UConn is tired of losing — here’s why they think the tide is set to change
Ryan Van Demark remembers the empty, defeated feelings of leaving road stadiums, fresh off of double-digit losses in which the UConn football team was outplayed and outmatched. In the eyes of the Huskies, the gloomy plane rides from whichever state they were in back to Connecticut happened far too often: a 35-point loss to Indiana here, a 42-point loss to Tulane there and a smattering of 20-point losses in various places from Cincinnati to Philadelphia.
As the Huskies prepare for the 2021 season — its first in nearly two years after the program opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns — those long, silent return trips still drive them.
“I think guys were just tired of losing,” Van Demark, a senior offensive lineman from New Jersey, said. “Getting on the plane after losing, it sucks. Sitting there in drought and dreary. And then the wins — the highs and lows of the season. Winning, feeling great. Losing and feeling awful. I think guys just want more of that winning feeling.”
The Huskies, who went 2-10 in 2019 and 1-11 in 2018, understand what rock bottom looks like. They’ve seen it. They’ve lived it. And they’ll
now argue that there’s a different mentality in the locker room this season.
“It’s been a long four years,” said senior tight end Jay Rose, who’s won just six games in his time at UConn. “But this year, I think it’s finally going to pay off. We all feel the same about the energy in the building and the work that’s put in. You can’t shy away from that.
“The wins haven’t been there, but Rome wasn’t built in one day. Someone can’t just come in and flip the program around in one, two years. It’s not that easy.”
True, a winning football team can’t be constructed overnight. There’s no better example of that than the last two seasons in which UConn and head coach Randy Edsall relied largely upon underclassmen to carry the brunt of the load offensively and defensively. In 2018, much of UConn’s defense — which set FBS records for points and yards allowed — was built on the backs of freshmen, sophomores and redshirt underclassmen. In 2019, starting quarterback Jack Zergiotis was a freshman; so were two of his top receiving weapons in Cam Ross and Matt Drayton. The young defense had little more experience under its belt.
Edsall likes the freshmen the program brought in this year. In 2018 or 2019, they may have had to play before they were ready. But according to Edsall, this year, they won’t have to. After 24 players transferred following the 2019 season, just eight players entered the transfer portal in 2020-21. Many of the underclassmen who took their licks in 2018-19, like juniors Travis Jones and Kevon Jones, senior Omar Fortt, redshirt junior Ian Swenson, sophomore Jackson Mitchell, Zergiotis, Ross and others remain with the program ahead of the Aug. 28 season opener at Fresno State. There was no turnover in the coaching ranks, either.
“It shows the loyalty of this team,” Van Demark said. “That shows that guys know what kind of team we’re going to be this year. They know that there’s something here that’s building. I think that’s great for us. Guys like Omar Fortt, Ian Swenson that stayed, Jay Rose that stayed — I think that’s going to be awesome for us.”
An improved defense is imperative to UConn’s success, as it’s set to face five offenses that ranked in the top half of total points scored in the nation last season, including Clemson (fourth) and UCF (eighth).
The Huskies are banking on experience and cohesion on defense. Many of its expected key starters — Travis Jones, Kevon Jones, Mitchell, Fortt, Swenson, linebacker D.J. Morgan, defensive lineman Lwal Uguak and defensive back Jeremy Lucien —
saw serious playing time in 2018 and 2019.
“Me personally, I was a part of the worst defense in college football [in 2018],” Kevon Jones said. “It’s never getting back to that stage, never, ever letting that happen again because that’s very embarrassing, to play with the worst defense. So we just have that chip on our shoulder, and we’re just going to keep fighting until the fourth quarter is over.”
The opt-out factor can’t be discounted, either. Much has been made about the Huskies’ physical growth from last season to now as it spent 2020 more in the weight room than on the field. Some players have gained weight; others have lost weight. Some have fine-tuned raw strength into Division I muscle.
That’s been Edsall’s largest talking point since the winter, but he’ll tell you there’s legitimate, on-field value to size.
“Put any game on,” Edsall said, referring to the 2019 season when UConn’s lack of strength hampered it. “Really, put those things on. And I think if you talk to the kids, they’ll say, ‘I feel so much stronger. I feel so much better physically, so much better from a mental standpoint knowing things.’ ”
Experience. Strength. A tiredof-losing mindset. It all looks good on paper and sounds good in press conferences. Against Fresno State, when the Huskies take the field for the first time in
637 days, they’ll finally see how much it has all paid off.
For those who experienced loss after loss after loss, they’ll find out if they can avoid another long, gloomy plane ride home.
“I think we’re going to have a great season,” Van Demark said. “We put in that whole seven months [off ] to work, to use every single day to get better. So I think these guys are ready, and we’re very motivated to have a winning season.”