This week:

After falling last week, the UConn Huskies will close out the home portion of their 2011 schedule when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday at noon at Rentschler Field.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Scarlet Knights.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com odds, Rutgers is favored by four points. The over/under is 40.5 points.

My prediction for the game is Rutgers 24 UConn 13.

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. 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. This year, it moves to 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 team signing autographs.

The “Husky Walk” is a chance for fans to welcome the UConn teams as they get off the team buses and head to the stadium. That takes place at 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 will be televised nationally by ESPN2. Beth Mowins is on play-by-play while Mike Bellotti is on color.

The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. The game will be replayed in its entirity on Wednesday, Nov.30 at 10:00 p.m.

SNY will also run a “Husky Power House” on Christmas Day, Dec. 25 when eight games will be shown between 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for holiday viewing.

Radio:

For the 20th 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 announcer Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Kevin Nathan (color) are working the Rutgers game with Bob Joyce on the sidelines.

The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Arnold Dean. 

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.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Radio:

All Rutgers football games will be broadcast over the Rutgers Radio Network to 50,000 watt WOR 710-AM in New York City, Central Jersey’s WCTC 1450-AM and 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia and South Jersey.

Chris Carlin will have the call with Ray Lucas (analyst) and Anthony Fucilli (sideline reporter).

Marc Malusis returns for his third year as the pre-game and post-game host on the Rutgers Radio Network. The pre-game shows starts one hour prior to kickoff while the post-game show stays on the air one hour following the game. Eric LeGrand works as the analyst.

To continue reading the Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ UConn Huskies preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week:

The Huskies lost to the Louisville Cardinals 34-20. The Scarlet Knights beat the Cincinnati Bearcats 20-3.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the 31st meeting between UConn and Rutgers in a series that dates back to 1940. The Scarlet Knights hold a 21-9 edge and Rutgers has won five of the past nine meetings. Seven of the last nine most recent meetings have been settled by a touchdown or less. Since UConn joined the BIG EAST in football in 2004, Rutgers holds a 5-2 edge.

Connections:

• UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has a 12-2 head coaching record against Rutgers from his time as head coach at Syacuse. The Orange and Rutgers met every year during Pasqualoni’s time at Syracuse. He won his first eight games vs. Rutgers from 1991 to ‘98 and then lost to Rutgers in ‘99 and 2003.
• The UConn roster has eight players from the state of New Jersey on its roster: transfer Ryan Donohue of Montvale, Dwayne Gratz of Piscataway, David Kenney of Highstown, Kashif Moore of Burlington, Andrew Opoku of North Brunswick, Jerome Williams of Burlington Township, Nick Willliams of East Windsor and Ryan Wirth of Medford.
• Rutgers has two players from Connecticut – Marcus Cooper of Bloomfield and Mark Harrison of Stratford.
• UConn offensive line coach Mike Foley worked alongside RU co-defensive coordinator coach Bob Fraser at Colgate from 1998-2005.
• UConn offensive coordinator George DeLeone was an assistant coach on defense at Rutgers from 1980-83.

Other UConn News:

Here is the video of UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference. If you don’t have time to watch, here are the quotes from Pasqualoni’s press conference as well quotes from some of the players.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

Saturday’s game vs. Rutgers will be the final game at Rentschler Field for 13 seniors. This class has been part of two BIG EAST Championships and four bowl games, including UConn’s first in a BCS game.

The seniors are: safety Harris Agbor (Mesquite, Texas), guard Gary Bardzak (Mar Lin, Pa.), linebaker Kijuan Dabney (Houston, Texas), fullback Mark Hinkley (Kanehoe, Hawaii), running back Jonathan Jean-Louis (Cambridge, Mass.), defensive tackle Twyon Martin (Parkland, Fla.), wide receiver Isiah Moore (Cambridge, Mass.), wide receiver Kashif Moore (Burlington, N.J.), center Moe Petrus (St. Laudent, Que.), defensive tackle Kendall Reyes (Nashua, N.H.), offensive tackle Mike Ryan (Tamaqua, Pa.), kicker Dave Teggart (Northborough, Mass.) and cornerback Gary Wilburn (Washington, Ga.)

