The loss Saturday to UMass is certainly in the conversation for the worst loss in UConn’s abbreviated history at the FBS level. That point makes it imperative, with what were exponentially long odds in terms of bowl possibilities, now completely out the window, for the Huskies coaching staff and head coach Randy Edsall to turn the page completely and begin to focus on 2019, particularly at the quarterback position, to begin the evaluation now, with game action, on who will be best suited to take over the starting reigns heading into a crucial year for the program. Posed with the question on Sunday, here was Edsall’s response:

“We’re going into every game trying to win and whoever can help us win, that’s what we are going to do,” Edsall said. “If there’s things that we think we can do that can help us win, then we are going to do that. If there are opportunities where we can get some guys some playing time, we are going to try to do that as well, but we are going to do everything we can to try to win every game.”

It’s a situation that Edsall hasn’t really been in since he’s been at UConn, a healthy senior quarterback, with the season’s goals all but gone. It’s also a scenario that doesn’t reward senior players when their final year doesn’t go according to plan. For David Pindell, he’s reset record books in not even a full season’s worth of game action, a new career rushing record for a Husky quarterback. Normally, when program’s are eliminated from bowl contention, it’s on to the next year, loyalty to players be damned. Diving deeper into Edsall’s comments, how will he address the situation?

“As I said to the guys, every day we are all being evaluated and what we have to do is give our best,” he said. “The guys that are out there competing and show they want to do that, that’s who is going to be out there. I told them we are going to win and we are going to win big here. We’ll get it done, but I’m looking for those guys that dare to be different.”

Can a young freshman step in and take the reigns?

“It’s hard being a leader, in life in general, but if you don’t do the things consistently, each and every day, you don’t have a chance,” Edsall continued. “If you do it and you learn how to do it here, you’re going to be ahead of most people when you come out of here. I’m just waiting for guys who want to step out, not worried about who their friends are, what people might think, I want those guys who want to find a way to be the best they can and drive people, make their teammates better and not care how many friends they have or who they upset because they are all on a mission to go and give the best effort to work to get wins and hold each other accountable and hold each other to high standards. That’s what I’m doing, just holding them to high standards and some of them aren’t going to get there. We are going to recruit the guys that can get there.”

With that, this morning’s practice in Storrs should reveal a lot about the Huskies plans as they go through the final third of a 2018 season that has certainly not met expectations.

MATT SCHONVISKY / SITE CREATOR