Lindsey Witten has been waiting for his chance to shine
Lindsey Witten has been waiting for his chance to shine.
For the past three years, the senior defensive end has sat behind the powerful combination of Cody Brown and Julius Williams on the Connecticut D-line, hoping that he would eventually get his turn.
Brown and Williams can now be found on NFL rosters. Meanwhile, Witten is making the most of his opportunity to make a name for himself on the collegiate level.
‘When I came in, I knew that I was going to be behind Cody Brown,’ Witten said. ‘I had no problem with that, and I learned a lot from those days. I put a lot of things that I learned from him and Julius into my own repertoire.’
With Brown and Williams now in the pros, Witten has become the Huskies’ starting defensive end this year. Through just eight games this year, he has already accumulated 10.5 sacks. He leads the Big East and places him in a three-way tie for second in the country.
Not bad for a guy that had little experience when the season began.
Despite the fact that this is Witten’s first year as a full-time starter, he saw some starting time as a freshman, when Brown broke his arm midseason. Witten started six games that year and registered 3.5 sacks and six tackles for loss on the season.
But over the course of the next two years, Witten made just two more starts, only getting spot duty filling in for Brown and Williams.
‘It wasn’t aggravating for me, but I did get a lot of questions from my family and friends,’ Witten said. ‘I knew I had to get better and work on some of the parts of my game that weren’t so well. That’s what I worked on, and I’m getting the chance right now to show what I’m capable of doing.’
Witten is the only Connecticut defensive end that has starting experience prior to this year, and he has shown his worth with his play so far this season.
‘This is really the first year that he has been a full time starter, and Lindsey is a leader by example more than anything,’ Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall said. ‘He is doing the best that he can, and he is a guy who is basically more of a leader by how he plays on the field. He is not a real vocal guy.’
Waiting to get playing time isn’t something new to Witten.
At Glenville High School, which is widely regarded known as one of Ohio’s best football programs, Witten graduated with 14 other Division I football signees.
Miami Dolphins wider receiver Ted Ginn Jr., Baltimore Ravens quarterback Troy Smith and Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner are just of the few notable players that have graduated from Glenville in recent years.
But while Witten was at Glenville, his coaches struggled to find a place for Witten, as they already had proven players at defensive end. They even tried playing him as a wide receiver and a quarterback in practice, but it became obvious that Witten was made to be a defensive end.
After three years of trying to get on the field Witten finally became a full-time starter as a senior and played well enough in one year to garner a scholarship offer from Connecticut.
‘There wasn’t that much interest in him because he wasn’t out there, because he wasn’t playing those first three years,’ said Matt Chinchar, one of Witten’s high school coaches. ‘When he left here, he had so much upswing to him. He could get bigger, he could get faster. He started to develop himself as a player senior year, started getting comfortable at the position.’
At the start of this year, Witten wasted little time getting off to a good start. He registered seven sacks in the first two games.
Witten even put some points on the board in the Huskies’ first game against Ohio, when he sacked quarterback Theo Scott for a safety.
‘Getting sacks is not always about being talented,’ Witten said. ‘It’s about being in the right place at the right time. I was in the very situation where I knew that the opposing team had momentum, and I knew that they had to pass on certain downs, and I just revved it up and made plays.’
However, since the first two games this year, Witten has struggled to match the numbers he was producing at the start of the year.
Witten has only managed to get three sacks in the past six games, but his explosive start has allowed him to remain as the No. 2 sacker in the country.
Though Witten is experiencing success, he doesn’t put a lot into the stats and said that he isn’t worried about where he ranks with the rest of the country.
‘I would not put to much of a burden on getting sacks,’ Witten said. ‘I would put more of a burden on putting pressure on the quarterback and helping my defense get turnovers and getting the ball back to the offense. That’s probably one of the best feelings.’
Game of the WeekConnecticut at CincinnatiSaturday, 8 p.m., ABC
Last year, Connecticut (4-4, 1-3 Big East) was the only Big East team to defeat Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0). It was a close game heading into the fourth quarter, but the Huskies ended the game on a 23-0 run and beat the Bearcats, 40-16.
This year, Cincinnati is not only one of the best team’s in the Big East, but also in the country as well. It is currently No. 5 in the BCS standings.
Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said during the weekly Big East teleconference Monday that quarterback Tony Pike will practice this week. Pike could get the start, but if not, sophomore Zach Collaros will start for the third straight week in his place.
Connecticut is coming off of another close lose, this time to Rutgers. So far this year, the Huskies have lost their four games by a combined 13 points.
‘They’ve lost some close games, North Carolina at the end, Pittsburgh at the end, West Virginia and Rutgers as well,’ Kelly said. ‘It’s a team that has played hard and is well coached. They could very easily at this time be 8-0. It’s that close relative to the game, so expect a battle.’
Published on November 3, 2009 at 12:00 pm