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has won more BIG EAST Conference games (league contests only) than any other coach in history. Pasqualoni has 64 league wins from 1991-2004 and 2011 while Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech is second with 57.

With his four wins this year, Pasqauloni is also first in league history in overall wins with 111 to top the mark of Beamer with 108. The distant third is Don Nehlen of West Virginia at 61.

Pasqualoni became the first Husky coach since 1923 to win his UConn coaching debut. The last coach to win a Husky debut was Sumner Dole in 1923.

With four wins on the season, the Huskies need to win their final two of the regular season to become bowl eligible. The 2010 UConn football team won the BIG EAST Championship and advanced to play in the school’s first-ever BCS game — the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. UConn has made the bowl eligible mark for the sixth time in the past eight seasons — and the fourth consecutive.

A number of members of the 2011 Huskies were named to preseason “Watch Lists” for 2011. They are:

• Sophomore Tight End Ryan Griffin (Londonberry, N.H.)
  
  • John Mackey Award Watch List/Midseason Watch List
• Senior Kicker Dave Teggart (Northborough, Mass.)
  
  • Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award
• Senior Defensive Tackle Kendall Reyes (Nashua, N.H.)
  
  • Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in the country
  • Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the best defensive player in the country;
  • Lombardi Award, given to the best offensive or defensive lineman in the country.
• Senior center Moe Petrus (St. Laurent, Que.)
  
  • Outland Trophy
  • Lombardi Award
• Senior offensive tackle Mike Ryan (Tamaqua, Pa.)
  
  • Lombardi Award

UConn owns an all-time mark of 24-29 in BIG EAST Conference games since joining the league for football in 2004. The Huskies posted their best conference record with a 5-2 mark in 2007 and ‘10.

UConn had a five-game BIG EAST Conference games win streak broken on Oct. 8 at West Virginia. It was the longest in school history.

Here are the categories where UConn is ranked in the top 40 in the 2011 NCAA statistics:

• Rushing Defense – 6th at 93.50 yards (First in BIG EAST)
• Kickoff Return – 34th at 23.26 yards (Fourth in BIG EAST)
• Turnover Margin – t34th at 0.3 (Fourth in BIG EAST)
• Sacks – 22nd at 2.60 (Sixth in BIG EAST)
• TFL – 22nd at 7.00 (Sixth in BIG EAST)

Individual leaders

• Rushing – Lyle McCombs, 22nd at 101.50 (2nd in BIG EAST)
• FGoals – Dave Teggart, t8th at 1.60 (t1st) in BIG EAST)
• Sacks – Trevardo Williams, t10th at 0.85 (2nd in BIG EAST)
• TFL – Sio Moore, t25th at 1.30 (Fourth in BIG EAST)
  Kendall Reyes, 48th at 1.15 (Ninth in BIG EAST)

Notes from this week’s opponent Rutgers:

Here’s the video of Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano’s press conference. If you don’t have time to watch the video, here’s the transcript of Schiano’s press conference.

Rutgers will look to become the first team in BIG EAST history to go from last place to first place with a win Saturday at Connecticut. No team in the BIG EAST has ever finished in last place in one season and win the league championship the following season.

For just the second time in school history, Rutgers plays its final game of the regular season with a share of first place in the BIG EAST on the line Saturday vs. Connecticut. The Scarlet Knights can earn a share of the conference title if they defeat the Huskies.

Rutgers was selected to finish last in the 2011 BIG EAST Media Preseason Poll. With a win Saturday, the Scarlet Knights would become the first team in league history to earn a share of the conference title after being selected last in the preseason poll.

A victory Saturday vs. UConn would give Rutgers a nine-win regular season for the sixth time in school history. It would mark only the second nine-win regular season since Rutgers has played a schedule of mostly Football Bowl Championship opponents.

Rutgers became bowl-eligible for the sixth time in seven years with its 20-17 overtime victory over USF on Nov. 5. The Scarlet Knights have been to five bowls over the previous six seasons, including four straight wins in post-season play.

Mohamed Sanu is third nationally with 100 receptions in 2011. Sanu has gone over the 100-yard mark in six games in 2011 and has six games of double-digit receptions this season.

