ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Connecticut is 4-2 at the midway point and can only regret the ones that got away.

The Huskies could easily be 6-0 right now. They led 10-0 in the fourth quarter at home against North Carolina, only to lose 12-10 on a late holding call in their own end zone. They had Pitt down 21-6 on the road late in the third quarter but lost 24-21 on a last-second field goal. The offense has had trouble maintaining its early scoring pace, and the defense has been susceptible to big plays late.

On the plus side, UConn notched a nice road win at Baylor. The running game, despite losing first-round pick and 2008 national rushing leader Donald Brown, hasn't missed much of a beat. The defense has been one of the better ones in the Big East. This is still a team to be reckoned with in the second half.

Unfortunately, the biggest story around the program at the midseason point was the stabbing death of starting cornerback Jasper Howard over the weekend. There's no way to predict how that tragedy will affect the way the team performs the rest of the season.

Offensive MVP: Andre Dixon. A year after he lingered on the bench and in coach Randy Edsall's doghouse, Dixon has rebounded to rush for 616 yards and seven touchdowns in the first six games. He forms a powerful one-two punch with Jordan Todman, who's amassed 502 rushing yards.

Defensive MVP: Lawrence Wilson. Lindsey Witten is among the nation's leaders in sacks, but Wilson has been more consistent. He leads the Big East in tackles, has three sacks and six tackles for loss. Wilson's work at linebacker has been much needed with Scott Lutrus sidelined most of the year with injuries.