Paw Prints – Temple Owls (2-1, 0-0) @ UConn Huskies (1-2, 0-1) Preview

This week:

The UConn Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they’ll host the Temple Owls at Rentschler Field in an American Athletic Conference game. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Line:

According to Rivals.com odds, Temple is favored by 5.5 points. The over/under is 45 points.

Tickets:

According to UConn Huskies ticket office, there are still plenty of tickets available to Saturday’s game.

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 and here is some general information for Rentschler Field.

The parking lots will open up 4 hours before kickoff. Here is a list of the tailgating rules at the Rent.

There is a new route for the Husky Walk as the team arrives for games at Rentschler Field this year and fans get a chance to greet the team as they get off their buses and make their way to the stadium. The Husky walk, which takes place approximately, two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, will now start in the Gray Parking Lots and the team will makes its way to the large tunnel near Gate B.

The UConn team will now do its pregame warmup in front of the UConn student section on the South End of the stadium – a change from previous seasons. The Huskies will enter the stadium for pregame warmups on the concourse of Rentschler Field and go through the student section.

Once again, FanFest takes place starting four hours before kickoff up until 30 minutes before the game between Gates A and B outside the stadium gates. The offerings change each game, but activities typically include inflatable games for children, live bands, promotional vehicles and UConn student-athletes from various teams signing autographs.

The break between the third and fourth quarter will feature “Coach D’s Playlist” as fans during the game will get to select a song to play based on a list they saw earlier in the game.

Once again this season at the end of home games, the UConn team will sing the “UConn Husky” fight song in front of the student section at Rentschler Field.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game will be televised nationally by ESPNews. Eamon McAnaney is on play-by-play with Dan Hawkins on color.

Radio:

The UConn IMG Sports Network is the home of Husky football on the radio. WTIC NewsTalk 1080 in Hartford serves as the flagship station and 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.

For Saturday’s game vs. Temple, “Breakfast at the Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray will be on from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. followed by the UConn Tailgate Show from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. with Nathan and Bob Joyce. The “UConn Football Magazine” pregame show starts at 2:30 p.m. on the entire network.

The Temple game will also be available on Sirius Radio Channel 137 and XM Channel 199.

Here is a full list of stations on the UConn IMG Radio Network.

Temple Owls Radio:

This season, all of the Owls football games will be broadcast on 97.5 The Fanatic. Joining the broadcast team of Harry Donahue and Paul Palmer this season will be The Fanatic’s Harry Mayes, a Temple graduate. He will enhance the production as a sideline reporter.

Last Week:

UConn lost to South Florida 17-14 while Temple destroyed Delaware State 59-0.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the 15th time Temple and UConn have met. The series began in 1963 and currently has Temple holding a 9-5 all-time edge over the Huskies.

Connections:

UConn has nine players on its team from the state of Pennsylvania: TE Alec Bloom (Ligonier), LB Chris Britton (Harrisburg), DT Julian Campenni (West Pittson), LB Luke Carrezola (Langhorne), LB Jon Hicks (Palmyra), LB Junior Joseph (Sinking Spring), WR Brian Lemelle (Harrisburg), DE B.J. McBryde (Beaver Falls) and OG Zach Rugg (Windber).

Temple has three Connecticut natives on its roster – QB Malik Cummings (Monroe), LB Tyler Matakevich (Stratford) and OL Jaelin Robinson (New Haven).

UConn Notes:

Here is the video from UConn head coach Bob Diaco’s press conference. Here is a transcript of some his remarks from the press conference.

UConn head coach Bob Diaco made his UConn and collegiate head coaching debut on August 29th vs. BYU. Diaco served on the Notre Dame coaching staff as the defensive coordinator for the past four years and the assistant head coach for the past two. He was the 2012 winner of the Frank Broyles Award, given to the top assistant college football coach in the country and was the first Irish assistant to receive the prestigious award.

Here is UConn’s roster and 2014 schedule.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

There will be a pep rally for the UConn football team on Friday, September 26 at 6:30 p.m. on campus at Fairfield Way in Storrs, CT.

The captains of the 2014 UConn Huskies football team are Geremy Davis, Byron Jones, Alex Mateas and Marquise Vann.

Despite UConn having virtually an entire new staff this year, seven of the Huskies’ full-time coaches have previously worked games at Rentschler Field. Head coach Bob Diaco, defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter and assistant coach Wayne Lineburg were on the Virginia staff for a 45-10 Husky win on Sept. 13, 2008; Assistant head coach Don Patterson was on the Buffalo staff for a 24-17 UConn win on Sept. 29, 2012; Offensive coordinator Mike Cummings was on the Western Michigan staff for a 41-27 UConn win on Nov. 1, 2003; Assistant coach Kevin Wolthausen was on the Louisville staff for a 30-20 UConn loss on Dec. 3, 2005. UConn assistant coach Mike Foley is the lone holdover on the staff and is entering his ninth season.

