This week:
The UConn Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon for the final time this season when they’ll host the SMU Mustangs on Senior Day at Rentschler Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
UConn is 2-9 (1-6 American). SMU is 0-11 (0-7 American).
The Line:
According to Rivals.com odds, UConn is favored by 11.5 points. The over/under is 45.5 points.
Tickets:
According to UConn Huskies ticket office, there are still tickets available to Saturday’s game.
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 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.
There is a new route for the Husky Walk as the team arrives for games at Rentschler Field this year and fans get a chance to greet the team as they get off their buses and make their way to the stadium. The Husky walk, which takes place approximately, two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, will now start in the Gray Parking Lots and the team will makes its way to the large tunnel near Gate B.
The UConn team will now do its pregame warmup in front of the UConn student section on the South End of the stadium – a change from previous seasons. The Huskies will enter the stadium for pregame warmups on the concourse of Rentschler Field and go through the student section.
Once again, FanFest takes place starting four hours before kickoff up until 30 minutes before the game 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 break between the third and fourth quarter will feature “Coach D’s Playlist” as fans during the game will get to select a song to play based on a list they saw earlier in the game.
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.
JASPER HOWARD MEMORIAL
A memorial in honor of Jasper Howard, the UConn football student-athlete who tragically lost his life five years ago, was officially dedicated on November 1 at halftime. Funds for the statue were raised in a grassroots fashion with the efforts spearheaded by UConn supporters Dan and Lisa Lowry of Prospect, Conn. The lead gift for the memorial came from former UConn head football coach Randy Edsall, who was Howard’s coach with the Huskies. Donations also came from former Husky student-athletes and fans from around the country.
Howard lost his life on October 18, 2009 – hours after UConn had defeated Louisville at Rentschler Field on Homecoming. Howard recorded a career-high 11 tackles in the contest and a fumble recovery.
Funds will continue to be raised for the Jasper T. Howard Endowed Scholarship Fund at UConn, which is presented annually to a cornerback on the Husky football team who best embodies the qualities of Howard.
For information on how to contribute to that fund, please visit http://s.uconn.edu/howardscholarship.
The statue is made of barre grey granite quarried in Barre, Vt. It is a three-piece memorial that has an overall height of seven feet and weighs 3.25 tons. The top piece of granite is carved into mirror 6’s so whether viewing from the front or back it is a 6 and is colored to replicate the home jersey Howard wore.
The pedestal which the 6 sits on top of is lettered on the East and West facing sides. The east side has a quote from Jasper and is accented by 23kt gold leafed letters. The west side contains a narrative of Jasper’s life and a porcelain picture of Jasper. K. G. Keena Memorials of East Hartford, Manchester Monument Company of Manchester and Wethersfield Monument of Wethersfield designed, created and installed the piece.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
Saturday’s game will be televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan is on play-by-play with Corey Chavous on color and Lauren Gardner on the sideline.
Radio:
The UConn IMG Sports Network is the home of Husky football on the radio. WTIC NewsTalk 1080 in Hartford serves as the flagship station and 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 noon Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway beginning at 5:30 a.m. For noon games, the UConn Tailgate Show airs from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m with Bob Joyce and Nathan. “UConn Football Magazine” begins at 10:30 a.m. as the network pregame show.
Here is a full list of stations on the UConn IMG Radio Network.
The SMU game will also be available on Sirius Radio Channel 108 and XM Channel 202.
SMU Mustangs Radio:
All SMU football games can be heard on the flagship station of SMU football, “The Ticket” 1310 AM/96.7 FM in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Rich Phillips has the play-by-play while Steve Lansdale is on the sidelines.
Last Week:
UConn fell to Memphis 41-10. SMU lost to Houston 35-9.
History:
Saturday’s game is the third meeting between UConn and SMU and the Mustangs lead the series by a 2-0 edge. They won the game last year and also back in 1989.
Connections:
The UConn roster has one Texas native on it – redshirt sophomore center Kyle Bockeloh (Houston).
The SMU roster does not have any Connecticut natives on it.
UConn Notes:
Here is the video from UConn head coach Bob Diaco’s press conference. Here is a transcript of some his remarks from the press conference.
