University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Ready To Host Georgia Tech
9/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 2, 2002
THE COACHES
CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH RANDY EDSALL:
Randy Edsall has compiled a 9-25 career record in his fourth season at UConn and has never faced Georgia Tech. A veteran of 19 years of major college coaching with three years in the NFL, Edsall has tackled the challenge of bringing a former NCAA Division I-AA team up to par with the BIG EAST in a six year span head on. Immediately prior to becoming UConn’s 27th head coach on December 21, 1998, Edsall served as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech in 1998 under George O’Leary. Edsall began his coaching career at his alma mater, Syracuse, from 1980-1990, working under Frank Maloney and Dick McPherson in a variety of capacities. Amongst his highlights at Syracuse was being a part of the 1987 team that went undefeated at 11-0-1, tying Auburn, 16-16, in the Sugar Bowl. Edsall moved on to Boston College where he coached defensive backs under Tom Coughlin from 1991-93 before following Coughlin to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, staying on the First Coast through the 1997 season. Edsall is a native of Glen Rock, Pa., and graduated from Susquehannock High School.
GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH CHAN GAILEY:
Chan Gailey is 1-0 in his first year at Georgia Tech, 25-11 in his fourth year as a college head coach and 55-32-1 as a head coach overall. Gailey came to Tech after spending the past two years as the Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator. Prior to that, he was head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1998 and 1999. He also served as head coach of the Birmingham Fire of the WLAF from 1991-92 and as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. Collegaitely, Gailey served as head coach at Troy State (1983-84) and Samford (1993) while working in the ‘70s and early ‘80s as an assistant at Florida, Troy State and Air Force. A native of Gainesville, Ga., Gailey went to college in Gainesville, Fla., where he played quarterback for the Gators from 1971-73.
RADIO/TV COVERAGE NOTES
RADIO COVERAGE:
For the 11th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford will serve as the flagship station for the UConn Radio Network. WTIC is the state’s only 50,000 watt clear channel signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada. Veteran UConn announcers Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Bob Joyce on the sidelines. The UConn pregame show begins one hour prior to kickoff while at home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two hours prior with Arnold Dean. The UConn Radio Network is comprised of: WILI 1400-AM in Willimantic, WLIS-1420 AM in Old Saybrook, WMRD 1150-AM in Middletown, WICC 600-AM in Bridgeport and WSUB 980-AM in Groton. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet, with assistance from Yahoo!, at www.UConnHuskies.com.
THIS WEEK’S TV:
The YES Network will broadcast the game live from Memorial Stadium to a cable television audience in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania. Spero Dedes will handle the play-by-play with Don McPherson providing color commentary and Leslie Gudel on the sidelines. The game will be the YES Network’s first ever football telecast. The first-year network is the primary television home of the New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets.
THE UCONN HUSKIES: MUST SEE TV:
UConn will have eight of its 12 games broadcast on live television this year. The BC game was an ESPN Regional production which aired on both NESN and MSG. The YES Network will carry UConn’s next two games, coming against Georgia Tech and Buffalo. WFSB-TV 3, Hartford’s CBS affiliate, will carry five games as they Huskies battle Ohio, Temple, Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic and Navy. With eight total TV games, it is by far the most football games that UConn has ever had televised in a single season. In addition, Connecticut Public Television will air a UConn football preview show on Sept. 7 at 11:00 am. Curiously, Don McPherson will serve as UConn’s color commentator for seven of these eight games, appearing on three different networks. McPherson will miss the Buffalo game to work the national BET telecast of Jackson State and Tennessee State from the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
EDSALL ON THE AIR:
UConn head coach Randy Edsall will have weekly television and radio shows this year. The television show will air on Sunday nights at 11:45 pm on WFSB TV 3 in Hartford with Eric Clemons and Joe Tessitore. Edsall, along with a selected player each week, will also be featured on an hour-long radio call-in show Thursday nights from 6:00 to 7:00 pm on WTIC 1080-AM with Joe D’Ambrosio and Arnold Dean.
