Paw Prints – UConn Huskies (1-0) @ Vanderbilt Commodores (1-0) Preview

Paw Prints - UConn football

This week:

UConn Huskies @ Vanderbilt Commodores

The UConn Huskies head out on the road for the first time this season as they’ll be in Nashville, TN on Saturday night to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Commodores.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com, the Commodores are favored by two points. The over/under is 44.

My prediction for the game is UConn 24 Vanderbilt 21.

Tickets:

According to Ticketmaster.com, there are still some tickets available for the game.

Getting To The Game:

Here is link for the weather report for Vanderbilt Stadium. Here is some gameday information for Vanderbilt Stadium. If you’re making the trip, here’s some directions, parking information, a seating chart and stadium policies for Vanderbilt Stadium.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game will be televised by SNY in the Connecticut and Northeast region. Matt Stewart is on play-by-play while Chris Doering is on color and Suzette Taylor is on the sidelines.

The game will also be seen in Atlanta on Comcast Sports South and in Tampa on the Brighthouse Network. Among other places it will been seen are Charlotte, N.C. (Time Warner), Cincinnati (Cin. Bell) and New Orleans (Cox). In the Nashville area, the game is also available on Comcast Sports South.

The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 a.m. and 9 a.m. The game will be replayed in its entirety on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 1:30 p.m.

Radio:

For the 20th 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, while home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Arnold Dean.

UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. Here is a full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN radio network.

Vanderbilt Radio:

The game can be heard on the Vanderbilt Radio Network. It’s flagship station is WRQQ Classic Hits 97.1 FM. Joe Fisher has the play-by-play; while John Gromos is the analyst. Kevin Ingram will be the sideline reporter.

The Chick-fil-A of Rivergate Tailgate Show will expand by a half hour, starting 90 minutes before kickoff. The first 30 minutes with Kevin Ingram, Mitch Light and Joe Fisher will air from Vandyville.

You can also get the Vanderbilt feed on XM 201 or Sirius 218.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Vanderbilt Commodores preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week:

The Huskies won their season opener 35-3 over the Fordham Rams. The Commodores beat the Elon Phoenix 45-14.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the third meeting between UConn and Vanderbilt as each team has won a game. Vanderbilt beat the Huskies 28-24 in Nashville. UConn beat the Commodores last year at the Rent 40-21.

Connections:

Paul Pasqualoni’s first career game at Syracuse came with a 37-10 win vs. Vanderbilt at the Carrier Dome on Sept. 7, 1991.
There are no players on the UConn roster from the state of Tennessee and no players from Connecticut on the Vandy roster.
Commodore defensive coordinator Bob Shoop faced UConn as an assistant at BC (2002), as defensive coordinator at Yale (1994-96), as DB coach at Northeastern (1992) and as a GA at Yale (1989)…As a player at Yale, Shoop faced the Huskies from 1984-87.
VU assistant Chris Beatty faced the Huskies the last three years as an assistant at West Virginia as did assistant Herb Hand, while at West Virginia in 2004-06.
Defensive line coach Sean Spencer is a Hartford native and coached instate at Trinity (1998-2000) and Wesleyan (1995-96).
Vanderbilt first-year head coach James Franklin and new Commodore offensive coordinator John Donovan were top offensive assistants at Maryland one year ago.
The defensive coordinator for that Terp squad, Don Brown, holds the same post at UConn this season under Coach Paul Pasqualoni.
A third Vanderbilt staffer, special teams coordinator-tight ends coach Charles Bankins, also served with Franklin, Donovan and Brown under Head Coach Ralph Friedgen at Maryland.
Vanderbilt sophomore safety Kenny Ladler was a teammate at Stephenson H.S. near Atlanta with UConn freshman DB David Stevenson.

Other UConn News:

Here is video from head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference. Here’s the transcript of his press conference along with quotes from defensive coordinator Don Brown, QB coach Joe Moorhead and seven of the players.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has won more BIG EAST Conferece games (league contests only) than any other coach in history. Pasqualoni has 62 league wins from 1991-2004 while Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech is second with 57.

With Saturday’s opening win vs. Fordham, Pasqauloni is now tied for first in league history in overall wins with 108 and as Beamer also has 108.

Pasqualoni became the first Husky coach since 1923 to win his UConn coaching debut. The last coach to win a Husky debut was Sumner Dole in 1923.

Connecticut has an overall record of 2-2 against teams from the Southeastern Conference. They beat South Carolina in the 2009 Papa John’s Bowl and beat Vandy last year 40-21.

In terms of road openers, UConn has won four of its past five road openers — the exception being last year’s loss at Michigan to open the season. UConn is 5-4 in road openers since joining the FBS ranks.

The Huskies have put together a 21-29 road record since 2002.

