This week:
The UConn Huskies will look to send their seniors out winners as the No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers come to Rentschler Field on Saturday for a noon kickoff on Senior Day.
Here are the rosters for the Panthers and the Huskies.
The Line/Prediction:
According to Yahoo! Sports odds, the Huskies are favored by 2.5 points. The over/under is 47 points.
My prediction is UConn 31 Pittsburgh 24.
Tickets:
There are still a limited amount of tickets available at the time of this post.
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. And some alternative tailgating rules can be found here.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
The game will be aired nationally on ESPN. Bob Wischusen (play by play), Brock Huard (color) and Todd Harris (sideline) form the broadcast crew.
Radio:
For the 16th 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.
Pittsburgh Radio:
3WS 94.5 (WWSW-FM), Fox Sports Radio 970 (WBGG-AM) and the Pitt ISP Sports Network. Bill Hillgrove calls the action, while three-time Pitt All-American Bill Fralic and former Panther head coach Serafino “Foge” Fazio provide color analysis.
The Pitt-Connecticut game will be aired on SIRIUS satellite radio channel 127.
Last Week:
The Huskies were off last week and last played on November 23rd when they lost 17-13 to the South Florida Bulls. Pittsburgh beat West Virginia last weekend 19-15 in the Backyard Brawl.
History:
The two teams have met four times, all in Big East action. The Huskies own a 3-1 advantage and are 2-0 at Rentschler Field against the Panthers. UConn’s first ever Big East win came against the Panthers back in 2004.
Connections:
A total of 13 Huskies hail from the Keystone State and several of them are natives of the Pittsburgh area. Brandon Dillon (Woodbridge), Cody Endres (Washington) and Brad Kanuch (Johnstown) are all from western Pennsylvania
Also, UConn linebackers coach Todd Orlando is a native of Pittsburgh where he attended Central Catholic High School. He began his coaching career at Central Catholic and Fox Chapel Area High School.
Pittsburgh running backs coach David Walker was a teammate of Terry Richardson’s in the Syracuse backfield from 1990-92. Scott Lakatos was the defensive graduate assistant on the 1992 team while Randy Edsall coached the then-Orangemen defensive backs on the 1990 team. Edsall was also Syracuse’s recruiting coordinator when Walker signed with the Orangemen.
Pittsburgh Director of Football Operations Chris LaSala held the same title at BC when Edsall was there
Pitt’s Greg Gaskins and UConn’s William Beatty both played offensive line at William?Penn High School in York,?Pa.
Edsall’s administrative assistant, Joanne Fazio, is a Pittsburgh native.
Other News:
Here are some quotes from the press conferences of UConn head coach Randy Edsall and Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt.
In the latest set of polls, UConn is receiving five points in the USA Today poll and three in the Associated Press version while Pittsburgh is No. 23 in both polls and the BCS standings.
UConn owns an all-time mark of 4-13 in Big East Conference road games, since joining the league in 2004. The 2008 season marks the fist time that UConn won more than one Big East?road game.
The Huskies will look to start a new streak at Rentschler Field after West Virginia stopped an 11-game home winning streak. UConn presently stands at 29-9 all-time at Rentschler Field including an 18-3 mark in non-conference games.
UConn is now 19-11 in games following a loss since Oct. 26, 2002.
UConn junior running back Donald Brown currently leads the nation in rushing yards at 148.45 yards per game. Shonn Greene of Iowa is next at 144.08 and Javon Ringer of Michigan State is third at 132.50 per game and The next Big East?Conference performer is LeSean McCoy of Pittsburgh who is eighth at 118.91.
Brown is also tied for 19th in the country in scoring at 8.73 points per game. He is 14th all-purpose running at 159.82.
Donald Brown is the leading rusher and second-leading scorer in the Big East, is seventh in total offense and also first in all purpose yards (159.8) per game.
Here is a summary of where Donald Brown, still a junior, is in the Husky career records books.