The Rutgers defense has been at its best in forcing turnovers in 2011. The Scarlet Knights are tied for third nationally with 30 turnovers gained. In 2010, RU forced just 22 turnovers the entire season. Rutgers has forced four or more turnovers in five games in 2011.

Rutgers has assembled one of the top pass defenses in the country. The Scarlet Knights are ninth in pass defense, allowing just 173.5 yards per game. Rutgers is also seventh in pass efficiency defense (103.26) and ninth nationally in scoring defense (16.8).

RU has allowed just one opponent to throw for over 300 yards this season – Ohio (339).

Friday UConn Football Links:

Game Preview – Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Connecticut Huskies [BigEast.org]

Football Recruits On Official Visits At UConnThis Weekend [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Next Week:

The Huskies take to the road to close out their 2011 season as they’ll be at Nippert Stadium for a noon kickoff against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they’ll take on the Central Florida Knights in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on Versus.

It’s also game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they’ll take on the FDU Knights in the first round of the World Vision Classic. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

The UConn football links can be found in the Friday football links section of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs UConn Huskies preview.

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn 73, UNC Asheville 63: Jim Calhoun’s take [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn 73, UNC Asheville 63: Wrapping Things Up [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Notes/Quotes from UNC Asheville: Big men still struggling [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinal: UCF vs. UConn [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Alex Oriakhi is about to get benched, lose his twitter privileges for a long time [The UConn Blog]

Flaws in Paradise [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Lamb, Napier lead UConn [CT Post]

UConn men: What we learned [CT Post]

TV rights not a priority yet for Battle 4 Atlantis [CT Post]

UConn Defeats UNC Asheville 73-63 In Battle 4 Atlantis [Hartford Courant]

Huskies Up Against Jordan Brand [Hartford Courant]

UConn win their first game, but what’s their mindset? [HDNet]

Jim Calhoun, UConn Seek to Defend National Title Without Kemba Walker, Appear Up to Challenge [NESN.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Hayes Doing Much More Than Scoring For The Huskies [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Huskies Host World Vision Classic This Weekend [UConnHuskies.com]

Kiah Stokes ready to contribute [New Haven Register]

UConn women play first of three straight games tonight [The Day]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

If there’s been one constant for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team this season, it’s been the play of sophomores Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb.

And it was that duo of Napier and Lamb who helped the Huskies to a 73-63 win over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena at Atlantis in the Bahamas.

The Huskies (5-0) advance to the semifinals tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. where they’ll take on the Central Florida Knights who beat the College of Charleston earlier in the day. UNC Asheville (2-3) will take on the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. in the losers bracket.

Napier and Lamb led all scorers in the game with 23 points each. Napier added seven assists while Lamb pulled down six rebounds. Andre Drummond made the first start of his career and scored nine points while grabbing five boards in 22 minutes. Roscoe Smith shared team-high rebounding honors with Lamb with six to go along with his seven points.

Matt Dickey paced the Bulldogs with 18 points while Jeremy Atkinson added 14 points and led all rebounders in the game with nine.  J.P. Primm chipped in with 10 points and had seven assists with Chris Stephenson adding nine points.

UConn got out of the gates quickly in this one as they raced out to a 16-3 lead. The Bulldogs would fight back though as they worked the lead down to eight when Primm hit a jumper with 11:07 to go in the first half.

From there, UConn would keep the lead between 10-14 points before an Alex Oriakhi old fashioned three point play pushed it to 17 points at 34-17 with 4:50 left in the half. The Bulldogs didn’t rollover and wait for their bellies to be rubbed though as they fought back with a 9-0 run to cut UConn’s lead to eight. Napier would send the Huskies into the locker room with a 11 point lead at 39-28 when he nailed a long range three with four seconds left.

The final outcome of this one was never in doubt during the second half.

The Bulldogs would get as close as seven points early in the half but for the most part UConn kept the lead around 10 points to help themselves get to the second round tomorrow.

With three games in three days and the quick turnaround tomorrow, you have wonder how tired Napier and Lamb will be after both playing 39 minutes on Thursday night. If this was later in the season though it might be a problem. After all, they both played five straight games in March. So this is probably nothing for both of them.