UConn head coach Bob Diaco made his UConn and collegiate head coaching debut on August 29th vs. BYU. Diaco served on the Notre Dame coaching staff as the defensive coordinator for the past four years and the assistant head coach for the past two. He was the 2012 winner of the Frank Broyles Award, given to the top assistant college football coach in the country and was the first Irish assistant to receive the prestigious award.
Here is UConn’s roster and 2014 schedule.
Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.
The captains of the 2014 UConn Huskies football team are Geremy Davis, Byron Jones, Alex Mateas and Marquise Vann.
A total of 14 Husky student-athletes will be honored during Senior Day activities prior to Saturday’s game vs. SMU:
QB Casey Cochran, OG Gus Cruz, WR Geremy Davis, DB Chris DeBerry, WR Deshon Foxx, LB Reuben Frank,
CB Byron Jones, C Alex Mateas, DE B.J. McBryde, LS Adam Mueller, C Bryan Paull, DT Angelo Pruitt, LB Brandon Steg and QB Chandler Whitmer.
Despite UConn having virtually an entire new staff this year, seven of the Huskies’ full-time coaches have previously worked games at Rentschler Field. Head coach Bob Diaco, defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter and assistant coach Wayne Lineburg were on the Virginia staff for a 45-10 Husky win on Sept. 13, 2008; Assistant head coach Don Patterson was on the Buffalo staff for a 24-17 UConn win on Sept. 29, 2012; Offensive coordinator Mike Cummings was on the Western Michigan staff for a 41-27 UConn win on Nov. 1, 2003; Assistant coach Kevin Wolthausen was on the Louisville staff for a 30-20 UConn loss on Dec. 3, 2005. UConn assistant coach Mike Foley is the lone holdover on the staff and is entering his ninth season.
UConn has an all-time record of 50-27 at Rentschler Field and a 27-13 mark in non-conference games.
The Huskies were picked to finish 9th in the American in 2014.
Head coach Bob Diaco and his staff have seen a large number of players get into games this season – many of them first time college performers. Diaco played 57 players against BYU, 55 against Stony Brook, 56 vs. Boise State, 55 vs. USF, 57 vs. Temple, 54 vs. Tulane, 54 vs. East Carolina, 54 vs. UCF, 55 vs. Army, 53 vs. Cincinnati and 54 vs. Memphis.
According to a survey conducted by Arizona State, UConn has the 12th most freshman and sophomores on its two-deep (26), the seventh-fewest seniors on the two-deep (8), and the fourth-fewest total seniors on the roster (12).
Here is a breakdown by class of Husky players who have seen their first collegiate action during the first four games of the 2014 season – a total of 25 players.
True Freshmen (10)
TE Alec Bloom, LB Luke Carrezola, OL Ryan Crozier, LB Vontae Diggs, TE Steve Hashemi, TB Ron Johnson, CB Brice McAllister, RB Arkeel Newsome, OL Trey Rutherford, CB Jamar Summers.
Redshirt Freshmen (10)
H Blake Feagles, DL Folorunso Fatukasi, OL Thomas Hopkins, LB Junior Joseph, WR Thomas Lucas, RB Joshua Marriner, TE Tommy Myers, LB Cole Ormsby, LB Cameron Stapleton, LB Jalen Stevens
Redshirt Sophomores (5)
C Kyle Bockeloh, OT Andreas Knappe, DL Sean Marinan, WR Nick Vitale, P Justin Wain
After throwing for 303 yards at East Carolina on Oct. 23, Chandler Whitmer became one of 11 quarterbacks in the FBS to eclipse 300 in a game in each of the past three seasons.
The list is:
Geremy Davis has made a reception in 35-straight games, dating back to the 2011 season, the 12th-longest such streak in the country.
Deshon Foxx has UConn’slongest reception, rush and punt return of the 2014 season had an 88-yard TD pass reception from Whitmer vs. East Carolina. The play was the fourth-longest pass in school history and the longest since a 90-yarder from Dan Orlovsky to Jason Williams against Temple in 2004. He also has a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown this season that came against Stony Brook. He had a 68-yard rushing TD against UCF (Nov. 1) early in the second quarter that tied the game at 7-7. Foxx had the rush running out the option as a quarterback.
