University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Game Notes vs. Buffalo
9/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 15 2003
THE COACHES
CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH RANDY EDSALL
A veteran of 21 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. He has compiled a 17-31 career record in his fifth season at UConn, including a career-high six wins in 2002. He is 3-1 against Buffalo. 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.
BUFFALO HEAD COACH JIM HOFHER
Jim Hofher is 4-22 in his third season as head coach at Buffalo and 48-58 in his 11-year collegiate head coaching career which includes an eight-year stint at Cornell. He is 1-1 vs. UConn. Hofher came to UB after spending the 2000 season as quarterbacks coach at Syracuse. He worked at North Carolina in 1998-99 after serving as head coach at Cornell from 1990-97. Hofher led the Big Red to a 44-36 overall record and a 32-24 Ivy League mark, the most league wins for any coach in Cornell history. Prior to landing in Ithaca, Hofher worked as an assistant at Tennessee (1989), Syracuse (1987-88), Wake Forest (1979-80, 1983-86) and Miami, Ohio (1981-82). Hofher played quarterback at Cornell under George Siefert from 1976-78, graduating in 1979. He is a native of Middletown, Conn. and a Xavier High School graduate.
RADIO/TV COVERAGE NOTES
RADIO COVERAGE
For the 12th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves 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 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while at home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior the game with Arnold Dean and Kevin Nathan. The UConn Football Radio Network also includes WILI 1400-AM in Willimantic, WLIS 1420-AM in Old Saybrook and WMRD 1150-AM in Middletown. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet, with assistance from Yahoo!, at www.UConnHuskies.com.
TIME TO BUY A RADIO
For the first time this year, there will be no live television broadcast of a UConn football game. Both the Indiana and Boston College games from Rentschler Field aired live on WFSB, TV-3 in Hartford while RNN produced a feed of the UConn-Army game on Sept. 6 at West Point.
THE UCONN HUSKIES: MUST SEE TV
UConn will have seven of its 12 games this fall broadcast on live television in Connecticut, for a total of 15 live telecasts over the past two seasons, despite not having a conference television package as an independent school. WFSB-TV 3, Hartford’s CBS affiliate, is carrying five games as the Huskies battle Indiana, Boston College, Kent State, Rutgers and Wake Forest. The Virginia Tech game will air on ESPN Regional as the BIG EAST Conference Game of the Week and air locally on WTXX TV-20 in Hartford. The YES Network will broadcast the Akron game live from Rentschler Field to its cable audience in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania. UConn is 5-4 when on TV over the past two years.
PLENTY OF FOLKS ARE TUNING IN
UConn’s five games last season on WFSB drew a good crowd to their televisions in the Nutmeg State, averaging a 4.3 rating and an 11.6 share in the Hartford TV market. That trend continued this fall as UConn’s game against Indiana was its’ highest rated yet on WFSB, drawing a 6.6 rating and 19 share. The highest rated game last fall was against Navy, which despite a 38-0 final score, drew a strong 6.1 rating and a 16 share. Comparing these numbers with typical Connecticut college football TV audiences, on Nov. 16, 2002, the lopsided Navy game blew away ABC’s Big Ten game (Ohio State-Illinois - 1.5) and CBS’s SEC game (Georgia-Auburn - 3.7), each of which went down to the final play and had both national and conference championship implications.
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 p.m. on WFSB TV-3 in Hartford with Dina Falco. 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 p.m. on WTIC 1080-AM with Joe D’Ambrosio.
SERIES NOTES
UCONN-BUFFALO HISTORY
Buffalo is by far the most familiar face on UConn’s revamped 2003 schedule which features four first time opponents. The Huskies and Bulls have met 13 times previously and on Saturday will face each other for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, the lone exception being 1998. UConn leads the series 9-4 on the heels of a 24-3 win last Sept. 14 at UB Stadium. The Huskies have won five of the last six meetings, the lone exception being a 37-20 Bull win in Storrs in 2001. The two teams split a trio of home-and-home series during the 1939-40, 1951-52 and 1960-61 seasons before letting the series lay dormant until 1995. The Huskies have become quite familiar with the Mid-American Conference as Buffalo is one of four teams from the league that UConn faces in 2003 joining Kent State (Oct. 18), Akron (Oct. 25) and Western Michigan (Nov. 1). UConn also faced four MAC teams in 2002, posting a 3-1 record. Between the 2000-03 seasons, UConn will face a total of 15 MAC opponents.
