Storrs — Randy Edsall received a text message from freshman Darrian Beavers on Monday night.

The UConn football coach met with him earlier in the day.

"Coach, I'll be better," Beavers wrote.

Edsall is happy to know that he's getting through to the talented but still raw first-year player.

"That's encouraging when I get that kind of response after sitting down to talk to a guy," Edsall said on Tuesday. "That's what you really want to see. So I'm not worried about him because I know he gets it and understand it. He wants to be good but now he's just got to let us do our job."

A 6-foot-3, 216-pound linebacker out of Cincinnati, Beavers has worked his way into the defensive rotation as a backup. He's listed behind starter Vontae Diggs, a senior, on the depth chart for Saturday's American Athletic Conference game against Tulsa at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

So far, he's appeared in six games, recording three tackles and two sacks, both in a loss at Southern Methodist University on Sept. 30. He's evolved from a third down pass rusher to a more regular reserve role.

"It's always good to get chances to get in to show everybody what I can do," Beavers said.

Beavers may lack experience but not confidence and ambition. He badly wants to be an impact player for the Huskies.

But it just doesn't happen in a flash. He realizes that patience is required.

He still has a lot to learn.

"I'm young, but I'm not going to use that as an excuse," Beavers said. "I'll do better. I've just got to focus and go with the program. ... Right now, I'm just going off my straight athletic ability. I'm doing really well with that but I need to get the fundamentals and stuff like that down."

Edsall says one of his projects is to get Beavers to understand that he's not a veteran yet.

"He's one of those guys that has that natural ability but he's just not polished yet," Edsall said. "That's one of the things that what we have to continue to work with him on is to get him to understand the finer points and understand it's going to be more than just his length, his athletic ability and the speed that he has coming off his edge. He's got to work the technique. He's never done it before.

"... He'll just continue to get better as long as he listens to what we tell him to do."

Beavers played for a nationally-ranked high school program in Colerain where he was a safety and wide receiver. He was a two-time, first team all-conference defender and also a stellar student.

Ohio State offered Beavers a preferred walk-on position. Ball State, Miami of Ohio, Army and Bowling Green were some of the teams that offered him a scholarship.

But Edsall convinced him to switch positions and come to UConn.

What drew Beavers to Storrs?

"I just wanted to stand out," Beavers said. "I wanted to be the guy that everyone looks at. I wanted to become a star. ... I knew this was the right fit for me. I knew I was going to play early and I just wanted to showcase what I can do just so I can hopefully have a better chance to get to the next level."

He's enjoying playing linebacker. And when he needs advice, he can turn to his father who played the same position in college and got drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.

"He's a tremendous role model to me," Beavers said. "Knowing that I'm a little undersized, he just wants me to get bigger and just focus on the little things."

One of his biggest adjustments off the field is being far from home. He misses his mother, Shelly Wingeart, who lives 12 hours away.

His mother has attended three UConn games so far and spent a week staying with friends in the Hartford area.

"I spent the whole week with her just catching up on things," Beavers said. "I hadn't seen her in five months, so it was nice."

g.keefe@theday.com