SERIES NOTES
UCONN-GEORGIA TECH HISTORY:
This will be the first ever meeting between the Huskies and Yellow Jackets on the gridiron as Georgia Tech is the first of six first-time opponents for the Huskies in 2002. UConn is 0-2 all-time against current ACC schools, losing to North Carolina in 1990 and to Maryland in 1942, prior to the ACC’s formation in 1953. UConn has only once previously faced the school from Georgia, losing at Georgia Southern, 52-30, in the NCAA Division I-AA quarterfinals. The Huskies will play the Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
HEY, DON’T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
UConn head coach Randy Edsall served as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech in 1998 under George O’Leary. The Yellow Jackets went 10-2 that year, including a Gator Bowl win over Notre Dame. The ACC co-champions lost only to Boston College and Florida State...UConn has two players from Georgia, Tony Atkinson of Brunswick (Brunswick HS) and Evan Benson of Atlanta suburb Marietta (Pope HS)...Georgia Tech has one player from Connecticut, Chris Morehouse of Vernon and Rockville HS... Georgia Tech Athletics Director Dave Braine was the AD at Virginia Tech from 1988-1997 while UConn defensive backs coach Torrian Gray was a three-time All-BIG EAST safety for the Hokies (1994, 1995 and 1996).
SQUAD NOTES
HUSKIES SHOW VAST IMPROVEMENT AT BOSTON COLLEGE
Throughout the course of its 24-16 loss at Boston College on August 31, UConn demonstrated dramatic improvements over its 55-3 loss at the Heights on Oct. 7, 2000. In its first apples vs. apples comparison game (same opponent, same stadium) since beginning its march to Division I-A, the 2002 Huskies came out ahead in this, their first season with a full compliment of 85 available scholarships. Below are some major categories that demonstrate a more potent Husky defense in particular:
Category 2000 2002 Halftime Score BC, 41-3 UC, 16-10 Completion Pct. 50% (20-40)63% (24-38) Rushing Defense 361 114 Total Defense 635 353 BC First Downs 25 18 Time of Possession 18:25 30:58 Turnover Margin -3 +1 Scoring Margin -52 -8 Longest UConn Drive 50 yds. 90 yds.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Five true freshmen appeared in the Huskies season opener at Boston College, including an all-true freshman starting back field featuring fullback Deon Anderson and tailback Terry Caulley. Brandon Young got a slot in the wide receiver rotation while also serving as UConn’s top punt returner and a gunner on the team’s punt unit. James Hargrave played a backup role at Husky linebacker and on special teams. Ernest Cole also saw time, mainly on special teams.
EAGLE SCOUTS
Each week head coach Randy Edsall issues an award for the Scout Team Player of the Week on both offense and defense. In recognition of their often-overlooked hard work, those players earn a spot on the Husky travel squad and dress list for that week’s game. The weekly honorees are listed below.
Game Offense Defense Boston College RB Cornell Brockington DB Ryan DeRubertis
YOUNG GUNS
Frequent redshirting of players over the past couple of seasons and drastic expansion in the total number of available scholarships to 85, has enabled head coach Randy Edsall to put together a fairly young team. This is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. UConn has just four offensive scholarship seniors and 70% of scholarship players are sophomores or younger on offense.
2002 Scholarship Chart
Class Off. Def. Spec. Sr. (12) 4 7 1 Jr. (21) 9 11 1 So. (17) 10 7 0 RFr. (13) 10 3 0 TFr. (21) 10 10 1 Total (84) 43 38 3
OUR OWN LITTLE EPCOT CENTER HERE IN STORRS
While the overwhelming majority of the UConn football team is comprised of players from the northeastern United States, the Huskies have a far greater foreign influence than your typical college football team with players hailing from three different continents. UConn has five Canadian players, two from Ontario (Hakeem Kashama and O’Neil Wilson) and a trio of Quebecois (Dan Desriveaux, Shawn Mayne and Jason Ward). Punter Adam Coles is a native Australian while offensive tackle Aloys Manga is a native of Duana, Cameroon. Although not a foreign nation, UConn’s Conn Davis grew up outside of the 50 states as a native of the Virgin Islands.