HEY, DON’T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
UConn head coach Randy Edsall and Buffalo Athletics Director Bob Arkeilpane were teammates at Syracuse from 1978-80...Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher is a native of Middletown, Conn. and a graduate of Xavier High School...Hofher and Edsall coached together at Syracuse from 1987-88...UB tight ends coach Andrew Dees was a Syracuse teammate of UConn running backs coach Terry Richardson in 1990 and 1991 and was also with the Orangemen during Edsall’s coaching tenure there in 1988-90...UB offensive line coach Roy Istvan is a native of Stratford, a 1990 Southern Connecticut graduate and served as an assistant coach there from 1990-2001...The Bulls have four players from Connecticut in Seymour’s Michael Arroyo, Westin’s Jamey Richard, Bloomfield’s Andrae Smith and Southport’s Chad Upshaw. Arroyo was a high school teammate of UConn’s Graig Vicidomino while Smith teamed with UConn’s Matt Lawrence in high school...UConn has one western New Yorker in Webster’s Matt Cutaia. Cutaia was a teammate of UB’s Michael Schifano at Webster. Hakeem Kashama’s hometown of Brampton, Ont. and O’Neil Wilson’s (Scarborough, Ont.) are both not far from Buffalo either...UConn OT Michael Kodish and UB DE Demetrius Austrum used to butt heads daily at Taravella HS in Coral Springs, Fla...UConn WR Keron Henry was a teammate of UB’s Stephen Thomas at Brooklyn Tech...UConn’s Terrance Smith, UB’s Gabriel McGlover and UB’s Ken Soltis were all teammates at Coconut Creek HS in South Florida’s Broward County...UConn’s Marvin Taylor and UB’s Kareem Byrom lined up together at New Brunswick High School in New Jersey.
SQUAD NOTES
HUSKIES POST LONGEST WINNING STREAK IN EIGHT YEARS
UConn recently had a six-game winning streak snapped, one which ranked as the sixth-longest in the nation at the point of termination with a 24-14 loss to Boston College on Sept. 13. The Huskies won the final four games of the 2002 season, defeating Florida Atlantic, Kent State, Navy and Iowa State, and then captured the first two games of the 2003 campaign with wins over Indiana and Army. UConn’s six-game winning streak was the Huskies’ longest since winning seven in a row between the 1994 and 1995 seasons and tied for the fourth longest in school history. The Husky football squad’s winning streak though pales in comparison to the UConn record for all sports, the NCAA-record 70 consecutive wins rattled off by the women’s basketball team that was snapped in March by Villanova. Also noteworthy is that during UConn’s six-game winning streak, no two wins have come over members of the same conference, as UConn has defeated a foe from the Big Ten (Indiana), Big 12 (Iowa State), Conference USA (Army), Mid-American (Kent State), an Independent (Navy) and a Division I-AA team (Florida Atlantic). During the six-game streak, UConn outscored its opponents 281-86 while holding a 2,830-1,569 yard advantage in total offense, advantages of 32.5 points per game and 210.2 yards per game.
SOME TURNOVER ON TURNOVER DOMINANCE
One critical element to UConn’s 2002 success was it’s large advantage in turnover margin. The 2002 Huskies finished the year +12 in turnover margin and outscored their opposition 110-49 off of turnovers. So far this season, UConn is -1 in turnover margin but stands at a solid +21 points in scoring margin off of turnovers. In all, UConn holds a staggering 104-0 advantage in points off of turnovers over its last eight contests.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The UConn football team has made a habit recently of starting hot, a trend that the Huskies hope to reestablish immediately in the wake of a 14-point first quarter by Boston College on Sept. 13. Continuing back to last season, UConn had outscored its opponents by a combined 89-3 in the first quarter of its last seven games prior to Boston College, with Indiana posting the lone field goal. Prior to the Eagles’ Horace Dodd’s eight-yard TD run, UConn had not allowed an offensive touchdown in the first quarter since Oct. 5, 2002 when Miami’s Willis McGahee scored on a 15-yard run at the Orange Bowl, a stretch that covered 115:44 of first quarter playing time. The last touchdown of any kind scored against UConn in the first quarter of a game prior to BC came when Temple’s Zamir Cobb fell on a muffed punt in the end zone on Oct. 19, 2002. Since the start of the 2002 season, UConn is 7-1 when holding its opponent without a first quarter touchdown and 1-6 when the opponent scores a first quarter touchdown.
