University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Game Notes vs. Boston College
9/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 8, 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 17-30 career record in his fifth season at UConn, including a career-high six wins in 2002. He is 0-2 against Boston College. 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.
BOSTON COLLEGE HEAD COACH TOM O’BRIEN
Tom O’Brien is 41-32 early in his seventh season at Boston College and 2-0 vs. UConn. O’Brien has led the Eagles to bowl berths in each of the four seasons including wins in each of the last three years. O’Brien came to BC after 15 seasons at Virginia, the last six spent as the offensive coordinator. The Cavaliers played in nine bowls during O’Brien’s tenure there. Prior to UVa, O’Brien was the tackles and tight ends coach at Navy, his alma mater, from 1975-81, helping the Midshipmen to three bowl games and a 6-1 mark against Army. O’Brien, a Cincinnati native, played at Navy from 1968-70 before being commissioned into the Marine Corps.
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.
WEEK 3 ON CHANNEL 3
WFSB, TV-3, Hartford’s CBS affiliate, will broadcast the Boston College game as the second of their five telecasts during the 2003 season. Eric Clemons (play-by-play), Don McPherson (color) and Dina Falco (sidelines) will call the action with Paul Karlsson producing. WFSB’s feed of the game will also be broadcast in Boston on WLVI TV-56. WFSB has arranged for the Hood blimp to cover the game. It is believed to be the first sporting event in the state of Connecticut other than the annual PGA Greater Hartford Open to be covered aerially by a blimp.
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
CONNECTICUT-BOSTON COLLEGE HISTORY
This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the New England and future BIG EAST opponents. Boston College leads the series 8-0-2 all-time including a 24-16 win in Chestnut Hill on Aug. 31, 2002. Prior to a 2000 meeting between the sides, the teams had not met since 1928, a 51-13 BC win in Chestnut Hill. UConn first faced BC in 1908, playing to a scoreless draw in Storrs. The teams also played to a scoreless draw in 1910. The Eagles have dominated the series, shutting out UConn in six of the first seven meetings. Aside from the two ties, the closest UConn has come to victory was a 7-6 loss in 1915. BC has outscored UConn 233-38 in the series history. UConn and BC currently play in most sports as members of the BIG EAST Conference and also in Hockey East’s league for women’s hockey. The Eagles have not played at UConn since 1927 and have not played in the state of Connecticut since a 42-17 win over Yale before 21,108 at the Yale Bowl on Oct. 8, 1983.
BUT I LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER
Several connections exist between the only two Division I-A football schools in New England. UConn head coach Randy Edsall served as defensive backs coach at BC from 1991-93 under head coach Tom Coughlin before following Coughlin to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars...UConn wide receivers coach Vinny Marino and BC running backs coach Jason Swepson served together on the 1996 Holy Cross staff...BC defensive backs coach Kevin Lempa has Nutmeg State ties as a 1974 Southern Connecticut graduate who also coached there during the 1974 and 1975 seasons and also at Wesleyan in 1976...Four Huskies are natives of Eastern Massachusetts (Shaun Feldeisen of Stow, Alfred Fincher of Norwood, Tyler King of North Attleboro and Dan Murray of Gloucester). In fact, Feldeisen caught his first career TD pass last fall at the Heights. Fincher was a teammate of BC’s Michael Grant at Norwood while Murray was a teammate of BC’s Jim Unis at Gloucester...Four Eagles hail from the Nutmeg State (Horace Dodd of Hamden, Jeff Gomulinkski of Naugatuck, Ryan Glasper of Southington and David Kashetta of Westport). Kashetta was a teammate of UConn’s Sean Mulcahy at Staples and the two are very good friends...Each side has many players from New Jersey (25 combined) with two shared high schools in St. Joseph (BC’s Augie Hoffman and UConn’s James Hargrave) and Wayne Hills (BC’s Rob Leuffen and UConn’s Ziggy Goryn)...BC’s Kevin Challenger, UConn LB Shawn Mayne and WR Dan Desriveaux all played at Vanier Prep in Montréal...Out of the 23 Pennsylvanians in the game, only BC’s Ray Lankford and UConn’s Jason Williams share a high school in McKeesport...UConn’s LeAndre Dupree and BC’s Tony Gonzalez both attended Worcester Academy but at different times...Husky Associate AD for Communications Mike Enright served in a similar capacity at BC for the 2000 and 2001 football seasons...UConn head equipment manager Larry Hare is a 1996 Boston College graduate who as an undergraduate worked mainly with Jim O’Brien’s men’s basketball team.
