Game Notes

• With the win UConn moves to 3-0 on the season, the first time they have started 3-0 since the 1998 season.
   
• With the win UConn is now 2-1 against Temple since they moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A). Temple leads the overall series 7-3.
   
• With the win UConn is now 20-8 at Rentschler Field all-time.
   
• With the win UConn is now 11-1 against MAC schools and have won their last nine meetings with MAC opponents.
   
• Tony Ciaravino’s 47-yard field goal in the 1st quarter is a career long which he topped with a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter. His former career long was 30 yards set at Duke this season. Ciaravino also hit three field goals at Duke on Sept. 1. The last time a Husky had four field goals in a game was when Matt Nuzie hit four in the 2004 Motor City Bowl. The 50-yard field goal was UConn’s longest since Nuzie also hit a 50-yarder against Syracuse on Oct. 7, 2005.
   
• Temple's 2nd quarter touchdown pass was the first score against the UConn defense since the opening drive of the first game of the season at Duke, a total of 145 minutes and 27 seconds of scoreless play.  
• Temple's Bruce Francis' 59-yard touchdown reception is a career long.
• Temple sophomore Jason Harper ran for a career-high 114 yards today on 22 rushes. His previous career-high was 84 yards on 14 rushes at Western Michigan last season.
• With 12:22 remaining in the 3^rd quarter Temple’s 14-13 lead was its first lead of a game since October 28, 2006 when they defeated Bowling Green.
• Today was Alex LaMgdelaine’s first career start at guard. He started 10 games last year at center.
• Tailback Andre Dixon did not have any career carries prior to today. He finished the day with a career high 129 yards rushing, including a career long 27-yard run. He returned 12 kickoffs last fall.
• With its noon kickoff, today’s game against Temple was the last in the tenure of Rentschler Field as the newest FBS (I-A) college football stadium in America. Central Florida began play at 3:35 p.m. today against Texas in the inaugural game at the Knights’ brand new home, Bright House Networks Stadium on the UCF campus in Orlando. UCF had played at the Florida Citrus Bowl in downtown Orlando since the program’s inception in 1979.

Post Game Quotes

University of Connecticut

Head Coach Randy Edsall | Tony Ciaravino | Andre Dixon | D.J. Hernandez |
Tyler Lorenzen | Danny Lansanah | Brad Kanuch

Head Coach Randy Edsall

Opening Statement:

“First and foremost, you have to give a lot of credit to Al Golden, his staff, and the entire Temple team.  They came in here to play.  It wasn’t any surprise to me that they were going to come in here and play the way they did.  Obviously, I couldn’t get that across to our team.  I think we were fortunate, but we have been on the other side of these types of games and have lost.  We are very pleased we got the win, but if we want to be as good as we want to be, then we have to learn a lesson from today.  We’re just going to keep moving forward.” 

What is going through your mind when the last play is being reviewed?

“There is nothing you can do.  You just stand there and hope the call goes in your favor.  In that situation, Robert Vaughn has to understand to not even try to catch that ball.  You have to either knock it down or out of the end zone.  You don’t need to intercept the ball in that situation.  I haven’t seen the replay yet, but one of my players came over to me and told me he thought Francis’s (the player who caught the ball for Temple) foot was in.  The coaches upstairs told me one foot was already out and he dragged the other one.  All I know is that it went in our favor.” 

Was somebody upstairs telling you what they thought as the review was going on?

“I don’t know if they even reviewed it upstairs.  I don’t even know if they could see it.  It was out of my control at that time.  I wish Father Sullivan was here.  He had to go back to Church this afternoon, but he must have been praying really hard for us.  Thank you Father Sullivan.” 

What is the lesson the team needs to learn from today’s game?

“They have to learn to play every game like it is the last game they will ever play, and to play each play like it is the last play they will ever play.  You don’t listen to other people outside your program.  You listen to your coaches who have been doing this for 25-30 years.  We are the ones who watch the film.  I told them on Tuesday that Temple was going to come in here and play fired up, they are going to give you the game of their life, and they are going to come after you.  I kept reiterating that, but you know what, they’re kids.  They walk around campus and most people are patting them on the back, congratulating them on being 2-0 and not to not worry about Temple; you’ll be 3-0 going to Pittsburgh.  They were 29 point favorites.  They watched the film on Buffalo.  We told them about the Navy game.  We go up 10-0 and they think it is going to be easy.  I told them the last time I checked it took 60 minutes to win a game.  You don’t win a game during the week.  You’ve got to perform well during the week and perform well on Saturdays.  You cannot do it by talking.  You have to do it between the lines.  You have to play every play as hard as you can and leave everything out on the field.  If we do that, we have a chance to be a decent team.  When we don’t, we’re very average.  I told them I saw some things this week.  I told them that if we’re going to continue to move forward, I can’t see some of those things that I saw.  Again, it’s the focus and concentration part.  Some guys missed treatments this week, some starters were late for the team meal this morning, so what does that tell you?  We got lucky.  We were fortunate, but I’d rather be on this end than the other end.” 

What was the story with Donald Brown?

“There was no story.  I didn’t think we were being as productive as we should have been in the running game.  I have liked what I’ve seen out of Andre Dixon in the Spring, pre-season, and in practice.  If we have a chance to get someone else in there who is going to be productive, am I wrong as a coach to go with the guy who is being productive?  I love Donald Brown.  I Love Andre Dixon.  I love Lou Allen. However, if somebody is going to be productive then you have to go with the guy who is giving you results.  In business, if somebody is getting all the sales, you better give them a raise.  If someone is getting more yards out there, you better give them the ball.  It’s nothing with Donald Brown.  I just thought Andre went in there and did a fantastic job.  I’ll have to watch the tape to see if he got better blocking than Donald did.  I’m thankful that we have three guys we can go to.  That to me is one of the biggest differences we have in our program.  We finally don’t have to worry about using one guy all the time.  Donald Brown will be fine.  If Andre Dixon went out there and performed well and I took him out, I’d be criticized.  I think I have a little intelligence.”    

