University of Connecticut Athletics
Football Prepping For Wake Forest
12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
THE COACHES
CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH RANDY EDSALL
A semifinalist for the 2007 Bryant and Munger Coach of the Year Awards, Randy 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, guiding the Huskies to victory in the 2004 Motor City Bowl, a share of the 2007 BIG EAST Championship and a berth in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. He has compiled a 50-54 career record in his ninth season at UConn, including a 39-24 mark over UConn’s last 63 games. He is 1-1 vs. Wake Forest. Immediately prior to becoming UConn’s head coach in 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 MacPherson in a variety of capacities. Among 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. He was recently inducted into the York Area Sports Hall of Fame.
WAKE FOREST HEAD COACH JIM GROBE
Jim Grobe is 45-39 in his seven seasons at Wake Forest and 78-72-1 overall in a 13-year head coaching career. He is 1-1 against UConn. Grobe was the 2006 National Coach of the Year after leading the Demon Deacons to just its second ACC title since 1970 and a berth in the FedEx Orange Bowl. Grobe came to Wake after six strong years building the Ohio program. Grobe took a team that was 0-11 in 1994, the year before his arrival, and guided the Bobcats to an 8-3 mark in 1997 and a 7-4 mark in 2000, his final year in Athens. Grobe spent 11 years as the linebackers coach at Air Force under Fisher DeBerry, from 1984-94, helping the Falcons to seven bowl berths and eight Commander In Chief Trophies. Grobe worked as an assistant coach in his native Huntington, W. Va. at Marshall (1979-83) and he also coached at Emory & Henry (1978) while serving as head coach at Liberty High School in Bedford, Va. from 1976-77. Grobe is a 1975 graduate of Virginia who started for the Cavaliers in 1973 and 1974. He also attended Ferrum Junior College.
RADIO & TV COVERAGE
ESPN’S HOMESTATE U.
ESPN will broadcast the Meineke Car Care Bowl live nationally. It will be UConn’s first appearance on “the mothership” since Oct. 19 when the Huskies downed Louisville, 21-17, at Rentschler Field. Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Andre Ware (color) and Quint Kessenich (sidelines) have the call.
RADIO COVERAGE
For the 16th 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 Kevin Nathan on the sidelines. The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff and is hosted by Bob Joyce. The UConn Football Radio Network also includes WILI 1400-AM in Willimantic, WXLM, 102.3-FM in New London, WLIS 1420-AM in Old Saybrook, WMRD 1150-AM in Middletown, and WLAD 800-AM in Danbury. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com.
SERIES/BOWL GAME NOTES
HUSKY-DEACON SERIES WIDE A-WAKE
The Meineke Car Care Bowl will be the third meeting on the gridiron between UConn and Wake Forest. The teams split a home-and-home series in 2003 and 2006 with each school winning on the other’s home field. On Nov. 15, 2003, the Huskies wrapped up a 9-3 campaign with a 51-17 win on Nov. 15 at then-Groves Stadium. O’Neill Wilson caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Dan Orlovsky on the game’s first play from scrimmage and UConn never looked back. With its explosive offensive display, UConn became only the third non-conference team in the past 23 years (and counting) to score at least 50 points in an ACC stadium. The Deacons extracted a measure of revenge on Sept. 16, 2006 by posting a 24-13 win at Rentschler Field. Jeremy Thompson’s 86-yard interception return for a touchdown was a difference maker as UConn held Wake Forest to just 209 yards of total offense.
WAKE FOREST CONN-ECTIONS
The Huskies have no players from North Carolina while no Demon Deacons are Connecticut natives...UConn wide receiver Larry Taylor and Wake Forest linebacker Stanley Arnoux were teammates at Glades Day High School in Fort Lauderdale and remain friendly...UConn’s Danny Russell and Wake’s Hunter Hayes teamed at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla...UConn’s Terence Jeffers and WFU’s Barrett McMillin are both from Lawrenceville, Ga. but attended different high schools...Wake Forest defensive coordinator Dean Hood was an assistant under UConn offensive line coach Mike Foley at Colgate in 1989 when Foley was the Red Raiders’ head coach...Wake Forest walk-on Michael Potteiger attended Susquehannock High School in Glen Rock, Pa., alma mater of Randy Edsall...UConn kicker Tony Ciaravino’s family moved to Charlotte four years ago...UConn wide receiver Mike Conroy played minor league baseball in North Carolina for the Burlington Indians (2001) and the Kinston Indians (2005). His manager in Burlington, Davidson graduate Dave Turgeon, went on to serve as an assistant coach at UConn from 2004-05.
MISSION ACC-EPTED
The Huskies are 1-1 vs. the ACC in 2007, defeating Duke (45-14 on Sept. 1) but losing at Virginia (17-16 on Oct. 13). UConn is 3-7 against active ACC members all-time going 2-0 against Duke (2004 and 2007), 0-3 against Georgia Tech (2002, 2004-05), 0-1 vs. North Carolina (1990), 0-1 vs. NC State (2003), 0-1 vs. Virginia (2007) and 1-1 vs. Wake Forest (2003, 2006). The Huskies also faced present ACC members Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech when they competed in the BIG EAST Conference, and played Maryland in 1942 prior to the formation of the ACC. UConn was winless in those games. UConn has played every current ACC school at some point in its history other than Clemson and Florida State. UConn will face two ACC foes next fall when the Huskies play host to UVa and travel to UNC. The Huskies have future home-and-home series currently scheduled against North Carolina (2008-09) and Maryland (2012-13) along with single home games against Virginia (2008) and NC State (2012).
CAUGHT IN CHARLOTTE’S WEB AGAIN
UConn is no stranger to postseason play in the city of Charlotte and Bank of America Stadium. The Husky men’s soccer team won the 2000 national championship at then-Ericsson Stadium, shutting out Creighton, 2-0, on Dec. 10, 2000. UConn advanced to that game by beating SMU, 2-0, on Dec. 8 in the national semifinals. The Huskies also played in the 1999 NCAA semifinals at Ericsson Stadium, losing 2-1 in four overtimes to Santa Clara on Dec. 12, 1999. The Queen City also hosted the 1996 women’s basketball Final Four at the Charlotte Coliseum and, no surprise, it included the Huskies. UConn lost in the semifinals to rival Tennessee, 88-83 in overtime. Although Charlotte frequently hosts the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the UConn men’s basketball team has only played one postseason game in the Queen City and it was not in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies defeated UNC Charlotte, 67-62, on March 15, 1989 in the first round of the NIT. The UConn men have twice been sent to Greensboro for NCAA Tournament games, most recently in 1998 where the Huskies beat Washington but lost to North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
GOIN’ TO CAROLINA. WON’T BE LONG AND I’LL BE THERE
The Huskies are 2-3 all-time in the state of North Carolina. The first win came on Nov. 15, 2003 when the Huskies beat Wake Forest, 51-17, in Winston-Salem. The other came in UConn’s last visit to the state, a 45-14 decision over Duke on Sept. 1 in Durham. The Huskies dropped a heartbreaker to NC State, 31-24, on Oct. 11, 2003. With the Huskies driving for the winning score, Freddie Aughtry-Lindsey ran back a Dan Orlovsky interception 56 yards for a touchdown with five seconds to play. The Huskies, then a Division I-AA school, dropped a 48-22 decision at North Carolina on Sept.15, 1990. UConn also fell at Davidson, 30-18, on Oct. 12, 1968 in its first visit to both the Tar Heel State and the city of Charlotte.