2003 SEASON GAME BALLS
After each UConn win, head coach Randy Edsall awards a game ball to an offensive, defense and special teams player of the game in recognition of their efforts. After UConn’s 34-10 win over Indiana in Rentschler Field’s inaugural game, Edsall also presented special game balls in the locker room to both UConn President Philip Austin and Athletics Director Jeffrey Hathaway for their vision and hard work towards making both Rentschler Field and UConn’s Division I-A status a reality.
INDIANA: O’Neil Wilson (offense), Sean Mulcahy (defense), Kinnan Herriott (special teams).
ARMY: Dan Orlovsky (offense), Tyler King (defense), no 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
Indiana OT Chad Atwell DE Jason Ward
Army WR Seth Fogarty CB Nick Berube
Boston College TB Jon Wholley LB Ryan Henegan
HUSKIES RECEIVE FIRST EVER DIVISION I-A POLL VOTES
Connecticut received six votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll on Sept. 1, the first Division I-A votes in the program’s history. The votes were not homegrown either as although he votes in the poll, UConn head coach Randy Edsall did not include the Huskies on his ballot. UConn dropped from the Sept. 7 poll.
HONORABLE HUSKIES
As a team, the 2003 Huskies’ preseason rankings in preseason Top 117 polls were about 30 places better than 2002 on average. Most national publications had the Huskies in the 80s for their rankings, with a high mark of 74th by CBS SportsLine and a low of 98th from The Sporting News. Additionally, the following Huskies received national recognition this preseason:
Terry Caulley: Named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List...Preseason Independent Offensive Player of the Year by ESPN.com and CollegeFootballNews.com...All-Independent by Street & Smith’s and CollegeFootballNews.com...Top Independent NFL prospect by Street & Smith’s...19th best running back in the nation by Lindy’s...Named the second best player overall at an Independent school by CollegeFootballNews.com and also named to their preseason All-America Watch List.
Alfred Fincher: Preseason All-Independent by Street & Smith’s.
Ryan Krug: Named to the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List...Preseason All-Independent by Street & Smith’s and CollegeFootballNews.com...Named to the CollegeFootballNews.com preseason All-America Watch List.
Maurice Lloyd: Preseason All-Independent by CollegeFootballNews.com.
Brian Markowski: Preseason All-Independent by CollegeFootballNews.com.
Dan Orlovsky: Preseason All-Independent by Street & Smith’s and CollegeFootballNews.com.
Uyi Osunde: Named to the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List...Preseason All-Independent by Street & Smith’s and CollegeFootballNews.com...Named the third best player overall at an Independent by CollegeFootballNews.com and also named to their preseason All-America Watch List.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Five true freshmen appeared on UConn’s two-deep for the season opener against Indiana. On offense, the trend continues of two new true freshman faces getting into the mix as Sam Dorvil and Matt Lawrence are testing their abilities immediately at fullback and tailback, respectively. A year ago, both Deon Anderson (FB) and Terry Caulley (TB) started for UConn as true freshmen. In the secondary, true freshmen Allan Barnes and Dontá Moore will have an opportunity to compete right away. Meanwhile, center Brian Ushler is listed as the backup long snapper. Overall, seven true freshmen played for UConn in 2002.
EXPERIENCE LEVEL SPREAD EVENLY
Having finished one complete five-year coaching cycle, head coach Randy Edsall has compiled a team that is well diversified in its makeup. The Huskies feature between 14 and 18 players at each level of their eligibility amongst the 79 players currently on scholarship. Despite this balance, the starting lineup is younger, with the Huskies set to return 16 of 22 projected opening day starters, and place kicker Matt Nuzie, for their crucial 2004 season, the team’s first as a member of the BIG EAST Football Conference.