Junior, PK, Tony Ciaravino:

On today’s game:

“It gives me confidence and it shows that my team and coaches have the confidence in me to put me out there on the field.” 

On the difficulty of the wind:

“That was a tough wind, especially in pre-game practice.  The wind was really blowing and it would have been tough.” 

On the kicking performance:

“I was just happy that I could help contribute today for the team’s success.  I hope that I keep contributing for the rest of the season.” 

Sophomore, TB, Andre Dixon:

On today’s game:

“I really came out to play and they showed that they are a really good team.  They showed it today.” 

On performance today:

“I felt that I did pretty good. I tried to help out my team as much as I could and we won.” 

On the running back situation:

“Donald Brown and I really complement each other as two different style running backs.  We can even throw Lou Allen in there for short yardage plays.” 

What is your mentality after this game?

“I just want to go out there and give the team all that I can, 110 percent every game, every play and every practice.” 

Junior, WR, D.J. Hernandez:

Do you feel there is a difference in playing quarterback and wide receiver?

“I am just going out there and having fun; catching the ball, blocking and trying to make plays.  I really am just having fun right now.” 

Do you put too much pressure on yourself?

“I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, even at receiver.  I think I put more pressure on myself than anyone else because I expect myself to do so well.” 

Junior, QB Tyler Lorenzen 

In retrospect do you think you guys took Temple too lightly?

“No, definitely not, we have to give Temple all the credit in the world.  They played great, it came right down to the wire with 40 seconds left in the game, but we got the win and now we have to look towards Pittsburgh.” 

In terms of your development, where do you think you stand after this game?

“I think as an offense we are getting better and better, but on the same token we have to clean things up and play as one.  As I said last game if 10 players do the right thing and one doesn’t it causes the play not to work, as an offense we need all 11 or the play won’t be successful.  We need to be on the same page and do things the right way and get it taken care of.” 

What do you think of (Andre) Dixon’s performance?

“He played amazing.  He came into the game and did what he was asked to do and that was get some yards and he got hot so we kept giving him the ball and found a weakness in the defense and that was huge for us in the second half.” 

What do you think went right today better than last week and what went wrong this week as opposed to last week?

“It’s hard to compare last week to this week, but if we get on the same page more things will go right.  We need to clean up the plays that went wrong and run more of the plays that worked.  If we keep doing that we will be successful.” 

Senior, LB Danny Lansanah 

What was it about Temple, did they play really well or did you guys not play as well as you should have?

“No they were a good team, they ran the ball well and got big plays.  On the defensive side, we needed to make plays.” 

Did you think that Temple did score a touchdown at the end?

“At first I thought it was because I looked up at guy who threw it and then I looked and saw the receiver had the ball in his hands so at first I thought they had it, but they went to the review and it wasn’t.” 

Sophomore, WR Brad Kanuch 

Did the team underestimate Temple this week?

“It’s really a matter of everyone patting us on the back and telling us we are doing a good job and telling and that we are going to kill them on the field.  The problem is that we start believing it.  You can’t go into a game believing that you have to go out onto the field and play your best.”

Temple University

HEAD COACH AL GOLDEN 

On the final Temple offensive play of the game and the negated touchdown:

“I feel bad for the kids. The player told me he was in. The guys upstairs told me he was in. Our families are calling us on the cell phones right now telling us he was in.” 

On the play of his young & inexperienced Temple football team:

“They fought hard. We’re getting little glimpses of what they’re capable of doing but when they’re young like this, they’re a fragile group. We need some leadership, obviously, since we’re still struggling in that department. We brought one scholarship senior to the game today. I believe we played 16 to 17 true freshmen, so I’m just trying to stay positive with them but at the same time, it’s not good enough. We didn’t win the game. I hope they can get a glimpse of when they work the way they worked, if they prepare the way they’ve prepared and if they focus and try to be really tough they can see what kind of team they can be because obviously, we don’t lose anything for quite a while around here.” 

On the inclusion of UConn RB Andre Dixon into the running attack in the second quarter:

“I don’t know if that changed the tempo really because I don’t think they did anything different. But I think they got in that formation and they wanted to play the numbers games with us, so we played the numbers game with them. I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t knock the piles back a little bit more but I think they’re going to be a really good team. When you have two rush [defensive] ends like they do, a secondary that can run, a big, mobile quarterback and now two running backs, I think they’re going to be a pretty good team in this league. I know [UConn Coach Randy Edsall] likes his team right now and obviously, Randy’s done a real good job.” 

On the play of the Temple defense:

“We didn’t want to give up the big play and that’s what kept us in the ball game. The fact that we ran the ball and didn’t give up a big play kept us in the ball game. We’re that close in so many different areas. Whether it was a kid playing for the first time on a kick off return and he doesn’t know where to go. If he goes to the right spot he’s going to the house or a freshmen that roughs the kicker. All those little things. That’s where we’re at. We played tougher defensively. I have high expectations for the defensive line. We play 8-10 guys over there. I know a lot of them are babies yet but I have high expectations for that group and what they’re going to grow into and what they’ll do physically in terms of development. We need to get a little more stout at linebacker, we got to get a little more healthy at linebacker. We just need a couple more plays.”