1 week Ago By Mike Barger
BY ROGER CLEAVELAND republican-american STORRS – The transformation of the UConn football team’s defense under new coordinator Matt Brock continues to make tremendous strides as it has served as the foundation for the Huskies’ impressive turnaround this season. A year after struggling to a 3-9 mark, the Huskies improved to 5-3 last week by holding Rice to only 178 yards of total offense, 88 passing and 90 rushing, with all three being the lowest totals of the season. The defense also allowed only three points, which tied the Buffalo game for the season low.
“(Coach Brock) schemes it up very well,” linebacker Tui Faumuina-Brown said. “He puts us in the right position. He utilizes our athleticism.
He knows what parts to put in certain situations. He sets us up.” The play of the linebacking corps has been the backbone of the Huskies’ defensive success.
UConn is third nationally in third-down defensive efficiency, allowing a first down on only 25.4% of third downs. See UCONN, Page 9A The Huskies held Rice to just 2 for 16 on third-down conversions.
The Huskies’ defense is also ranked No. 31 in passing yards allowed per game (188.9), 24th in red zone defense (.
760), 26th in first-down defense (134), 30th in scoring defense (20.4) and 32nd in total defense (325.5 yards per game).
Going into the season, it appeared UConn would have a difficult time replicating the impact it had last season at linebacker, because Jackson Mitchell graduated and is now on the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers. Mitchell led the team in tackles last season with 113 and finished his career as UConn’s third-leading tackler all-time. However, Jackson’s protégé, Faumuina-Brown, has really stepped up this season in his second year as a starter, and the Huskies went into the transfer portal and brought in Jayden McDonald to pair with him.
The two of them have flourished in Brock’s new 3-3-5 defensive system with either Langston Hardy or Donovan Branch playing the third linebacker spot. “This scheme plays into what they do well,” head coach Jim Mora said. “That is kind of read-and-react and then get down hill fast and pressure.
We bring them a lot. We add them to the rush or add them aggressively to the run fill a lot. It plays into their strengths, and I have been impressed with them.
” McDonald and Faumuina-Brown are the top two tacklers in the team with 69 and 64, respectively, far surpassing defensive back Malik Dixon-Williams, who is third with 39. “I have been impressed with them,” Mora said. “I have been impressed with Tui Faumuina-Brown for two years.
He played really well last year, and he is doing some good things. Bringing in Jayden McDonald really helped us. He is a guy that has a lot of experience.
This is his sixth year of college football and he has been in some good programs. Troy was an outstanding defense, and you could see on film that he loved football. “Those guys have played well.
They are capable of rushing. They are capable of dropping. They are good tacklers, and I think this scheme fits them.
Those two guys are very, very productive. They have complementary styles of play. They are both very intelligent.
They both work very hard, and that experience is something that has worked well for us.” Faumuina-Brown has played for the Huskies for four years, the first two primarily on special teams and as a backup linebacker and the last two as a starter. UConn is McDonald’s third team.
He went to Troy out of high school and played in 35 games over four seasons there. He led the team in tackles last year, but then went into the transfer portal. “He actually came in for a visit, and we hit it off really well,” Mora said.
“But then Indiana came in with a pretty big number. They were transitioning staffs. He went there, and it didn’t work out the way he wanted it to in the spring so he re-entered the portal.
We already had a relationship going, and we got him here.” Faumuina-Brown said the two of them have developed great chemistry in a short period of time. They will talk with each other in the locker room before the game, on the bench before the coin flip or on the sideline between series to keep each other focused and energized.
“J-Mac, that’s my dawg,” Faumuina-Brown said. “We talk before every game. We fill each other up with confidence honestly.
If he makes a bad play, I am right behind him. If I make a bad play, he is right behind me. We trust each other.
Being able to trust him means a lot. We can run up the field fast with no hesitation and just hunt.” “J-Mac has brought a lot of intensity.
That boy is a hard hitter. He is coming down hard. He is filling against the run game and bringing a lot of intensity and heart to the defense.
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