2003 Scholarship Chart Class Off. Def. Spec. Sr. (16) 8 7 1 Jr. (14) 8 6 0 So. (16) 10 6 0 RFr. (15) 7 7 1 TFr. (18) 6 12 0 Total (79) 39 38 2
OUR OWN LITTLE EPCOT CENTER HERE IN STORRS
While the overwhelming majority of the 2003 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). Although now a Canadian citizen, Kashama was actually born in Zaire. 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 in the Virgin Islands.
CONNECTICUT TRI-CAPTAINS
Senior wide receiver Shaun Feldeisen, defensive tackle Sean Mulcahy and defensive end Uyi Osunde were named as the team’s tri-captains this past spring in a vote of their teammates who could not have chosen better personifications of where the UConn program has gone during their careers. None of the three were heavily recruited - Feldeisen was originally a walk-on and spent a year as a place kicker - but through hard work, all three currently harbor realistic thoughts of playing the NFL.
OFFENSE NOTES
LONG DISTANCE CAULLEY
Tailback Terry Caulley is the nation’s third leading returning rusher in 2003 on the heels of a record-setting freshman year in which he was the nation’s leading freshman rusher by averaging 124.7 yards per game. Caulley has gotten a great start towards being the nation’s leading sophomore rusher in 2003 by gaining 367 yards on 60 carries (6.1 avg), plus three touchdowns. Caulley ranks 13th in the nation for averaging 122.33 yards per game on the ground and stands 21st in all-purpose running (149.33 ypg) despite the fact that he does not return either punts or kickoffs. In UConn’s season opener against Indiana, in addition to running for 166 yards, Caulley also got a career-high six passes out of the backfield for 52 more yards, for a career-high all-purpose yardage total of 218. At Army, Caulley broke Vin Clements’ school record set in 1968 by hitting the century mark on the ground for the sixth consecutive game. Caulley currently has nine 100-yard rushing efforts in just 13 career games played, good for a tie for third on the UConn career chart. Caulley also scored at least one touchdown in each of his last 11 games played.
CAULLEY THE HEAD OF THE CLASS OF 2005
After leading all freshmen in rushing last fall, Terry Caulley has kept up the pace this season and is the career rushing leader for all Division I-A sophomores. One name on this list should be familiar to UConn fans. Virginia’s Wali Lundy is the brother of former UConn linebacker Jamal Lundy. Here is the top 10:
Player School CAR. Yds. Terry Caulley Connecticut 1,614 DonTrell Moore New Mexico 1,385 Brad Smith Missouri 1,247 Maurice Clarett Ohio State 1,237 T.A. McLendon N.C. State 1,202 Lonta Hobbs Texas Christian 1,170 Tyler Ebell UCLA 1,084 Clark Green Kansas 1,079 Wali Lundy Virginia 1,070 Aaron Leeper Buffalo 1,067
DAN-O STILL PUTTING ON A SHOW
Junior Dan Orlovsky, highly-recruited out of high school, continues to live up to the local hype he generated as a high school All-American and the Connecticut Player of the Year in 2000 at Shelton. In the opening three games of 2003, Orlovsky has hit on 78-of-133 passes (58.6%) for 882 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions for a 130.14 rating. This run includes a school-record five touchdown passes in UConn’s 48-21 win at Army. His third career and second consecutive 300-yard passing effort, done at Army, pushed Orlovsky into fourth place on the UConn career passing yardage chart. With five touchdown passes he has now thrown a whopping 21 during the last seven games (3.0 per game) and stands in third place in UConn history with 38 career TD strikes. Orlovsky also extended his streak of consecutive games with a TD pass to 15 against Boston College, the second longest such streak in UConn history. Orlovsky presently ranks 13th in the nation in total offense, tied for seventh in passing and his 10 TD passes ties him for the national lead with Philip Rivers of North Carolina State and J.P. Losman of Tulane.
LUCKY SEVEN FOR NUMBER SEVEN
A poised and mature Dan Orlovsky, now a true junior, has seen his statistics make a dramatic improvement of late. Below are his statistics from the first 18 games of his career and the last seven:
TD INT YPG CMP% EFF First 18 17 20 167.2 52.5% 103.60 Last 7 21 8 247.6 62.4% 144.58
BUSTING OUT OF THE GATES
The UConn offense has wasted little time in putting points on the scoreboard in 2003, scoring 34 in the opener against Indiana and 48 in the second game of the season, last Saturday at Army. The Huskies scored 82 points through two games in 2003, setting a school record for the most points scored through the first two games of a season. The previous highest scoring start came in 1998 when UConn scored a combined 80 points in wins over Colgate and Maine.