CONNECTICUT NAMES TRI-CAPTAINS
Senior tight end Tommy Collins, senior linebacker Jamal Lundy and senior defensive tackle Greg Smoot will serve as the Huskies’ three captains for the 2002 season. All three have been regular contributors since their true freshmen year in 1999 and eventually developed into regular starters and team leaders. Smoot has started 32 of his 33 career games as a Husky while Lundy has been the first or second leading tackler in each of the past two years. Showing their team-first mentalities, all three have had a position change during their UConn careers with Collins shifting from fullback to tight end, Lundy moving from safety to linebacker and Smoot pushing inward from defensive end to defensive tackle.
OFFENSE NOTES
ORLOVSKY THE STARTER AT QUARTERBACK
Sophomore Dan Orlovsky, a high school All-American and the Connecticut Player of the Year in 2000 at Shelton High School, was the Huskies’ starting quarterback for the season opener and proved solid hitting on 24-of-37 (65%) for 203 yards with one TD and two INTs. Orlovsky was especially sharp in the first half where he hit on 14-of-17 (82%) for 132 yards with one TD and showed great poise in leading UConn on a 12-play, 90-yard TD drive on the game’s opening possession. That drive was UConn’s longest TD drive since going 92 for a score against Northeastern on Sept. 23, 2000. Orlovsky played in 10 games last year, making six starts after Henry suffered a hip pointer in UConn’s 20-19 win at Rutgers. Against Eastern Michigan the following week, Orlovsky became the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Connecticut since 1992 and did not disappoint, leading the Huskies to a 19-0 win. He later set a UConn freshman record (fourth overall) by throwing for 382 yards in a 45-28 loss at Cincinnati. Although more of a traditional pocket passer than back-up Keron Henry, Orlovsky has shown the ability to run the ball at times, including a 25-yard carry against Utah State last season.
YOUTH REIGNS IN CONNECTICUT BACKFIELD
UConn started true freshmen at both fullback and tailback in the season opener at Boston College in Deon Anderson and Terry Caulley, respectively. Against the Eagles, Caulley gained 62 yards on the ground while also adding 19 through the air on four receptions. Anderson did a good job of blocking and picked up five yards on his three carries, all of which were for positive yardage. The diminutive, 5-7 Caulley dazzled in the fall camp, demonstrating the solid instincts that led him to be named last years’ Maryland offensive player of the year. In the team’s main scrimmage, he unofficially rushed for 93 yards on nine carries. Anderson took charge early on at the fullback spot. The three sport (football, wrestling and track) standout at Providence’s Hope High School and Connecticut’s Avon Old Farms Prep picked up the Husky offense quickly and won a starting nod. In addition to the young running backs, both of the team’s top two quarterbacks, Orlovsky and Henry, are true sophomores.
PROMISING RECEIVER ROTATION
The Huskies entered the 2002 season with few clear cut favorites at the wide receiver position and while senior Wes Timko, junior Shaun Feldeisen and sophomore Matt Cutaia are listed as the starters, they were not the only names appearing in the final stat book at BC. Five different Husky receivers made a catch in the game as quarterback Dan Orlovsky hit eight different targets in all, led by Cutaia’s five catches for 41 yards. Junior Cliff Hill led the team in receptions last year with 40 while fellow junior O’Neil Wilson had a breakthrough spring and will see plenty of action this fall. Redshirt freshman Jason Williams and true freshman Brandon Young will also factor into the rotation. Young was one of the better performers during UConn’s fall camp and earned a spot as the team’s top punt returner. In addition, senior tri-captain tight end Tommy Collins will get to run his fair share of pass routes in 2002 and hauled in three passes against the Eagles.
