The big 2014 UConn football preview: Diaco's Huskies have plenty of questions

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1. Starting over

But while Pitt (the second time around) and WVU hired young, offensively-minded up-and-comers in the coaching ranks, UConn went conservative. They hired an infinitely more experienced, defensive-minded coach in former Syracuse head man Paul Pasqualoni.

Once I realized that Pasqualoni is somehow only 61 years old (my first guess would have been much closer to 70 -- he's been around forever), I warmed to the hire a bit. Though he couldn't quite replicate the success that his predecessor Dick MacPherson found at Syracuse, his profile was probably raised by successor Greg Robinson's struggles. Pasqualoni won 107 games in 14 seasons at The 'Cuse and finished with the best conference record in the fledgling Big East six times. He inherits a team in transition, in a conference in transition. I cannot tell you if this was a good hire, but the thought process -- if the conference's stable of coaches is young and, in some cases, high on offensive potential, then going with experience and defense could pay off -- was one I can defend. So they've got that going for them.

I tried as hard as I could to talk myself into UConn's hire of Paul Pasqualoni three years ago. I really did. He's got a good defensive mind, and he knows the northeast. But hires that feel underwhelming often feel that way because they are indeed underwhelming, and sometimes going against the grain simply means going against what is most likely to work.

UConn was likely in need of a reset following Randy Edsall's departure to College Park, and some temporary stagnation or regression was perhaps to be expected. And despite a faulty record, UConn was mostly stagnant in Pasqualoni's first two years -- the Huskies ranked 63rd in the F/+ rankings in Edsall's last season and (because of a stout defense) 54th and 61st in Pasqualoni's first two. But with impatience growing (and let's be honest: there was impatience from the start), UConn completely collapsed at the beginning of the 2013 season. The Huskies began the season 0-4, and Pasqualoni was dismissed.

Enter Bob Diaco. The 41-year old was born in New Jersey, played college football at Iowa, and spent the last four seasons as a member of the Brian Kelly coaching tree at Cincinnati and Notre Dame. He is young and enthusiastic, and he knows exactly what he's getting himself into.

I asked Diaco recently what he encountered when he took the job in December and what he realized needed immediate change. His response:

The care and cleanliness of the facility. The locker room, the player lounge, the hallways, the traffic in the building. It had basically become a free-for-all.

We had to raise the team's expectations and understanding of our expectations for how they treated things. We had to make a lot of changes for them in the building to help shine everything up so it became something respectable looking again. [...]

Right now, we're working to eliminate the things that cause losing. It's every day. Performance on the field is just a microcosm of lifestyle. That's what we're focused on -- changing the culture here for the football team. A lack of attention to detail, a lack of physical and mental conditioning, a lack of expectation and confidence due to poor preparation. Communication and presentation. Making sure we're operating at a high level there. And you're talking about inside the play, and you're talking about just in the day. It's all the same. I could name another 100 things that we've tried to inspect hard in these first few months. Everything that's being consumed in this facility.

UConn actually played pretty well in the last month of the season and returns a lot of the reasons for late-season offensive competence. With a couple of breaks, they could potentially compete for a minor bowl bid this year. But this does take on the feel of a Year Zero situation like the one Willie Taggart inherited at USF. Diaco is young, enthusiastic and charismatic and has a lovely résumé. He could certainly turn out successful in short order. But we'll forego actually defining any sort of expectations for the 2014 season.

