UConn’s defense has had its ups and downs this season, but graduate linebacker Bryun Parham has been a constant force.
Parham leads the Huskies with 76 total tackles on the season, good for 15th among all FBS players nationally, and ranks fifth in the nation with 8.5 sacks, in addition to his three fumble recoveries. Prior to this year, the former San Jose State Spartan and Washington Husky never had more than three sacks in a season.
“This is what I expected and I still expect more from myself,” he said Tuesday. “I’ve left a lot of plays out there and I just want to continue to get better so I can make those plays. I just want to keep being a master of the basics. I like saying that a lot, but that’s what football is… I’ve been playing for a long time so I kind of know what’s going on but just doing the things that are going to continue to help me get to the next level, that’s what I want to be. Just a master of the basics.”
UConn, missing linebacker Tyquan King after an injury in the FIU win on Oct. 4, has struggled against the run since its bye week, allowing 191 rushing yards against Boston College, which lost its top running back early in the game, and 300 rushing yards in last week’s overtime loss at Rice.
“We’ve just got to make tackles,” Parham said. “That’s what I really think it is, just wrap up and make tackles so we can eliminate the big plays. Just the basics, that’s all. … We’ve just got to keep pushing, we’ve still got four more games left and then we’re trying to get a bowl game, that’s what we’re striving for and pushing for, we’ve just got to keep going and finish the season. Coach (Jim Mora) has been telling us, ‘They only remember what you do in November,’ so we’re trying to keep getting better every day.”
The Huskies are one win shy of reaching bowl eligibility for the third time in four years under Mora. They have three home games in a row, starting with UAB at noon on Saturday, followed by Duke and Air Force, before closing out the year on the road at Florida Atlantic.
UConn is ranked No. 75 nationally, right in the middle of the pack in the FBS, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.
“Job’s not done yet,” Parham said. “It ain’t over until after our bowl game and we’re chilling in January or December, whenever our bowl game is. I just always say you’ve got to keep going, we ain’t done nothing yet. We ain’t got no bowl game, season ain’t over so we’ve got to finish the job.”
Huskies happy to be home
Road trips haven’t exactly been friendly to the Huskies this season. They are 2-3 away from Rentschler Field, beating Buffalo (4-4) and Boston College (1-7) but losing in overtime at Syracuse, Delaware and Rice last week. The defense has allowed touchdowns on every overtime possession.
So returning to Rentschler Field for three weeks in a row is very much a welcome prospect. UConn is 9-1 in East Hartford over the last two years.
“It always feels good to come home and play in front of the Huskies fans at the Rent, I feel like we’ll have a little bit of momentum playing in front of our home crowd and everybody coming out and showing out for us,” running back Cam Edwards said. “I think it’ll be a really good game on Saturday.”