Spring Break
Hunt for playmaking wide receiver renews for Huskies
Justin Verrier
Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: Sports
EAST HARTFORD - After a lack of playmakers at wide receiver dragged down an already-pedestrian offense all last season, coach Randy Edsall dubbed the receiving position wide open only minutes after UConn dropped the ball in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Nine games and several dropped passes in Saturday's 35-13 loss to West Virginia was all Edsall needed before putting out another APB for capable pass-catchers.
"We still need to find that, recruit that dynamic wide receiver," Edsall said. "It's nothing against the kids we have here. But we need to go out and find some guy who wants to be a go-to guy, be a dominant guy. … We just squandered a lot of opportunities today."
Although turnovers and the mythical Husky-slayer that is Pat White turned the tide and ultimately sealed the UConn's fate, no one problem shone through more than the problems of an already heavily criticized receiving core.
And no one play signified the group's struggles this season more than Kashif Moore's dropped sure-fire touchdown at the onset of the third quarter.
"I think it's something that's going to haunt me for a long time," Moore said.
With UConn riding high after emerging from the locker rooms 13-7 and prepared to strike on its first drive, Moore was wide open on a post route on the second play of the quarter.
Cody Endres threw a bomb that hit the redshirt freshman in stride inside the 20, but Moore said he lost his concentration and the ball careened off his chest.
The drop deflated the team and the crowd, and the Huskies wouldn't cross midfield in the second half.
"It was real frustrating for myself," said a downtrodden Moore. "My teammates tried to help me back up from it. But, yeah, it was real frustrating."
"When you have a guy that wide open and you put the ball right there and we don't make the play, it is a bit deflating," Edsall said. "In Division I, you have to make those plays."
Edsall chalked Moore's problems to inexperience, but even the most veteran pass-catchers couldn't haul in important grabs.
Nine games and several dropped passes in Saturday's 35-13 loss to West Virginia was all Edsall needed before putting out another APB for capable pass-catchers.
"We still need to find that, recruit that dynamic wide receiver," Edsall said. "It's nothing against the kids we have here. But we need to go out and find some guy who wants to be a go-to guy, be a dominant guy. … We just squandered a lot of opportunities today."
Although turnovers and the mythical Husky-slayer that is Pat White turned the tide and ultimately sealed the UConn's fate, no one problem shone through more than the problems of an already heavily criticized receiving core.
And no one play signified the group's struggles this season more than Kashif Moore's dropped sure-fire touchdown at the onset of the third quarter.
"I think it's something that's going to haunt me for a long time," Moore said.
With UConn riding high after emerging from the locker rooms 13-7 and prepared to strike on its first drive, Moore was wide open on a post route on the second play of the quarter.
Cody Endres threw a bomb that hit the redshirt freshman in stride inside the 20, but Moore said he lost his concentration and the ball careened off his chest.
The drop deflated the team and the crowd, and the Huskies wouldn't cross midfield in the second half.
"It was real frustrating for myself," said a downtrodden Moore. "My teammates tried to help me back up from it. But, yeah, it was real frustrating."
"When you have a guy that wide open and you put the ball right there and we don't make the play, it is a bit deflating," Edsall said. "In Division I, you have to make those plays."
Edsall chalked Moore's problems to inexperience, but even the most veteran pass-catchers couldn't haul in important grabs.
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