2013 Schedule & Results

Record: 3-9 | Adj. Record: 3-9 | Final F/+ Rk: 93
Date	Opponent	Opp. F/+ Rk	Score	W-L	Adj. Score	Adj. W-L	5-gm Adj. Avg.
29-Aug	Towson	N/A	18-33	L	17.3 - 27.5	L
14-Sep	Maryland	63	21-32	L	23.3 - 33.1	L
21-Sep	Michigan	37	21-24	L	14.3 - 20.3	L
28-Sep	at Buffalo	80	12-41	L	15.0 - 26.8	L
12-Oct	South Florida	99	10-13	L	18.2 - 20.8	L	-8.1
19-Oct	at Cincinnati	64	16-41	L	33.1 - 36.3	L	-6.7
26-Oct	at Central Florida	21	17-62	L	15.3 - 33.0	L	-8.3
8-Nov	Louisville	12	10-31	L	25.5 - 20.1	W	-6.0
16-Nov	at SMU	84	21-38	L	22.7 - 35.2	L	-6.1
23-Nov	at Temple	98	28-21	W	11.8 - 23.2	L	-7.9
30-Nov	Rutgers	91	28-17	W	30.9 - 23.3	W	-5.8
7-Dec	Memphis	83	45-10	W	43.2 - 20.0	W	2.4

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk	Spec. Tms.	Rk
F/+	-11.9%	109	+1.0%	59	-2.3%	101
Points Per Game	20.6	108	30.3	86
Adj. Points Per Game	22.5	105	26.6	58

2. Sustainable improvement

It was pretty early in the year for a firing, but nobody could be too surprised when Pasqualoni was fired four games (and four losses) into the 2013 season. UConn had managed to drop a tight home game to Michigan and stay reasonably close to Maryland, but ... when you enter the season on a hot seat, you probably can't afford to lose to Towson and Buffalo by a combined 74-30. Sure Towson was a strong FCS team, and sure, Buffalo was a pretty good MAC team, but ... 74-30. Towson and Buffalo.

Improvement was slight directly after Pasqualoni's termination, but it grew.

Adj. Points Per Game (first 4 games): Opponent 26.9, UConn 17.5 (minus-9.4)
Adj. Points Per Game (next 3 games): Opponent 30.0, UConn 22.2 (minus-7.8)
Adj Points Per Game (last 5 games): UConn 26.8, Opponent 24.4 (plus-2.4)

There were still plenty of down moments along the way, but after righting the ship a bit in October, UConn was downright decent in November. The Huskies looked semi-competent against Louisville, then ripped off three increasingly impressive wins to end the season.

If you are good enough for long enough over the last half of the season, and if the reasons for your improvement return the next season, then this step up could be sustainable. UConn's step toward offensive competence could indeed be a sign of good things to come, but losses on the defense give me pause.

Offense

FIVE FACTORS -- OFFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.05	107	IsoPPP+	94.7	90
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	36.9%	114	Succ. Rt. +	87.8	103
FIELD POSITION	Def. Avg. FP	33.5	116	Def. FP+	94.4	111
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	3.9	95	Redzone S&P+	88.8	101
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	20.9		ACTUAL	25	+4.1

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	114	107	104	96
RUSHING	121	91	93	101
PASSING	65	113	107	77
Standard Downs		105	95	113
Passing Downs		106	102	39

Q1 Rk	73	1st Down Rk	103
Q2 Rk	105	2nd Down Rk	100
Q3 Rk	112	3rd Down Rk	101
Q4 Rk	93

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2014 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Comp Rate	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Casey Cochran	6'1, 226	So.	3 stars (5.7)	111	175	1293	11	4	63.4%	4	2.2%	7.1
Tim Boyle	6'4, 212	So.	3 stars (5.7)	59	133	621	0	8	44.4%	18	11.9%	3.4
Chandler Whitmer	6'1, 193	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	71	129	896	5	6	55.0%	19	12.8%	5.0
Michael Ecke	6'4, 173	So.	NR

3. Putting it on Cochran's shoulders

So here's what we know from new offensive coordinator Mike Cummings' time running the Central Michigan offense: standard downs are for rushing, and passing downs are for passing. CMU ran about three percent more than the national average on standard downs and passed almost 11 percent more than average on passing downs. That puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback to make tough throws; that also means quite a bit of opportunity (and, yes, pressure) on Casey Cochran. The presumptive starter for 2014, Cochran was far and away the most effetive of three quarterbacks in last season's pass-heavy system; he took far fewer sacks than Tim Boyle or Chandler Whitmer, he threw fewer interceptions, and he was completed more passes to his own team. He started the spring game and acquitted himself alright, and he seems to have strong odds of starting on August 29 against BYU. He was well-regarded out of high school and could give Diaco and Cummings a rather high-quality signal-caller for the foreseeable future.