O CANADA! O’NEIL WILSON AMONGST AMERICA’S LEADERS
Senior wide receiver O’Neil Wilson, a native of the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, stands 29th in the nation by averaging 6.33 receptions per game. He is also amongst the top 77 in the country for averaging 67.33 receiving yards per game. He caught two touchdown passes in each of UConn’s first two games after entering the season with just two career touchdown grabs. His four touchdown grabs place him in a tie for fifth place nationally behind four players, including Pittsburgh’s Larry Fitzgerald, that have caught five so far in 2003.
JUNIORS DOMINATE OFFENSIVE LINE
UConn’s offensive line has a wonderful combination of both youth and experience in 2003. Starting four juniors and a sophomore, the group will all return for the 2004 season, but combined had a total of 79 career starts worth of experience with 84 combined games played between them at the start of the 2003 season.
SHARING THE WEALTH
For the second consecutive season, Randy Edsall hopes to utilize a deep rotation of wide receivers to help the offense flourish. Seven different Huskies caught at least 20 passes in 2002 which tied for the fourth in the nation during the regular season. In 2003, Edsall has a variety of weapons at the position, where Shaun Feldeisen and Keron Henry may be listed as starters, but Edsall considers all within the group worthy of the honor. O’Neil Wilson, Jason Williams and Matt Cutaia, fully recovered from his 2002 knee injury, will form the core of a formidable group. Those five were boosted for Boston College by Brandon Young who returned from a sore hamstring to play against the Eagles. Several other players, including redshirt freshman Dan Desriveaux, make this perhaps UConn’s deepest position group. So far in 2003, nine players have caught a pass for UConn and three (Wilson, Feldeisen and Terry Caulley) have already hit double figures in receptions.
YOUTH REIGNS IN CONNECTICUT BACKFIELD
Fullback Deon Anderson and tailback Terry Caulley started last season as true freshmen and with a year of experience, they lead a very talented young backfield. The diminutive, 5-7 Caulley dazzled in his debut season, earning freshman All-America accolades. Anderson took charge early on at the fullback spot, picking up the Husky offense quickly and winning the starting nod. The group will be bolstered by a trio of freshmen this year. True freshman Sam Dorvil had a strong fall camp and will play behind Anderson this fall. Redshirt freshman Cornell Brockington and true freshman Matt Lawrence will duel all season for the backup post behind Caulley. Both have been impressive on the practice field and hope to carry that into game day competition.
TIGHT CALL AT TIGHT END
After losing tight end Tommy Collins, the team’s leading receiver in 2002, to graduation, the race at tight end was one of the more difficult to call of the offseason. Sophomore Tim Lassen seemed to step forward as the heir apparent to Collins, but suffered a shoulder injury during fall drills. Senior Terry McClowry edged out redshirt freshman Dan Murray for the starting post although both saw playing time in the season opener against Indiana. Murray started against Army and BC when McClowry suffered a shoulder stinger and he was backed up by an interesting combination of fellow redshirt freshmen. Ziggy Goryn played a majority of the downs, but in goal line situations, tackle Craig Berry checked in as an eligible receiver at tight end wearing number 94.
DEFENSE NOTES
THREE AND OUTS BECOMING COMMON FOR UCONN FOES
The UConn defense forced Indiana into five three-and-outs in the season opener and followed that performance up at Army by making the Cadets go three-and-out on each of its first five possessions on Sept. 6 and six times in the game overall. After forcing Boston College into six three-and-outs, UConn has forced its 2003 opponents to go three-and-out 17 times in 43 possessions, a strong 40-percent. Last year, UConn forced a three-and-out on 30-percent of opposing possessions, including a season high eight on just 12 possessions at Navy.
