[shortsleeve47]

April 19, 2008
When: Today, noon

Where: Rentschler Field, East Hartford

STORRS — - The trash talking was already firing up at the Shenkman Center Thursday.

Five weeks of spring football practice culminates in Saturday's Blue-White scrimmage for UConn at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, and the battle lines have been drawn.

Senior defensive tackle Rob Lunn emphasized that there's no love lost between the split up roster over the next two days.

"Everybody here is really competitive," Lunn said. "Last year we had offense vs. defense and in the locker room guys weren't even talking to each other. It's a competitive sport. These are competitive guys and everyone wants to win. We're in there game planning. We're broken up into two teams now.

"We're already jawing up the other guys getting ready to go. This is a game for us. This is basically a legit game. We're going to have a pregame meal ... The bottom line is we're all teammates, but we also all want to win."

Edsall will end the spring session, which concludes with today's Blue-White game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, with a good grasp of what to expect from most of his offense.

Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, who won't play today because of an ankle injury, has cemented his place as the starter; the combo of junior running backs Donald Brown and Andre Dixon appears solid; and the line has shown depth.

Then there are the receivers. The injuries to Kanuch, Hernandez and Gaulden didn't help — none of them will play today — but it did allow Isiah Moore, Kashif Moore, Rob Theoudele, Marcus Easley and Kevin Poles to show what they can do.

One thing Edsall did discover this spring is that he might have a secret weapon. Senior cornerback Darius Butler has worked with the offense for much of the spring and should get time at receiver.

"He thought that he could give me about 15 [plays a game], which I kind of agreed with," Edsall said.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college