University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Head Back To Blacksburg To Face Hokies
9/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 22, 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 an 18-31 career record in his fifth season at UConn, including wins in seven of UConn’s last eight games. He is 0-1 against Virginia Tech. 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.
VIRGINIA TECH HEAD COACH FRANK BEAMER
The fifth-winningest active coach in the country, Frank Beamer is 120-69-2 in his 17th year at Virginia Tech and 162-92-4 overall in his 22-year collegiate head coaching career. He is 1-0 against UConn. Beamer has led his alma mater to 10 consecutive bowl games, making Virginia Tech one of only seven schools to go to a bowl every year since 1993. Beamer was the consensus national Coach of the Year in 1999 as he guided the Hokies to a Nokia Sugar Bowl matchup with Florida State in the BCS Championship Game. Beamer also served as head coach of Murray State from 1981-86, posting a 42-23-2 record. He worked as an assistant at Maryland and The Citadel in addition to MSU. Born in Mt. Airy, N.C. and raised in Hillsville, Va., Beamer was a three-year starting cornerback for the Hokies from 1966-68, helping the team to two Liberty Bowl berths.
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 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.
HUSKIES GET GLIMPSE OF BIG EAST TELEVISION
The Virginia Tech game will be aired in 34 markets along the eastern seaboard over the BIG EAST Television Network, which airs locally in Hartford on WTXX TV-20. Dave Sims calls the action with John Congemi on color and Greg Roberts on the sidelines. The broadcast will also be available on ESPN GamePlan.
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
The Nielsen numbers continue to grow as WFSB recorded a 8.6 rating and 23 share for its coverage of the UConn-Boston College game on Sept. 13, a UConn football record. The previous high for UConn football on WFSB had been set just two weeks prior when the Indiana game garnered a 6.6 rating and 19 share. 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. 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 saw a 6.1 local rating which 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-VIRGINIA TECH HISTORY
In the only previous meeting between the schools on the gridiron, the Hokies posted a 52-10 win on Sept. 1, 2001 at Lane Stadium behind a near-flawless 16-for-20 passing effort from Grant Noel, good for 267 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. All-time, UConn is 12-11-1 against teams from the Commonwealth of Virginia, going 1-0 against Hampton, 1-4 against James Madison, 9-1 against Richmond, 0-1-1 against VMI and 1-4 against William & Mary, in addition to the 2001 loss to the Hokies. The seventh-ranked UConn women’s soccer team will also be in Blacksburg this weekend, facing the Hokies on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
HEY, DON’T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
UConn defensive backs coach Torrian Gray was a three-year starter for Virginia Tech from 1994-96, helping the Hokies to a pair of BIG EAST Championships. Gray’s senior class was the first in Virginia Tech history to be selected for four bowl games. Six of the Hokies’ current 10 coaches were in Blacksburg for all or part of Gray’s playing career...Virginia Tech quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers held the same title at Syracuse from 1991-92 when UConn running backs coach Terry Richardson played there...UConn has three players from Virginia in Cedric Baylor (Highland Springs), Billy Irwin (Fairfax) and Darius Leak (Fork Union) while no Hokies hail from Connecticut. Baylor was a high school teammate of VT’s Jim Davis while four of Leak’s Deep Creek High School teammates suit up for the Hokies and two of Irwin’s Robinson Secondary mates wear the Gobblers’ chicago maroon and burnt orange.
SQUAD NOTES
HUSKIES ON ONE OF BEST EIGHT-GAME STREAKS EVER
UConn has posted a 7-1 record in its past eight games, marking one of the finest stretches in the program’s football history. Only once has UConn won eight consecutive games, a run that covered parts of the 1944 and 1945 seasons under J.O. Christian. The Huskies had a 7-0-1 stretch that spanned portions of the 1937 and 1938 seasons while UConn also posted 7-1 runs in 1998, 1939-40, 1926 and 1901. UConn had one other eight-game stretch in which it went undefeated but recorded fewer than seven wins, going 6-0-2 in 1924. Over nine-game stretches, UConn’s top mark is 8-0-1 from 1937-38, while a record of 8-1 was achieved in 1944-45, 1926-27 and 1901. The Huskies went 7-0-2 from 1923-24.
