This week:
The UConn Huskies football team looks to improve to 2-0 on the season as they host the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT at 12 p.m.
Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Wolfpack.
The Line/Prediction:
According to Rivals.com odds, NC State is favored by 4.5 points. The over/under is 49 points.
My prediction is UConn 34 NC State 17.
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 Rentschler Field. 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.
At UConn home games, FanFest takes place starting four hours before kickoff up until 30 minutes before the game. It takes place 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 “Husky Walk” is a chance for fans to welcome the UConn team as they get off the team buses and head to the stadium. That takes place approximately two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff between Gates A and B.
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 is being televised live in Connecticut and regionally on SNY – the television home of UConn football and men’s and women’s basketball. Eamon McAnaney is on play-by-play with former NFL offensive lineman David Diaz-Infante on color and Paul Carcaterra is the sideline reporter.
The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 7:00 a.m. and 9 a.m. and on Monday, Sept. 10 at 8 a.m. (Connecticut only) and Wednesday, Sept. 12 at noon (Connecticut only). The game will be replayed it is entirety on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and on Monday, Sept. 10 at 8:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at noon (Connecticut only).
The game will be seen live in 34 different TV markets, including: KXTD in Dallas, Brighthouse Networks in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Orlando, MASN2 in Baltimore, WWHO in Columbus, Ohio, KCWX in San Antonio, Cox New Orleans, Cox New England, Time Warner in Buffalo, WMSN in Madison, Wisc., WMYS in South Bend, Ind and WTVW in Evansville, Ind.
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 game will also be available on SIRIUS 137 and XM 193.
NC State Radio:
NC State football games are broadcast on the Wolfpack Capital Sports Network. The flagship station is WRAL 101.5 FM. Gary Hahn has the call with Johnny Evans (analyst) and Tony Haynes (sideline).
To continue reading the NC State Wolfpack @ UConn Huskies preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
Last Week:
UConn beat UMass 37-0 while Tennessee beat the Wolfpack 35-21 at the Georgia Dome.
History:
Saturday’s game marks just the second meeting in football between the two schools as North Carolina State defeated the Huskies by a 31-24 on October 11, 2003 in Raleigh. N.C.
Connections:
UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and N.C. State head coach Tom O’Brien have met eight previous times during Pasqualoni’s tenure at Syracuse and O’Brien at BC. Pasqualoni won five of those eight games. Pasqauloni has a 0-2 coaching record vs. N.C. State with losses during his time at Syracuse in 1997 and ’98. O’Brien is 4-0 in his coaching career vs. UConn with wins at the BC coach in 2000, ’02, ’03 and ’04.
UConn special teams coordinator and running backs coach Clayton White is a 2001 N.C. State graduate and was a three-year starter at linebacker for the Wolfpack from 1999-2001.
UConn redshirt senior linebacker Sio Moore attended high school in Apex, N.C. and freshman punter Justin Wain is from Wilmington, N.C.
North Carolina State defensive and Forrest West is from Canton, Conn., and the Salisbury School.
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 147-83-1 (34-17 at WCSU, 107-59-1 at Syracuse and 6-7 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
With last Thursday’s win over Massachusetts, UConn is 9-2 in season openers since making the jump to then-Division I-A in 2002. UConn has won nine of its ten 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.
Connecticut boasts a 43-20 record against non-conference opponents in the regular season since making the move to the FBS in 2002.
The Huskies have won 18 of their last 25 regular season non-league games overall.
UConn is 4-10 against active ACC members all-time entering Saturday afternoon’s showdown with NC State and next Saturday’s game at Maryland.
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), 0-1 vs. NC State (2003), 1-2 vs. Wake Forest (2003, 2006, 2007) and 1-1 vs. Virginia (2007 and 2008).
UConn is 31-17 in games following a loss since Oct. 26, 2002. In the opening game vs. UMass, the Huskies were coming off as they lost the 2011 season finale at Cincinnati.