EXPERIENCE ON THE LINE
UConn boasts a tremendous amount of experience amongst its starters on the defensive line, which includes three seniors and a junior who have all seen considerable playing time in their UConn careers. The unit is further bolstered by the guidance of two of the team’s three captains in Sean Mulcahy and Uyi Osunde. Entering the season, the four starters on the defensive line averaged 21.3 career starts between them. Osunde ranks fourth in UConn history with his 26.5 career tackles for loss, a sum which includes 9.5 sacks in 2002 alone. Tyler King is a perfect complement to Osunde at the other defensive end spot. The 6-6 255 pound junior has an ever-charging motor that propelled him to 37 tackles last year, including six for a loss. The tackles are both seniors in Mulcahy and Ryan Bushey. Bushey missed much of the 2002 season, but hopes to regain his form from 2001 where he started all 11 games. One of the team’s more charismatic personas, Mulcahy has 99 career tackles to his credit with 11 for a loss. With the exception of senior end Hakeem Kashama, the reserves are young though. Sophomores Shawn Mayne and Deon McPhee plus redshirt freshmen Rhema Fuller will look to spell the starters on game day.
DEFENSE RANKS IN THE TOP THIRD NATIONALLY
Last year the Huskies finished in the top 20 in the nation in total defense, and despite the loss of five starters, the fall off has been minimal. UConn presently ranks 33rd in the nation in total defense, out of 117 schools, allowing 303.0 yards per game. UConn is also 28th in passing efficiency defense (104.28 rating), 35th in passing defense (187.33 ypg), 40th in rushing defense (115.67 ypg) and 41st in scoring defense (18.33 ppg).
LINEBACKERS LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS
Before the season it appeared that the UConn linebacking corps would be one of the team’s stronger units and the group has not disappointed thus far in 2003. James Hargrave, the lone new starter of the bunch, leads UConn with 29 tackles, including four tackles for loss, second best on the squad. Alfred Fincher is a small step behind Hargrave with 28 total tackles on the young season. The weakside post has seen not only strong play by Maurice Lloyd (17 tackles, two TFLs), but also exceptional play off of the bench by Taurien Sowell. Starting in place of an injured Lloyd at Army, Sowell led UConn with 14 tackles in the game.
SECONDARY TURNS TO SOME SECONDARY PLAYERS
With the unexpected losses of Jason Dellaselva, Marlon Jones and Chris Meyer over the summer, the UConn secondary has some fresh but capable faces in 2003. The unit that ranked fifth in the nation in passing defense last fall has already benefited from the return of a healthy Justin Perkins. Perkins was the Huskies’ top cover corner in 2001 but missed all but the first half of the season opener at Boston College with a knee injury. Ernest Cole won a tight battle with Cathlyn Clarke for the starting role at the other corner, but both will see ample playing time. Terrance Smith is the team’s lone returning starter from 2002 as he is again manning the right safety post. Junior John Fletcher earned the other safety spot during fall camp. A trio of true freshmen, Allan Barnes, Dontá Moore, and Jahi Smith find themselves in the mix for playing time in the defensive backfield along with redshirt freshman safety M.J. Estep.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
THE CROCODILE PUNTER
Senior Adam Coles, a native of Gladesville, Australia and a former Australian Rules Football player, has made a solid transition to the American version of football and is quietly making noise in UConn’s record book. Coles is presently tied for first all-time at UConn with a 39.9 average for a minimum of 80 career punts and ranks amongst the top two in school history for both number of punts and yardage. Coles entered his senior campaign off of another consistent season in 2002, kicking for a 39.9 average, including a long of 64 at Miami. He picked up on the right foot (his left) in 2003, punting 14 times thus far for a 42.5 yard average, placing him 30th in the nation.
YOUNG IS RESTLESS TO RETURN AS RETURNER
Due to a hamstring injury to expected punt returner Brandon Young, suffered during camp, the went through the season with fresh faces at both the punt and kick return positions. Young, who was UConn’s punt returner for half of the 2002 season returned to the Husky lineup against Boston College and played solidly, returning four punts for 26 yards. On kickoffs, Edsall went back to Jason Williams for the BC game and the junior wide receiver was quickly back to form, returning three kickoffs for 49 yards. Redshirt freshmen M.J. Estep (kickoffs) and David Sanchez (punts) had served as UConn’s top returners for the opening two games.