CAROLINA IN MY MIND
UConn is both beginning and ending its 2007 campaign in the state of North Carolina. The season began on Sept. 1 with a game against Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham and will end with the Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Dec. 29. The only other time that UConn is known to have began and ended a season in the same state (other than Connecticut) was in 1957. UConn began that 5-4-1 campaign with a 19-14 loss at Springfield College on Sept. 21 and wrapped it up with a 32-7 loss at Boston University on Nov. 23. Just like 2007, the 1957 season did see the Huskies share a conference championship, at 3-0-1, as UConn and Rhode Island split the Yankee Conference title. That team celebrated its 50th anniversary at UConn’s win over Akron on Sept. 29.
THE SECOND FRAME
UConn is going bowling for the second time. The Huskies made their bowl game debut on Dec. 27, 2004 when UConn downed Mid-American Conference Champion Toledo in the Motor City Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit. Only one school in the nation is undefeated all-time in bowl games having played in more than one game. New Mexico State is 2-0-1 in its bowl contests. Amongst schools that have moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) since the former Division I-AA was created in 1978, only Boise State has won each of its first two bowl games. In all, the Broncos won each of their first four bowl games. On a personal level, Randy Edsall is trying to become the third league coach since the 1991 formation of the BIG EAST to win each of his first two bowl games at a league school. He would join Butch Davis (Miami) and Paul Pasqualoni (Syracuse) in that regard. Brian Kelly of Cincinnati can also accomplish this feat in 2007. The Bearcats face Southern Miss. in the PapaJohns.com Bowl on Dec. 22.
HUSKIES MAKING THIRD POSTSEASON APPEARANCE
Although this is the second bowl game for UConn, the Huskies have made three trips to the postseason. In 1998 the team qualified for the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. UConn defeated Hampton, 42-34, on Nov. 28 at Memorial Stadium in Storrs but fell a week later, 52-30, at eventual runner-up Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals. Current Chicago Bear Adrian Peterson ran for 232 yards and four touchdowns for the Eagles in the contest. GSU would lose in the final to Massachusetts, a team that UConn defeated twice during the 1998 regular season. The two Husky wins over UMass are believed to mark the only time a team has defeated a college football national champion twice in the same season.
PLAYOFFS?????
Since the 1978 divisional split, UConn is one of seven schools that have won both a bowl game and a Division I-AA Playoff game. UConn is joined in the group by Boise State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Nevada and Troy.
BIG RUN FOR THE BIG EAST
The BIG EAST Conference is carrying a collective six-game winning streak in bowl games. The league went 5-0 in bowl games last year, marking just the third time that a league has ever gone 5-0 in bowl games. The 2006 BIG EAST joined the 1996 SEC and 1998 Big Ten in that regard. Additionally, West Virginia won the league’s last bowl game of the 2005 season by beating SEC Champion Georgia, 38-35, in a Nokia Sugar Bowl played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta due to the extensive damage to the Louisiana Superdome brought by Hurricane Katrina. The BIG EAST’s first chance to extend its winning streak to seven games comes on Dec. 22 when Cincinnati faces Southern Miss. at the PapaJohn’s.com Bowl at Birmingham, Alabama’s fabled Legion Field. UConn will play the league’s second bowl game.
BOWLING IN NEW ENGLAND ISN’T JUST CANDLEPINS
UConn is one of seven schools from New England to play in a bowl game all-time and, with its Meineke Car Care Bowl bid, becomes the second to ever make multiple bowl game appearances, joining Boston College. No New England school other than UConn or BC has played in a bowl game since 1969 but the region was previously represented by Boston University (1969 Pasadena), Brown (1916 Rose), Harvard (1920 Rose), Holy Cross (1946 Orange) and UMass (1964 Tangerine).
NO MUFFLING MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL WIN TOTALS
With 17 wins between them, UConn (9-3) and Wake Forest (8-4) tie for for the second-most wins of any pre-New Year’s Day bowl matchup. The Holiday Bowl between 9-3 Texas and 10-2 Arizona State boasts a combined 19 wins.
HUSKY PLAYERS HOPE THEY’RE LOOKING AT A FUTURE HOME
When the Huskies take the field on Dec. 29 at Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, UConn will be playing in an active NFL stadium for the eighth time and is 3-4 in such games. Most notably, UConn defeated Toledo, 39-10, on Dec. 27, 2004 at Ford Field (home of the Detroit Lions) in the Motor City Bowl. UConn lost to South Florida in 2001 and 2006 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, split a pair of games at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh (losing in 2005 and winning in 2007), and split a pair of games against Yale in 1973-74 at the Yale Bowl, which was serving as a temporary home of the New York Giants during the reconstruction of Yankee Stadium. UConn went 0-2 at Boston University’s Nickerson Field in 1961-62 when the facility played host to the AFL’s Boston Patriots. The Huskies have also played at six former NFL or AFL facilities in Franklin Field (Philadelphia Eagles, 1958-70), BC’s Alumni Stadium (Boston Patriots, 1963, 1969), Harvard Stadium (Boston Patriots, 1963, 1970), Vanderbilt Stadium (Tennessee Oilers, 1998), Nippert Stadium (Cincinnati Bengals, 1967-69) and the Orange Bowl (Miami Dolphins, 1966-86). With UConn’s annual BIG EAST road trips to USF and Pitt in alternating years, the Huskies will play in an NFL venue every year for the conceivable future. In 2008, UConn is scheduled to play in two NFL venues as, in addition to Tampa, the Huskies will travel to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to face Temple on Sept. 6.
A LUCKY 13?
UConn is playing a 13th game to a season for just the second time in school history. The only other instance of a 13-game season in Storrs came in 1998 as the Huskies advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I-AA Championship.
SQUAD NOTES
HUSKIES LOOKING FINE WITH WIN NUMBER NINE
UConn’s 9-3 record thus far ties for the winningest regular season in the school’s 109 years of football with the 1998 and 2003 squads. UConn went on to win a school-record 10 games in 1998 as it beat Hampton to advance to the Division I-AA Quarterfinals. UConn had previously won eight games in a season six times (1901, 1973, 1986, 1989, 1995 and 2004).
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
In just its fourth year competing in the BCS circuit, UConn won a share of the BIG EAST Championship with its 5-2 league record. The Huskies are co-champions along with West Virginia. It marks UConn’s first league crown since the Huskies were tri-champions of the Yankee Conference in 1989. UConn won or shared 15 YanCon crowns. The program also captured the Atlantic 10 Conference’s New England Division title in 1998.