UConn is now 9-4 in season openers since making the jump to then-Division I-A in 2002. UConn has won nine of its 12 season openers at Rentschler Field (2003-Indiana, 2004-Murray State, 2005-Buffalo, 2006-Rhode Island, 2008-Hofstra, 2010-Texas Southern, 2011-Fordham, 2012-UMass) and also downed Duke, 45-14, in Durham, to open the 2007 season and Ohio University, 23-16 in Athens, to open 2009.

UConn has an all-time record of 49-26 at Rentschler Field and a 27-13 mark in non-conference games.

The Huskies were picked to finish 9th in the American in 2014.

UConn is 0-2 in American league openers as it lost to USF last year to open conference play. UConn had a 3-6 record in league openers as a member of the Big East Conference

Head coach Bob Diaco and his staff have seen a large number of players get into games this season – many of them first time college performers. Diaco played 57 players against BYU, 55 against Stony Brook, 56 vs. Boise State and 55 vs. USF.

Here is a breakdown by class of Husky players who have seen their first collegiate action during the first four games of the 2014 season – a total of 22 players.

True Freshmen (8)
TE Alec Bloom, LB Luke Carrezola, OL Ryan Crozier, LB Vontae Diggs, TB Ron Johnson, RB Arkell Newsome, OL Troy Rutherford, CB Jamar Summers.

Redshirt Freshmen (10)
H Blake Feagles, DL Foley Fatukasi, OL Tommy Hopkins, LB Junior Joseph, WR Thomas Lucas, RB Josh Marriner, TE Tommy Myers, LB Cole Ormsby, LB Cameron Stapleton, LB Jalen Stevens

Redshirt Sophomores (4)
C Kyle Bocheloh, OT Andreas Knappe, DL Sean Marinan, P Justin Wain

WR Geremy Davis has made a reception in 30-straight games, dating back to the 2011 season, the 11th-longest such streak in the country.

Davis is 6th in the American in reception yards per game at 72.0 – which is 73rd nationally.

Senior cornerback Byron Jones (New Britain, Conn.) had a 70-yard interception return for a TD late in the first half of Friday night’s game vs. USF. Jones also has a career fumble return for a touchdown and became just the third Husky player to have a fumble return for a TD and an interception TD in a career. Jones fumble return for a TD also came against USF – in a 16-10 UConn win in 2011. The other Huskies to achieve this feat were Yawin Smallwood (2011-13) and Anthony Carter (1996-99).

Preseason Award Watch Lists:

Geremy Davis

Biletnikoff Award Watch List

Casey Cochran

Allstate AFCA Good Works Team

Notes from this week’s opponent Temple:

Here is video from Temple coach Matt Rhule’s weekly pregame press conference. Here are some selected quotes from his press conference.

Matt Rhule is in second season as the head coach at Temple after an experienced coaching career as an assistant on the collegiate and professional level. Rhule had been the assistant offensive line coach with the New York Giants in 2012 before taking the Temple job. He was an assistant coach at Temple from 2006-11 working with a number of positions including defensive line, quarterbacks, offensive coordinator and tight ends.

Rhule also worked at Albright (1988), Buffalo (1999-200), UCLA (2001), Western Carolina (2002-05). He is a 1997 Penn State graduate and played four seasons at linebacker for the Nittany Lions.

Here is Temple’s depth chart for the game.

Here are Temple’s 2014 roster and 2014 schedule.

The Temple University football team will honor the memory of long-time Board of Trustee member Lewis Katz this season with commemorative “Lew” decals on the players’ helmets.

In 2013, the Temple Owls got back to a tradition of awarding single-digit jerseys to the toughest players on the team. This season, the coaches awarded four numbers and the players selected the balance.

Three players – Jalen Fitzpatrick, John Christopher and Tyler Matakevich – remained tough enough to retain their numbers from a year ago. The biggest surprise was that freshman Sean Chandler earned the respect of his peers as the players awarded him a single-digit jersey.

2 – Avery Williams 6 – Stephaun Marshall
3 – Sean Chandler 7 – John Christopher
4 – Kenneth Harper 8 – Tyler Matakevich
5 – Jalen Fitzpatrick 9 – Matt Ioannidis

Head coach Matt Rhule decided that the #1 jersey would be given to the toughest player of the week. Therefore, the #1 will be worn by a different player from game to game.

The Owls are one of only six teams in the FBS who have scored 40.0 points per game and allowed fewer than 15.0 (40.0/12.7). They join Baylor (59.3, 9.0), Texas A&M (55.3, 11.8), Ole Miss (44.0, 10.3), Duke (43.5, 11.5), and Alabama (42.0, 14.0).

Through week four of the season, Temple leads the American Athletic Conference in nine categories: total defense, passing defense, pass efficiency defense, scoring defense, turnover margin, 4th down percent defense, red zone defense, net punting, and punt returns.

On a national scale, the Owls tied for the top spot in turnover margin, where they are tied with Florida and Notre Dame at 2.67, and 4th down percent defense, in which 13 teams are tied at 0.00. In seven other categories, Temple is ranked in the Top 10.

Temple players on Preseason Watch Lists:

QB P.J. Walker