The Paul Pasqualoni era is under way at Connecticut and the fans that did bother to show up should like what they're seeing. The Huskies outgained FCS Fordham 285-62 in the first half and take a 21-0 lead into the locker room. Here's a handful of observations.
- Pasqualoni didn't name a quarterback to start before the game, and he hasn't chosen a single quarterback for the game either. Johnny McEntee, Scotty McCummings, and Michael Nebrich have played and overall played pretty well. McCummings has been mostly a wildcat type quarterback, but did throw a 55 yards touchdown on play action after a UConn interception. Nebrich is a mobile, strong kid that ran through a pair of arm tackles from defensive linemen but then also threw a really bad interception that stopped what was looking like another scoring drive.
- To my surprise, DJ Shoemate has not played in the first half. Nick Williams has been the backup to the starter Lyle McCombs, who has 122 yards in the first half including a 60 yarder that set up another touchdown.
- The offense has resembled the UConn offense of last year much more than the Syracuse freeze option that made George DeLeone famous in the 1980s and 1990s. Plenty of I-formationm, power running plays with some wildcat stuff from McCummings mixed in. I imagine the gameplan is also pretty vanilla given the opponent. The playcalling has been aggressive, with several shots down field
- Defensive lineman Jesse Joseph did not dress and is apparently going to be out for several weeks with an injury. Still, the UConn defense looks like a Don Brown defense and is very aggressive and is showing a lot of movement pre-snap in an effort to confuse. That unit will carry the team while the offense gets settled.