DEFENSE NOTES
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
UConn welcomed back 10 of its 11 defensive starters from the 2001 season and each of its top eight tacklers. Amongst the returnees is strong safety and 2001 team MVP Chris Meyer who led UConn with 94 tackles and four interceptions last year. Senior Jamal Lundy leads the defense from his husky (strongside) linebacker post. Lundy topped all Huskies with his 102 tackles as a sophomore in 2000 and last year claimed the team lead in solo tackles (66) and tackles for loss (eight) while making three sacks and adding six pass breakups.
DEFENSIVE LINE LOADED WITH EXPERIENCE
UConn’s defensive line will draw on plenty of experience to help anchor the defensive charge. The unit is led by senior tri-captain Greg Smoot, a stalwart at defensive tackle. Junior Sean Mulcahy offers a lot of game experience at the other tackle position alongside Smoot. Neither has missed a game in their UConn careers with Smoot working on an active streak of 32 consecutive starts. Two athletic defensive ends return to both boost the pass rush and occasionally aide in coverages. Junior Uyi Osunde will start at the "Bandit" defensive end slot ahead of senior Frank Quagliano. Sophomore Tyler King and junior Hakeem Kashama will rotate on the left side with both seeing significant game action. Osunde missed the 2001 season after shoulder surgery in early September, while Kashama was lost after two games last year with a knee injury. Both had strong falls and are ready to go.
FINCHER PHENOMENAL IN FIRST START
Sophomore Alfred Fincher, a native of Norwood, Mass., made the most of his first career start after beating out incumbent middle linebacker Razul Wallace this fall. Fincher tied for the team lead with seven solo tackles and was credited with a team-best 15 total to accompany a pair of tackles for loss, a pass deflection and his first career interception which he ran back 19 yards to the BC 42 yard line late in the third quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
CONNECTICUT KICKERS READY FOR ACTION
The Huskies have a matter of continuity in their kicking game as UConn returns both its starting punter and place kicker from a year ago. Senior Marc Hickok returns to handle placement kicks after going 18-of-19 on PAT tries last year and 12-of-17 on field goal tries, including a 4-for-5 mark from between 40 and 49 yards. Hickok continued his good field goal work at Boston College where he his a career-long 48 yarder in his lone attempt of the day. His previous career-long of 47 yards with 3:04 to play at Rutgers gave UConn its first ever win over a BIG EAST team, 20-19. Junior Adam Coles returns to punt for UConn this year, the tall, 6-5, former Australian Rules Football player from Gladesville kicked for a 39.2 average on 81 punts last year. Coles booted a 71-yarder against Middle Tennessee (sixth longest in school history) and placed 32 balls inside the 20 yard line. Coles appears on several seasonal and career punting record charts at UConn. He punted for a 43.4 average in eight attempts at BC.
COLES NAMED TO RAY GUY AWARD WATCH LIST
Junior punter Adam Coles was named to the preseason watch list for the Ray Guy Award on August 27. The award is given annually by the Augusta (GA) Sports Council to the top collegiate punter and named for Guy, the former Southern Miss. All-American, Oakland Raiders’ Pro Bowl selection and native Georgian. The 34 preseason candidates will next be pared to 10 semifinalists in late October.
SCHEDULE NOTES
WHO ARE YOU? WHO? WHO? WHO? WHO?
As a part of their move to Division I-A status the Huskies will face a revamped schedule in 2002, one which features six first time opponents for UConn. The Huskies will oppose Georgia Tech, Ohio, Miami (Fla.), Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic and Iowa State for the first time ever on the gridiron this season. In fact, fellow-Division I-A neophyte Buffalo is the only 2002 opponent that UConn has faced more than 10 times with the Huskies and Bulls playing a total of 12 all-time contests. A total of just 36 games have been played all-time between UConn and its 2002 opponents combined, fewer than its series with six individual schools, a list led by Rhode Island with 92 meetings. In addition to its new opponents, UConn will face its first ever member of the Big 12 Conference (Iowa State) and only its second ever foe from the Southeastern Conference (Vanderbilt). UConn travelled to SEC member Kentucky in 1999. The Georgia Tech game will mark UConn’s second ever game against an active Atlantic Coast Conference opponent with the Huskies having faced North Carolina in 1990. UConn also played then-Southern Conference member Maryland in 1942 prior to the ACC’s formation in 1953.
