ESPN College Football

Zach Frazer may not have the perfect throwing delivery or very impressive stats. But he's good enough to be solidly entrenched as Connecticut's starting quarterback right now.

	Bob Donnan/US PRESSWIRE
	Zach Frazer lost weight to better fit Joe Moorhead's no-huddle offense.

While UConn coach Randy Edsall stresses that every day is a competition, he also made it clear that Frazer is firmly No. 1 ahead of Cody Endres as the season approaches. Frazer edged ahead Endres in spring practice and has kept his grip on the job.

"He's a good leader, he's tough and he's made good decisions," Edsall said Monday at UConn's media day. "He's got some more things to work on. His accuracy could be better. But he has leadership and knowledge of what we're trying to do and, I think, a toughness. And he does have a strong arm."

Frazer transferred to Connecticut from Notre Dame in 2007 after it became clear he would not beat out Jimmy Clausen for playing time with the Irish. Last season, he played in five games and started two for the injured Tyler Lorenzen. While he showed a nice zip on some of his throws and led a comeback victory at Louisville, he completed just 55.4 percent of his passes and had six interceptions with only two touchdowns.

This summer, Frazer has drawn praise for his physical transformation. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, he said he dropped 10 pounds to 12 pounds in the offseason while not losing any muscle.

"It was mostly just laying off the late night snacks and cravings," he said. "I'm not a sprint-out quarterback by any means, but I feel quicker than what I was."

He had little choice but to get quicker if he wanted to excel in new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead's system. Moorhead has installed a no-huddle, high-paced attack that puts a premium on conditioning. That's been even more challenging this summer during 90-degree training camp days, but the upside is that the offensive players have rounded into great shape.

"Everyone is pushing themselves really hard, because we know this offense needs to be better than it was last year," he said.

Edsall has emphasized the need for balance in the offense, as opposed to a year ago. With Lorenzen hurt and Frazer and Endres struggling, the Huskies threw the ball just 37 percent of the time in 2008.

They'd love to get it closer to 50 percent this year, and that means Frazer has to improve. He worked hard this summer on improving his throwing mechanics, but it was mostly little tweaks and not a giant overhaul.

"He isn't the perfect, classic picture guy you're going to study on how to throw a football," Edsall said. "(But) to change his whole throwing motion now, it's too hard to do where he's at. He just has to deliver the ball on time."

Frazer may not be perfect, but he's the best UConn has right now. And the new offense may just suit him perfectly.

"This offense is made for quarterbacks, because everybody wants to throw the ball in space," running back Jordan Todman said. "He's making the right reads and doing the right things. Nobody can be perfect, but he's definitely looking good out there. Hopefully, he'll continue to improve as we go on."