University of Connecticut Athletics
Connecticut Football Game Notes - vs. Hofstra
8/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. (August 25, 2008) – The University of Connecticut football team kicks off the 2008 campaign on Thursday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m. vs. Hofstra at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
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 brief 10-year span head on, guiding the Huskies to the 2007 BIG EAST Championship and its first two bowl games. He has compiled a 50-55 career record in his 10th season at UConn, including wins in 39 of UConn’s last 64 games. He is 0-1 vs. Hofstra, facing the Pride in his first game as Husky head coach in 1999. 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. 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.
HOFSTRA HEAD COACH DAVE COHEN
Dave Cohen is entering his third season at the helm of the Hofstra program. Cohen most recently served as the defensive coordinator at Delaware for the past six years, helping the Blue Hens to the 2003 Division I-AA National Championship with a 15-1 record. He was named the I-AA Defensive Coordinator of the Year that season after UD held all four playoff opponents under 10 points. Cohen served at Fordham from 1999-2001, building the foundation for the Rams’ 2002 Patriot League championship team. Cohen served as an assistant coach at Delaware (1994-98), Lafayette (1990-93), and Albany (1988-89). Cohen is a 1988 graduate of Long Island University-C.W. Post, earning a degree in business management. He was a two-year starter at defensive tackle at C.W. Post and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-Region team his senior year. Cohen earned a master’s degree in education administration from SUNY-Albany in 1990.
RADIO & TV COVERAGE
TV COVERAGE
UConn’s season opener will be televised regionally as the game will be shown live in in Connecticut on WCTX/MyTV9 and in the New York metropolitan on SNY. Bob Picozzi (play-by-play) and Jim Donnan (color) will have the call.
The game will also be seen on: Brighthouse Cable in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla; Altitude Cable in Denver; Time-Warner in Milwaukee and Cox Sports in Providence. The game will be seen on a tape-delay basis on MASN in Baltimore.
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 and Eric Davis on production. The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff and is hosted by Bob Joyce, while at home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Arnold Dean. 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 NOTES
HUSKIES HAVE PRIDE AGAINST HOFSTRA
This is the fifth meeting all-time between UConn and Hofstra with the series knotted at 2-2. The schools met for four straight years from 1996-99 when each was a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for football. UConn won the 1997 and 1998 meetings while Hofstra won in 1996 and 1999, including a 56-17 victory on Sept. 4, 1999 in Hempstead in Randy Edsall’s UConn coaching debut.
HOFSTRA CONN-ECTIONS
The Huskies have one native Long Islander in Mike Cox of West Hempstead. Hofstra head coach Dave Cohen and UConn offensive line coach Mike Foley were on opposite sides of the 2003 Division I-AA National Championship Game with Cohen’s Delaware team beating Foley’s Colgate squad. Cohen was Delaware’s Defensive Coordinator, while Foley served as Colgate’s Offensive Coordinator. There are two Connecticut natives on the Hofstra roster: staring wide receiver Ottis Lewis of Norwalk and Derek Benton of West Hartford.
JUST FOR STARTERS
UConn is 5-1 in season openers since making the jump to then-Division I-A in 2002. UConn has won each of its four season openers at Rentschler Field (2003-Indiana, 2004-Murray State, 2005-Buffalo and 2006-Rhode Island) and also downed Duke, 45-14, in Durham, to open the 2007 season. UConn’s only I-A era opening day loss was also its only road opener in that span, a 24-16 defeat at Boston College on Aug. 31, 2002 in UConn’s first game as an official member of Division I-A. Overall, UConn is 48-58-2 in season openers dating back to 1896.
SIX STRAIGHT?
UConn has won each of its last five season openers. That marks first time that UConn has won five consecutive season openers since a string of five straight from 1985-89. The school record is six straight season-opening wins from 1923-28 under head coach Sumner Dole. Nationally, only 12 schools have a longer active streak of opening day wins than the Huskies.
