Paw Prints – UConn Huskies (1-1) @ Maryland Terrapins (2-0) Preview

Paw Prints - UConn football

This week:

UConn Huskies @ Maryland Terrapins

The UConn Huskies head out on the road for the first time this year as they head to College Park, MD to take on their former head coach Randy Edsall and his Maryland Terrapins squad at Capital One at Byrd Stadium.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Terrapins.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com odds, UConn is favored by 3 points. The over/under is 42.5 points.

My prediction is UConn 21 Maryland 17

Tickets:

According to the Maryland ticket site, there are still tickets available for the game.

Getting To The Game:

Here is link for the weather report for Capital One at Byrd Stadium.

Here are directions to the stadium, a parking guide and seating chart for Capital One at Byrd Stadium. Here is the fan guide for Capital One at Byrd Stadium.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game is being televised live by SNY through ACC Network. It will be seen live in Connecticut and regionally on SNY. Here is a list of stations across the USA that will be carrying the game.

Steve Martin is on play-by-play with Dave Archer on color, Mike Hogewood is the sideline reporter.

The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m., on Monday, Sept. 17 at 8 a.m. (Connecticut only) and Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 12:00 p.m. (Connecticut only). The game will be replayed it is entirety on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m., and on Monday, Sept. 17 at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 12:00 p.m. (Connecticut only).

Radio:

For the 21st consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the IMG/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.

UConn football on home Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray beginning at 6:00 a.m. The UConn Tailgate Show will air from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. with Kevin Nathan and Bob Joyce. The pregame show begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by the game and then postgame “Husky Talk” with Kevin Nathan

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.

The UConn vs. Maryland game will also be available on satellite radio on Ch. 132 on Sirius and 191 on XM.

Maryland Radio:

Maryland football can be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network – Johnny Holliday (pbp), Jonathan Claiborne (color) and Tim Strachan (color) have the call.

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

Last Week:

UConn fell to NC State 10-7 while Maryland beat Temple 36-27.

History:

Saturday’s game marks just the second meeting in football between the two schools as Maryland defeated UConn by a 34-0 score in College Park to open the 1942 UConn season.

Connections:

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall was the head coach at UConn from 1999-2010. Edsall is the first of two former Husky head coaches UConn will face this year as it takes on Skip Holtz (1994-98) and USF on Nov. 3.

Maryland outside linebackers coach Lyndon Johnson is a 1992 UConn graduate and was on the Husky coaching staff from 1999-2010.

Other Maryland support staff who worked at UConn are: Director of Strength and Conditioning Drew Wilson, Video Coordinator Will Brown and Executive Assistant to the Head Coach Annie Peppard.

UConn defensive coordinator Don Brown has the same position at Maryland from 2009-10.

Current UConn assistant coaches Hank Hughes, Matt Cersosimo, Mike Foley, Darrell Perkins and Jon Wholley were on all Edsall’s staff at UConn.

Pasqualoni and Edsall have coached against each other one other time – a 42-30 win by Syracuse and Pasqualoni over Connecticut and Edsall on October 30, 2003 in the Carrier Dome.

Pasqualoni and Edsall were on the Syracuse staff together for four years – 1987-90. Pasqualoni was the linebackers coach at the time and Edsall was the defensive backs coach.

There are five Maryland natives on the UConn squad – freshman safety Jordan Floyd (Bel Air), junior cornerback Alex Kantor (Potomac), redshirt senior offensive tackle Adam Masters (Bethesda), freshman defensive end Elijah Norris (Upper Marlboro) and redshirt junior defensive tackle Tim Willman (Fulton).

There are not Connecticut natives on the Maryland squad.

Other UConn News:

Here are the quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference as well quotes from some of the players.

Pasqualoni is the all-time winningest coach in BIG EAST Conference league wins with 65 and overall wins with 113. He is just one of two league coaches in history to win four BIG EAST Championships. His overall college coaching record stands at 147-84-1 (34-17 at WCSU, 107-59-1 at Syracuse and 6-8 at UConn).

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

Four members of the University of Connecticut football team were named to seven major award watch lists over the course of the 2012 preseason.

