Interview With: Kevin Meacham (The UConn Blog)

Having heard from Da Beat of N.Y. about the game between North Carolina and Connecticut in my last interview, in this installment of “Interview With:” we hear from a UConn blogger about his Huskies. Kevin Meacham, part of TheUConnBlog, was nice enough to take some time and answer my questions about the upcoming game between UNC and UConn. You can also check out TheUConnBlog on Twitter. Without further ado let’s get going with this edition of “Interview With:”…

A.E.M.: Browsing your very well done blog I read that you see this year’s UConn team getting either six or seven wins. Has that changed now that the Huskies won their first game of the season over Ohio?

K. Meacham: First off, thanks for the compliment. But no, Saturday didn’t change much. Our quarterback, Zach Frazer, struggled to do much of anything against Ohio; he over/underthrew receivers all night, and while the three interceptions weren’t all his fault (balls bouncing off receivers’ hands), none of the three were particularly good throws. While UConn was in command for the entire game, it was still a fairly close win against a MAC team. Not the greatest way to open the season, though not the worst, either.

On the plus side, it looks like our running game hasn’t lost much despite losing a first-round NFL draft pick (Donald Brown), and our defensive front seven appears to be very solid.

On the down side, the QB and WR positions are so far as shaky as they were last season; the defensive backs got burned a couple times against Ohio; and the special teams were still pretty bad.

In other words, unless something changes in the next couple weeks, this is the same team that won eight games last year, with a tougher schedule.

A.E.M.: For the average fan, that knows its own team but not so much the opponent’s, give us a couple of players on offense and a couple on defense that we should look for in this weekend’s match up.

K. Meacham: UConn’s best offensive player is probably Jordan Todman, the sophomore running back who had 157 yards against Ohio. He was a solid runner last year backing up Brown (6.0 yards per carry in limited touches), and is on the preseason Doak Walker Award watch list. He’s small and quick and if there’s a hole in the line of scrimmage, he’ll find it.

UConn had another RB, Andre Dixon, rush for 100 yards last week; Dixon was the second-team all-Big East RB in 2007, but his off-the-field issues led to Brown getting 80 percent of the carries (and the NCAA rushing title) last year. Dixon’s bigger than Todman, and a more powerful runner, but he has enough speed to get around the corner.

I’ve already mentioned Frazer, but I suppose I should throw in the fact that I and other UConn fans are fairly high on him because he’s a four-star recruit who transferred for Notre Dame. For whatever that’s worth.

On defense, I’d put our linebackers (Greg Lloyd, Scott Lutrus, Lawrence Wilson) up against 90 percent of BCS teams; and defensive end Lindsey Witten is a speed rusher with a knack for getting to the QB (5 sacks last year, 3 last week including a safety).

A.E.M.: UConn will win the game if they ____________________.

K. Meacham: UConn will win the game if Frazer can figure out his timing with the receivers, the offensive line opens up holes like they did against Ohio, and the defensive secondary tightens up their coverage.

A.E.M.: UConn will lose the game if they _____________________.

K. Meacham: UConn will lose the game if Bruce Carter goes nutso on our punt coverage again, if they lose the turnover battle, and/or if T.J. Yates consistently has all day to throw.

A.E.M.: And of course, the question that must be asked, what do you think the final score will be?

K. Meacham: I could see UConn winning this game if their 2007 mojo returns (+14 in turnovers and a bunch of defensive/special teams TDs that year). Certainly I don’t think UNC will win by 26 like they did last year. That being said, I’m still really skeptical about our offense. And, though it may not come across in such a UConn-centric preview, I have a lot of respect for UNC’s talent and coaching. So I’ll say UNC 27, UConn 17, but it’ll be closer than that until late.

What more can I say than to thank Kevin Meacham for this great interview who gives us a look into this season’s Connecticut Huskies. Make sure to check the TheUConnBlog or their Twitter page for more tidbits as Carolina and Connecticut get set to meet this Saturday. Also, stay tuned as I answer Kevin’s question for his blog, and maybe, just maybe, one get more interview about the game coming up this weekend.

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