LONGEST ACTIVE OPENING DAY WINNING STREAKS
22 Nebraska
18 Florida
11 Georgia
10 USC, Wisconsin
8 Ohio State, South Carolina, Texas
7 Iowa
6 Alabama, Missouri, Penn State
5 CONNECTICUT, Arizona State, Louisville, LSU, TCU, Texas Tech
HUSKIES HAVE I-A RESULTS VS. I-AA
UConn has played one Division I-AA school (now called the Football Championship Subdivision) in each season since joining Division I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) in 2002. UConn has won all six of these games defeating Florida Atlantic in 2002, Lehigh in 2003, Murray State in 2004, Liberty in 2005, Rhode Island in 2006 and Maine in 2007. The closest of these games has been a 35-17 win over Lehigh in 2003. Overall, UConn has won the six games by a combined score of 297-52.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COACH EDSALL
Wednesday, August 27 is head coach Randy Edsall’s 50th birthday. Much like his team the past few seasons, Edsall is young but experienced as he enters his 10th year at the helm of the UConn program at just 50 years old. He is tied for the 12th longest tenured FBS coach at his current job. In addition to Edsall, Clemson’s Tommy Bowden, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (a UConn graduate), Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville were all hired for their current jobs heading into the 1999 season. The entire nation of course trails Joe Paterno who embarks on his 43rd year as head coach at Penn State.
LONG ROAD AHEAD
For the third time in four years, UConn is playing on both the first and last permissible playing dates in a season. The Huskies start things off the Thursday before Labor Day (Aug. 28) with a contest against Hofstra and finish up on the first Saturday of December (Dec. 6) when they play host to Pittsburgh. UConn in one of three teams nationally doing this as the Huskies join Cincinnati and Troy in this regards. Several teams can join the Huskies, Bearcats and Trojans if they reach their respective conference championship games. UConn also went the distance in 2005 and 2006. In each case UConn won its opener, defeating Buffalo in 2005 and Rhode Island in 2006, but lost its finale, falling twice to Louisville.
TOUGH SLATE LOOMS FOR HUSKIES
Three of UConn’s non-conference opponents this fall are members of BCS Conferences as the Huskies will face North Carolina and Virginia of the ACC and Baylor of the Big 12. UConn is one of just three schools who are members of a BCS conference to play three fellow BCS conference members out of league, joining Baylor and Wake Forest.
HUSKIES EARN POLL VOTES
UConn received nine votes in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, tied for 39th-most nationally. Last fall, the Huskies were ranked for four weeks in the AP poll and three weeks in the coaches poll, peaking at No. 16 in both on Nov. . The Huskies received 10 points in the 2008 Preseason AP Poll, also 39th-most nationally.
A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER
The Huskies are riding a five-game winning streak in the month of September. Last fall, UConn went a perfect 5-0 in the month of September marking the first time in school history that the Huskies had 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. Last year was UConn’s fifth perfect September of all-time with a minimum of three games played. UConn’s last September defeat was a 41-17 loss at the hands of Navy on Sept. 30, 2006 at Rentschler Field.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Huskies are presently riding a seven-game winning streak at Rentschler Field after joining the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers last fall as the only teams in BIG EAST history to ever a record a perfect 7-0 home record. UConn’s streak is amongst the longest active ones in the nation as the curtain rises on the 2008 campaign.
LONGEST ACTIVE FBS HOME FIELD WINNING STREAKS
17 Oklahoma (Oklahoma Memorial Stadium)
14 Wisconsin (Camp Randall Stadium)
13 Boise State (Bronco Stadium)
12 BYU (Lavell Edwards Stadium)
9 Kansas (Memorial Stadium)
8 Tennessee (Neyland Stadium)
7 CONNECTICUT (Rentschler Field)
7 Missouri (Memorial Stadium)
SQUAD NOTES
BIG EAST COACHES TAB HUSKIES SIXTH
Despite UConn earning a share of the conference title in 2007 and returning a total of 35 lettermen and 19 starters from that championship squad, the BIG EAST coaches have tabbed the Huskies to finish sixth in the preseason poll.
Connecticut garnered a total of 97 points, just one shy of fifth-place choice Cincinnati (96) and 28 in front of seventh-place Louisville (69).
West Virginia (189), USF (149) and Pittsburgh (128) were ranked 1-3 according to the preseason list.
UConn will be hoping for a repeat of 2007, when it was able to prove the prognosticators wrong by capturing a piece of the league crown after being selected to finish seventh in the conference in the preseason by the coaches.
