Spring Break
Offense exploring all the options
Petrus adjusts to new position as Huskies practice option-based offense
Russell Blair
Issue date: 3/18/09 Section: Sports
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Almost as soon as the practice began, the offense broke into a three-wide set with Zach Frazer in the shotgun. New offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead looked on, shouting encouragingly as the players ran snap after snap, working on an option-based offense.
"I'm tired," said senior wide receiver Brad Kanuch, with his jersey drenched in sweat. "It's so much different, you can't really compare this one at all. In this one it's bang-bang-bang-bang-bang - we go five reps in a row. It's one of the most tiring things I've ever had to do."
The change in offensive is most pronounced for sophomore Moe Petrus, who is not only adjusting to a new coordinator and scheme, but also to a new position. Petrus, who was named a freshman All-American as UConn's starting left guard in 2008, has been moved to center for the first time in his career. UConn head coach Randy Edsall made the decision to move Petrus to center Monday morning after thinking about it over spring break.
"He first approached me [Monday] at 6:45 in the morning," Petrus said. "I wanted to play center; I figured in the future that I would be playing center here. They were looking through tape and they want to put the best five guys out on the field."
Early in the practice, Petrus and Frazer had trouble getting in sync as Frazer dropped several snaps or saw them sail over his head, particularly when in the shotgun. By the end of the practice though, Petrus looked more confident and was consistently hitting his snaps on target. Edsall reiterated that it was simply a lack of experience at the position and no fault on Petrus' part.
"I just think the thing for Moe is getting the repetitions for snapping," Edsall said. "He did a pretty good job; there weren't a lot of late snaps. A few were off target but that's just something he's got to work on."
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