A HIGH-FIVE IN BIG EAST PLAY
The Huskies posted a 5-2 record in BIG EAST play en route to their first ever share of the league crown. The five wins are just one shy of the six total BIG EAST wins by UConn since joining the league in 2004. In 2004, the Huskies went 3-3 in their inaugural league slate while UConn won two league games in 2005 and just one in 2006. Prior to this season, when the Huskies stood at 4-0 in league play heading to Cincinnati on Nov. 10, UConn had never even started a BIG EAST slate at 2-0. The last time UConn won more than five league games in a single year was in 1998 when the team went 6-2 in the Atlantic 10.
SWEET 16! HUSKIES MAKE HIGHEST AP POLL DEBUT IN 43 YEARS
UConn earned its first ever AP Poll ranking on Oct. 28 when it checked into the poll at No. 16. That marked the highest debut ranking for a school since Florida State, led by All-American Fred Biletnikoff, first broke into the AP rankings at No. 10 on Oct. 12, 1964. The AP Poll was just a Top 10 ranking from 1961-67. For historical perspective, on Oct. 12, 1964 Bob Gibson struck out 13 New York Yankees in a 10-inning complete game win as the St. Louis Cardinals took a 3-2 series lead in the final World Series game ever played at “old” Yankee Stadium. Mel Stottlemyre started the game for New York but it was settled when reliever Pete Mikkelsen gave up a three-run home run to Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver in the top of the 10th inning. St. Louis went on to win the series in seven games. In the 43 years since Florida State’s AP debut, the closest that any school has come to debuting at No. 16 was when San Diego State debuted at No. 17 on Oct. 24, 1970.
BULL RUSHING THE MARSHALL PLAN
With its Oct. 28 AP and coaches rankings, UConn became the second-fastest team to ever make the polls after moving up from what was once called Division I-AA, trailing only Marshall which joined I-A in 1997 and was ranked after two years and four weeks. Ironically, UConn edges past South Florida for second place, the team it defeated to earn a ranking. The Bulls became a full-fledged I-A program in 2001 and cracked the Top 25 earlier this year after six years and three weeks.
HUSKIES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
UConn is presently unranked by the AP, coaches and Harris polls, but check in at No. 25 in the BCS. The Huskies earned their first ever AP ranking at No. 16 on Oct. 28 and made its debut in the Coaches’ Poll on the same day at No. 20. The Huskies peaked at No. 16 in both polls prior to the Cincinnati game. UConn first received votes this year in the Sept. 23 AP poll when the Huskies received three. The team cracked the coaches’ poll’s votes column the following week. UConn also received votes in both polls at various times during the 2003 and 2004 seasons but has never earned a national Top 25 ranking. Prior to this season, UConn’s last national poll votes came in the final polls of the 2004 season following an 8-4 finish and 39-10 win over Mid-American Conference Champion Toledo in the Motor City Bowl. The Huskies earned their first ever ranking in the three-year old Harris Interactive Poll this year. The team also made its first-ever appearance in the BCS rankings on Oct. 21 at No. 23.
HUSKIES PAY THE RENT ONTIME EVERY TIME
UConn went a perfect 7-0 in 2007 at Rentschler Field. UConn joins the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers as the only teams in BIG EAST history to complete a season with a perfect 7-0 record at home. The seven home wins topped the previous school record set in 2004 when the Huskies went 6-1 in East Hartford. UConn’s best undefeated home season before 2007 was a 5-0 mark in 1989 at Memorial Stadium in Storrs.
HUSKIES GAIN BOWL ELIGIBILITY
For the third time in the past five years the Huskies are bowl eligible. UConn was also bowl eligible in 2003 when the team went 9-3 as an independent and was not chosen and in 2004 when UConn was 7-4 and went on to win the Motor City Bowl. The Huskies posted a 6-6 record in 2002 but were not eligible for a bowl bid as an independent due to rules at the time which only permitted a 6-6 team to go to a bowl game if it was filling a conference obligation.
HUSKIES ON THE REBOUND
UConn is 16-9 in games following a loss since Oct. 26, 2002 and 3-0 this season. The Huskies downed Duke to open the 2007 season on the heels of a three-game losing skid to end the 2006 campaign. The team later beat Louisville six days after losing at Virginia on Oct. 13. The Huskies downed Syracuse, 30-7 on Nov. 17 a week after losing at Cincinnati. The Huskies lost their most recent contest, 66-21, on Nov. 24 at No. 4 West Virginia. UConn went 4-4 following a loss in 2006.
LET’S SEE HOW FAR WE’VE COME
For UConn to be BIG EAST Champion and nationally ranked by the BCS is a remarkable difference from the preseason prognostication for the team. The Huskies were picked to finish seventh in the league in the BIG EAST preseason media poll and most national media outlets. In preseason 1-120 FBS rankings, the Huskies were tabbed No. 61 in the nation by CBSSports.com, No. 77 by CollegeFootballNews.com, No. 80 by Athlon and No. 89 by SI.com.
TURNING THE PAGE
One key to UConn’s early success in 2007 has been its impressive +13 turnover margin as the Huskies have created 27 turnovers while giving the ball away just 14 times. UConn’s ratio ranks seventh in the nation in this critical category. Demonstrating its importance, eight of the nation’s top 12 teams in terms of turnover margin are 9-3 or better on the year. Wake Forest ranks 15th at +10. In 2006 UConn was -1 on the season in turnover margin. UConn has made the most of its opportunities this fall too, holding an 84-21 edge over its opposition in points off of turnovers. The only time this year that UConn lost the turnover battle was its loss at Cincinnati. UConn is 8-1 when winning the turnover margin and 1-0 when even on turnovers.
SUCCESS IS RELL-ATIVE IN CONNECTICUT
UConn’s success on the gridiron this year has not gone unnoticed by people in high places. Just a few hours after UConn earned its first ever national ranking on Oct. 28 by beating then-No. 11 USF, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell issued a statement congratulating the team saying "The big dogs have hit the big time. Coach Edsall and his team have made all of Connecticut proud. I know the season is not over yet, but the team, the university and state residents should celebrate this tremendous win and this first ever national ranking." Rell later called Edsall the morning of UConn’s game at West Virginia to wish the team good luck.
HUSKIES AT THE HEAD OF THE CLASS
Of the 64 schools that will participate in bowl games this year, only six of them have a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of at least 80-percent for both its African-American and Caucasian football student-athletes. UConn is amongst those schools with a rate of 85-percent for its African-American football players and 81-percent for its Caucasian football players. One of the other five schools is Wake Forest making the Meineke Car Care Bowl the only postseason game to matchup two of the six teams which have reached this lofty plateau. In addition to UConn and Wake Forest, this academic performance benchmark was reached by Air Force, Boston College, Navy and Southern Mississippi.
ONE STRIKE AND A LOT OF SPARES: HUSKIES IN BOWLS
Six members of the current UConn team appeared in the 2004 Motor City Bowl. Five played sparingly as backups and one, Larry Taylor, turned in one of the game’s biggest plays. His 68-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the first quarter gave UConn a 21-0 lead and helped permanently keep the momentum in the Huskies’ favor. Five other current Huskies (Tyvon Branch, Dan Davis, Ryan Henegan, Danny Lansanah and Julius Williams) saw limited action in the game. Branch and Lansanah were credited with one tackle each. In addition to the Huskies who remain from 2004, two UConn quarterbacks have experiences traveling to other bowl games. While at Iowa State, Tyler Lorenzen went with the Cyclones to the 2004 Independence Bowl and the 2005 Houston Bowl. Zach Frazer, a transfer from Notre Dame, was on the Fighting Irish sidelines at the 2007 Allstate Sugar Bowl. Neither played in the games.