HUSKIES IN PRO FOOTBALL
UConn currently has seven former players that are currently in NFL camps. The veterans of the group are both entering their fourth year in league. Quarterback Dan Orlovsky is in his fourth year with the Detroit Lions while linebacker Alfred Fincher is in his first year with the Washington Redskins after playing his first three years with New Orleans.
Fullback Deon Anderson is entering his second year with the Dallas Cowboys after starting four games for the team last year before an injury ended his season.
UConn currently has four rookies in NFL camps: offensive lineman Donald Thomas with the Miami Dolphins – a sixth round draft pick who is currently starting for the team; defensive back Tyvon Branch of the Oakland Raiders – a fourth round pick who injured his thumb during an exhibition game; middle linebacker Danny Lansanah of the Green Bay Packers – a free agent signee who played in the first two exhibition games; and defensive tackle Dan Davis of the Indianapolis Colts – a free agent signee.
In addition, there are six former Huskies currently playing in the Canadian Football League – O’Neill Wilson of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Jordan Younger of the Edmonton Eskimos, who are both in their fifth year in the league; Maurice Lloyd of the Saskatchewan Roughriders who is in his third year with the team after earning a Grey Cup ring with the team last year; Terry Caulley., in his second year with the Tiger-Cats; Shawn Mayne, in his second year in the league and with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers; and rookie Larry Taylor of the Montreal Alouettes.
LOTS OF HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE AMONG UCONN STAFFERS
Three members of Connecticut’s coaching staff boast head coaching experience from previous stops in their coaching career.
Offensive Coordinator Rob Ambrose was the head coach at Catholic University (Washington, D.C.) in 2001 just prior to his arrival at UConn in 2002.
Offensive line coach Mike Foley was the head man at Colgate from 1987-92 and current Director of Football Operations Tim Pendergast served as head coach at Cornell from 2001-03 and Hamilton College (N.Y.) in 2000
HUSKIES NINE WINS IN 2007 RANK AMONG PROGRAM’S BEST
UConn’s 9-4 record IN 2007 tied for the second-winningest season in the school’s 109 years of football. UConn won a school-record 10 games in 1998 as it advanced to the Division I-AA Quarterfinals. The Huskies also won nine games in 2003. UConn had previously won eight games in a season six times (1901, 1973, 1986, 1989, 1995 and 2004).
SWEET 16! HUSKIES MAKE HIGHEST AP POLL DEBUT IN 43 YEARS
UConn earned its first ever AP Poll ranking on Oct. 28, 2007 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. 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.
HUSKIES RUSH PAST 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 edged 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.
FASTEST FROM DIVISION I-AA TO THE POLLS
SCHOOL I-A DEBUT FIRST RANKING
Marshall 1997 Two years, four weeks (9/12/99)
CONNECTICUT 2002 Five years, 10 weeks (10/28/07)
South Florida 2001 Six years, three weeks (9/9/07)
Boise State 1996 Six years, 13 weeks (11/10/02)
HUSKIES WHEN RANKED
UConn is 2-2 all-time when playing as a ranked team. UConn made its debut as a ranked team on Nov. 3 when the Huskies downed Rutgers, 38-19, at Rentschler Field. UConn was ranked No. 16 by the AP and No. 20 by the coaches. The Huskies lost, 27-3, on Nov. 10 at Cincinnati when ranked No. 16 in both polls. UConn was ranked No. 25 by the AP for last week’s win over Syracuse. This week is UConn’s first ever ranked vs. ranked matchup.
THE QUEST FOR A BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
With a 5-2 record last season in BIG EAST play, the Huskies earned a share of the 2007 BIG EAST Title with West Virginia. The five wins were just one shy of the six total BIG EAST wins by the Huskies since joining the league in 2004. In 2004, UConn went 3-3 in its inaugural league slate while the Huskies 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 year was in 1998 when UConn went 6-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Huskies have not won a league championship outright since taking the Yankee Conference crown in 1973. UConn last shared in a conference championship in 1989 when it was YanCon Tri-Champion.
