ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

The Best Case/Worst Case series turns its eyes to Connecticut. Remember that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.


Best case


All hail the hurry-up Huskies.

The switch to a no-huddle offense is a smashing success, allowing Zach Frazer to show off why Notre Dame wanted him out of high school. Freshman receiver Dwayne Difton is a star out of the gate, and the other wideouts prove they can catch the ball as long as they're involved in the game plan. The running game barely misses a beat despite losing Donald Brown, thanks to the 1-2 combo of Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon. The offense averages 28 points per game.

That's more than enough for UConn's solid defense to give the team a chance to win every game. And it looks like that might happen as the Huskies start 4-0, knocking off North Carolina at home and winning at Baylor to crack the Top 25.

After that, the Huskies lose at Pittsburgh in overtime. They handily beat Louisville at home and then score one of the biggest wins in school history, finally taking down West Virginia in Morgantown.

A home win over Rutgers leaves UConn at 7-1. Another bump comes with a loss at Cincinnati, but that defeat is quickly forgotten when the Huskies go in to South Bend and beat Notre Dame on national TV. They wrap the season by beating Syracuse and South Florida for a 10-2 record and win the tiebreaker over West Virginia for the Big East's BCS bid.

Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma have nothing on Randy Edsall as he leads his team to the Orange Bowl against surprise ACC champion Boston College. Naturally, Connecticut has the entire Big East in its corner as it trounces the Eagles.


Worst case

Hail no.

Changing the program's conservative offense to a no-huddle goes about as well as Nebraska's first year in the spread. Frazer, who can be erratic with the ball, is hit or miss and struggles with interceptions. He and Cody Endres are locked in a quarterback controversy all year. The same receivers who were brutal last year haven't suddenly morphed into Jerry Rice, and Difton is too young to be a savior. The running game can't replace Brown's 2,000 yards. The offense averages 18 points a game.

The defense, while solid, misses pass-rushers Cody Brown and Julius Williams, and still lacks the speed of some of UConn's better opponents.

The Huskies narrowly escape an upset at Ohio in the opener and then are blow out at home by North Carolina as Bruce Carter blocks seven punts. Robert Griffin exposes the lack of speed on defense by running wild in Baylor's victory over UConn.

In Big East play, the team's only victories come over Louisville and Syracuse at home. The Notre Dame game is a rout, as a national TV audience scoffs at the contrast in tradition between the two programs.

Frustrated after his team's 4-7 finish, Edsall announces he'll scrap the no-huddle and run the wishbone in 2010.