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Draft Scout College Football Player News: Connecticut

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03/31/21 - Kevin Mensah, Sr/2022, Connecticut + More +

The UConn football team cut its spring practices short due to positive COVID-19 test results among Tier I personnel and subsequent contact tracing protocols. "Just been informed that we won't be able to finish the last 3 practices of the Spring due to some positive tests of COVID-19," Edsall said in a tweet that was later deleted. The Huskies held 12 of 15 scheduled practices. The final three practices will not be rescheduled. The Huskies were one of the few teams to hold their 2020 spring session before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports across the country. - Hartford Courant

Sr/2022

RB Kevin Mensah, Connecticut
News Source: Hartford Courant
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03/03/21 - Cale Millen, rSr/2025, Connecticut + More +

A second former Oregon quarterback has found a new team. Redshirt-freshman Cale Millen, who entered the transfer portal in January, committed to Northern Arizona on Monday. A former three-star recruit, Millen never played on offense during two seasons with the Ducks. He redshirted in 2019 due to a shoulder injury and made two tackles on kickoff coverage in 2020, one each during the Pac-12 championship game and Fiesta Bowl, and was on the front line on kickoff returns. - The Oregonian

rSr/2025

SS Cale Millen, Connecticut
News Source: The Oregonian
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02/25/21 - Ryan Van Demark, rSr/2022, Connecticut + More +

It's been 452 days since the UConn football team last played a game. The Huskies were one of the few teams to play their 2020 spring session before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports across the country. Months later, they were one of three FBS teams to opt out of the season. In exchange for competition, the fall was spent practicing, conditioning and lifting. It's been a while since the Huskies have seen something that resembles real football. "If you really think of it, we haven't really put on the pads in a while," senior offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark said. "I'm pretty sure the whole team is just amped to just get out there with some shoulder pads and starting hitting each other. I miss playing, but it's definitely going to help us this season in terms of wins."

UConn will begin its spring practice session on Monday as the Huskies - after months of development and film consumption - will see the football calendar return to something more normal. Van Demark, a member of the team's leadership committee, said the team is the most dialed in he's seen in his four years in Storrs. "I can just see a glaring difference this year, rather than the last three years," he said. "We have more kids bought in. We have more kids definitely trying to get after it every day trying to get a ring. That's our main mentality now. Our main mentality is to get a ring, to win no matter what. I think everybody had that shared mentality. "The sky is the limit for us. I'm super excited for this year. Everybody is motivated, you can see it." - Hartford Courant

rSr/2022

OT Ryan Van Demark, Connecticut
News Source: Hartford Courant
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01/28/21 - Cale Millen, rSr/2025, Connecticut + More +

Oregon's fourth-string quarterback is leaving the program. Redshirt freshman Cale Millen has entered the transfer portal, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Millen never played on offense in two seasons with the Ducks, the first of which he redshirted due to a shoulder injury. He had two tackles on kickoff coverage last season, one each during the Pac-12 championship game and Fiesta Bowl, and was on the front line on kickoff returns. - The Oregonian

rSr/2025

SS Cale Millen, Connecticut
News Source: The Oregonian
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01/03/21 - Tommy Zozus, rSr/2023, Connecticut + More +

2020 ALL-CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL HONORABLE MENTION (COACHES): LS - Tommy Zozus, R-Jr., FIU,...Rounding out FIU's C-USA Honorable Mention Team members were punter Tommy Heatherly and long snapper Tommy Zozus. Heatherly was the only non-Power 5 punter to be named a semifinalist for the prestigious Ray Guy Award this past month. - Florida International Football

rSr/2023

LS Tommy Zozus, Connecticut
News Source: Florida International Football
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11/16/20 - Eriq Gilyard, rSr/2024, Connecticut + More +

NOV 16 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE HONOR ROLL: Eriq Gilyard, UCF, Jr., LB,...Had 12 tackles (matching his career high), a sack, 3.0 tackles for loss a forced fumble and a six-yard fumble return that set up a touchdown in a 38-13 win against Temple. - American Athletic Conference Football

rSr/2024

ILB Eriq Gilyard, Connecticut
News Source: American Athletic Conference Football
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09/28/20 - Eriq Gilyard, rSr/2024, Connecticut + More +

