This week:
The UConn Huskies look to help their bowl chances out with another win as they head to Syracuse to take on the Orange Saturday night at the Carrier Dome. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM.
Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Orange.
The Line/Prediction:
According to Yahoo! Sports Odds, the Huskies are favored by 10 points. The over/under is 47.5 points.
My prediction is UConn 31 Syracuse 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 Syracuse area. The game will be played indoors. Here are directions to Carrier Dome, parking information, a seating chart and the stadium policies.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
The UConn vs. Syracuse game will be televised on ESPNU. Clay Matvick is on play-by-play while David Diaz-Infante 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.
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.
Syracuse Radio: All Syracuse games are broadcast on the Syracuse University Radio Network.
Last Week:
The Huskies were off last week and lost their last game played on November 1st 35-13 to the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 35-17 loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights last Saturday.
History:
The two teams have met 4 times with the series being tied 2-2. The Huskies beat the Orange last year 30-7 when they were ranked No. 25 in the country in the AP Poll.
Connections:
UConn head coach Randy Edsall is a 1980 Syracuse graduate and served as an assistant coach for the Orange from 1980-90. Edsall’s wife, Eileen, is also a Syracuse graduate who played basketball and volleyball there
UConn running backs coach Terry Richardson played for Syracuse from 1989-93 and was given the honor of wearing the coveted number 44 as a senior.
UConn defensive backs coach Scott Lakatos was a graduate assistant coach for Syracuse during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
UConn strength and conditioning coordinator Jerry Martin is a 1978 Syracuse graduate and a four-year letterman for the Orange.
Orange wide receivers coach Chris White was a GA at Syracuse during the 1992-93 seasons when Terry Richardson played there. His first season at Syracuse, 1990, was also Edsall’s final year there as an assistant. White was followed as GA at Syracuse by current Husky DB’s mentor Scott Lakatos. White’s uncle, Gerry White, lettered at UConn from 1960-62 and holds the record for longest run in school history with his 99-yard TD scamper against Rhode Island on Nov. 12, 1960.
Syracuse operations director Desmond Robinson was an assistant at UConn from 1982-87. He also coached at West Virginia from 1988-91 and 1995-96 alongside current Husky tight ends coach Dave McMichael.
The Huskies have six native New Yorkers — Brandon Dillon is from Rochester, Rob Lunn and Kevin Poles are from Penfield in the Rochester area, Yianni Apostolakos is from Pittsford, also near Rochester. Terry Baltimore is from Central Nyack and Mike Cox is from West Hempstead.
The Orange do not have any Connecticut natives on their roster.
Other News:
Here are the transcripts of the press conferences of UConn head coach Randy Edsall and Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson.
UConn owns an all-time mark of 13-18 in Big East Conference games since joining the league for football in 2004.
UConn owns an all-time mark of 3-12 in Big East Conference road games, since joining the league in 2004, after the win at Louisville and the loss at Rutgers.
Here’s the categories where UConn is in the top 30 in the latest NCAA statistics:
- Rushing Offense – 20th at 203.56 (Second in Big East)
- Passing Defense – 29th at 184.22 (Second in Big East)
- Pass Eff. Def. – 21st at 108.52 (Second in Big East)
- Total Defense – 27th at 306.11 (Third in Big East)
- Scoring Defense – 24th at 19.11 (Third in Big East)
- Interceptions – t27th with 12 (Tied for first in Big East)
- Sacks Allowed – t9th at 1.00 (First in Big East)
UConn junior running back Donald Brown currently leads the nation in rushing yards at 156.22 yards per game. Javon Ringer of Michigan State is second at 140.73 per game and Shonn Greene of Iowa is next at 137.40. The next Big East Conference performer is LeSean McCoy of Pittsburgh who is 13th at 115.89.
Brown is also tied for ninth in the country in scoring at 10.00 points per game. He is eighth in all-purpose running at 168.78.
Donald Brown is the leading rusher and scorer in the Big East, is seventh in total offense and also first in all purpose yards (168.8) per game.
Here is a summary of where Donald Brown, still a junior, is in the Husky career records books:
- His 30 rushing touchdowns places him third in school history. Wilbur Gilliard (1992-95) leads the way with 34 and Terry Caulley (2002-06) is second with 31.
- Brown now has 3,123 career rushing yards, which is second in school history. Caulley is the leader with 3,187 and Brown now needs 65 yards to break the record.
- Brown now has 585 career rushing attempts, which places him first in school history. Caulley was the previous leader with 570
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 24th in the country and second in the Big East at 19.11 points per game and is 27th in the nation and third in the Big East in total defense, giving up just 306.11 yards per game.
UConn sophomore Scott Lutrus currently leads the Huskies in tackles with 72 and also had an interception and five pass break-ups this year.
Husky senior defensive end Cody Brown has eight sacks on the season for a total loss of 57 yards. He is first in the Big East in that category. He is fourth in the Big East in total tackles for loss (1.17 per game).
Current New York Giants receiver David Tyree will serve as a honorary captain for the Orange tomorrow night.
There are just under 800 tickets left for the season finale against the Pittsburgh Panthers on December 6th.
Jordan Todman and Robert McClain will look to replace Darius Butler on special teams and defense for the Huskies.
Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has a look at the internal affairs of the Big East teams including UConn.
Syracuse running back Curtis Brinkley doesn’t quit.
Give Tyler Lorenzen the credit he deserves.
The home finale for Syracuse means a lot to Bruce Williams.
Brian Bennett of ESPN.com breaks down how the Big East might pan out.
The final three games of the season will determine UConn’s bowl fate.
Randy Edsall is once again being coy about who will start at QB1for the Huskies.
Who has the edge in the game?
Next Week:
The Huskies will head to South Florida to take on the Bulls on Sunday November 23rd. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 PM.