Senior Tight End Ryan Griffin

John Mackey Award Watch List
Lombardi Award Watch List

Sophomore Running Back Lyle McCombs

Doak Walker Award Watch List
Maxwell Award Watch List

Senior Linebacker Sio Moore

Butkus Award Watch List
Lombardi Award Watch List

Senior Defensive End Trevardo Williams

Bednarik Award Watch List
Lombardi Award Watch List
Nagursky Trophy Watch List

Connecticut faces a former UConn head coach (Randy Edsall) for the first of two games this year – vs. USF and Skip Holtz on Nov. 3.

UConn is 4-11 against active ACC members all-time entering Saturday afternoon’s showdown with Maryland after falling to N.C. State last Saturday. The Huskies are 2-0 against Duke (2004 and 2007), 0-3 against Georgia Tech (2002, 2004-05), 0-3 vs. North Carolina (1990, 2008, 2009), 0-2 vs. NC State (2003, 2012), 1-2 vs. Wake Forest (2003, 2006, 2007) and 1 1 vs. Virginia (2007 and 2008).

The Huskies have put together a 22-32 road record since 2002. In non-conference road affairs over that same span, Connecticut has posted a mark of 17-11 and has won nine of its last 13 such games.

Connecticut now boasts a 43-21 record against non-conference opponents in the regular season since making the move to the FBS in 2002.

The following four Huskies were named team captains for the season in the week prior to the season opener vs. UMass – redshirt senior outside linebacker Jory Johnson (Mobile, Ala.), redshirt senior offensive tackle Adam Masters (Bethesda, Md.), senior wide receiver Nick Williams (East Windsor, N.J.) and redshirt senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson (Edinboro, Pa.).

UConn And NCAA Leaders
Here is where UConn stands in the lastest NCAA statistics:

Total Defense – 3rd at 158.50 yards per game
Rushing Defense – 1st at 28.50 yards per game
Passing Defense – 9th at 130.00 yards per game
Scoring Defense – 3rd at 5.00 points per game
Sacks – t7th at 4.00 per game
Tackles For Loss – t3rd at 10.50 per game
Total Offense – 104th at 305.00 yards per game
Rushing Offense – 105th at 91.00 yards per game
Passing Offense – 72nd at 214.50 yards per game
Scoring Offense – 93rd at 22.00 points per game

Notes from this week’s opponent Maryland:

Here are the quotes from Maryland head coach traitor Randy Edsall’s press conference as well as some of his players. If you want to watch Edsall’s press conference feel free to do so.

Here is Maryland’s depth chart for the game.

Randy Edsall is in his second year as the head coach at Maryland and has a 4-10 record at the school. He was the head coach at Connecticut from 1999-2010 with a 74-70 record and set school records for most career games coached and victories. Edsall oversaw Connecticut transition from NCAA Division I-AA to the FBS. He led Connecticut to a pair of BIG EAST Championships in 2007 and 2011 and to its firstever BCS Bowl Appearance.

Maryland won its first two games despite committing more turnovers than its opponent in each contest. All eight of the Terrapins turnovers (three interceptions, five fumbles) have come from freshmen.

The five Maryland players who received 2011 postseason recognition returned to the squad this year – DL Keith Bowers (freshman All-ACC), LB Lorne Goree (freshman All-ACC), LB Demetrius Hartsfield (honorable mention All-ACC), DL Andre Monroe (freshman All-American) and DL Joe Vellano (second team All-American; first team All-ACC).

Maryland’s team captains for the 2012 season are junior QB C.J. Brown, senior WR Kevin Dorsey, senior LB Demetrius Hartsfield and senior DL Joe Vellano.

Six Terps have already received their undergraduate degrees. Kevin Dorsey (Economics), A.J. Francis (Government & Politics), Matt Furstenburg (Family Science), Demetrius Hartsfield (Criminal Justics & Criminology), Joe Vellano (Family Science) and Ryan Schlothauer (Business).

Maryland in August finished the installation of a brand new FieldTurf Revolution surface at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. The privately funded $3 million project resulted in the “coolest” synthetic turf field in the nation and was completed in time for preseason camp.

Here’s a look at Maryland’s stats through the first two games:

Maryland Terrapins 2012 football stats