NOVEMBER REIGN
The Huskies are 13-7 in November over the past six seasons combined, its entire tenure in Division I-A. UConn is 9-1 at home in November in the I-A era, posting a 2-0 mark at Memorial Stadium and a 7-1 record at Rentschler Field, the lone blemish being a last-seconds loss to Cincinnati on Nov. 25, 2006. The Huskies won their first seven I-A era November games before losing at Georgia Tech on Nov. 13, 2004.
ROAD WORRIERS
While UConn is 25-8 all-time at Rentschler Field, the results on the road have not always been as joyful for the Huskies. The Huskies won each of their first two road games this year, taking contests at Duke (Sept. 1) and at Pittsburgh (Sept. 22), UConn’s second BIG EAST road win of all-time. The team lost its next two though, losing games at Virginia (Oct. 13) and Cincinnati (Nov. 10). UConn won a single road game each year from 2004-06 and last won multiple road games in 2003 when the Huskies took four games away from Rentschler Field with victories at Army, Buffalo, Kent State and Wake Forest. Of UConn’s 29 losses in the Division I-A era, 18 have come on the road. During the combined 2004-07 seasons, UConn is 5-14 on the road but 20-7 at home with an 1-0 mark at neutral sites (Motor City Bowl vs. Toledo). UConn is 2-11 in BIG EAST road games with the lone wins coming at Rutgers on Nov. 25, 2004 and at Pittsburgh on Sept. 22.
EDSALL ERA HITS THE CENTURY MARK
The win over USF on Oct. 27 was the milestone 100th game in Randy Edsall’s nine-year tenure as head coach at Connecticut. Edsall is the fourth coach to lead the Huskies into 100 career games, joining J.O. Christian (121), Tom Jackson (119) and Robert Ingalls (106). On a national level, his nine-year tenure at UConn was tied for the 18th-longest tenure at his current school of any coach at an active FBS school entering the season. He will move up at least four spots next season as the annual coaching carousel turns. The longest active tenure is Joe Paterno who is in his 42nd year as head coach at Penn State. Within the BIG EAST, only USF’s Jim Leavitt at 11 years has been in his current position longer than Edsall. The six members of the coaching hire class of 1999 who are still at those schools is an especially strong one, also including Tommy Bowden (Clemson), UConn graduate Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), June Jones (Hawaii), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Tommy Tuberville (Auburn).
EDSALL MAKES IT A HALF A CENTURY
Randy Edsall currently boasts a 50-54 career record at UConn, including a 41-30 (.577) mark through the first 71 games of UConn’s tenure at the FBS (Division I-A) level. By beating Syracuse on Nov. 17 for his 50th win at UConn, Edsall became just the third Husky mentor to ever win 50 games at the school, joining J.O. Christian (66) and Tom Jackson (62).
IT AIN’T OVER...
UConn rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Louisville, 21-17, on Oct. 19 getting the game-winning touchdown with 1:32 to play as Andre Dixon forced his way into the end zone. The clinching play came when Danny Lansanah intercepted Brian Brohm with 15 seconds remaining in the game. The contest marked UConn’s seventh win in the FBS (I-A) era (since 2002) where it overcame at least a 10 point deficit. It marked UConn’s eighth win of the I-A era where it came from behind in the final quarter and the third in which it did so while erasing a double-digit deficit. The Louisville game was also the fifth in this time period which UConn won with a score in the game’s final two minutes or in overtime. It was UConn’s second fourth quarter comeback win of the year (UConn trailed Temple 17-16 in the fourth quarter). UConn last had multiple fourth quarter comeback wins in the same season in 2003 when the Huskies had three (vs. Kent State, Akron and Rutgers).
UNDEFEATED SEASON ALIVE THROUGH FIVE
UConn was 5-0 after five games for the first time since 1995, prior to the team’s move to then-Division I-A status. That season, the Huskies set a school record with six straight wins to open the season. The Huskies do have two longer unbeaten streaks to open a season coming in 1924 (6-0-2) and 1928 (4-0-3). The Huskies had never previously started better than 2-0 in the I-A era. The Huskies also had never previously started better than 2-0 during head coach Randy Edsall’s nine-year tenure at UConn. Edsall though has seen a longer streak in his coaching career as he was the defensive backs coach at Syracuse in 1987 when the then-Orangemen went 11-0 before tying Auburn, 16-16, in the Sugar Bowl.
YOU DON’T NEED THE BALL TO SCORE
UConn has scored a school-record eight times this year on either defense or special teams, the third most of any school in the nation. Wake Forest has 10 non-offensive touchdowns. The Huskies have five interception return touchdowns this year, two kickoff return touchdowns and a punt return touchdown.
TEAM: TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE
Randy Edsall’s comments in the media all year have been that UConn doesn’t have many superstars and is just a bunch or ordinary people doing extraordinary things. A great piece of evidence of that came on Dec. 6 when the official All-BIG EAST teams were announced. Despite sharing the league championship, the all-conference squads included just four Huskies, tying for the fewest of any team in the league. Donald Thomas and Danny Lansanah earned a first team spot while Tyvon Branch and Andre Dixon made the second team. Despite finishing in first place with a team that was picked to finish seventh in the preseason media poll, and doing so with the fewest all-conference players, Edsall himself was also denied conference recognition. Brian Kelly of Cincinnati took home the league’s Coach of the Year honor.
WINNING FIVE TIES FOR THREE
Winners of each of their last five games before losing at Virginia, the Huskies tied for their third longest winning streak of the Division I-A era with a run of five straight wins from Nov. 20, 2004-Sept. 10, 2005. UConn won seven straight from Oct. 25, 2003-Sept. 11, 2004. The Huskies also have a I-A era streak of six wins (Nov. 2, 2002-Sept. 6, 2003) to their credit. Within the context of a single season, it was UConn’s longest winning streak since closing the 2003 campaign with five straight wins.
HUSKIES ONLY LOSE ONCE IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
UConn finished its 2007 non-conference slate on Oct. 13 with a 4-1 record, defeating Duke, Maine, Temple and Akron but losing at Virginia. It ties for UConn’s best non-league slate since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 2004. The Huskies went 4-1 that year followed by a 3-1 mark in 2005 and a 3-2 record in 2006. UConn was last undefeated in non-conference play in 1998 when the Huskies downed Colgate, Yale and Hofstra to go 3-0. UConn will likely never eclipse the school benchmark for non-conference wins as in 2003, competing as an independent, the Huskies went 9-3 on the year, all of which were non-conference games.
A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER
UConn went a perfect 5-0 in the month of September marking the first time in school history that the Huskies have ever won five games in a single calendar month. UConn had previously won four games in a month on numerous occasions, most recently in November of 2002 when UConn beat Florida Atlantic, Kent State, Navy and Iowa State. The last time the Huskies completed a full calendar month without a loss was when the squad went 3-0 in November of 2003 with wins over Western Michigan, Rutgers and Wake Forest. UConn’s last perfect September was in 1998 when the Huskies downed Colgate, Maine and Yale to open the season at 3-0. This year was UConn’s fifth perfect September of all-time with a minimum of three games played.