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Rushes	Yards	TD	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Carry	Opp. Rate
Lyle McCombs	RB	5'8, 175	Sr.	2 stars (5.3)	159	670	5	4.2	5.7	31.4%
Max DeLorenzo	RB	6'0, 207	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	99	349	5	3.5	2.1	32.3%
Martin Hyppolite	RB				33	160	1	4.8	3.7	39.4%
Deshon Foxx	WR	5'10, 172	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	14	59	0	4.2	2.3	57.1%
Chandler Whitmer	QB	6'1, 193	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	11	18	0	1.6	2.1	18.2%
Tim Boyle	QB	6'4, 212	So.	3 stars (5.7)	9	39	0	4.3	6.9	44.4%
Jazzmar Clax	FB	5'11, 239	So.	3 stars (5.5)	7	11	0	1.6	1.3	14.3%
Casey Cochran	QB	6'1, 226	So.	3 stars (5.7)	6	6	1	1.0	1.5	16.7%
Joshua Marriner	RB	5'8, 192	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)
Arkeel Newsome	RB	5'7, 170	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)
Ron Johnson	RB	6'0, 215	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Target Rate	%SD	Yds/ Target	NEY	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Geremy Davis	WR	6'3, 215	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	114	71	1085	62.3%	27.9%	53.0%	9.5	211	8.8	120.0
Deshon Foxx	WR	5'10, 172	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	75	43	534	57.3%	18.3%	51.6%	7.1	-19	7.0	59.0
Shakim Phillips	WR				42	28	406	66.7%	10.3%	71.4%	9.7	73	7.4	44.9
Sean McQuillan	TE	6'4, 237	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	34	25	196	73.5%	8.3%	80.0%	5.8	-88	6.0	21.7
Lyle McCombs	RB	5'8, 175	Sr.	2 stars (5.3)	31	20	75	64.5%	7.6%	42.9%	2.4	-167	3.1	8.3
Brian Lemelle	WR	5'10, 160	So.	3 stars (5.6)	29	16	177	55.2%	7.1%	83.3%	6.1	-33	4.3	19.6
Dhameer Bradley	WR	5'9, 168	So.	3 stars (5.7)	29	13	119	44.8%	7.1%	37.5%	4.1	-73	5.8	13.2
Max DeLorenzo	RB	6'0, 207	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	14	8	69	57.1%	3.4%	70.0%	4.9	-34	6.2	7.6
Spencer Parker	TE				14	3	25	21.4%	3.4%	53.8%	1.8	-48	1.9	2.8
John Green	WR	5'10, 177	So.	2 stars (5.4)	11	5	40	45.5%	2.7%	57.1%	3.6	-33	3.2	4.4
Kamal Abrams	WR	5'11, 186	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	9	4	34	44.4%	2.2%	100.0%	3.8	-25	0.3	3.8
Noel Thomas	WR	6'1, 183	So.	3 stars (5.5)	3	3	32	100.0%	0.7%	N/A	10.7	2	0.0	3.5
Quinn Thompson	TE	6'4, 244	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)
Thomas Lucas	WR	6'2, 194	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)
Tommy Myers	TE	6'5, 237	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)

4. All the experience in the world

Players responsible for almost every rushing and receiving yard return in 2014. This is almost never going to be a bad thing, even for an offense that needed a bit more talent and play-making ability than it actually had.