Senior cornerback Byron Jones (New Britain, Conn.), who saw his UConn career end against East Carolina, had a 70-yard interception return for a TD late in the first half of the USF game on Sept. 19. Jones also has a career fumble return for a touchdown and became just the third Husky player to have a fumble return for a TD and an interception TD in a career. Jones fumble return for a TD also came against USF – in a 16-10 UConn win in 2011.
The UConn defense is ranked 52nd in the country in total defense at 374.6 yards per game. UConn is ranked 59th nationally in rushing defense (160.1 ypg). UConn is 38th in the country and second in the conference in punt returns at 9.67 yards per return.
Preseason Award Watch Lists:
Geremy Davis
Casey Cochran
Notes from this week’s opponent SMU:
SMU interim head coach Tom Mason is in his seventh season as a member of the SMU coaching staff and has been serving as the team’s interim head coach since September 8, 2014. He remains in his role as defensive coordinator as well. Prior to arriving at SMU, he was on the coaching staff at Fresno State for seven seasons from 2001-07. In college, he has also coached at Nevada (1998-99), Northern Iowa (1997-98), Boise State (1993-96), Portland State (1982-86) and Eastern Washington (1981-85).
Here is SMU’s depth chart for the game.
Here are SMU’s 2014 roster and 2014 schedule.
SMU announced the hiring of Chad Morris as its new Head Football Coach on Dec. 1. Morris comes from Clemson, where he had served as Offensive Coordinator for the past four seasons. He helped the Tigers go 41-11 during his time in Death Valley, including four bowl berths and the 2011 ACC Championship. Morris, who was born in Dallas, spent 16 seasons as a coach in the Texas high school ranks.
SMU is one of just 20 schools that has both a Heisman Trophy winner (Doak Walker, 1948) and multiple National Championships (1935, 1981, 1982).
SMU Athletics has entered into a multiyear partnership with Unequal® Technologies, the leading provider of customized, concealed sports protection. Unequal will be The Official Protection Partner of SMU Football, and each SMU football helmet will be outfitted with the Unequal Gyro, a supplemental helmet liner fortified with Kevlar® and Accelleron®, which predicts a significantly lower risk of concussions. SMU is the first NCAA Division I football program to partner with Unequal for team-wide protective gear.
Senior linebacker/running back Kevin Pope has started at both running back and linebacker for the Mustangs this
season. He hs played four games at linebacker full-time for SMU this season after playing five games primarily at running back.
SMU has used four different starting quarterbacks this season – sophomore Neal Burcham (Aug. 31-Sept. 6), redshirt freshman Kolney Cassel (Sept. 20), junior Garrett Krstich (Sept. 27-Oct. 25) and sophomore Matt Davis (Nov. 8-28).
Sophomore receiver/kick returner Deion Sanders Jr., totaled 203 kick return yards at UCF on Nov. 22, setting a new SMU single-game record in that category.
Prior to the 2009 season, the SMU coaching staff announced that a deserving student-athlete would be chosen to wear the number “23” on his jersey throughout the season to honor Jerry LeVias for his contributions to America, the sport of football and SMU. Stephon Sanders has the honor again in 2014.
SMU senior wide receiver Stephen Nelson has been nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given annually to the Division I collegiate player who began their career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field.
Thursday UConn Football Links:
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Video: UConn WR Deshon Foxx Hopes For Chance At NFL [sox & dawgs]
UConn in NFL: Week 13 report [jim fuller – new haven register]
McBryde leaving UConn with lasting memories, NFL dreams [jim fuller – new haven register]
UConn’s B.J. McBryde Hopes To Keep Playing After Saturday [hartford courant]
Next Week:
The season is over for UConn.
Boatright is one of just two players from the American Athletic Conference who made the list, the other being Nic Moore of SMU. Boatright, an All-Final Four selection last season as he helped the Huskies capture the NCAA Championship, has also been named to the watch lists of the John R. Wooden Award and the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award.