AND THEN THERE WERE 11
Prior to losing to Virginia on Oct. 13, UConn was one of the last 11 remaining undefeated teams in the nation. The others were Arizona State, Boston College, California, Cincinnati, Hawaii, Kansas, LSU, Missouri, Ohio State and South Florida.
TAKING THE HARD ROAD AGAIN
Last fall UConn played what the NCAA ranked as the nation’s sixth-toughest schedule, battling seven bowl teams, including two BCS participants and four teams that won 10 games during the regular season. The Huskies faced another tough slate in 2007 as five of the team’s final six regular-season games came against teams that won bowl games a year ago in Louisville (Oct. 19), USF (Oct. 27), Rutgers (Nov. 3), Cincinnati (Nov. 10) and West Virginia (Nov. 24). All of those teams have been ranked during some point in the 2007 season. While the first half of the slate did not feature any bowl teams from a year ago, it did include a pair of road games in ACC country as the Huskies traveled to Duke (Sept. 1) and Virginia (Oct. 13). UConn is one of just four BCS conference schools this year to play two road games against BCS conference foes. UConn joins Florida State (at Colorado and Florida), Louisville (at Kentucky and NC State) and Pittsburgh (at Michigan State and Virginia).
ONLY THE YOUNG CAN PLAY
UConn has played a total of 17 freshmen, including six true freshmen, so far in 2007. The six true freshmen are Aaron Bagsby, Marcus Campbell, Kijuan Dabney, Jasper Howard, Greg Lloyd and Anthony Sherman. Redshirt freshmen Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson both started all 12 games at linebacker while fellow redshirt freshmen Mike Cox, Anthony Davis, Doc Goudreau, Zach Hurd, Mathieu Olivier, Kevin Poles, Alex Polito, Derek Rich and Greg Robinson also have all seen action this season.
BRAVE, CRAZY, MOSTLY YOUNG
For the second straight year, UConn is seeing plenty of underclassmen in prominent roles. The 2007 Huskies have just two senior starters on the offensive side of the ball (WR Larry Taylor and RG Donald Thomas) and three on defense (DT Dan Davis, LB Danny Lansanah and CB Tyvon Branch). The youth is especially evident at the offensive skill positions where UConn has been starting a pair of sophomore receivers (Terence Jeffers and Brad Kanuch), a sophomore tailback (Donald Brown or Andre Dixon) a freshman fullback (Anthony Davis or Anthony Sherman) and a JuCo quarterback (Tyler Lorenzen). If games truly are won in the trenches, UConn should be in great shape for 2008. Of the 10 offensive linemen on the preseason two-deep, nine are expected back next fall and the same can be said of seven of the eight two-deep defensive linemen.
JUST FOR STARTERS
UConn has been fortunate to have a fairly consistent starting lineup this fall. The same 11 started each of the first 11 games on defense while the core of the offense has remained the same thus far. UConn was the only school in the nation to start the same 11 players on defense for every game this year until the regular season finale at West Virginia where Randy Edsall tinkered with the starting lineup to get more speed onto the field. No UConn player started all 12 games last year at the same offensive position. Conversely, six Huskies started all 12 games at the same defensive position. UConn started a total of nine different offensive linemen last year, including five players making their first career start. It was tough a season ago, but it has created a measure of depth that is helping UConn in 2007. Eight different Huskies started a game in UConn’s defensive backfield in 2006. A total of 21 different players started a game on offense, 10 of which were making their first career start. A different offensive line combination started each of the final four games. UConn started 17 different people on defense in 2006 and has used four different place kickers last year.
OUR DOCTORS DID NOT FEEL GOOD
UConn came through its 2007 fall camp and the regular season to date with very few injuries of note and, while always a welcome event, it was even more welcome than usual in Storrs after the injury bug hit the Huskies hard in each of the past two seasons. Some of UConn’s busiest staffers in 2006 were its athletic trainers and physicians, much like in 2005. Out for the whole 2006 season from the preseason were WR Seth Fogarty (foot), WR Ellis Gaulden (knee), S Jahi Smith (multiple concussions) and DE Jason Ward (foot). Players who saw action this past year but were knocked out for the season due to injury included OT William Beatty (lower leg), TE Martin Bedard (elbow), DE Cody Brown (arm), C Keith Gray (shoulder), QB D.J. Hernandez, OT Mike Hicks (ankle) and WR Brandon McLean (ankle). TE Dan Murray missed the first three games with a high ankle sprain and was limited by the injury in the first few games that he did play. LB Ryan Henegan missed the first two games with a hamstring injury. TB Terry Caulley played with a broken bone in his hand after missing some action while LB Dontá Moore played through a broken arm suffered on Sept. 30 against Navy. Another pair of contributors to miss some time as the season progressed were S Allan Barnes, who missed a pair of games with a hamstring injury, and CB Darius Butler who missed the Syracuse game with a hamstring injury. WR Larry Taylor did not play against Cincinnati following a concussion suffered at Syracuse and CB Ernest Cole also missed the Cincinnati game due to a knee injury. WR Robert Theoudele was not available for the final four weeks with a shoulder injury. FB Deon Anderson missed the season finale at Louisville with a stinger. This trend, unfortunately, continued from 2005 when 18 different players from UConn’s preseason two-deep missed at least one game due to injury.
THE QUARTERLY REPORT
UConn has significantly outscored its opponents this year in each of the four quarters. UConn has outscored its opponents 80-51 in the first quarter in 2007, 89-61 in the second quarter, 79-50 in the third quarter and 86-61 in the fourth quarter. The four quarters add up to a 334-223 advantage for UConn in scoring margin this year. UConn held a first quarter shutout streak of 87:38 stretching from the opening drive of the season opener at Duke until the final seconds of the first quarter of the Virginia game on Oct. 13.
AFTER BREAKTHROUGH 2006, BIG EAST IS BACK FOR MORE
Following its 2006 reemergence on the national scene after posting a 5-0 record in bowl games, including its second consecutive win in a BCS bowl, the realigned BIG EAST is showing that it is here to stay in 2007.
* Six of the BIG EAST’s eight teams (75%) have been ranked at some point this year (all but Pittsburgh and Syracuse).
* Road wins over fellow BCS conference opponents is always a good measure of success and the BIG EAST has four so far this year with Louisville winning at NC State, West Virginia winning at Maryland, USF winning at Auburn and UConn winning at Duke. The four wins by the BIG EAST are the most of any conference. The ACC has four, the Big 12 and Pac-10 each have three BCS road wins, while the Big Ten and SEC each have two.
* Overall, the BIG EAST has seven wins thus far over teams from other BCS conferences, the four mentioned above plus Cincinnati’s win over Oregon State, USF’s victory over North Carolina and West Virginia’s win over Mississippi State. The BIG EAST’s seven wins trails only the ACC’s and SEC’s eight for the most of any BCS league even though the BIG EAST has the fewest teams to accumulate these wins. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10 each have five wins over BCS conference schools this year.