In Lyle McCombs, UConn has a low-efficiency back who does strong things rare open-field opportunities. In Geremy Davis, the Huskies have a strong No. 1 wideout, capable of breaking off big plays (15.3 yards per catch) with minimal all-or-nothing risk (62 percent catch rate). In Josh Marriner, Dhameer Bradley, Brian Lemelle, and incoming freshman Arkeel Newsome, UConn has youngsters with pretty high expectations. If a couple of youngsters are able to surpass veterans, UConn could have the benefit of both experience and new blood, and Cochran will have plenty of options overall.

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	93.6	2.32	2.87	33.0%	55.0%	26.9%	73.1	3.3%	14.3%
Rank	91	123	103	120	114	125	105	30	122

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Career Starts	Honors/Notes
Steve Greene	LG				32
Kevin Friend	RT				30
Jimmy Bennett	LT				27
Alex Mateas	C	6'4, 315	Sr.	NR	16
Tyler Bullock	RG				14
Gus Cruz	RG	6'4, 309	Sr.	2 stars (5.0)	10
Dalton Gifford	RT	6'5, 309	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	6
Xavier Hemingway	LT				1
Tyler Samra	RG	6'2, 299	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	1
Kyle Schafenacker	LG	6'3, 290	So.	3 stars (5.6)	0
Bryan Paull	C	6'4, 304	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0
Tommy Hopkins	OL	6'6, 298	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)

5. What happens up front?

Remember how I said that Cummings was more likely than average to run on standard downs and pass on passing downs? It probably bears mentioning that UConn was 123rd in standard downs line yards and 123rd in passing downs sack rate. Granted, the sack rates improved dramatically when Cochran was in the game instead of the dreadfully sack-prone Boyle and Whitmer; still, that's not a great combination, especially when you factor in the experience level. UConn must replace four players who had combined for 103 career starts.

Four others with experience return (33 career starts), but an already shaky line got thinner over the offseason. This puts a pretty solid damper on potential skill-position enthusiasm.

Defense

FIVE FACTORS -- DEFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.23	99	IsoPPP+	97.2	79
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	39.3%	32	Succ. Rt. +	103.2	46
FIELD POSITION	Off. Avg. FP	27.4	107	Off. FP+	91.6	122
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	3.9	40	Redzone S&P+	101.2	54
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	22.7		ACTUAL	24.0	+1.3

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	52	50	46	65
RUSHING	23	32	26	71
PASSING	89	79	79	61
Standard Downs		65	45	99
Passing Downs		48	61	33

Q1 Rk	56	1st Down Rk	57
Q2 Rk	110	2nd Down Rk	59
Q3 Rk	32	3rd Down Rk	71
Q4 Rk	8

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	107.7	2.43	2.43	31.7%	66.7%	25.2%	56.8	3.4%	4.0%
Rank	36	10	6	6	62	7	118	96	114

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Shamar Stephen	DT				12	40.5	6.4%	10.0	3.0	0	1	0	0
Jesse Joseph	DE				12	27.5	4.3%	6.0	1.0	0	0	0	0
Tim Willman	DE				12	26.0	4.1%	8.0	3.0	0	2	1	0
Julian Campenni	DT	6'0, 298	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	12	19.5	3.1%	2.5	1.0	0	0	0	0
Angelo Pruitt	DT	6'3, 297	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	12	17.0	2.7%	6.0	1.0	0	1	0	0
Reuben Frank	DE	6'3, 246	Sr.	3 stars (5.6)	12	16.5	2.6%	3.5	2.0	0	0	0	0
Mikal Myers	DT	6'0, 295	So.	3 stars (5.5)	8	3.5	0.6%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Elijah Norris	DE				11	3.0	0.5%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Kenton Adeyemi	DT	6'4, 266	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	5	2.0	0.3%	0.5	0.0	0	0	0	0
B.J. McBryde	DT	6'5, 318	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)

6. A very good run defense rebuilds

From preview to preview, I find myself pointing out one of the following two phenomenons quite often when talking defense. These aren't the only two options, mind you, but they're common: either your strength gets stronger and your weakness gets weaker (because key stars are returning while weak units suffered from attrition) or your strength gets weaker and your weakness gets stronger (because strength and weakness were determined in large part by the experience on hand).

