Great article on Robbie Frey! As we already know, white players always have to go above and beyond to pass any quota black in front of them on the depth chart. If Todman jumps to the NFL after this year- like I'm hoping- Frey should be the #1 next year as a senior!
Robbie Frey Runs With Opportunity
Tailback Moves Up Depth Chart Behind Jordan Todman
By MIKE ANTHONY,
manthony@courant.com
7:07 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2010
EAST HARTFORD â€"
For Robbie Frey, it was a week of opportunity, but also uncertainty.
He wasn't on the injury report but wasn't 100 percent, either, nursing general soreness. Coach Randy Edsall elected to start D.J. Shoemate at tailback in place of the injured Jordan Todman and the plan was for Frey to play special teams.
Of course, plans are often fluid. Things can change, like the outlook for the rest of a season after an eye-catching performance.
"Now we know Robbie's our No. 2," Edsall said after Frey rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries Saturday in UConn's 45-21 victory over Buffalo. That means Frey is UConn's primary running back until Todman returns.
"Everyone looks at it the same," said Frey, whose 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Huskies a 31-21 lead. "You try to get on the field and do the best you can. Of course I want to be a running back, and I want to get as many carries as I can and play. But if I have to play special teams, or whatever the position is, I'm going to play to the best of my ability. With that kind of mind-set, when you have good football players like that, you're going to win games."
Todman's absence could have been a glaring one. But the Huskies, after a stale first half, showed they are in a class above Buffalo across the field, and the combination of Frey and Shoemate was serviceable if not overwhelming. Each fumbled and each scored a touchdown. Shoemate had 61 yards on 16 carries.
"It was very exciting to be able to step up when the team needed us," Shoemate said. "Robbie and I were very comfortable with the performances we came up with. Every time you have an opportunity to play more, that's a dream come true. That's one of the reasons I came here [from Southern Cal]. I want to get the opportunity to play."
<snip> Kelmetrus Wylie was expected to back up Shoemate, but he never played on offense. <snip> By that time, UConn had established itself with Frey and Shoemate. <snip> what struck Buffalo coach Jeff Quinn was the growing momentum of the Huskies' running game. <snip>
"That's what they do," Quinn said. "They run the ball and they're strong runners and they broke tackles. In the second half, that's what they came out to do and it paid off for them. They're two solid running backs."
<snip> Frey came in with 157 yards on 26 carries, both second on the team to Todman's 61 for 448. <snip>
"I just felt that, coming into the game, we would play D.J. and play [Wylie] and just use Robbie on special teams," Edsall said. "I asked Robbie before the game, 'Are you feeling OK?' and he said he was, and we talked about what we were going to have him do, but he said he felt fine. It's the flow. You see what happens."
Article On Frey