BOWLS ARE THE BIG EAST’S TIME TO SHINE
As a league, the BIG EAST Conference was a collective 5-0 in bowl games last year. It was just the third time that a conference has gone 5-0 in bowl games. No league has gone undefeated playing in more than five bowls, but the SEC in 1996 and Big Ten in 1998 matched the BIG EAST’s 2006 accomplishment. Overall, BIG EAST schools have a six-game winning streak in bowl games heading into the 2007 season. Since its realignment in 2005, the BIG EAST is 2-0 in BCS bowl games with West Virginia beating SEC Champion Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl (played in Atlanta) and Louisville defeating ACC Champion Wake Forest in the 2007 Orange Bowl.
HUSKIES EARN HIGH MARKS AT OBEDIENCE SCHOOL
For each of the past three years, UConn has been one of the least penalized teams in the country. UConn was a disciplined squad in 2005 as the Huskies led the BIG EAST in 2005 in fewest penalty yards at 47.2 per game (519 yards in 11 games). This average ranked 23rd in the nation. In addition, UConn’s 68 penalties on the year narrowly ranked second in the league, just one behind Syracuse’s conference-low total of 67 accepted infractions. UConn’s discipline in 2006 was in the same fashion, with just 65 penalties on the year for 511 yards. The 511 yards and 65 penalties were both the fewest in the BIG EAST. The Huskies ranked 33rd and 43rd in the nation respectively in those categories. Thus far in 2007, UConn leads the BIG EAST with just 564 penalty yards while its 77 total infractions trails only West Virginia in the conference.
CONN-TROLLING THE FLOW OF THE GAME
A telling sign of UConn’s strong performance on both sides of the ball during its brief tenure as a Division I-A program has been its ability to both record and prevent long drives. Since the start of the 2002 season, UConn’s offense has strung together 56 scoring drives of at least 80 yards while the Husky defense has surrendered just 32 such marches. UConn also holds a 16-5 advantage over its opponents in the number of 90-yard and over drives since becoming a I-A program.
HUSKIES DOMINATING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
Over the past 63 games, UConn has outgained its opponent 42 times, including five times in 2007. This stretch, like many UConn trends, dates back to a disheartening 28-24 loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 26, 2002. Over this 63 game span, UConn has averaged 388.6 yards per game of total offense and 324.3 yards per game of total defense.
CONNECTICUT’S SIX CAPTAINS
The UConn team selected a school-record six team captains for the 2007 season, Darius Butler, Dan Davis, Keith Gray, D.J. Hernandez, Danny Lansanah and Larry Taylor. The diverse group features three players on each side of the ball and one player from each of the three defensive positional groups, spreading the leadership roles evenly. The group consists of three seniors and three juniors. Butler, Gray and Hernandez are the first juniors to serve as a team captain at UConn since Roy Hopkins and Jamal Lundy held the honor in 2001. Lundy was reelected as a captain in 2002 but Hopkins was not. UConn had never previously had more than four permanent captains, a sum used in 1979, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2001 and 2006. The six ties for the most nationally with San Diego State.
NFL ALUMNI WATCH
Three former Huskies have made active rosters for NFL teams on opening day in 2007. Alfred Fincher (2001-04) was the backup middle linebacker for the New Orleans Saints while Dan Orlovsky (2001-04) continues to battle to be the number two quarterback for the Detroit Lions behind Jon Kitna. Fullback Deon Anderson (2002-06) was a sixth round selection of the Dallas Cowboys and was their starting fullback before tearing his rotator cuff. Additionally, four former Huskies found themselves in preseason training camps Ray Blagman (Arizona), James Hargrave (Detroit), Tyler King (Jacksonville) and Sean Mulcahy (Cincinnati).
EAGLE SCOUTS
Each week head coach Randy Edsall issues an award for the Scout Team Players of the Week. In recognition of their often-overlooked hard work, those players earn a spot on the Husky travel squad and the dress list for that week’s game. The weekly honorees are listed below.
DUKE: Ellis Gaulden (offense), Harris Agbor (defense), Doc Goudreau (special teams).
MAINE: Gary Bardzak (offense), Scott Schultz (defense), C.J. Marck (special teams).
TEMPLE: Nathan Sherr (offense), Doc Goudreau (defense), John Yurek (special teams).
PITT: Robbie Frey (offense), C.J. Marck (defense), Kendall Reyes (special teams).}AKRON: Zach Frazer (offense), Jarrell Miller (defense), Alex Molina (special teams).
VIRGINIA: Alex Molina (offense), Alex Folson (defense), Glen Mourning (special teams).
LOUISVILLE: Mike Ryan (offense), Jarrell Miller (defense), Jameson Davis (special teams).
USF: Zach Frazer (offense), Johnathan Jean-Louis (defense), Alex Molina (sepcial teams).
RUTGERS: Moe Petrus (offense), Twyon Martin (defense), Jarrell Miller (special teams).
CINCINNATI: Kashif Moore (offense), Corey Stringer (defense), Jameson Davis (special teams).
SYRACUSE: Moe Petrus (offense), Danny Russell (defense), Derek Chard (special teams).
WEST VIRGINIA: Moe Petrus (offense), Emmanual Omokaro (defense), Harris Agbor (special teams).
GAME BALLS
After each UConn victory, head coach Randy Edsall awards game balls for the team’s top performer on offense, defense and special teams. The 2007 recipients are listed below.
DUKE: Tyler Lorenzen (offense), Cody Brown (defense), Desi Cullen (special teams)
MAINE: William Beatty (offense), Scott Lutrus (defense), Tyvon Branch (special teams)
TEMPLE: Andre Dixon (offense), Dahna Deleston (defense), Tony Ciaravino (special teams).
PITT: Donald Thomas (offense), Lawrence Wilson (defense), no special teams recipient.
AKRON: Andre Dixon (offense), Dan Davis (defense), Tyvon Branch (special teams).
LOUISVILLE: Andre Dixon (offense), Scott Lutrus (defense), Larry Taylor (special teams).
USF: Offensive line and TE Steve Brouse, Cody Brown (defense), Tyvon Branch (special teams).
RUTGERS: Donald Brown (offense), Rob Lunn (defense), Terry Baltimore and Tyvon Branch (special teams).
SYRACUSE: All 11 seniors.
ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS: Larry Taylor (9), Tyvon Branch (5), Cody Brown (3), Darius Butler (3), Andre Dixon (3), Danny Lansanah (3), Donald Thomas (3), William Beatty (2), Lou Allen (2), Donald Brown (2), Dan Davis (2), D.J. Hernandez (2), Scott Lutrus (2), Joe Akers, Terry Baltimore, Steve Brouse, Tony Ciaravino, Desi Cullen, Dahna Deleston, Donnell Ford, Keith Gray, Ryan Henegan, Mike Hicks, Alex LaMagdelaine, Tyler Lorenzen, Rob Lunn, Gary Mack, Zak Penwell, Lawrence Wilson.
