This week:
The UConn Huskies head to Tampa, FL looking to keep their slim Big East title hopes alive as they take on the South Florida Bulls on Sunday, November 23rd at Raymond James Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 PM.
Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Bulls.
The Line/Prediction:
According to Yahoo! Sports Odds, the Bulls are favored by 3 points. The over/under is 48.5 points.
My prediction is UConn 31 South Florida 17.
Tickets:
As of the time of this post, there are still tickets available for the game.
Getting To The Game:
Here is a weather report for the Tampa area. Here are directions to Raymond James Stadium. Here is a seating chart, parking information and the stadium policies.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
The UConn vs. South Florida game will be televised on ESPN. Joe Tessitore is on play-by-play while Rod Gilmore is the color announcer.
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. Note: Norman will not be calling the game as he will be in the Virgin Islands calling the men’s basketball game. Nathan will be doing the color commentary for the football game.
The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff and is hosted by Bob Joyce. 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.
USF Radio: USF’s radio broadcast with Jim Louk, Mark Robinson and Mike Pepper can be heard on 13 affiliates statewide and nationally on Sirius satellite radio. In addition, 1300 WQBN will broadcast the game in Spanish with David Cuevas and Victor Rodriguez behind the microphones. Both USF radio broadcasts can be heard on GoUSFBulls.com.
Last Week:
The Huskies beat the Syracuse Orange 39-14 in Tyler Lorenzen’s return to the Huskies. The Bulls had their butts handed to them by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 49-16.
History:
This is the 5th meeting between the two schools with USF holding a 3-2 advantage. UConn does hold a 2-1 advantage in Big East games. Both of UConn’s wins have come at Rentschler Field.
Connections:
UConn has nine players from the state of state of Florida.
UConn’s Jasper Howard attended Miami’s Edison High School as did USF’s Marc Dile and Brouce Mompremier.
USF brothers Keith and Kevin McKaskill attended Tallahassee’s Godby High School with UConn’s Ellis Gaulden.
Other News:
Here are the transcripts of the press conferences of UConn head coach Randy Edsall and South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt.
UConn junior running back Donald Brown currently leads the nation in rushing yards at 153.70 yards per game. Shonn Greene of Iowa is next at 144.09 and Javon Ringer of Michigan State is third at 140.73 per game and the next Big East Conference performer is LeSean McCoy of Pittsburgh who is 12th at 115.89.
Brown is also tied for 13th in the country in scoring at 9.60 points per game. He is tied for ninth in all-purpose running at 165.10.
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 (165.1) per game.
Here is a summary of where Donald Brown, still a junior, is in the Husky career records books.
- Brown now has 3,254 career rushing yards, which is first in school history. He broke the record of Terry Caulley (2002-06) on Saturday night 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 607 career rushing attempts, which places him first in school history. Caulley was the previous leader with 570.
- His 1,537 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 276 carries this year is tied as the highest in school history with Eric Torkelson having the same amount in 1973.
Donald Brown has rushed for 100 yards in nine of 10 games this season and 15 in his career.
Redshirt freshman Kashif Moore is the leading receiver on the team this year with 22 catches for 239 yards for an average of 23.9 yards of receiving per game.
UConn’s defensive unit was amongst the best in the nation in 2007 and continues to be this year. In 2008, the UConn scoring defense is ranked 19th in the country and second in the Big East at 18.60 points per game and is 16th in the nation and first in the Big East in total defense, giving up just 290.20 yards per game. UConn is also first in the league in pass efficiency defense and ninth in the country.
UConn sophomore Scott Lutrus currently leads the Huskies in tackles with 76 and also had an interception and five pass breakups this year.
Husky junior cornerback Robert McClain made his first start of the season on Saturday vs. Syracuse in placed of the injured Darius Butler. McClain made the most of his opportunity as he returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the game. McClain is tied for the team lead in interceptions with three — and has returned two for TDs.
Husky senior defensive end Cody Brown has 10 sacks on the season for a total loss of 60 yards. He is first in the Big East in that category and ninth in the country. He is second in the Big East in total tackles for loss (1.35 per game).
UConn kicker Dave Teggart has made the first nine field goal attempts of his collegiate career and the nine-straight is already tied for the second-longest streak in school history. Nuzie made 10 straight in 2004 while current Husky Tony Ciaravino had nine in 2007 as did David DeArmas in 1994.
Teggart is the first kicker in school history to successfully convert his first nine field goal attempts. In addition, he is also a perfect nine-for-nine in extra point attempts.
Kendall Reyes and Twyon Martin have moved into the starting lineup on the defensive line.
Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has Tyler Lorenzen ranked as the 7th best QB in the Big East.
Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register has some notes from yesterday’s conference call with Randy Edsall as does John Silver of the Journal Inquirer, Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post and Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant.
Tight end Steve Brouse isn’t quite ready for action yet.
Even though Bulls QB Matt Grothe has had limited practice this week, the Huskies still expect to see him at quarterback on Sunday.
Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post provides us with the edge chart for the game and also has his UConn football notebook.
Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register has his Big East Conference bowl predictions.
Rob Lunn has his look at the South Florida Bulls over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.
Next Week:
The Huskies are off next weekend and will return home to Rentschler Field on December 6th to close out their season against the Pittsburgh Panthers.
