Tuesday Press Conference: Frazer suffers concussion, Ciaravino replaced

By UConnBlog Justin Oct 21, 2008, 2:29pm EDT

Zach Frazer suffered a concussion in UConns 12-10 loss Saturday to Rutgers and appears unlikely to start again Cincinnati this weekend.

Zach Frazer suffered a concussion in UConn's 12-10 loss Saturday to Rutgers and appears unlikely to start against Cincinnati this weekend.

UConn coach Randy Edsall said in his weekly press conference that Zach Frazer suffered a "head injury" and will be evaluated today at 2:30 with team doctors to check his progress.

Edsall wouldn't go any further in regards to the injury than saying "we classify it as a head injury," but wide receiver Kashif Moore said that Frazer in fact suffered a concussion.

"I was watching film after the game and saw the play that it happened," Moore said. "I think we were in the red zone and he tried to throw the ball and I think one of the linebackers blitzed and kind of put his helmet into his face, and I just saw his head turn back. My coach told me that was the play that he had gotten a concussion."

Moore said he doesn't think the play, which happened sometime in the fourth quarter, was a dirty hit, and that it didn't look intentional on tape.

Although Edsall did not say who will start Saturday, all signs point to Cody Endres getting the start. Frazer suffered a concussion during training camp and was out for a few week.s

In other news, after his three-miss performance Saturday, Tony Ciaravino has been replaced by Dave Teggart as the primary field goal kicker, and will be first in line for field goals and extra points against Cincinnati Saturday (noon, MyTV9).

LOTS more after the jump, including Edsall's reactions to criticism he has received about the play-calling, once I put my notes together.

UPDATE: All of the notes are there (6 p.m.)

--More from the QB shuffle (not to be confused with the Super Bowl shuffle).

First, Edsall said that D.J. Hernandez will not be an option. Even though Hernandez once started at QB and led the Huskies to one of the program's best wins, Edsall said he won't be an option. Neither will Casey Turner, a two-star recruit from Virginia who is redshirting this season. If Frazer can't go, and that's a big if, Endres gets the shot, with walk-on Johnny McEntee the back-up.

A few quotes on the matter:

Edsall on Frazer: The way that we classify his injury is a head injury. He's gotten better each day, and what we'll do is evaluate him again this afternoon. [Team doctors] will tell me what he can do today, and then we won't proabably have any comment on him at all until Thursday."

On Endres: "He's been working every day. Zac was in there and he knows he's one play away from going in there; you've got to be prepared. And again, he's done well. He's a guy who can throw the ball well. And agian, the thing with him is he doesn't have a whole lot of experience. "

On D.J. not being an option: "No. Johnny McEntee would be the next guy in line."

On McEntee: "I think Johnny McEntee is a guy who can throw the ball and do some things. Hopefully it doesn't get to that, but if any of those three guys [Frazer, Endres, McEntee] go in, I've got a 100 percent confidence in any of those guys.

"Johnny is ... I just like Johnny. He has a quick release, he can throw the ball really well, he has good poise and command. There was time in the preseason when I think we put him with the ones, and I think he just handled himself really, really well. He was the third last week, and he's the third this week.

More on McEntee: Although I've never heard of him before today, Edsall said wide receivers coach Matt Cersosimo stumbled upon him in California, where Cersosmino used to recruit during his time as an assistant at Harvard.

On Burning Turner's redshirt: "It's all based on performance."

--Now onto the Teggard situation

Edsall on the change: "Dave Teggart's gonna kick this week. And the reason being is, all preseason long, all during the first part of the season, we kick those guys and we chart 'em. And those two guys are close, very , very close. There's not much difference at all. After Tony's performance last week [Special teams coordinator] Lydon [Johnson] and mysekf sat down and we talked; we just feel that David should have the opportunity to be the field goal and extra point kicker this week."

--Edsall that despite the problems in the return game, he won't back any changes. Last week, both Robbie Frey and Jasper Howard made errors that forced the team to start inside their 5-yard line three times, with the last one resulting in a safety.

"Robbie Frey makes one mistake and then he has a big return early in the game. That was just inexperience. I think Jaz's was more mental now. Jaz knows we don't want that stuff to happen any more, but we watch that each day that we practice and we chart it."

--After a debate with the media on Sunday's conference call got a bit heated, Edsall explained that he doesn't reveal things about his gameplan simply so he doesn't lose his competitive advantage.

"I don’t think I'm gonna give away a game plan," Edsall said. "We have to play these people year after year after year. [...] There are things that are appropriate to share to people, and then I there's things that you don't share with people. I think that's the way in life. I think it's the same way in your own businesses."

--In response to a question about the wide receiver group, Edsall said he liked what he has in his stable of pass-catchers, but the only problem is they're basically all inexperience. Kashif Moore is a redshirt freshman, Mike Smith is a true freshman, and even players like Ellis Gaulden (senior) hasn't played much because of injuries.

--Edsall on Moore:  "He’s got a pretty good quickness. We’ve got to get a little more weight on him. We got him to be more of a consistent route runner. He’s got to play at the speed he can actually run. The more he plays, the better he’s gonna get. The more strength he gets… what you’ve got to understand with young kids—it takes some time for him to adjust to the college game."

--One last note: Edsall said that the Big East reviewed the offensive holding penalty called on Martin Bedard Saturday but declined to comment on it any further. "If I was able to, I would," he said.

Tuesday Press Conference: Frazer suffers concussion, Ciaravino replaced

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