YOU KNOW GRAY IS MY FAVORITE COLOR
In an effort to help combat the heat at Duke by avoiding dark colors, the Huskies wore their white uniforms with silver pants in Durham as opposed to the customary national flag blue pants on the road. After defeating the Blue Devils, the team captains decided to keep the same look for UConn’s second road game, Sept. 22 at Pittsburgh, and the combination again resulted in a win. UConn wore this ensemble at Virginia on Oct. 13 and Cincinnati on Nov. 10 as well but lost both of those games. Prior to this season, only once had UConn ever worn that combination. That other instance was on Oct. 5, 2002 when UConn dressed as such for a game against No. 1 Miami in the Orange Bowl, losing to the Hurricanes, 48-14. The Huskies returned to their traditional blue pants on the road at West Virginia.
TANGLED UP IN BLUE
For the Louisville game on Oct. 19, UConn wore an all-blue ensemble for the first time in almost exactly a year after last wearing it against West Virginia on Oct. 20, 2006. UConn’s win over the Cardinals marked its first win in an all-blue uniform since downing Temple on Oct. 23, 2004. The Huskies wore their blue pants at home again on Oct. 27 against USF and on Nov. 3 vs. Rutgers, winning both games. The Huskies are 4-0 this year in all blue.
OFFENSE NOTES
TJ, KANUCH AND TYLER TOO
UConn’s offensive unit is a young one as the group features just two seniors on its two deep in wide receiver Larry Taylor and right guard Donald Thomas. Meanwhile, the silver lining to a rash of injuries the past two years is that UConn is youthful yet experienced at the skill positions in particular. True sophomores Terence Jeffers and Brad Kanuch were thrown into the fire last fall and both proved to be dependable pass catchers, starting each of the final eight games of the year. Another pair of sophomores, Donald Brown and Andre Dixon split time at tailback. UConn has a pair of freshman at fullback in Anthony Davis an Anthony Sherman along with a quarterbacking corps that features a junior (Tyler Lorenzen), a sophomore (Dennis Brown) and two freshmen (Cody Endres and Notre Dame transfer Zach Frazer). Each of UConn’s top three tight ends will also return next fall, yet starter Steve Brouse in particular already possesses a wealth of gameday experience.
HUSKIES WASTING LITTLE TIME TO GET ON TOP
UConn has scored on its opening drive in eight of its 12 games this year and is 7-1 in those contests, losing only at West Virginia. At Duke, Tony Ciaravino hit a 30-yard field goal on the opening drive. Against Temple, Donald Brown had an eight-yard touchdown run and, at Pittsburgh, Lou Allen had a one-yard plunge. Tony Ciaravino hit a 45-yard field goal at Virginia and a 22-yarder against USF. Steve Brouse caught a two-yard touchdown pass against Rutgers. The Syracuse game opened with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Terence Jeffers to cap a 95-yard drive. The WVU game began with a 92-yard UConn touchdown march. One exception came against Maine when Ciaravino missed a 51-yard field goal. However, UConn was still on the scoreboard very early against the Black Bears as Scott Lutrus scored a touchdown on a 25-yard interception return on the game’s second play, coming at the 14:12 mark.
LINING THEM UP
The UConn offensive line is in the interesting position of being both young and experienced at the same time. The Huskies have just one senior on the two-deep yet also have eight players with previous game experience at UConn, including seven people who have started games on the offensive line for the blue and white. The lone senior of the group is senior Donald Thomas at right guard, a former walk-on. Entering the 2007 season, William Beatty (9), captain Keith Gray (5), Mike Hicks (10), Alex LaMagdelaine (10), Dan Ryan (7), Donald Thomas (1) and Trey Tonsing (8) had all started games for the Huskies. UConn head coach Randy Edsall has often called this the best line UConn has had since the senior-laden group that pushed the Huskies to the 2004 Motor City Bowl. Better yet, this 2007 edition of the line will be back in near entirety for more in 2008.
FROM IOWA TO CONNECTICUT VIA SAN DIEGO
Tyler Lorenzen took a circuitous route to being named UConn’s starting quarterback. The native Iowan and first-team All-State quarterback signed with his beloved Iowa State out of high school but the Cyclones tried to switch him to wide receiver. Wanting to play quarterback, he transferred to Palomar Community College near San Diego where he was named a first-team JuCo All-American last fall after completing 229-of-332 passes (69-percent) for 2,960 yards with 26 touchdowns and three interceptions. Lorenzen joined UConn in January after carrying a 4.0 grade point average at Palomar and was named the starting quarterback on August 14. At Duke, he became the fourth different starting quarterback for UConn in the past four opening days. D.J. Hernandez started last year’s opener, Matt Bonislawski was under center when the 2005 season began and Dan Orlovsky started the third and final opening day contest of his illustrious UConn career in 2004.
TYLER RE-TRACES HISTORY
In his starting debut on Sept. 1 at Duke, Tyler Lorenzen was very impressive in leading the Huskies to a 45-14 win. Lorenzen earned the offensive game ball and a BIG EAST weekly honor roll mention after completing 22-of-30 passes for 298 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 56 yards, giving him 354 total yards on the day. The 298 yards were the most by a Husky since Dan Orlovsky’s school-record 445 at Syracuse on Oct. 30, 2004 while also ranking as the most by a first-time Husky signal caller since Ryan Tracey threw for 340 on Sept. 2, 2000 in his first start. Lorenzen carried that momentum throughout the season. His 126.95 passing efficiency rating is the best by a UConn signal caller since Dan Orlovsky’s 134.71 mark in 2004.
HERNANDEZ RECEIVES NEW ASSIGNMENT
D.J. Hernandez started six games a year ago at quarterback and had fair success, highlighted on Nov. 11 against Pittsburgh as he spurred UConn on to a 46-45 double overtime victory in one of the program’s most thrilling games as the Huskies erased a 31-17 fourth quarter deficit at Rentschler Field. Hernandez completed 20-of-29 passes for 164 yards with a career high four touchdowns and no interceptions but it was his work running the ball that was more noteworthy. His 17 carries were good for 130 yards while he also scampered in for the game-winning two-point conversion. Hernandez’s on-field leadership was crucial in the rally to win the game. He led UConn on touchdown drives of 98 and 77 yards in the fourth quarter, the latter capped with a touchdown pass to Dan Murray with just three seconds remaining in regulation. Still, with the addition of Tyler Lorenzen and Dennis Brown able to play after redshirting in 2006, Hernandez quickly found himself in the third spot on the depth chart at quarterback midway through spring practice. Too athletic to sit on the bench, Hernandez approached Edsall about playing at wide receiver and the results have been a tremendous positive for the team. Using his athleticism and in-depth knowledge of the offense to his advantage, Hernandez has made a smooth transition to his new role and has been one of the team’s top receiving threats in 2007. The move also allows Edsall to use him on special teams while Hernandez has shown a passion for downfield blocking and participating in some of the contact that he was deprived of when wearing a red quarterback jersey in practice. His smooth transition and the character and leadership he displayed in making it helped get the junior elected as a team captain.