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 -2 in turnover margin but stands at a solid +14 points in scoring margin off of turnovers. In all, UConn holds a staggering 104-7 advantage in points off of turnovers over its last nine contests. The only score in this stretch came at Buffalo on Sept. 20 after a muffed punt gave UB the ball deep in UConn territory.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The UConn football team has made a habit recently of starting hot, a trend that the Huskies quickly reestablished 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. UConn bounced right back by holding Buffalo scoreless in the first quarter last Saturday, its eighth first quarter white-washing in the last nine games. 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 8-1 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
BUFFALO: Offensive line (Ryan Krug, Brian Markowski, Billy Irwin, LeAndre Dupree, Grant Preston), Dan Murray and Terry Caulley (offense), Terrance Smith (defense), Jason Williams (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
Buffalo OT Brian Kersmanc LB Christian Helies
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.
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
YOUTH IS SERVED
Four true freshmen have played for the Huskies thus far in 2003. The secondary has seen the largest infusion of freshman talent as Allan Barnes, Dontá Moore, and Jahi Smith have all gotten into the defensive backfield mix in addition to working on special teams. Offensively Sam Dorvil has been the lone true freshman to see action, spelling Deon Anderson at fullback. Matt Lawrence and Brian Ushler are listed on the UConn two-deep but have yet to play. Overall, seven true freshmen played for UConn in 2002.
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 leading rusher with 601 yards so far in 2003. He is second in rushing yards-per-game, behind just Syracuse’s Walter Reyes, averaging 150.25 ypg. Caulley entered the season as the nation’s third leading returning rusher 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 also stands tied for fourth nationally in rushing touchdowns (seven), fifth in scoring (12.0 ppg), and Caulley also ranks eighth in all-purpose running (170.50 ypg) despite the fact that he does not return either punts or kickoffs. 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 10 career 100-yard rushing efforts in just 14 career games played, good for a tie for second on the UConn career chart. Caulley also scored at least one touchdown in each of his last 12 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. Here is the top 10:
Player School Car. Yds. Terry Caulley Connecticut 1,848 DonTrell Moore New Mexico 1,406 Brad Smith Missouri 1,383 T.A. McLendon N.C. State 1,317 Maurice Clarett Ohio State 1,237 Lonta Hobbs TCU 1,210 Clark Green Kansas 1,187 Marion Barber III Minnesota 1,143 Tyler Ebell UCLA 1,106 Aaron Leeper Buffalo 1,100
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 93-of-156 passes (59.6%) for 1,118 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions for a 135.39 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. he has since taken over third place on that listing. With five touchdown passes he has now thrown a whopping 22 during the last eight games (2.8 per game) and stands in third place in UConn history with 39 career TD strikes. Orlovsky also extended his streak of consecutive games with a TD pass to 16 against Buffalo, the second longest such streak in UConn history. Orlovsky presently ranks 19th in the nation in total offense, tied for 10th in passing while his 11 TD passes ties him second in the nation with Philip Rivers of N.C. State, Rod Rutherford of Pittsburgh and Jason White of Oklahoma. The group stands behind only J.P. Losman of Tulane who has 15.
ORLOVSKY’S TURNAROUND
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 eight:
TD INT YPG CMP% EFF
First 18 17 20 167.2 52.5% 103.60
Last 8 22 8 246.1 62.6% 146.41
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. Through four games, UConn is 29th in the nation, averaging 33.5 points per game.
HENRY’S HAT TRICK
When he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dan Orlovsky during the second quarter of the Buffalo game, Keron Henry completed a rare career trifecta. Henry has now caught, thrown and rushed for touchdowns in his UConn career. He joins Ken Sweitzer (1978-81) and Tory Taylor (1995-98) as the only Huskies to accomplish this impressive feat.
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, 10 players have caught a pass for UConn and four Huskies (Feldeisen, Wilson, Terry Caulley and Henry) 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, BC and Buffalo 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 and four more at Buffalo, UConn has forced its 2003 opponents to go three-and-out 21 times in 56 possessions, a strong 38-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.
HUSKIES SHOW UB PUNTER MILANO WHO’S THE BOSS
The UConn defense swarmed over Buffalo’s offense forcing 11 Bull punts by Dominic Milano out of 13 UB possessions. The lone exceptions came with the end of the first half and a failed fourth-down try late in the game. Overall, UConn has forced it’s opponents to punt a staggering 36 times through four games (9.0 per game). Although the NCAA does not keep this as a category leader, on the flip side, only Arizona has made as many as 36 punts as a team in 2003 while Fresno State and Buffalo have made 33 punts. By comparison, the UConn offense has punted just 18 times this year, an even 50% less often. A year ago, UConn didn’t force its 36th punt until the seventh game of the season.
NEVER AT A LOSS OF WORDS, BUT PLENTY OF LOST YARDS
Charismatic defensive tackle Sean Mulcahy stands amongst the national leaders in tackles for loss. Through the Boston College game, Mulcahy recorded a total of six tackles for loss, tying him for 10th in the nation with 2.0 per game.