SQUAD NOTES
HUSKIES CONTINUE TO BUILD ON FIRST .500 RECORD SINCE 1998
UConn won six games in 2002, its best showing since winning 10 games in 1998, a season that saw the Huskies go 10-3 overall and advance to the NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinals. UConn’s six wins in 2002 were more than the Huskies recorded in 2000 (three) and 2001 (two) combined. The Huskies got off to a flying start towards their goal of improving on last year’s 6-6 record by posting a pair of resounding wins over Indiana and Army. UConn’s active six-game winning streak is the Huskies’ longest since winning seven in a row between the 1994 and 1995 seasons, beating Massachusetts in the 1994 finale and then taking the first six games of the 1995 campaign. The team’s current winning streak is within reach of the school-record mark of eight consecutive wins set between the 1944 and 1945 seasons. 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. 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 streak, UConn has 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.
HUSKIES HOLD SIXTH LONGEST WINNING STREAK IN THE NATION
Connecticut’s six-game winning streak is presently the sixth longest active streak in the nation. Ohio State leads the way with 16 consecutive wins, followed by Boise State’s 12, Southern California’s 10, Kansas State with nine and Georgia with seven.
NO 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 and +14 points scoring margin off of turnovers. In all, UConn holds a staggering 97-0 advantage in points off of turnovers over its last seven contests.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The UConn football team has made a habit recently of starting hot. The Huskies have allowed just three first half points this season, scoring 51 of their own. Continuing back to last season, UConn has outscored its opponents by a combined 89-3 in the first quarter of its last seven games, with Indiana posting the lone field goal. UConn has 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 covers 107:29 of first quarter playing time. The last touchdown of any kind scored against UConn in the first quarter of a game was when Temple’s Zamir Cobb fell on a muffed punt in the end zone on Oct. 19, 2002.
Category 2000 2002 2003 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 Poss. 18:25 30:58 ???? Turnover Margin -3 +1 ???? Scoring Margin -52 -8 ???? Long UConn Drive 50 yds. 90 yds. ????
SCALING THE HEIGHTS
Throughout the course of its 24-16 loss at Boston College last season, UConn demonstrated dramatic improvements over its 55-3 loss at the Heights in 2000. The team hopes to demonstrate further development on Saturday. Last August 31 at BC, 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 well ahead of their 2000 counterparts. Below are some major categories that demonstrate a more potent Husky defense in particular in 2002 as compared to 2000:
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
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. Only Northern Illinois’ Michael Turner (159.6) and Oregon State’s Steven Jackson (130.0) averaged more rushing yards per game than Caulley in 2002 amongst players returning for 2003. Caulley got a great start towards being the nation’s leading sophomore rusher in 2003 by gaining 166 yards on 22 carries, plus a touchdown, against Indiana in UConn’s season opener. He added another 102 yards and a pair of touchdown runs the following week at Army. Against the Hoosiers, 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. On Saturday, Caulley broke Vin Clements’ school record set in 1968 by hitting the century mark on the ground for the sixth consecutive game. The Army game was Caulley’s ninth 100-yard rushing effort in just 12 career games played, good for a tie for third on the UConn career chart. Caulley has also rushed for at least one touchdown in each of his last 10 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 1,515 DonTrell Moore New Mexico 1,281 Maurice Clarett Ohio State 1,237 Brad Smith Missouri 1,212 T.A. McLendon N.C. State 1,170 Tyler Ebell UCLA 1,041 Aaron Leeper Buffalo 1,013 Clark Green Kansas 1,009 Wali Lundy Virginia 949 DeAngelo Williams Memphis 880
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 two games of 2003, Orlovsky has hit of 52-of-78 passes (66.7%) for 624 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions for a 160.02 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 on Saturday at Army, pushed Orlovsky into fourth place on the UConn career passing yardage chart. With five touchdown passes he has now thrown a whopping 19 during UConn’s six game winning streak (3.17 per game) and stands in fourth place in UConn history with 36 career TD strikes. Orlovsky also extended his streak of consecutive games with a TD pass to 14 against the Cadets, passing Matt DeGennaro for the second longest such streak in UConn history. Orlovsky presently ranks 23rd in the nation in passing efficiency, 11th in total offense, eighth in passing and his eight TD passes ties him for the national lead.