For UConn, 2014 sees very much the latter. An experienced, seasoned front seven played quite well for much of the season, with Shamar Stephen hitting 10 tackles for loss from the tackle position and Yawin Smallwood playing the role of play-making tackling machine. They're gone, as are three other members of last year's starting front seven. Angelo Pruitt has quite a bit of potential at tackle, and linebacker Jefferson Ashiru was strong against the run; plus, a lot of highly-touted youngsters -- sophomore tackle Mikal Myers, four-star linebacker (and Florida transfer) Graham Stewart, three-star redshirt freshman linebackers Cameron Stapleton and Jalen Stevens -- could get a chance to thrive. Still, you're moving from proven entities to potential, and that will likely cause a step backwards in the run defense.

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Yawin Smallwood	LB				12	84.5	13.3%	9.5	4.0	1	9	2	0
Jefferson Ashiru	LB	6'2, 233	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	12	41.0	6.5%	8.0	1.0	0	2	0	0
Ryan Donohue	LB				11	18.0	2.8%	0.5	0.0	0	1	0	0
Marquise Vann	LB	6'0, 232	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	9	12.0	1.9%	0.5	0.0	0	1	0	1
Graham Stewart	LB	6'2, 236	Jr.	4 stars (5.8)	8	9.5	1.5%	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
Brandon Steg	LB	6'2, 228	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	12	4.5	0.7%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Jon Hicks	LB	6'2, 236	So.	2 stars (5.4)
Cameron Stapleton	LB	6'4, 226	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)
Jalen Stevens	LB	6'3, 218	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)
Vontae Diggs	LB	6'4, 215	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)
Tom Rodrick	LB	6'3, 240	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)

7. A very bad pass rush rebuilds

The front seven had plenty of strengths in 2013, but pass rushing was not one of them. The Huskies were big and effective against the run but ranked a woeful 118th in Adj. Sack Rate. This did no favors for a defensive backfield that was struggling with shuffled lineups and youth.

Only three Huskies logged more than 2.0 sacks in 2013, and all three (Stephen, Smallwood, and end Tim Willman) are gone. We'll see how Diaco and defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter go about generating pressure on quarterbacks; the secondary should be more equipped to cover effectively this fall, but that doesn't matter if the quarterback has too much time to find a target.

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Obi Melifonwu	S	6'4, 208	So.	3 stars (5.5)	12	54.5	8.6%	3	0	2	5	2	0
Byron Jones	CB	6'1, 191	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	12	51.0	8.1%	2	0	3	8	0	0
Ty-Meer Brown	S				7	41.0	6.5%	2	0	0	0	1	1
Andrew Adams	S	6'0, 199	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	8	35.0	5.5%	0.5	0	2	4	0	0
Taylor Mack	CB				9	33.0	5.2%	1.5	0	3	9	1	0
Jhavon Williams	CB	5'11, 191	So.	2 stars (5.4)	10	22.0	3.5%	0	0	1	1	1	0
David Stevenson	CB	5'9, 170	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	4	13.5	2.1%	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tyree Clark	CB	5'10, 185	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	7	13.5	2.1%	1	0	0	1	0	0
Wilbert Lee	S	6'1, 207	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	11	10.5	1.7%	0	0	1	0	0	0
Javon Hadley	CB	5'11, 159	So.	2 stars (5.4)	5	4.0	0.6%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ellis Marder	CB	6'1, 195	So.	2 stars (5.4)	6	3.0	0.5%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jordan Floyd	S	6'1, 214	So.	2 stars (5.4)	12	1.5	0.2%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jamar Summers	CB	5'11, 178	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

8. Get to know Obi

UConn had nine defensive backs log at least 10.0 tackles in 2013; only two played all 12 games. Endless shuffling and injury created setbacks and experimentation, and that almost always hurts in the present tense. As good as UConn was against the run, the Huskies were only 79th in Passing S&P+.