HUSKIES PLAYING THE BCS FIELD
UConn will face opponents from four different conferences this season that are amongst the six members of the Bowl Championship Series as the Huskies face foes from the ACC (Georgia Tech), BIG EAST (Boston College, Miami, Temple), Big 12 (Iowa State) and SEC (Vanderbilt). Facing four different BCS conferences ties UConn for the most of any school in the nation in the 2002 season joining Florida State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The one common denominator is that all seven schools play at least one ACC team while all but the Red Raiders face a BIG EAST squad.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN...AND AGAIN
With the decrease in regional scheduling brought about by UConn’s independent status, the Huskies will make some historic road trips in the program’s lineage which dates back to 1896. UConn’s game at Miami will mark the furthest south the team has ever travelled for a game, eclipsing its trip to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium for a game last year against South Florida. This mark should hold forever as the Orange Bowl is the southernmost stadium in the continental United States for a I-A school although it is a couple of miles north of the actual UM campus in Coral Gables. UConn’s game at Iowa State in Ames just narrowly misses being its furthest ever western destination, a nod that goes to Dallas, Texas where the Huskies faced SMU in 1989.
SET YOUR WATCHES
The team’s games at Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) and Iowa State (Ames, Iowa) are significant as they mark just the third and fourth times, respectively, that UConn will ever play outside of the Eastern time zone. Both schools are located in the Central time zone. The Huskies have twice previously played an hour behind Storrs, losing at SMU in Dallas in 1989 and at Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro in 2001. UConn has never played in either the Mountain or Pacific time zones.
STADIUM NOTES
MEMORIAL STADIUM SOON A MEMORY
The 2002 season will be the Huskies’ final at Memorial Stadium after a 50 year run. UConn has posted a 128-99-4 (.563) record all-time in the 16,200 seat facility that opened on October 10, 1953 with a 26-6 win over St. Lawrence. The team will wear a patch on its jerseys commemorating the 50th and final season in the stadium. Memorial Stadium will soon be torn down to make room for the Burton Family Football Complex which will house coaches’ offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms and other football-related facilities. To help recognize the 50th and final season at Memorial Stadium, UConn will wear commemorative patches (pictured) on the right chest of their 2002 game uniforms.
MOVIN’ ON UP TO THE EAST SIDE
The Huskies will move into brand new Rentschler Field in East Hartford for the 2003 season with the stadium set up open its doors on August 30 for a game against the Big Ten’s Indiana Hoosiers. Conveniently located within miles of Interstates 91, 84 and 384, Adriaen’s Landing and downtown Hartford, the new home of the Huskies lies on 75 acres of land donated to the State of Connecticut from the historic Pratt & Whitney Airfield by company founder Frederick Rentschler. The new stadium will hold approximately 40,000 seats and 40 luxury suites in a massive press box tower which will help enclose the natural grass field. The $91 million construction project, part of Governor John Rowland’s economic development program for the Hartford metro-area, is currently past the half way mark and on schedule.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
HOME SWEET HOME
UConn boasts a 31-22-1 mark in its home openers, dating back to 1947. The Huskies had a streak of six straight home opening wins snapped last year with a 35-17 loss to Eastern Washington.