Here is where UConn stands in the lastest NCAA statistics, which includes games through Saturday, Sept. 1:
- Total Defense – 1st at 59 yards per game
- Rushing Defense – 4th t 3.0 yards per game
- Passing Defense – 4th at 67.00 yards per game
- Scoring Defense – t1st at 0.0 points per game
- Total Offense – 59th at 372.00 yards per game
- Rushing Offense – 67th at 147.00 yards per game
- Passing Offense – 52nd at 225.00 yards per game
- Scoring Offense – t39th at 37.00 points per game
Notes from this week’s opponent NC State:
Here is the video from NC State head coach Tom O’Brien’s press conference.
Here is NC State’s depth chart.
Tom O’Brien is 108-76 overall in his career and is 33-31 at NC State. He is in his 16th year overall, 6th at NC State.
O’Brien led Boston College to eight consecutive winning seasons and seven consecutive bowl victories (his team won the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl after he had come to NC State).
O’Brien posts best bowl winning percentage in history of bowl system for coaches with 10 or more bowl games coached (8-2, .800). He ranks 21st among active coaches with 107 career wins. He posted more wins (75) than any head coach in BC history.
NC State will be without star cornerback C.J. Wilson who was suspended by the NCAA for four games due to academic issues.
For the first time since the 1997 season, NC State is playing its first two games away from home. After opening the season against Tennessee in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta, the Wolfpack is heading to Connecticut to take on the Huskies.
NC State is one of just four schools whose football team won a bowl game, men’s basketball team was ranked in the final top-20 and baseball team advanced to a Super Regional in 2011-12.
Ten players saw their first collegiate action for the Pack in the opener with Tennessee, including eight red-shirt freshmen and one true freshman. Redshirts Juston Burris (CB), Hakeem Flowers (WR), Carlos Gray (DT), Hakim Jones (S), Dave Mann (DT), Maurice Morgan (WR) and Mike Rose (DT) all saw action from scrimmage, with Burris getting in for a rookie-high 63 snaps. Tight end Benson Browne saw action on special teams, while walk-on Josh Stanley also played in the kicking game.
True freshman Charlie Hegedus was in for 20 snaps at wide receiver, catching one pass for seven yards. Hegedus, whose hometown of Marietta was just 30 miles from the Georgia Dome, played his first collegiate contest on the same field where he played his last prep game. His alma mater, Lassiiter High School, fell in the 5A state semifinals in the Dome in 2011.
During his 15 years as a head coach, Tom O’Brien has mentored 23 assistant coaches. Seven of those have gone on to become collegiate head coaches.
Three of his former protégés are now head coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference: Al Golden at Miami, Mike London at Virginia and Frank Spaziani at Boston College. In other words, the Tom O’Brien coaching tree makes up a third of the entire league.
Nobody is doing it at weddings like the Macarena or the Electric Slide and it isn’t quite the national phenomena that TEBOWing was a year ago, but the art of TOBing is something that those in Wolfpack nation know all about.
TOB is the nickname for Wolfpack head coach Tom O’Brien. The Marine major is known as having a somewhat stoic demeanor on the Wolfpack sideline, usually standing with his arms crossed. Wolfpack fans have nicknamed that stance TOBing. Google it!
Thursday UConn Football Links:
UConn defense starts strong [andrea adelson – espn.com]
Big East predictions: Week 2 [andrea adelson – espn.com]
Former Hillhouse lineman and UConn commit at Dean College [jim fuller – new haven register]
Getting ready for N.C. State [john silver – sny.com]
A Knack For Getting Sacks [uconnhuskies.com]
Connecticut Plays NC State Saturday [bigeast.org]
Offense needs some tweaks [ct post]
UConn’s Special Teams Working To Get Better [hartford courant]
UConn dealing with a thin, blue defensive line [the hour]
Preview: NC State Wolfpack at Connecticut Huskies [cbssports.com]
Small receiver making big impact for Huskies [ap]
Next Week:
The Huskies will head to College Park, MD for a matchup with former coach Randy Edsall and his Maryland Terrapins next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
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