This week:
The UConn Huskies will be looking to go 3-0 for the second straight season when the Virginia Cavaliers come to Rentschler Field Saturday night for a non-conference tilt on the gridiron. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
Here are the rosters for the Cavaliers and the Huskies.
The Line/Prediction:
According to the USA Today odds, UConn Huskies are favored by 12.5 points. The over/under is 36.5 points. Take the points and UConn. I am 2-0 against the spread this year.
My prediction is UConn 24 Virginia 10
Tickets:
The game is sold out.
Getting To The Game:
Here is link for the weather report. Here is all the parking info you will need for the game, this link includes directions to Rentschler Field. Here is a Rentschler Field seating chart.
The parking lots will open up 4 hours before kickoff. Here is a list of the tailgating rules at the Rent.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
Saturday’s game with be televised nationally by ESPNU, which is now offered in HDTV.
Clay Matvick in on play-by-play while David Diaz-Infante provides color, Melissa Knowles is on the sidelines.
Radio:
For the 17th 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.
WTIC offers 10 hours of Husky football talk on home game Saturdays on WTIC’s powerful signal. Ray Dunaway, the popular co-host of WTIC’s morning drive show “Mornings with Ray & Diane,” and Scott Gray start things off at 5:30 a.m. live on Saturdays from Rentschler Field with “Ray at the Rent.” That tandem then yields to the duo of Arnold Dean and Kevin Nathan at 9:30 a.m. prior to the contest with “The Tailgate Show,” which runs for one hour followed by UConn Football Magazine with Bob Joyce from 10:30 a.m. until kickoff. Nathan will also serve as a features producer for “UConn Football Magazine,” the halftime show, and also play host to a post-game call-in show after home games with Joyce filling that role for road contests. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. For a full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN radio network, click here.
Virginia Radio: All Virginia games are broadcast on the Virginia Sports Network, originating at WINA/WWWV in Charlottesville. Dave Koehn (play-by-play), Frank Quayle (analyst) and Tim Sherman (sidelines) have the call. The game will also be available on XM Radio Channel 190.
Last Week:
The Huskies beat Temple 12-9 in overtime at Lincoln Financial Field. The Cavaliers shutout the Richmond Spiders 16-0 at home.
History:
This is the second meeting between the two teams. Virginia beat UConn 17-16 in Charlottesville, VA last year.
Connections:
UConn boasts two Virginia natives – freshman QB Casey Turner (Chesapeake/Great Bridge) and OL Jimmy Bennett (Alexandria/West Potomac).
Virginia has one native of Connecticut on its roster, freshman running back Torrey Mack of Stratford.
Mack rushed for 1,177 yards and 20 touchdowns on just 86 rushes as a senior at Stratford High (13.7 average per carry).
Randy Edsall and Al Groh were on opposite sides of the 1996 AFC Championship Game with Edsall coaching defensive backs for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Groh serving as defensive coordinator for the victorious New England Patriots.
UVa assistant defensive line coach Levern Belin was an assistant at Boston College from 1991-92 when Edsall coached the Eagles’ defensive backs.
UVa Director of Video Operations Luke Goldstein worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars, along with Edsall, for three years (1995-97).
UVa’s Nick Jenkins was a teammate of UConn’s Anthony Davis at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Maryland.
Virginia president Dr. John T. Casteeen III was the president at UConn from 1985 to 1990.
Other News:
UConn got 1 vote in the AP poll and 2 votes in the USA Today/Coaches Poll in this week’s rankings.
UConn is 3-8 against ACC opponents.
UConn has played every current ACC school at some point in its history other than Clemson and Florida State. The Huskies will visit the North Carolina Tar Heels on October 4th.
This is the only road non-conference game the Cavaliers play this season.
The Huskies are presently riding an eight-game winning streak at Rentschler Field and have won those games by an average margin of 19.0 ppg.
Connecticut enters Saturday night’s game vs. Virginia boasting an all-time mark of 8-3 when playing under the lights at Rentschler Field, including 4 straight.
The big news out of Virginia is that their starting QB Peter Lalich won’t be making the trip north with team. He is staying behind to sort out some legal troubles that he has.
Desmond Conner has a look at Marc Verica who will QB for the Cavaliers.
Here are some quotes from Randy Edsall’s press conference on Tuesday about this week’s game.
Here are the highlights from Al Groh’s press conference on Tuesday.
The Huskies will be without Alex LaMagdelaine for the rest of the season. He was hurt in the opener against Hofstra.
Here are some tidbits from yesterday’s teleconference by Edsall. Here are some more that may or may not be the same.
If you’re interested, there’s still time to get in the Runway Challenge.
Randy Edsall wants the sold out crowd to rock the Rent on Saturday night.
After fumbling a crucial snap in last year’s loss to Virginia, center Keith Gray hopes he isn’t the center of attention again.
With the Huskies not having given up a touchdown this season, the defenses could be the center of attention.
Greg Lloyd had a good read on the Temple’s 4th and 1 play that he stopped.
Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has a great feature on Donald Brown.
UConn and Northland AEG have introduced a fan hotline and texting system for the fans at Rentschler Field.
Desmond Conner has a look at the recruits that will be on hand for Saturday’s game.
Conner also wants to know why people leave UConn football games early.
The Huskies could be without Andre Dixon again as he is still not 100% yet.
UConn’s schedule fits their program.
Neill Ostrout looks at who has the edge in certain aspects of the game.
And don’t forget to head over to Dirtychili for all your Virginia Cavaliers news.
Next Week:
The Huskies will be back home at the Rent to take on the Baylor Bears next Friday, September 19th at 8:00 PM.