- Brown now has 3,350 career rushing yards, which is first in school history. He broke the record of Terry Caulley (2002-06) on Nov. 15 at Syracuse. Caulley’s total was 3,187.
- His 31 rushing touchdowns places him tied for second in school history. Wilbur Gilliard (1992-95) leads the way with 34 and Caulley also had 31.
- Brown now has 635 career rushing attempts, which places him first in school history. Caulley was the previous leader with 570.
Here is a summary of where Donald Brown is in the Husky single-season records books for 2008.
- His 1,633 yards of rushing is already the UConn single-season record – topping the mark of 1,262 set by Tory Taylor in 1995.
- His 16 rushing touchdowns is the third-highest in single-season history. Walt Trojanowski is the leader with 22 in 1945 while Wilbur Gilliard had 17 in 1993.
- His 304 carries this year is the highest in school history as Eric Torkelson had 276 in 1973.
- In the win over Temple on Sept. 6, his 36 carries was the fourth-highest total in school single-game history while his 214 yards was the ninth-highest.
Here’s the categories where UConn is in the top 30 in the latest NCAA?statistics:
- Rushing Offense – 20th at 202.73 (Second in Big East)
- Rushing Defense – 26th at 119.64 (Fourth in Big East)
- Passing Defense – 11th at 166.64 (First in Big East)
- Pass Eff. Def. – 7th at 98.71 (First in Big East)
- Total Defense – 10th at 286.27 (First in Big East)
- Scoring Defense – 20th at 18.45 (Second in Big East)
- Punt Returns – 21st at 12.38 (First in Big East)
- Interceptions – 18th with 16 (First in Big East)
- Sacks Allowed – 15th at 1.09 (First in Big East)
Donald Brown has rushed for 100 yards in nine of 11 games this season and 15 in his career. He has rushed for 200 yards in two games this year
Redshirt freshman Anthony Sherman is tied as the leading receiver for the Huskies with 24 receptions for 255 yards.
Lawrence Wilson is tied for the team lead in interceptions this year with three. He is second on the Husky team in tackles with 64. He has started all 24 games of his UConn career after being redshirted in 2006.
UConn sophomore Scott Lutrus currently leads the Huskies in tackles with 90 and also had an interception and five pass break-ups this year.
Husky senior defensive end Cody Brown has 10 sacks on the season for a total loss of 60 yards. He is second in the Big East?in that category and 16th in the country. He is third in the Big East?in total tackles for loss (1.14 per game).
Dave Teggart has made the first 11 field goal attempts of his collegiate career and the 11-straight is already the longest streak in school history. Matt Nuzie made 10-straight in 2004. Teggart is the first kicker in school history to successfully convert his first 11 field goal attempts. In addition, he is also a perfect 10-for-10 in extra point attempts.
UConn will have a challenge in stopping LeSean McCoy.
Will Donald Brown and McCoy be back in 2009?
Donald Brown could be the best UConn football player ever.
The return of Steve Brouse from a broken leg should help Donald Brown and the offense out.
UConn verbal commitment Mike Osiecki was named the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year.
The game will feature two of the top running backs in the country in Donald Brown and LeSean McCoy.
Randy Edsall said that C.J. Marck and Greg Lloyd, Jr are out for personal reasons this week and that it should not be public why they are out.
Bristol native D.J. Hernandez will play his final home game on Saturday.
Here is a look at who has the edge in the game.
John Silver of the Journal Inquirer wants to know why UConn is favored in the game if Pittsburgh is supposed to be the better team.
UConn recruit Michael Box will be in the house to watch the game on Saturday.
Is UConn Rutger’s biggest rival?
Brad Kanuch and UConn hope to spoil Pittsburgh’s shot at the Sun Bowl.
The Panthers are fighting through some late season fatigue.
UConn’s front four could pose problems for Pittsburgh’s running game.
Pittsburgh can’t afford to have it’s passing game stall out on Saturday.
Next Week:
UConn is off until a potential bowl game. All of the bowl game matchups will be announced on Sunday night.
