Paw Prints – UConn Huskies (1-2) @ Buffalo Bulls (1-2) Preview

Paw Prints - UConn football

This week:

UConn Huskies @ Buffalo Bulls

After a tough home loss last Friday, the UConn Huskies head to Amherst, NY for a non-conference matchup with the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday night at UB Stadium at 6 p.m.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Bulls.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com, UConn is favored by nine points. The over/under is 46.

My prediction for the game is UConn 27 Buffalo 24.

Tickets:

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

Getting To The Game:

Here is an up-to-date weather forecast for Amherst, NY. Here is a seating chart for UB Stadium. Here are directions to UB Stadium. And here is a complete gameday guide and a visitors guide which should answer any questions you have if you’re planning on attending the game.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game will be televised by SNY in the Connecticut and Northeast region. Jim Barbar is on play-by-play while John Gregory is on color. It will also be available online at ESPN3.com.

The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. The game will be replayed in its entirity on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 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.

Buffalo Radio:

UB Athletics will begin its fourth year with The Breeze (1230 AM) and WLVL (1340 AM) to air Bulls’ athletic events, including Buffalo’s football and men’s and women’s basketball programs. The deal, which was completed in the Summer of 2008, and renewed in the Summer of 2010, places all of UB’s sports on the same family of locally-owned stations for the first time in its Division I-A era (1999-present)

Long-time and highly-respected Buffalo television reporter and anchor Paul Peck, who had previously been the voice of UB football from 1992-99, returns to call Bulls’ football for the fourth season. Joining Peck in the booth again this season will be Jim Kubiack. In addition, Nick Mendola will take over sideline duty for football games and will team with Scott Wilson to anchor the UB football pre- and post-game shows.

UB football will air on WHTK (1280 AM) in Rochester. In addition, UB’s football games will be available on the web on UB’s athletic website (www.buffalobulls.com) and WECK’s website (www.weck1230.com).

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Last Week:

The Huskies lost 24-20 to the Iowa State Cyclones. Buffalo lost it’s MAC opener 28-25 to the Ball State Cardinals.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the 18th time Buffalo and UConn have met and UConn leads the series by a 14-4 count. Buffalo is a very familiar non-conference foe for the Huskies as the program has ascended to the FBS level.

UConn and Buffalo met in 10 of 11 seasons from 1995-2005. The Huskies have won ten of the last 11 meetings with the Bulls, with the exception being a 37-20 Bull win in Storrs in 2001. Buffalo was the only team to play UConn in all four of its first Division I-A seasons. The Huskies won last year 45-21 at Rentschler Field.

Connections:

Paul Pasqualoni posted a pair of wins over Buffalo during his tenure as the head coach of Syracuse — 63-7 on Sept. 2, 2000 in Syracuse and Sept. 11, 2004 in Buffalo by a 37-17 count.
There are six players on the UConn roster from the state of New York (none from the Buffalo area) and no players from Connecticut on the Buffalo roster.

Other UConn News:

Here is video from head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference. If you don’t have the time to watch the video, check out the transcript of Pasqualoni’s press conference as well as quotes from some of the players.

Get to know UConn offensive coordinator George DeLeone.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

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

Connecticut enters Saturday’s meeting vs. Buffalo with a 16-2 record against opponents from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) since making the move to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2002. The two losses includes a 30-16 defeat at Temple last year — the week before UConn topped Buffalo. Prior to that game, Connecticut’s last loss to a MAC opponent came back on Sept. 28, 2002, when it dropped a 24-21 overtime decision vs. Ball State. Also prior to the Temple game, the Huskies have won each of their last 13 games against MAC foes by an average margin of 17.8 points over that span.

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has won more BIG EAST Conference 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 the Sept. 3 win vs. Fordham, Pasqauloni is now tied for first in league history in overall wins with 108 as Beamer also has 108. After Beamer and Pasqualoni, the distant third is Don Nehlen of West Virginia at 61.

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.

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 2010 losses to Michigan and Temple.

Connecticut boasts a 41-19 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 22 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, Michigan and Temple in ‘10 and Vanderbilt and Iowa State in ‘11.

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 1-2 (2011).

Here are the categories where UConn is ranked in the top 40 in the 2011 NCAA statistics.

Rushing Defense – 22nd at 79.67 yards (Fourth in BIG EAST)
Pass. Eff. Defense – 24th at 104.11 (First in BIG EAST)
Total Defense – 11th at 256.33 (First in BIG EAST)
Scoring Defense – 35th at 17.0 (Fourth in BIG EAST)
Pass Defense – 29th at 176.67 (First in BIG EAST)
Sacks – 16th at 3.33 (Second in BIG EAST)
TFL – 4th at 9.67 (Second in BIG EAST)

Individual leaders

Rushing – Lyle McCombs, 32nd at 101.67 (2nd in BIG EAST)
Sacks – Sio Moore, t8th at 1.17 (First in BIG EAST)
Interceptions – B. Jones/J. Johnson, t8th at .67 (tSec. in BIG EAST)
TFL – Kendall Reyes, T15th at 1.83 (tFirst in BIG EAST)

UConn is 26-16 in games following a loss since Oct. 26, 2002.

Four different Huskies have combined for six interceptions this season.

Notes from this week’s opponent Buffalo:

Here is video from Buffalo head coach Jeff Quinn’s press conference.

Here is a preview of the game from the Buffalo Bulls website.

Branden Oliver is looking to become the first UB running back to rush for 100 yards in four straight games since James Starks during the 2008 season.

Branden Oliver and James Starks are the only two UB running backs in UB’s Division I-A era to have three straight 100-yard games.

The Bulls are looking for their second ever win over a BCS opponent. Buffalo won at Rutgers, 34-11, in 2002.

Senior wideout Ed Young had three touchdown catches against Connecticut at Rentschler Field last season.

Khalil Mack leads the nation in tackles for loss (7.5). He has had at least two tackles for loss in every game.

The Bulls have been in the red zone six times this season and have scored touchdowns on five of the trips. The 83 percent success rate in the red zone far exceeds the Bulls efforts a season ago when they scored 14 touchdowns on 29 trips to the red zone (48%).

Buffalo Bulls line vs UConn Huskies line