In non-conference road affairs over that same span, Connecticut has posted a mark of 16-11 and has won eight of its last 12 such games, including 2009 wins over Ohio, Baylor and Notre Dame and 2011 losses to Michigan and Temple.

Connecticut boasts a 41-18 record against non-conference opponents in the regular season since making the move to the FBS in 2002.

The Huskies have won 16 of their last 21 regular season non-league games overall with the only blemishes coming via a one-point loss at Virginia (17-16) in 2007, losses to North Carolina in 2008 and ‘09 and Michigan and Temple in ‘10.

UConn has posted the following records in non-conference regular season games: 6-6 (2002), 9-3 (2003), 4-1 (2004), 3-1 (2005), 3-2 (2006), 4-1 (2007), 4-1 (2008), 4-1 (2009), 3-2 (2010) and 1-0 (2011).

Over the past 103 games, UConn has outgained its opponent 64 times. This stretch, like many UConn trends, dates back to a 28-24 loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 26, 2002.

UConn freshman Lyle McCombs’s 141 yards of rushing in his collegiate debut is the second-highest when compared against UConn’s top 10 career rushing leaders. The best mark belongs to Tony Jordan (No. 10), who had 144 yards vs. Northeastern to open the 1978 season.

A number of members of the 2011 Huskies were named to preseason “Watch Lists” for 2011. They are:

Sophomore Tight End Ryan Griffin (Londonberry, N.H.)
- John Mackey Award Watch List
Senior Kicker Dave Teggart (Northborough, Mass.)
- Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award
Senior Defensive Tackle Kendall Reyes (Nashua, N.H.)
- Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in the country
- Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the best defensive player in the country;
- Lombardi Award, given to the best offensive or defensive lineman in the country.
Senior center Moe Petrus (St. Laurent, Que.)
- Outland Trophy
- Lombardi Award
Senior offensive tackle Mike Ryan (Tamaqua, Pa.)
- Lombardi Award

Here are the categories where UConn is ranked in the top 40 in the 2011 NCAA statistics. This week’s rankings only count games through Saturday:

Rushing Off. – 34th at 206.00 (Third in BIG EAST)
Rushing Defense – 7th at 20.00 yards (Third in BIG EAST)
Total Defense – 10th at 169.00 (Second in BIG EAST)
Scoring Defense – 6th at 3.0 (Second in BIG EAST)
Kickoff Returns – t16th at 32.00 (Second in BIG EAST)
Pass Defense – 30th at 149.00 (Third in BIG EAST)

Individual leaders

Rushing – Lyle McCombs, T9th at 141.00 (2nd in BIG EAST)
Scoring – Lyle McCombs, T1st at 24.00

Notes from this week’s opponent Vanderbilt:

Here’s video from Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin’s press conference (transcript). Here’s video from Vanderbilt QB Larry Smith, LB Tristan Strong and TE Brandon Barden (transcript).

Vanderbilt is 10-8-1 all-time vs. teams in the Big East Conference. The 2010 game against UConn was Vanderbilt’s last against a foe from the Big East.

Vanderbilt last played host to a Big East team in 2004 when Rutgers visited Nashville. That game ended in a Rutgers 37-24 win.

The Commodores have gone more than two seasons since putting together consecutive victories. The team’s most recent back-to-back wins against against Ole Miss and Auburn in the 2008 season.

In the last decade, the Commodores are 20-18 in games against out-of-league teams.

After Week 1, the Commodores rank among the SEC and NCAA leaders with a turnover margin of +3. They are tied for the conference lead and rank ninth in the NCAA.

Connecticut is one of nine teams on the Vandy schedule that played in a 2010 bowl game. UConn (Fiesta) and Arkansas (Sugar) are 2011 foes that enjoyed BCS bowl appearances. Other opponents this season that played in bowls last year are South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Army, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee.

James Franklin is one of 13 NCAA FBS coaches across the nation who will be directing their first game as a head coach this season. Vanderbilt is one of 24 programs entering the year with a new head coach. One of the other 23 programs is Connecticut, where longtime Syracuse Head Coach Paul Pasqualoni guided the Huskies in their 2011 opener.

Friday UConn Football Links:

Big East predictions: Week 2 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Big East what to watch [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Big East true freshman watch [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Big East: Did you know? [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Last notes before Vanderbilt [Chip Malafronte – New Haven Register]

Good Stuff From Coach Pasqualoni Presser Today [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Thursday update [Joe Perez – Norwich Bulletin]

A brief update from Coach P: Shoemate nearly 100% [Neill Ostrout – CT Post]

Game Preview – Connecticut at Vanderbilt [BigEast.org]

UConn at Vanderbilt: Who has the edge [CT Post]

Pasqualoni Says Shoemate Is Ready To Play Vs. Vanderbilt [Hartford Courant]