DJ GOES TRIPLE PLATINUM
D.J. Hernandez caught a 57-yard touchdown pass at Duke in the season opener on Sept. 1. It was UConn’s longest passing play since Hernandez threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Young in the 2006 season-opener against Rhode Island. The scoring grab also put him in very elite company as Hernandez became just the fourth player in school history to catch a touchdown, rush for a touchdown and throw for a touchdown in their UConn career, joining Keron Henry (2001-04), Tory Taylor (1995-98) and Ken Sweitzer (1978-81).
SHARING THE WEALTH
UConn currently has six receivers with at least 20 catches on the year. Last season, only Larry Taylor (29) made at least 20 catches. Through four games this season, UConn already had two receivers (D.J. Hernandez and Brad Kanuch) with over 200 receiving yards on the year. Last year, UConn did not have two 200-yard receivers for the season until after game nine with Taylor hitting the plateau on Nov. 11 against Pitt. Last year, Kanuch led UConn with 288 receiving yards. This year, that sum would rank fourth on the team. Terence Jeffers’ 571 receiving yards are the most by a Husky player since 2004. Andre Dixon’s 280 receiving yards are the most by a UConn running back since 1998 when Chad Martin had 319.
DEFENSES DREADING DIXON
Sophomore Andre Dixon saw his first significant action of his career at tailback against Temple on Sept. 15 and made the most of his opportunity. Dixon ran for 129 yards on 21 carries against the Owls. Dixon is now one of four active UConn players who have a 100-yard rushing game to their credit as a Husky, joining Lou Allen (2005 vs. USF), Donald Brown (five times) and D.J. Hernandez (2006 vs. Pitt). He continued to shine against Akron on Sept. 29 rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries while catching four passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. On Oct 19 against Louisville, he enjoyed his third 100-yard rushing game, gaining 115 and scoring the game-winning touchdown with 1:32 to play. He made it four 100-yard games out of six with a 167-yard rushing effort against USF. Dixon has gone over 1,000 all-purpose yards for the season at 1,089 and earned All-BIG EAST recognition for that.
A BUNCH OF BALL HOGS
The UConn offense has done a wonderful job thus far in 2007 of maintaining possession of the ball. The Huskies have just 14 turnovers, tying for seventh in the nation. Only five of the turnovers have been interceptions thrown, a sum that ties for second nationally behind only option-based Navy’s four.
FINISHING IN THE RED IS GOOD
You wouldn’t want your financial ledgers to be full of red ink, but UConn’s Division I-A era success is in part due to finishing its time in the red zone in style. Since 2002, UConn has tallied on 228 of 267 (85%) of its red zone possessions. Of the 39 non-scoring drives, 25 came as a result of a missed field goal attempt. UConn has been solid in the red zone in 2007, going 38-for-44. UConn had a stretch of 20 successful red zone scores from Sept. 1 until Oct. 13.
BIG INCREASE IN BIG PASS PLAYS
The Huskies have shown an increased ability to loosen up opposing defenses with big pass plays in 2007. A year ago UConn completed just 17 passes of 20 yards or longer but the team has nearly doubled that total in 2007, completing 33. The ratios are just as dramatic when you look at a 30-yard cutoff point. UConn completed 10 passes of 30 yards or longer in 2007 and just four last year. The role of D.J. Hernandez in this category is an interesting one. A year ago, as UConn’s quarterback, he completed five passes of 20 yards or more. In 2007, as a wide receiver, he caught seven passes of 20 yards or more.
DEFENSE NOTES
DEFENSE AMONGST THE NATION’S BEST
UConn’s defensive unit has been amongst the best in the nation for most of this year and, until the final few weeks of the regular season, were ranked in the top 10 of most major categories. The Huskies are still 31st nationally in total defense yielding 346.33 yards per game. The Huskies were 82nd in total defense a year ago. The Huskies rank 11th in scoring defense at 18.58 points per game. UConn is 14th in passing efficiency defense with a 187.83 rating. UConn’s 22 interceptions are third only to Cincinnati and UCF’s 23 in the nation.
PICK-SIX. PICK-12. PICK-18. PICK-24. PICK-30.
The Huskies have returned five interceptions for touchdowns this season. Darius Butler ran one back 36 yards for a score at Duke on Sept. 1 while Scott Lutrus scored on a 26-yard interception return on Sept. 8. Lawrence Wilson had a 51-yard score on an interception at Pittsburgh on Sept. 22 and Lutrus scored from 23 yards out against USF on Oct. 27. Danny Lansanah scored from 49 yards out against Syracuse on Nov. 17. The five touchdowns break the previous school record of three set in 2002 and matched in 2004. The five interception return touchdowns tie for second in BIG EAST history. The league record is six set by Miami in 2000.
22 INTERCEPTIONS AND COUNTING
UConn’s defense has intercepted 22 passes so far this year. The 22 interceptions trail only Cincinnati and UCF’s 23 for the most in the nation. The Huskies recorded at least one interception in each of their first nine games of the season. UConn’s four interceptions at Pittsburgh on Sept. 22 tied the Division I-A era school record set at Iowa State on Nov. 23, 2002 and equaled at Army on Oct. 1, 2005. UConn made three interceptions against Louisville on Oct. 19. The Cardinals had been intercepted just four times all year entering the game. Overall, the 22 interceptions rank second in school history. UConn picked off a record 25 passes in 1992.
RUNNING IT IN HASN’T BEEN AN OPTION EITHER
UConn has allowed just 13 rushing touchdowns this year. A year ago, UConn yielded 20 rushing touchdowns as the Huskies ranked 105th in the nation against the run at 179.58 yards per game. UConn presently ranks 64th nationally at 158.50 yards per game.
SOMEONE FINALLY SCORES A SCORE
The UConn defense had not allowed an opponent to score 20 points in a game until its 10th game when Cincinnati scored 27. Nationally, UConn and Ohio State were the only two teams that could make this claim in 2007 until Nov. 10 when the Buckeyes also surrendered over 20 points for the first time this season as they lost, 28-21, to Illinois. The Huskies are 11th in the nation in scoring defense after ranking 93rd in 2006.
INTERCEPTIONS ARE VAUGHN’S PRIDE AND JOY
Robert Vaughn has intercepted six passes on the season. Vaughn already has the most interceptions in a season for a Husky since Justin Perkins had six in 2003. The Division I-A era UConn record of six was set by Maurice Lloyd in 2002 and matched by Perkins in 2003. Vaughn is tied for seventh in the nation with his six interceptions and is tied for the BIG EAST lead.
BAD, BAD CODY BROWN
In the 2007 season opener at Duke, Cody Brown earned UConn’s defensive game ball after making six tackles, including a pair of sacks. It had been two years since a Husky had two sacks in a game, dating back to James Hargrave’s efforts against Syracuse on Oct. 7, 2005. Brown was a disruptive force against Maine and Temple as well making a pair of tackles for loss in each contest. He had a sack at Pittsburgh. He earned another game ball against USF. He is tied for the team lead with 13.5 tackles for loss on the season, a sum that ranks seventh in the BIG EAST.
DAVIS MOVES INSIDE; ENDS THRIVING
After three strong years at defensive end where he amassed 18 tackles for loss as a Husky, senior captain Dan Davis shifted his 284-pound frame inside to defensive tackle in 2007. The move allows UConn to take advantage of Dav