HUSKIES PAY THE RENT ON TIME 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 ONCE AGAIN
For the third time in the past five years the Huskies were bowl eligible in 2007 and earned a berth in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte where they dropped a 24-10 decision to Wake Forest. UConn was also bowl eligible in 2003 when the team went 9-3 as an independent but was not selected for a bowl bid. In 2004 when UConn was 7-4 and went on to win the Motor City Bowl.
HUSKIES ON THE REBOUND
UConn is now 16-10 in games following a loss since Oct. 26, 2002 after going 3-1 in such games in 2007. 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. UConn went 4-4 following a loss in 2006.
TURNING THE PAGE
One key to UConn’s success in 2007 was its impressive +14 turnover margin as the Huskies have created 29 turnovers while giving the ball away just 15 times. UConn’s ratio ranked seventh in the nation in this critical category.
UConn has made the most of its opportunities, holding an 87-42 edge over its opposition in points off of turnovers.
UConn is 8-1 when winning the turnover margin, 1-1 when even on turnovers and 0-2 when it commits more turnovers than its opponent.
HUSKIES IN AUGUST
The Huskies are 2-1 in August since 2002, its entire tenure in Division I-A. UConn is 2-0 at home in August in the I-A era. UConn’s lone blemish in the month of August since its move to I-A was a 24-16 setback at Boston College in the 2002 season opener.
Thursday night’s 2008 season opener will mark the first time that Connecticut has played a game in the month of August since it defeated Rhode Island 52-7 on August 31, 2006.
SUCCESS IS RELL-ATIVE IN CONNECTICUT
UConn’s success on the gridiron in 2007 did not go 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."
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 in 2007, taking contests at Duke (Sept. 1) and at Pittsburgh (Sept. 22), which marked UConn’s second BIG EAST road win of all-time.
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 31 losses in the Division I-A era, 19 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 1-1 mark at neutral sites (Motor City and Meineke Car Care Bowls).
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
Connecticut’s win over USF on Oct. 27, 2007 was the 100th game in Randy Edsall’s 10-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 10-year tenure at UConn is tied for the 13th-longest tenure at his current school of any coach at an active FBS school. The longest active tenure is Joe Paterno who is in his 43rd year as head coach at Penn State. Within the BIG EAST, only USF’s Jim Leavitt at 12 years has been in his current position longer than Edsall.
The five 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), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Tommy Tuberville (Auburn).
EDSALL MAKES IT A HALF A CENTURY
Randy Edsall currently boasts a 50-55 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, 2007, 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).
LARGEST FOURTH QUARTER COMEBACKS IN THE DIVISION I-A ERA
DATE OPPONENT SCORE TIME LEFT
11/11/06 Pittsburgh 14 17-31 7:53
9/11/04 Duke 14 6-20 11:05
10/19/07 Louisville 10 7-17 10:02
UNDEFEATED SEASON ALIVE THROUGH FIVE
UConn was 5-0 after five games in 2007 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.
WINNING FIVE TIES FOR THREE
Winners of each of their first five games in 2007 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 IN NON CONFERENCE ACTION
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.
Since moving to I-A in 2002, the Huskies boast an overall mark of 29-14 (not including two bowl appearances in that span).
YOU DON’T NEED THE BALL TO SCORE
UConn scored a school-record eight times on either defense or special teams during the 2007 season. The Huskies posted five interception return touchdowns, two kickoff return touchdowns and a punt return touchdown.
BIG EAST CONTINUES BOWL DOMINANCE
As a league, the BIG EAST Conference was a collective 5-0 in bowl games in 2006 before registering a 3-2 mark in 2007. The 2006 season represented 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. Since its reallignment in 2005, the BIG EAST is 3-0 in BCS bowl games with West Virginia beating SEC Champion Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl (played in Atlanta), Louisville defeating ACC Champion Wake Forest in the 2007 Orange Bowl and West Virginia returning in 2007 to hand Oklahoma a 48-28 defeat at the Fiesta 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. In 2007, UConn ranked second in the BIG EAST with 686 penalty yards, narrowly trailing West Virginia’s 594 for the conference lead.
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.
BALL CONTROL IS THE KEY
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 57 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 64 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.
CONNECTICUT’S FOUR CAPTAINS
The UConn team has selected four team captains for the 2008 season, Darius Butler, Donald Brown, Tyler Lorenzen and D.J. Hernandez. Butler and Hernandez will be serving as captains for the second season, after also holding the reponsibility during their junior campaigns.