SEPT 28 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE HONOR ROLL: Eriq Gilyard, UCF, Jr., LB,...Had six tackles with two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a 51-28 win at East Carolina. - American Athletic Conference Football

rSr/2024

ILB Eriq Gilyard, Connecticut
News Source: American Athletic Conference Football
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08/05/20 - Ryan Van Demark, rSr/2022, Connecticut + More +

The University of Connecticut Department of Athletics today announced that its football program will cancel all competition for the 2020-21 school year. "After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we've decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season," director of athletics David Benedict said. "The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk." Members of the team will remain enrolled in classes, either virtually or in person, as full-time students at UConn. The team members will also retain access to facilities and support services in accordance with NCAA rules, ensuring that student-athletes remain on track academically and developmentally. - UConn Football

rSr/2022

OT Ryan Van Demark, Connecticut
News Source: UConn Football
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08/03/20 - Brian Keating, rSr/2022, Connecticut + More +

2020 PRESEASON PATRICK MANNELLY LONG SNAPPER AWARD WATCHLIST: Brian Keating, Connecticut,...Senior long snapper Brian Keating has been named to the initial Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List, an award that recognizes the best FBS senior long snapper. The Patrick Mannelly Award is named after former NFL long snapper Patrick Mannelly, The Award benefits Bernie's Book Bank, a non-profit organization located in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Last year's inaugural winner was John Shannon from Notre Dame. 20 senior long snappers make up the initial watch list. Ten semi-finalists will be announced on November 16, 2020 and then three finalists selected on November 27, 2020. The winner is tentatively expected to be announced on December 12, 2020. Keating is also on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List, an award given to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement. - UConn Football

rSr/2022

LS Brian Keating, Connecticut
News Source: UConn Football
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07/27/20 - Brian Keating, rSr/2022, Connecticut + More +

2020 WUERFFEL TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST: Brian Keating, UConn, senior, long snapper,...The Wuerffel Trophy, known as "College Football's Premier Award for Community Service," is presented annually at the All Sports Association's Awards Banquet in Fort Walton Beach. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement. Keating has played in 47 of 48 games in his UConn career at long snapper. - UConn Football

rSr/2022

LS Brian Keating, Connecticut
News Source: UConn Football
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07/23/20 - Kevin Mensah, Sr/2022, Connecticut + More +

2020 PRESEASON DOAK WALKER AWARD WATCH LIST: Kevin Mensah (Sr.), Connecticut,...Mensah rushed for over 1,000-yards for the second-straight season in 2019, marking only the second time that a Husky (Jordan Todman in 2009 and 2010) eclipsed 1,000-yards rushing in consecutive years. Mensah's five rushing TD's against UMass on October 26 marked the highest single-game total in the nation this year and he was honored as the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week following his performance against the Minutemen, which included 164-yards on the ground. The senior has accumulated 2619 rushing yards in 35 career games for the Huskies. - UConn Football

Sr/2022

RB Kevin Mensah, Connecticut
News Source: UConn Football
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05/12/20 - Jonathan Pace, rSr/2023, Connecticut + More +

UConn's new TV deal for football, combined with the robust schedules assembled for the next five years, will provide the selling points coach Randy Edsall needs to kick-start recruiting. "This is a really good day for us," Edsall said in a conference call with reporters Monday, as the four-year agreement with CBS Sports was announced, "and it came at the right time because we're right in the middle of recruiting kids from the 2021 cycle." The deal assures the Huskies, who have left the American Athletic Conference and will play as an independent in football, will have exposure, with most of the games to be played between 12:30 and 3 p.m. on Saturdays, something Edsall wanted. As he makes the recruiting rounds, albeit virtually during the coronavirus shutdowns, Edsall said he has been feeling the positive vibes in recent weeks.