START SPREADING THE NUZIE
Redshirt freshman Matt Nuzie is UConn’s place kicker, replacing senior Marc Hickok who recently graduated as UConn’s seventh all-time leading scorer. Nuzie showed great promise in the preseason and played solidly in his collegiate debut. Nuzie scored the first points in Rentschler Field history with his 37-yard field goal 2:26 into the Indiana game. He later added a 21-yard field goal, narrowly missed wide left on a 45-yard attempt, and went a perfect 4-for-4 on his PAT tries.
SCHEDULE NOTES
WHO ARE YOU? WHO? WHO? WHO? WHO?
As a part of their move to Division I-A status the Huskies faced a revamped schedule. In 2002 the UConn football slate featured six first time opponents for UConn and 2003 is no different as the Huskies will face four opponents for the first time in Indiana, North Carolina State, Western Michigan and Wake Forest. In 2002, the Huskies opposed Georgia Tech, Ohio, Miami (Fla.), Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic and Iowa State for the first time ever on the gridiron, posting a 3-3 record in these games. In fact, fellow-Division I-A neophyte Buffalo and Rutgers are the only 2003 opponents that UConn had faced more than 10 times. Entering the season, a total of just 61 games had been played all-time between UConn and its 2003 opponents combined. In addition to its new opponents, UConn faceed its first ever member of the Big Ten Conference in Indiana and will face its fourth and fifth members of the ACC in North Carolina State and Wake Forest.
HUSKIES PLAY THE BCS FIELD
UConn will face opponents from three different BCS Conferences this season, playing teams from the ACC (NC State and Wake Forest), BIG EAST (Boston College, Rutgers, and Virginia Tech) and the Big Ten (Indiana). Over the past two seasons, UConn has faced members of five of the six BCS conferences, also playing against the Big 12 (Iowa State) and SEC (Vanderbilt) last season. UConn presently has no scheduled games against the BCS’s sixth member, the Pac-10.
MAC-NIFICENT
The Huskies have become quite familiar with the Mid-American Conference and the Huskies will play four more teams from the league this fall. UConn posted a 3-1 record in four games against MAC members in 2002, facing Buffalo (W, 24-3), Ohio (W, 37-19), Ball State (L, 21-24 OT) and Kent State (W, 63-21). UConn also faced four MAC teams in 2000, posting a 2-2 record, and three MAC schools in 2001, going 1-2. With their 3-1 mark in 2002, UConn stands at 13-10 all-time against MAC schools. Six different MAC schools had three or fewer wins last year within the conference. Six of UConn’s last 12 wins overall have come against schools from the MAC.
WEEK TWELVE????
For just the third time in school history, and the second consecutive season, UConn will play 12 games in a season this fall. The Huskies are a perfect 2-0 in their previous 12th games. Last year, UConn posted a 37-20 upset win over bowl-bound Iowa State in Ames in the Week 12 season finale. The first such instance at UConn came in 1998 when UConn was chosen for the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs after a 9-2 regular season. UConn defeated Hampton, 42-34, in the first round on Nov. 28 in Storrs in that inaugural 12th game. The Huskies fell at Georgia Southern the following week in its only 13th game to a season. In 2003, as in 2002, schools are allowed by the NCAA to schedule 12 games because there are 14 Saturdays between the first permissible playing date and the last playing date in November.
BIG EAST SCHEDULE TAKING SHAPE
The BIG EAST Conference recently announced its schedule rotation for the 2004 season. Each member of the seven-team league will play three home and three road conference games. The Huskies will welcome Pittsburgh, Temple and West Virginia to Rentschler Field while travelling to Boston College, Rutgers and Syracuse. Because several previously scheduled games must be adjusted to accommodate UConn’s earlier move to the conference, the remainder of UConn’s 2004 schedule will be announced at a later date.
STADIUM/ATTENDANCE NOTES
MOVIN’ ON UP TO THE EAST SIDE
The Huskies moved into brand new Rentschler Field in East Hartford for the 2003 season with the stadium opening its doors on August 30 when UConn defeated Indiana, 34-10. 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 boasts a capacity of 40,000 with 38 luxury suites in a massive press box tower which helps enclose the natural grass field. The $91.2 million construction project is an integral part of Governor John Rowland’s economic development program for the Hartford metro-area. While UConn football will serve as the primary tenant, the facility will also attract other prominent events to Hartford, including two concerts by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, September 16 and 18. The opening ceremonies for the State Games of America were held on August 8.