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 most media-friendly personas, Mulcahy has 118 career tackles to his credit with 17.5 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 21st in the nation in total defense, out of 117 schools, allowing 287.50 yards per game. UConn is also 18th in passing efficiency defense (96.96 rating), 20th in passing defense (164.50 ypg) and 19th in scoring defense (15.50 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 37 tackles, including four tackles for loss, second best on the squad. Alfred Fincher is a small step behind Hargrave with 34 total tackles on the young season. The weakside post has seen not only strong play by Maurice Lloyd (28 tackles, 2.5 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 second all-time at UConn with a 39.8 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 18 times thus far for a 39.8 yard average.
RETURNERS ROTATE AGAIN
UConn’s return game, both on punts and kickoffs, has seen some personnel adjustments as the 2003 season has progressed. M.J. Estep started the year as the lone deep back for kickoffs and averaged a solid 20.0 yards for the two that he returned. Estep was replaced by Jason Williams for the Boston College game after Williams recovered fully from a shoulder injury suffered during fall camp. Williams has done a solid job in that role, earning a game ball on special teams at Buffalo after a 82-yard kick return that was stopped just shy of becoming UConn’s first kickoff return touchdown since 1998. The punt return chores will come full circle this week. David Sanchez began the year in that role but was lifted for Brandon Young when Young recovered from a hamstring injury suffered during fall camp. Young played well against Boston College, averaging 6.5 yards per return, but was replaced by Sanchez at Buffalo after muffing consecutive punts in the second quarter.
START SPREADING THE NUZIE: KICKING JOB WIDE OPEN
So far, replacing three-year starting place kicker Marc Hickok has been a chore for UConn. Redshirt freshman Matt Nuzie won the job during fall camp and started out strong in UConn’s wins over Indiana and Army. He has since faltered though, missing two field goals of 34-yards or less against both Boston College and Buffalo. True freshman Graig Vicidomino will also get a look this week at possibly filling the place kicking post at Virginia Tech.
SCHEDULE NOTES
WHO ARE YOU? WHO? WHO? WHO? WHO?
As a part of their move to Division I-A status the Huskies are facing 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 faced 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 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). The Huskies won their 2003 MAC opener, taking a 38-7 decision at Buffalo (Sept. 20). UConn also faced four MAC teams in 2000, posting a 2-2 record, and three MAC schools in 2001, going 1-2. UConn stands at 14-10 all-time against MAC schools. While the Huskies won three MAC games in 2002, six different MAC schools had fewer wins last year within the conference. Seven of UConn’s last 13 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. Rentschler Field recently hosted 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 at Rentschler Field 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 played two shows there on September 16th and 18th. On its current 14-month, 123-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
LOOK AWAY (FROM) DIXIELAND
The land of cotton hasn’t been very friendly to UConn historically as the Huskies hope that old times there are soon forgotten. The Huskies are just 8-33-1 all-time in games played south of the Mason-Dixon line, including losses in nine of the last 10 such games. UConn won its last such game, defeating Navy, 38-0 on Nov. 16, 2002 in Annapolis but lost it’s two other southern swings in 2002, falling at Vanderbilt and Miami. UConn will head south twice more in 2003 for games at North Carolina State (Oct. 11) and Wake Forest (Nov. 15). All-time, UConn is: 0-1 at Davidson, 2-12 at Delaware, 0-1 at Delaware State, 0-1 at Furman, 0-1 at Georgia Southern, 0-3 at James Madison, 0-1 at Kentucky, 0-1 at Louisville, 0-1 at Miami, 0-1 at Middle Tennessee, 1-3 at Navy, 0-1 at North Carolina, 4-0 at Richmond, 0-1 at South Florida, 0-1 at SMU, 0-1 at Vanderbilt, 0-0-1 at VMI, 0-1 at Virginia Tech and 1-2 at William & Mary.
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. Including wins this fall at Army and Buffalo, UConn is now 7-1 overall in the Empire State since 1984.
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.
HOMEWARD BOUND
UConn will return home next Saturday to play host to Division I-AA power Lehigh at 12:00 p.m. The contest with the undefeated Mountain Hawks will be UConn’s only home game in a five-week span that includes road games at Buffalo, (Sept. 20), Virginia Tech (Sept. 27), N.C. State (Oct. 11) and Kent State (Oct. 18). Tickets are still available for the Lehigh game and can be purchased either over the phone by calling 1-877-AT-UCONN or over the internet by logging on to www.TicketMaster.com.
