It's not easy to form an opinion on UConn football, or even comprehend what criticisms are even viable, given the program's relative infancy in the Football Bowl Subdivision, otherwise known as the high-rent district.

Something, however, is amiss three games into what was trumpeted as a promising 2010 season. In a few weeks, the Huskies have gone from a trendy pick to beat Michigan to a 14-point loser at Temple.

I'm not versed enough in X's and O's to dive into technobabble. But mine eyes have seen the gory. And it's UConn's inability to pass the ball consistently. It's been that way for the eight years in the FBS.

I'd suggest UConn's dilemma is not unique to the plights of other Northeastern football programs.

It's hard to get big-time receivers - "playmakers," and "guys who stretch defenses" - as they're called on television - to play in this part of the country, where there is no culture for college football, small-time game atmospheres and few professional pedigrees for the receiver position.

The Northeast has, essentially, three other prominent programs with UConn: Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers. And in the last 20 years, you'd barely need more than one hand to count the number of receivers who have made an impact in the NFL - or even made the NFL - from the aforementioned schools.

Syracuse has produced Marvin Harrison and David Tyree.

BC has Brian Brennan.

Rutgers has Kenny Britt.

Notez bien: Kelvin Martin and Art Monk were products of the '80s. It's possible I missed a guy here or there. And there are a handful of others who made NFL rosters briefly, such as Jemal Burke, Dedrick Dewalt and Tim Brown. Mostly, though, three fairly successful programs have produced a grand total of four pro receivers in the last 20 years.

Sorry. But that goes beyond coincidence.

And if you look at UConn's receivers since the FBS foray began, it's hard to argue that the Huskies don't have the same issues.

I'm not blaming UConn coach Randy Edsall, who is every bit as good of a coach today as he was three weeks ago. It's just hard to get a burner with good hands to play at UConn, where there are more academic standards than examples of NFL greats at the position.

I'm also not sure that's going to change soon, given that it hasn't really changed much at BC, Syracuse and Rutgers.

This isn't to say the Huskies haven't been successful. Edsall has earned his reputation as a good coach - recent protests from the fandom notwithstanding - for figuring out ways to win games. It's been defense and a running game, despite the protests that his offense is too vanilla.

Too vanilla? Vanilla is more than the flavor of the month here. Vanilla is a necessity. Because it's hard to cultivate Cherry Garcia.

Edsall has discovered that it's easier to make 'em stronger than it is faster. So he's groomed some offensive linemen and parlayed them with recruiting coups Terry Caulley, Donald Brown, Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman to contend in the Big East and win some bowl games.

It's no different than how they've won at BC, which produces offensive linemen the way geese produce meadow muffins. Sadly, though, the Eagles have never had receivers to complement Matt Hasselbeck and Matt Ryan, among others, who are cashing hefty NFL paychecks. And that's why they're solid but never spectacular.

You can criticize Edsall's play calling until you hyperventilate. The following remains true: UConn quarterbacks haven't had many (any?) receivers who can make great individual plays - chicken salad from chicken feathers - deep down the field. It's exacerbated when the quarterback doesn't play very well, as has been the case thus far this season.

Think opposing defenses don't know that?

The immediate answer is that there's no immediate answer. Maybe a guy like Dwayne Difton emerges. Maybe the others need to run more precise routes. Maybe Frazer needs to play better. Maybe then, they contend for a Big East title. They still can. But that would come through power, execution and vanilla. At least until Edsall can do consistently what Jack Bicknell, Tom Coughlin, Dan Henning, Paul Pasqualoni, Greg Robinson, Tom O'Brien and Greg Schiano could not.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.