"There's no question," he said. "Myself and our coaching staff, we really sat down and talked a lot about what is going to be our message and how are we going to market what we're doing. By telling them, 'Hey, we felt good about the television package' and by telling them about the schedule we were playing, and how we're going to play more Power Five [conference] teams now than what we would have staying where we were previously, that made a big impact with the kids we were talking to. So that helped us tremendously, and we've seen tremendous interest...Do we have a challenge ahead of us? Yes, we do. But we have an ability to go out and sell things to get the kind of kids we need to win." - Hartford Courant

rSr/2023

OT Jonathan Pace, Connecticut
News Source: Hartford Courant
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05/11/20 - Kevin Mensah, Sr/2022, Connecticut + More +

UConn has agreed to a multi-year television deal that will put most of its home football games on CBS Sports Network, the school announced Monday. The university did not disclose the financial details of the deal between CBS and Learfield IMG College, which holds UConn’s athletics multimedia rights, but said it is worth seven figures over four years. Under the contract, the network plans to televise four UConn home games in 2020 (Indiana, Liberty, Middle Tennessee and Army) and all home games from 2021-2023. This will be the Huskies' first season as a football independent after leaving the American Athletic Conference. Most of UConn's sports teams will be playing in the Big East, which signed a 12-year, $500 million media deal with Fox in 2013. - AP College Football

Sr/2022

RB Kevin Mensah, Connecticut
News Source: AP College Football
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05/09/20 - Ian Swenson, rSr/2023, Connecticut + More +

The continuing coronavirus shutdowns have put the 2020 college football season in question, and could compel UConn to reimagine its current independent schedule. "We're planning for all contingencies," Athletic Director David Benedict told The Courant on Friday. "The most important thing is, we don't even know if we're going to have a season yet. We're certainly planning like we're going to have a season, but that has to be determined first. That's going to determine how we move forward." There has been speculation that college football could start late and play a shortened season with travel limited, in which conference opponents eliminate nonconference games or play only within their region. That could lead to independents playing more games against one another, which could mean Notre Dame or Brigham Young appearing on UConn's schedule. There have been such discussions, Benedict said.

UConn, having left the American Athletic Conference to join the Big East in most other sports, is competing as an independent in FBS football, and has scheduled games with a number of high-profile programs, including five from Power Five conferences. Illinois and Indiana (Big Ten), Virginia and North Carolina (ACC) and Mississippi (SEC) are on the 2020 schedule. "I have not received a single call from anyone on our schedule telling me, 'Hey, you need to prepare for us not playing our game,' or 'We need out of our game,'" Benedict said. "If that is where we land, there's going to be effort and conversation within the independents to coalesce and play each other, but that's not where we are right now." - Hartford Courant

rSr/2023

OLB Ian Swenson, Connecticut
News Source: Hartford Courant
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04/25/20 - Matt Peart, rSr/2020, Connecticut + More +

The Giants, looking to fix their offensive line, took UConn tackle Matt Peart with the No. 99 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Peart, 6 feet 7 and 318 pounds, joined Andrew Thomas, an offensive tackle the Giants chose in the first round, in what could become an impressive pair of bookends. The Giants were in the market for a center, but couldn't pass on Peart. "It's about value," Giants GM Dave Gettleman told reporters on a conference call late Friday night. "[Peart] was too good of a value to pass by. We had him rated well above the rest of the other centers on our board. He is long, he's big. He's a 315-pound kid that's skinny. We interviewed him a number of times, he's a great kid. He's athletic and he's long and we think he has a lot of upside for a young kid. He's a guy that the coaching staff really wanted to work with."

Born in the Bronx, Peart has been a Giants fan all his life, and they were among the teams that paid a lot of attention to him in the predraft process. They've had success in drafting Randy Edsall-coached, UConn linemen in the past, with Will Beatty in 2009. Peart started 48 games in a row for UConn, every game the last four seasons, and got better each year. He was a late-comer to football, switching from basketball during his time in prep school. But he has exceptional athletic ability for such a big man, running the 40-yard dash in 5.01 seconds at the Combine and navigating the agility drills impressively. - Hartford Courant

rSr/2020