RENTSCHLER’S GLORY DAYS ARRIVE
Proving that the new home of UConn football isn’t hiding on the backstreets of the national road map, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play two shows there on September 16th and 18th. On its current 14-month, 122-show world tour to support its triple Grammy Award winning album "The Rising," Rentschler Field is the only facility that the band will play multiple shows at who’s primary tenant is a collegiate team.
FACILITY MAIN TENANT DATES Rentschler Field UConn football 2 Carolina Center USC basketball 1 Erwin Center Texas basketball 1 Fargodome NDSU football 1 Kenan Stadium UNC football 1 Rupp Arena Kentucky basketball 1 Schottenstein Center Ohio State hoop/hky. 1 Thomas and Mack Ctr. UNLV basketball 1
STARTING A COMMOTION
Swelling interest in the Husky football program as it gradually moves up into BIG EAST play can be evidenced by a rise in attendance. For the 2003 season, UConn has sold approximately 24,000 season tickets at Rentschler Field, a staggering sum considering that the 2001 season ticket base was around 5,000. Last year, UConn, fueled by a season-ticket base of 11,300, UConn ranked 23rd in the nation by playing to 97.58% of Memorial Stadium’s 16,200 seat capacity.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
JUST FOR STARTERS
UConn is now 44-58-2 in season openers dating back to 1896 after defeating Indiana, 34-10 on August 30. The win snapped a four game opening day losing streak that dated back to a 1998 win at Colgate...UConn had never won its season opener under Randy Edsall, however, 2003 marked the first time that UConn had opened at home under Edsall. UConn’s last previous home season-opener was in 1997, a 38-26 win over Northeastern...UConn is now 16-6 when opening its season at home since 1947...The Indiana game marked just the second time UConn has ever opened its season in August with the other coming last season when UConn opened at Boston College on Aug. 31...With a lopsided victory, UConn opened Rentschler Field as it did its pervious home, Memorial Stadium. The Huskies won the facility’s opening game, 26-6 over St. Lawrence on Oct. 10, 1953.
MAKING A BRAND NEW START OF IT IN OLD NEW YORK
By beating Army on Sept. 6 at Michie Stadium, the Huskies won their road opener for the first time since a 45-35 win at Colgate in 1998. Each of the last four seasons in which UConn has won it’s first road game, that game was played in the state of New York. In addition to the afore mentioned wins over Army (West Point) and Colgate (Hamilton), UConn won its road opener in 1997 at Hofstra (Hempstead) and 1996 Buffalo (Amherst). The Empire State trend stops at 1995 when UConn won its road opener by defeating Yale, 39-20, at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn.
CONNECTICUT’S NEW CLOTHES
The UConn football team has a new look in 2003 as it moves into its new home at Rentschler Field, one the program will maintain for a while and build a tradition upon for years to come. The simple yet bold monogram "C" on the side of the football helmet harkens back to Connecticut’s athletic heritage from the 1920s through the 1960s when the simple "C" stood as the university’s primary athletic symbol. UConn’s football helmets also featured a version of the letter "C" elongated into a football shape for much of the late 1960s through the mid 1970s. The "C" logo also appears on the sleeves of the uniforms which have been slightly modified for the 2003 season by UConn sponsor Aéropostale. The solid stripe that went across the shoulder in 2002 has been replaced with a set of alternating navy, white and silver bands around the sleeve. Keeping with a notion of the Huskies representing the whole state and not just the university, the word "Connecticut" will again appear on the chest of the jerseys with the font matching that of the "C" on the helmet. The Huskies will continue to wear navy jerseys for home games and white on the road with the team choosing from either navy or silver pants to complete each ensemble.
HOKIES RANKED HIGH, OFF TO EIGHTH-RANKED VPI
UConn will take to the road again next weekend, traveling to Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. to face eighth-ranked Virginia Tech. The Hokies will be the second highest ranked Division I-A team that UConn has ever faced, behind playing No. 1-ranked Miami last year at the Orange Bowl. The game will also prove to be another solid measuring stick comparison for how the program has progressed when contrasted against a 52-10 loss at Lane Stadium two years ago.