OFFENSE NOTES
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 UConn 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.
DIXON BACK AFTER BREAKTHROUGH 2007
Tailback Andre Dixon saw his first significant action of his career at tailback against Temple on Sept. 15, 2007, and made the most of his opportunity. Dixon ran for 129 yards on 21 carries against the Owls. Dixon is one of three active UConn players who have a 100-yard rushing game to their credit as a Husky, joining 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.
A BUNCH OF BALL HOGS
The UConn offense has did a wonderful job thus far in 2007 of maintaining possession of the ball. The Huskies have just 15 turnovers, tying for seventh in the nation. Only six of the turnovers have been interceptions thrown, a sum that tied for fourth nationally.
DOMINANCE IN THE RED ZONE
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 230 of 269 (86%) of its red zone possessions. Of the 39 non-scoring drives, 25 came as a result of a missed field goal attempt.
UConn had a solid season in the red zone in 2007 as it finished 40-for-46 in those opportunities.
UConn had a stretch of 20 successful red zone scores from Sept. 1 until Oct. 13.
DEFENSE NOTES
DEFENSE AMONGST THE NATION’S BEST
UConn’s defensive unit was amongst the best in the nation in 2007. The Huskies ranked 37th nationally in total defense yielding just 351.38 yards per game.
The Huskies ranked tied for 13th in scoring defense at 19.00 points per game.
UConn is 10th in passing efficiency defense with a 121.67 rating. UConn’s 23 interceptions tied for fourth nationally, while its 29 total turnovers gained ties for 20th.
PICK-SIX. PICK-12. PICK-18. PICK-24. PICK-30.
The Huskies returned five interceptions for touchdowns in 2007. 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.
HARD TO BREAK 20 ON THE HUSKIES
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.
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.
SKIP TO MY LUTRUS
UConn saw a redshirt freshman make an immediate impact at the strongside linebacker post in 2007. Brookfield’s Scott Lutrus ranked third on the squad with 107 tackles, eight of which were for a loss.
He also has four interceptions on the year, returning two for touchdowns to tie both UConn’s season and career records. Lutrus’ four interceptions in 2007 tied for the most in the nation by a linebacker.
In his short time at UConn he has shown a true knack for intercepting passes as he picked off three passes in UConn’s Blue-White Spring Game, returning two of them for touchdowns. Lutrus made a game-high 18 tackles against Louisville and was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. He won the honor again a week later against USF.
BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
In addition to its 23 interceptions in 2007, UConn’s defense also was credited with 44 pass breakups, the most since the Huskies broke up 65 passes in 2003. Tyvon Branch’s 10 PBUs marked the most at UConn since Justin Perkins broke up 12 passes in 2004.
THE QUARTERBACK MUST GO DOWN
For the fourth year in a row, UConn not only recorded a high number of tackles for loss in 2007, but the TFLs were spread out over a high number of players.
For the 2007 season a total of 17 Huskies contributed to a TFL and 12 posted at least half of a sack.
A total of 18 different Huskies contributed to a TFL in 2006 and 11 different UConn defenders had at least a half of a sack. UConn was 24th in the nation with its 6.83 TFLs per game and ranked 76th with 1.83 sacks per game, the latter total coming despite the fact that only five teams faced fewer passing attempts than UConn’s 275. A total of 23 different UConn defenders factored in a tackle for loss in 2005 and 14 different Huskies recorded at least a half of a sack.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
TONY TONY TONY HAS DONE IT AGAIN
Tony Ciaravino edged out true freshman Dave Teggart to serve as UConn’s extra point and field goal kicker in 2007.
His 22 field goals made broke the UConn single-season record and represent the fifth-most in BIG EAST history.
Ciaravino ended up hitting three of his four field goals in the season opener at Duke and has not looked back. The three field goals made were the most by a Husky kicker since Matt Nuzie hit four in the 2004 Motor City Bowl. Ciaravino matched that total two weeks later in UConn’s win over Temple when his three field goals included career-long boots from 47 and 50 yards, earning him the special teams game ball and BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Week accolades. Ciaravino handled UConn’s field goals and extra points as the 2006 season drew to a close, the third Husky to serve in that role last season. Ciaravino hit both of his field goal tries last fall and went 12-for-13 on extra points on the year.