JUST FOR STARTERS
UConn is now 43-58-2 in season openers dating back to 1896 and has lost four straight since a 1998 win at Colgate...The Huskies opened on the road for the fifth straight year, the longest such streak since playing six straight road openers from 1979-84...UConn is just 7-28 when opening its season on the road dating back to 1947...The BC game marked the first time that UConn ever opened its season in the month of August. The earliest previous start to a UConn football season was last year when the Huskies travelled to face Virginia Tech on September 1...Although UConn has now played a combined 90 games all-time against schools from the city of Boston (Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, Tufts) the Huskies had never previously opened their season in Boston according to school records that go back to 1947. The sites of UConn’s openers in 1935 (Northeastern) and 1946 (Harvard) are unknown. UConn last faced a Boston team in its opener in 1997 when it hosted Northeastern for its first ever game in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
CONNECTICUT’S NEW CLOTHES
The Huskies debuted their new road uniforms for 2002 season last week at BC and will do likewise on Saturday with their home ensembles. Blue and white with silver trim, the fashionable look was designed by new sponsor Aéropostale. The uniforms also bear a patch on the right chest commemorating the team’s 50th and final season at Memorial Stadium before moving into Rentschler Field in East Hartford next season. Additionally, this season’s helmets will include a white interlocking "UC" logo on a blue background. The uniforms feature the players’ names on the back for the first time under head coach Randy Edsall’s watch. The red accents commonly found on UConn uniforms have been replaced with silver accents on the 2002 football jerseys. Instead of white uniform pants for home games this year, UConn will don silver britches. Also, the front of the jerseys will say "Connecticut" instead of "UConn," a point that Edsall was especially passionate about. At the team’s August 9th media day he said "We’re Team Connecticut. From Greenwich to Torrington and Norwich to Danbury, we want everybody to know that we’re your team. We want people from all those areas to come up and experience the things that we’ve got going." UConn and Aéropostale recently announced a new corporate partnership that will see the company provide practice and sideline apparel for football and 18 other UConn sports. Aéropostale will also be involved in a number of campus activities.
UCONN HOSTS STATE EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY
UConn’s game on Sept. 28 against Ball State is State Employee Appreciation Day. The Huskies will offer a buy one get one free special on tickets for the game (limit six) for state employees. A Fan Fest will also precede the game at 11:30 am, featuring family activities while prizes will also be awarded for the best tailgaters. All ticket orders must be postmarked by September 9. For more information, contact the UConn ticket office at (877) AT-UCONN.
HUSKIES TO HELP WITH CHILD IDENTIFICATION
The University of Connecticut and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with a national partnership with the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), will take part in the National Child Identification Program (NCIP) when the Huskies take on Georgia Tech on Sept. 7. The NCIP allows for children, beginning at age four to be fingerprinted with the identification information being maintained by parents. As patrons leave the Georgia Tech game, fingerprint kits will be given to all parents and guardians. Both the FBI and the AFCA have existing Community Outreach Programs that encourage parents and guardians to maintain fingerprints of their children in the event they are involved in a disaster or foul play. The AFCA has sponsored the National Child Identification Program (NCIP) for several years, distributing inkless fingerprint kits to enable parents and guardians to fingerprint their children for identification purposes. To date, 9,300,000 kits have been distributed in the United States, mostly at college football games. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have operated similar programs for many years with standard fingerprint cards and ink. Many of the FBI’s 56 Field Offices located throughout the United States, including the one in New Haven, Conn., will partner with college football coaches in their territories to facilitate the distribution of the inkless NCIP kits.
TAKE A HISTORY LESSON BEFORE HUSKY HOME GAMES
Start off your Connecticut football home game days by touring the new 2,700 square foot J. Robert Donnelly Husky Heritage Sports Museum. Located in the newly expanded UConn Alumni Center and within shouting distance of Memorial Stadium, the museum is the ultimate living document to UConn’s many athletic successes. Long time Husky Sports Information Director Tim Tolokan serves as the museum’s curator and director. Banners, memorabilia and NCAA championship trophies line the display cases while video monitors perpetually replay glorious moments from UConn’s athletic past. The Connecticut Basketball Rotunda is a can’t-miss for any Huskies fan, preserving the memory of the school’s national championships in both men’s and women’s basketball.
SHUFFLING OFF TO BUFFALO
The Huskies will travel to Western New York next weekend to face the University at Buffalo. UConn leads the all-time series 8-4 but the Bulls came out of Storrs with a 37-20 win last season, snapping a five game losing streak to the Huskies. The night game from UB Stadium will be broadcast live on the YES Network.