The good news about shuffling and youth is that it createst a decent reservoir of experience. Of the nine players with 10 tackles, two were freshmen and four were sophomores. Potentially important players like Jhavon Williams got more playing time than perhaps was expected, and that could pay off. But the stars of the group are the two who did, in fact, manage to play in all 12 games. Senior Byron jones is a steady corner (perhaps "star" is overstating it, but stars are relative), and safety Obi Melifonwu held his own and proved an interesting, hard-hitting prospect while leading the unit in tackles as a freshman. He is probably a name to remember for the coming seasons.

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Cole Wagner			71	39.8	3	22	19	57.7%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	OOB	TB%
Chad Christen			54	60.7	11	0	20.4%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Chad Christen			27-27	8-8	100.0%	2-8	25.0%

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Lyle McCombs	KR	5'8, 175	Sr.	24	18.5	0
Deshon Foxx	KR	5'10, 172	Sr.	10	18.2	0
Lyle McCombs	PR	5'8, 175	Sr.	13	3.1	0
Brian Lemelle	PR	5'10, 160	So.	7	3.1	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	101
Field Goal Efficiency	90
Punt Return Efficiency	100
Kick Return Efficiency	87
Punt Efficiency	74
Kickoff Efficiency	94
Opponents' Field Goal Efficiency	99

9. Clean slate

A thin roster often bleeds over into special teams, where the second- or third-stringers aren't athletic enough to prevent or create good returns, and you end up deciding between playing your starters (and risking injury) or having bad special teams. It makes sense, then, UConn's special teams unit was below average across the board in 2013. Punting and place-kicking were mediocre, coverage was sketchy, and returns left a lot to be desired, but they all hovered around the same level. For worse or (probably) better, though, it all starts over. A few new names here probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. And if the incumbent return men are either usurped or given better blocking, that wouldn't hurt either.

2014 Schedule & Projection Factors

2014 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Proj. Rk
29-Aug	BYU	32
6-Sep	Stony Brook	NR
13-Sep	Boise State	18
19-Sep	at South Florida	77
27-Sep	Temple	87
11-Oct	at Tulane	90
23-Oct	at East Carolina	72
1-Nov	Central Florida	24
8-Nov	vs. Army	101
22-Nov	Cincinnati	54
29-Nov	at Memphis	95
6-Dec	SMU	74

Five-Year F/+ Rk	-0.4% (57)
Two-Year Recruiting Rk	91
TO Margin/Adj. TO Margin*	-1 / 1.8
TO Luck/Game	-1.2
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	14 (8, 6)

10. Year zero

It's a beautiful football facility. I can't imagine there's a better one. It's as nice and easy for the student athletes to navigate in as any I've seen. It's a functional space, and it's used by a lot of athletes, and that's nice. There's a very large, really nicely done indoor building here that's used by the university. Athletics uses it, and it trickles down to the student body -- it's used from beginning of the morning through the end of the night.

Spirits are high at UConn right now, even if it doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with football. Dual basketball championships created more than a little buzz, and Diaco is attempting to pounce on the UConn brand and create some momentum.

Of course, UConn's basketball programs have been strong for basically all of UConn's FBS history. Things that make everybody happy don't make the football team good. Diaco is both selling and creating a brand at the moment, and it will be interesting to see how successful he is at it.

Honestly, UConn isn't too many breaks from being relatively decent this year. There is potential at quarterback and experience in the skill positions, and there is a much more stable secondary on defense. Still, the questions are pretty serious. How quickly can the offensive line grow competent? How quickly can the defense rebuild? How quickly can Casey Cochran thrive in a new system? The answer to none of these questions is "immediately," so it would probably be best to aim low and let the Huskies surprise you this season.