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 have scored 82 points so far 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 LEADS AMERICA
Senior wide receiver O’Neil Wilson, a native of the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, has caught two touchdown passes in each of UConn’s first two games. Wilson’s four touchdown catches tie him for the national lead. Wilson entered the season with just two career touchdown grabs.
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 will be joined shortly by Brandon Young who presently has a sore hamstring but should return for the Boston College game. Several other players, including redshirt freshman Dan Desriveaux, make this perhaps UConn’s deepest position group.
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 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 Army to go three-and-out on each of its first five possessions of the Cadets’ contest with the Huskies on Sept. 6 and six times in the game overall. After forcing Indiana into five three-and-outs, UConn has forced its 2003 opponents to go three-and-out 11 times in 29 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.
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.
SOLID BUT DIVERSE LINEBACKING UNIT BOLSTERS UCONN
While each of UConn’s three starting linebackers may have varied styles and play athletically diverse games, all three share one common trait in solid play. In Randy Edsall’s defensive scheme, this unit will likely hold the key to UConn’s success this fall. Alfred Fincher had a breakthrough season at 2002 in the middle, racking up 92 tackles, including 10.5 for a loss. Maurice Lloyd won a fierce battle for the weakside starting post last fall and dazzled, making a team-high 113 tackles last fall. His 18 tackles for loss marked the second best seasonal total in UConn history. James Hargrave spent his freshman year in 2002 as an apprentice under four-year strongside starter Jamal Lundy and is ready to step to the fore front in 2003.
"They’re all a little bit different in their own way, but they’re all very good," Edsall said of the starters. "I think that Alfred is the emotional leader. He’s the guy that plays with the most energy and the most enthusiasm. You can just see him getting better with all of his reads and his reactions. Maurice is someone who anticipates very well and understands what people are trying to do. James is the one who has the best instincts of the three and at his position is sneaky-fast. He gives you everything that he has and shows a great work ethic, which is what allowed him to play so much as a true freshman. Each one brings a little something different to the table and I like them all."
SECONDARY TURNS TO SOME SECONDARY PLAYERS
With the unexpected losses of Jason Dellaselva, Marlon Jones and Chris Meyer over the summer, the UConn secondary will have 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 will again man the right safety post. Junior John Fletcher earned the other safety spot during fall camp. A pair of true freshmen, Allan Barnes and Dontá Moore, will 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 nine times thus far for a 41.6 yard average.
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.
YOUNG IS RESTLESS TO RETURN AS RETURNER
Due to a hamstring injury to expected punt returner Brandon Young, suffered during camp, the Huskies have gone through the season to date with fresh faces at both the punt and kick return positions. Young, who was UConn’s punt returner for half of the 2002 season is expected to return to the Husky lineup on Saturday against Boston College. David Sanchez earned that role during fall camp and returned 10 punts against Indiana and Army for 29 yards. UConn, which uses a single deep-back on kickoffs, lost its top kick returner from 2002 in Jason Dellaselva who transferred to Montana this summer. Freshmen M.J. Estep beat our Matt Lawrence for that post during fall camp and gained 40 yards on his two kickoff returns thus far in 2003. Young will also get a look at that position.
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 faces its first ever member of the Big Ten Conference in Indiana and 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 10 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.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
UConn will play four of its next five games on the road starting next Saturday when the Huskies return to Buffalo to face the Bulls at UB Stadium at 6:00 p.m. UConn posted a 24-3 victory last year over the Bulls. Before their Oct. 25 Homecoming game against Akron, UConn will also travel to face Virginia Tech (Sept. 27), North Carolina State (Oct. 11) and Kent State (Oct. 18) while playing host only to Lehigh (Oct. 4).