NINE TIMES FOR CIARAVINO
Tony Ciaravino tallied a run of nine consecutive made field goal tries during the 2007 season, bookended by a 52 yard miss at Virginia on Oct. 13 and a 51-yard miss against Maine on Sept. 8. It was the longest streak by a Husky since Matt Nuzie’s school-record string of 10 consecutive field goals during the 2004 season. Ciaravino’s run matched David DeArmas’ nine straight in 1994 for the second longest streak in school history.
KENTUCKY HAMMER NAILS HIS AUDITION
Louisville native Desi Cullen, the self-proclaimed “Kentucky Hammer,” solidified his role as the team’s starting punter and kickoff specialist with a steady fall camp. In 2007 he earned the special teams game ball after the season opener against Duke. in 2007, Cullen averaged 40.7 yards on his 75 punts and also handled kickoffs with 11 touchbacks on 74 kicks. Cullen handled kickoffs in five games in 2006 as a true freshman and was the understudy to senior Chris Pavasaris at punter. Cullen has also showed a tendency towards not staying back in coverage as he has aggressively made five tackles on the season.
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. The stadium, like the former airfield, is named for that company’s founder, Frederick Rentschler. The 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 was an integral part of former Governor John Rowland’s economic development program for the Hartford metro-area. While UConn football serves as the primary tenant, the facility also attracts other prominent events to Hartford. Rentschler Field hosted two concerts by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, one by the Rolling Stones and one this past summer by The Police. Several prominent international soccer contests have been played on the pitch at Rentschler Field, most notably a World Cup Qualifier between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago on Aug. 17, 2005.
STARTING A COMMOTION
Swelling interest in the Husky football program as it gradually moved up into BIG EAST play can perhaps be best evidenced by the rise in attendance. For the 2006 season, UConn sold in excess of 30,000 season tickets at Rentschler Field, including a record 5,000 student season tickets, a pair of staggering sums considering that the 2001 season ticket base was around 4,000. In 2002, 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. The burgeoning season ticket base more than doubled to 24,000 for the inaugural season at Rentschler Field and rose to 28,000 a year later in 2004. UConn reached an all-time high of 32,000 season tickets in 2005.
40,000 HUSKY FANS CAN’T BE WRONG
The Huskies have sold out 22 of their first 33 dates at Rentschler Field including a recent stretch of 12 in a row. UConn has played to 96-percent of capacity all-time in East Hartford, drawing 1,268,596 fans, or an average of 38,442 per game. In fact, UConn sold more football tickets in 2004 (275,129), 2005 (240,000), 2006 (272,576) and 2007 (267,435) than either men’s or women’s basketball tickets.
RENTSCHLER FIELD PROVES FRIENDLY FOR HUSKIES
The Huskies went 7-0 at home in 2007. UConn went 4-2 at Rentschler Field in 2005 after compiling a 6-1 home record in 2004. UConn’s 3-4 mark at home in 2006 was its only sub-.500 record at Rentschler Field. The seven home wins in 2007 set a school record for a single season which was previously set in 2004. In the process, the Huskies joined the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers as the only BIG EAST schools to ever post a perfect 7-0 home record. UConn presently stands at 25-8 all-time at Rentschler Field including a 16-3 mark in non-conference games. Due to the crowd noise, UConn’s opponents have been flagged for a total of 53 false starts and delay of game penalties in the past 24 games at Rentschler Field.
UP NEXT
The Huskies prepare for their first road trek of the 2008 season as they head to Philadelphia for a non-conference showdown with Temple on Saturday, Sept. 6 in a 12:00 p.m. kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field.
The game is scheduled to be televised to a national audience on ESPNU.
UConn defeated Temple 22-17 at Rentschler Field on September 15, 2007 in the most recent meeting between the programs.
Connecticut trails the all-time series with the Owls 7-3, but have won the last two meetings in the series. UConn last lost to Temple on Oct. 19, 2002 by a 38-24 margin.
This season’s game will mark Connecticut’s first road game against Temple since Nov. 24, 2001 - a 56-7 Temple victory.
