University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Announces 2002 Football Schedule
1/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, CONNECTICUT (January 8, 2002)-- The University of Connecticut will play a demanding 2002 football schedule featuring contests against four 2001 bowl participants, six teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences and the final six games in the history of 50-year old Memorial Stadium, it was announced by the school Tuesday.
The 12-game 2002 slate will see Connecticut take on three members of the BIG EAST Conference and opponents from the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference. The Huskies will play 11 Division I-A opponents and one Division I-AA foe. The schedule features six home games and six road contests and consists of six first-time opponents for UConn in the sport of football.
"I am extremely excited about our 2002 schedule," said head coach Randy Edsall. "We have said for the past several years that we welcome the opportunity to measure our program against the best teams and best conferences in the country. This is a challenging and competitive schedule that gives us that chance. It will be an exciting year for our team and staff and for the fans of Connecticut Football. I think this is an aggressive schedule that continues to send the message that UConn is serious about football."
The 2002 season will mark the 50th and final season of play in Memorial Stadium. The Huskies will open play in 2003 at 40,000-seat Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT. The home portion of the Husky schedule is highlighted by the September 7 home opener against Georgia Tech and new head coach Chan Gailey. The Yellow Jackets finished 8-5 in 2001 and defeated Stanford in the Seattle Bowl. UConn will also host home games with Ohio University (1-10 in 2001) on September 21, Ball State (5-6 in ‘01) on Family Weekend on September 28, BIG EAST Conference member Temple (4-7 in ‘01) on Homecoming weekend on October 19, Division I-AA foe and Howard Schnellenberger-coached Florida Atlantic (4-6 in ‘01) on November 2 and Kent State (6-5 in ‘01) on November 9 in the Memorial Stadium finale.
The six UConn road games in 2002 include three bowl participants from a year ago and begin with an August 31 contest at BIG EAST member Boston College. The Eagles finished 2001 with an 8-4 record and beat Georgia in the Music City Bowl. UConn will travel to defending national champion Miami (FL) on October 5 at the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes finished the 2001 season 12-0 and defeated Nebraska in the Rose Bowl for the national title. UConn will finish the 2002 season at Iowa State of the Big 12 Conference. The Cyclones finished the 2001 season with a 7-5 record after a one-point loss to Alabama in the Independence Bowl. Road contests at Buffalo (3-8 in ‘01) on September 14, SEC foe Vanderbilt (2-9 in ‘01) on October 26 and Navy (0-10 in ‘01) on November 16 round out the Husky slate away from Storrs in 2002.
