ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

A crowd of about 1,700 friends, family and teammates attended a nearly three-hour tribute to slain UConn cornerback Jasper Howard Monday.

The Hartford Courant's Desmond Conner has lots of details from the service. The one that stood out for me was the address by Jameel Moore, older brother of UConn receiver Kashif Moore. He told the crowd that he, his brother, and Huskies players Brian Parker and Michael Smith were with Howard when he was stabbed.

"We had a lot of fun until somebody pulled the fire alarm and everybody just... so many people out there... everybody just scattered," Moore said. " There was nothing more we could have did for Jazz that night. I'm sure we all would have laid down and died for Jazz. We loved Jazz; he was our brother. We told the authorities all we know and, God-willing, they're going to catch the cowards that did it to him. There's nothing more we could have did for him. He wasn't alone that night -- believe that."

Linebacker Kijuan Dabney also read a touching poem to Howard that you can read on Conner's blog.

Can the Huskies now move forward and get back to normalcy? We'll see. I can't imagine what this team has been through the last nine days. Hopefully today's ceremony provided at least a small measure of comfort and closure.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Connecticut announced over the weekend that expected starting defensive end Marcus Campbell will not play this season and will not be enrolled in school.

Campbell, a junior who's had some academic problems in the past, played in 12 games last year as a reserve and was being counted on to help fill the void left by star ends Cody Brown and Julius Williams.

Now the Huskies will have to get production out of some far more unproven players. Candidates include junior Mike Cox, who missed all of last year with an injury, redshirt freshmen Ted Jennings and A.J. Portee and true freshmen Jesse Joseph and Trevardo Williams, both of whom enrolled early and participated in spring practice. Randy Edsall has proven to be a master of player development, and he'll have to get some of these young guys ready.

Senior Lindsey Witten also needs to have a big year at the other end spot. Witten is a talented guy who just has to prove he can bring it every down.

UConn also announced that two of its recruits, linebacker Mike Osiecki and quarterback Leon Kinnard, would delay their enrollment until January. Osiecki was the state high school player of the year in Connecticut, but he wasn't going to be needed this year because the Huskies return all three starting linebackers, who are all juniors. Kinnard would have been behind Zach Frazer, Cody Endres and Johnny McEntee on the depth chart.

The Huskies also won't have redshirt freshman receiver Brian Parker, who's academically ineligible, or redshirt freshman running back Nate Sherr, who's transferring to Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

• Bill Stewart was so upset with West Virginia's defensive effort on Wednesday that he wouldn't let any players from that side of the ball do interviews, Mitch Vingle says in the Charleston Gazette.

• Freshman Logan Heastie is getting a head start for the Mountaineers, Dave Hickman writes in the Gazette.

• Donnie Webb has some Orange practice notes in the Syracuse Post-Standard, including word of a tough day for Lavar Lobdell.

• Former Rutgers defensive lineman Matthew Hardison is finding a home at backup center, reports Keith Sargeant in the Home News Tribune.

• Freshman receivers Isiah Moore, Gerrard Sheppard and Brian Parker are hoping to make an impact for UConn, Chip Malafonte says in the New Haven Register.