I went through my reads, and at the last second I was being taken down and I saw Art,” Zergiotis said. “I tried to make a play out of it, but sometimes when you’re trying to do too much it doesn’t work out.”
Edsall noted that Zergiotis’ issues didn’t occur in a vacuum. UConn averaged only 2.3 yards per carry on the ground Saturday, forcing the quarterback to continue passing. As the Huskies fell behind, they were left to throw even more often.
Though redshirt freshman Steven Krajewski rep l a c e d Z e rg i o t i s for UConn’s final drive, Edsall affirmed that Zergiotis remains the team’s quarterback.
“I’ve just go to get him to settle down,” Edsall said. “Now that he’s had this experience I would expect him to be better on the road, but we’ve got to get everyone else around him better.”
As Saturday’s game progressed, Edsall noted, UConn’s team seemed to get younger and younger.
First, senior tight end Donovan Williams was ruled out with an injury, leaving junior Jay Rose to start and freshman Jayce Medlock to see his first career college action.
Then, a series of injuries forced the Huskies to turn to one inexperienced player after another.
Junior linebacker D.J. Morgan left the game, replaced by redshirt freshman Terrence Ganyi. Junior cornerback Tahj Herring-Wilson exited, replaced by freshman Myles Bell. Later, junior safety Tyler Coyle went out, replaced by sophomore Rob King.
Edsall did not provide updates on any of the hurt players. Before the season, the coach announced that he would not comment on player health during the season, except in the case of season-ending injuries.
UConn had intended to use more defensive players than usual Saturday, given the mid-80s heat, but injuries forced the team to look further down its depth chart than anyone planned. The fill-ins, Edsall said, weren’t always prepared.
“We’re trying to create the mentality that you’re one play away from going in. And some guys, they don’t believe that,” Edsall said. “As I told them in the locker room, we tell [the players] that and then some guys go, ‘Well, I’m not going to get into the game.’”
Even leaving aside the team’s injury issues, UConn substituted more liberally than it has in previous weeks, rotating defensive lineman and giving chances to players such as sophomore defensive backs Jeremy Lucien and Oneil Robinson. Lucien had played primarily on special teams in the Huskies’ first two games, while Robinson had not appeared at all.
When junior left guard Cam DeGeorge struggled Saturday, coaches turned to sophomore Robert Homes.
“We just weren’t satisfied with some of the things we saw,” Edsall said. “Cam was having a tough time on that angle, so we put Robert in there. … If guys aren’t giving the effort, and if guys aren’t out there doing what we think they should do, we’re going to put somebody else in there. It’s as simple as that.”