The good news for us Huskies fans who didn’t have HDNet and had to resort to other measures to watch the game, tomorrow’s game will be shown on Versus which means most of us can watch it.

To continue reading the UNC Asheville Bulldogs vs UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

UNC Asheville Bulldogs vs UConn Huskies 11.24.11 Battle 4 Atlantis box score

The starters for UConn were Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Tyler Olander and Andre Drummond.

UConn shot 53.2% (25-47) from the floor while the Bulldogs shot 41.1% (23-56).

The Huskies had 16 assists on their 25 made baskets.

UConn was 9-of-22 (40.9%) from three point land while UNC Asheville was 7-of-23 (30.4%).

I was a little happier with the Huskies from the charity stripe. They were 14-of-19 (73.7%).

UConn won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 34-24.

The Huskies outscored UNC Asheville 27-24 in the paint and 6-4 on the fast break.

UConn had 12 points off of 12 Bulldogs turnovers. UNC Asheville had 17 points off of 19 UConn turnovers.

Both teams had six second chance points.

UNC Asheville never held a lead in the game.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s gameday for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they’ll take on the UNC Asheville Bulldogs tonight at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The game will be televised on HDNet where available.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Dyson, Sticks, Okwandu on ‘D’ League Rosters [David Borges – New Haven Register]

UNC Asheville Poses Next Challenge for UConn [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

It’s a Scream: UConn’s Roscoe Smith Takes a Leap in Atlantis [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

For UConn, Look For ‘Amazing’ Experience In The Carrier Classic [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Media Day in Atlantis: Roscoe’s Plunge, UNC Asheville ready [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Huskies head south (for 3 more wins) [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

UNC Asheville won’t be bashful in battling UConn [CT Post]

Jim Calhoun, Other Coaches, See Exotic Trips As Bonding Experiences [Hartford Courant]

UNC-Asheville Up For UConn’s Challenge [Hartford Courant]

Maui 2.0? [Journal Inquirer]

Huskies may get a Battle in Atlantis [New Haven Register]

UConn is off to the Bahamas [The Day]

UConn men’s basketball glance [The Hour]

UConn Football links

DC answered a question in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

UConn transfers making some noise [Owen Poole – The Day]

Giants LT Will Beatty, a UConn product, to have eye surgery [CT Post]

Kashif Moore Can’t Wait For UConn’s Senior Day [Hartford Courant]

Schiano, Rutgers Have Turned It Around [Hartford Courant]

Rutgers football concerned about Connecticut’s multi-dimensional offense [The Star-Ledger]

Huskies’ Lyle McCombs focused on salvaging season [The Star-Ledger]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Moriah Jefferson off to impressive start [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Mosqueda-Lewis Flashed Plenty Of Star Power Vs. Stanford [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

No. 2 UConn Takes Lessons From Stanford Game Into Holiday Tournament [Hartford Courant]

UConn helps Big East earn an ‘A’ [ESPNHS]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

According to several media outlets, the Boston Red Sox have decided to offer arbitration to David Ortiz and Dan Wheeler. They had until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night to do so.

This means a few things for the Red Sox.

With the new CBA done, Ortiz is still a Type A free agent. So if he decides to sign with another team, the Red Sox will still receive two draft picks as compensation, a first rounder and a supplemental pick. They’ve already picked up two draft picks when the Phillies signed Jonathan Papelbon as he also fell under the new rules of compensation in the new CBA.

Ortiz can accept the offer and come back on a one-year deal worth more than the $12.5 million he made last year. It’s still quite possible he and the Red Sox can work out a new deal.

The move to offer arbitration to Wheeler is a little bit odd to me.

They had previously declined a contract option on him worth $3 million for 2012. Now by offering him arbitration should he accept, he’ll make more. They would receive a draft pick as compensation if he decides to sign with another team. According to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, if Wheeler accepts, they’ll have to offer him at least $2.4 million.

Both players now have until December 7th to decide whether or not to accept the offer of arbitration from the Red Sox. If you’re Wheeler, I don’t see how you say no.

The Red Sox didn’t offer arbitration to Erik Bedard, J.D. Drew, Conor Jackson, Trever Miller, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.