Copyright Hartford Courant
When the UConn football team takes the field against a Power Four opponent, the Huskies are starting to look like they belong. On paper, the size difference isn’t nearly as drastic as it had been in years past, when it was clear before a game – like Saturday’s against Duke – that the team would be overmatched. There is still a bit of a difference. Duke doesn’t have a starter on its offensive line under 300 pounds; UConn has three. The Blue Devils start four defensive lineman of 260-plus pounds; UConn, in its 3-3-5 scheme, starts two, but the size difference on both defensive fronts is fairly even – it isn’t exactly a matchup of David vs. Goliath. “I feel like we’ve made a lot of improvement in terms of just getting bigger and more athletic, and we’ve just got to keep doing that,” UConn head coach Jim Mora said. “In terms of comparisons with Duke, I haven’t seen them on the hook yet. I haven’t seen them walk out of the tunnel. So, a measurable on paper doesn’t necessarily relate to what they look like when they come on the field with their pads on. We can’t really worry about that because we can’t control it, we’ve just got to go out and fight our tails off every single play the best that we can.” What UConn lacks in size, it makes up for with the chip on its shoulder. Dan Hurley issues a call for fans to support UConn football, pack Rentschler Field “I don’t think that the things, especially that we’ve done offensively, have been recognized. So our guys, there’s a little edge to them,” Mora said. Oumar Diomande, who is listed at 6 feet 1, 230 pounds – one of the bigger linebackers on the field – has had a natural chip coming from the Bronx, which isn’t viewed as any sort of football hotbed. Diomande was getting ready to finish his time a John F. Kennedy High, a public school in the Bronx that hadn’t sent an athlete Division I in 13 years, and applying for jobs when he was discovered by UConn linebackers coach Siriki Diabate, a native of the Bronx himself. He has been in the UConn football program for three years and has finally found a consistent role in a deep linebacker room. Diomande is second on the team in tackles with 76 – No. 27 nationally – and has contributed four sacks to the team’s total of 33, which is one less than Texas for the second most nationally. Saturday’s game is “a big opportunity,” Diomande said: “If we win that game, people will start to know us and we’ll start getting recognition, that’s what’s great about it. We’re the underdogs and going against an ACC team, they don’t really expect much from us so we’ve just got to go out and show them who we are. … I’ve always been the underdog, I’ve always been underlooked. So it’s like, no matter where I go, I’ve got to make sure I’m that top dog. I gotta have that mindset, I’ve got to play with that mindset. Just gotta feel like that guy and just be that guy.” The Huskies, 6-3 on the year and 10-1 at home over the last two, are 9.5-point underdogs on Saturday. Why UConn vs. Duke will feature a showdown between two of the nation’s top QBs UConn’s defense has caught flack, particularly recently, for its missed tackles and ability to finish games. What’s gone overlooked is the fact that the team is No. 2 nationally in sacks and No. 14 in tackles for loss, led by Bryun Parham, who plays alongside Diomande and is third nationally with 9.5 sacks on the year and eighth with 13 tackles for loss. “We attack,” Mora said. “Sometimes when you attack the way we do, there’s less people on the back end to make tackles, so we find ourselves in those situations where, when they do get through there, we just have to be more sure in our tackling, and that’s where we work really hard.” Duke has a great quarterback in Darian Mensah and the fourth-best passing offense in the country (324.2 yards per game), in addition to its 136 yards per game on the ground. UConn’s pass defense is 66th nationally, allowing 216.7 yards per game through the air, and its run defense is No. 106, allowing 175 yards per game on the ground. Does that mean the Huskies need to adjust their defensive approach? “Possibly,” Mora said, not wanting to give anything away. “Listen, we have to do what we do best. That’s the most important thing is that we do what we do best and we do it the best that we can do it, regardless of who we’re playing. And we recognize that this is an outstanding offensive football team throwing the ball and running the ball. What it’s going to demand is us operating at a high level of efficiency, executing at a high level and doing the things that we do to the best of our ability. That’s gonna give us the best chance on Saturday.” Dom Amore: UConn football gets back in the bowl business, but this time it’s business as usual On the flip side As great as Duke (5-3) is as an offensive football team, its defense has had its struggles. The Blue Devils are No. 101 in the FBS in total yards allowed (398.9 per game), with the No. 52 run defense (135.6 rushing yards allowed per game) and the No. 122 pass defense (263.2 passing yards allowed per game). Behind Joe Fagnano (2,529 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, zero interceptions), Skyler Bell (994 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns) and Cam Edwards (815 rushing yards, nine touchdowns), UConn has the 15th-best scoring offense in the nation with 36.9 points per game. The Huskies are even better at home, averaging 44.8 points per game at The Rent. UConn came back from down 17 points to lead Duke, 21-17, entering the fourth quarter when they met in Durham, N.C., last year, but turned the ball over and missed a potential game-tying field goal late to lose, 26-21. What to know Site: Rentschler Field in East Hartford Line: Duke by 9 1/2 Time: 3:30 p.m. TV: CBS Sports Network – Rich Walz, Robert Turbin, Tiffany Blackmon Radio: UConn Sports Network from Learfield, Fox Sports 97.9 Online: The Varsity Network App – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman, Adam Giardino Record: UConn: 6-3, Duke: 5-3 Series: Tied, 2-2.
