This week:
The UConn Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they’ll host the Stony Brook Seawolves at Rentschler Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
The Line:
There is no line on the game that I could find as Stony Brook is a FCS team.
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.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
Saturday’s game will be televised by SNY with Eric Frede on play-by-play and former UConn letterwinner (2000-03) Sean Mulcahy on color.
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 Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray beginning at 6:00 a.m. For noon games, the UConn Tailgate Show airs from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m with Bob Joyce and Nathan. The pregame show begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the game and then postgame “Husky Talk” with Nathan.
The Stony Brook game will also be available on Sirius Radio Channel 117 and XM Channel 202.
Here is a full list of stations on the UConn IMG Radio Network.
Stony Brook Seawolves Radio:
Stony Brook fans can listen to game online at PackNetwork.com/StonyBrook as Andy Towne (PBP) and Curt Hylton (color) will have the call.
Last Week:
UConn fell to BYU 35-10 while Stony Brook lost to Bryant 13-7.
History:
Saturday’s game is the first-ever meeting between UConn and Stony Brook, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in the sport of football.
Connections:
UConn has eight players from the state of New York on its team: junior WR John-Luke Bogue (New Rochelle), freshman DL Folorunso Fatukasi (Far Rockaway), senior LB Reuben Frank (Poughkeepsie), freshman OL Thomas Hopkins (Hawthorne), junior S Junior Lee (Brooklyn), junior LS Dominick Manco (Lagrangeville), sophomore DT Mikal Myers (Newburgh) and freshman LB Cameron Stapleton (Staten Island).
Stony Brook has five players from Connecticut on its team: freshman QB Joe Carbone (Wethersfield), sophomore WR Pat D’Amato (Wethersfield), freshman tight end Cal Daniels (Bethel.), freshman tight end P.J. Edwards (West Hartford), senior tight end Will Tye (Middletown).
D’Amato and Carbone — were high school teammates of UConn’s Sean Marinan, James Sullivan and Tim Boyle
Daniels’ father, Scott, played football at UConn from 1984-87 and was a member of the Huskies’ 100th Anniversary Team.
Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore was the head coach at Trinity in Hartford from 2000-05.
Stony Brook head athletic trainer Mary Tovornik was an assistant athletic trainer at UConn from 1997-2004.
UConn redshirt sophomore Nick Vitale transferred from Stony Brook.
Stony Brook head men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell is a 1991 UConn graduate.
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 last Friday night 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.
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.
Connecticut boasts a 45-27 record against non-conference opponents in the regular season since making the move to the FBS in 2002. The Huskies have won 20 of their last 33 regular season non-league games overall. UConn has posted the following records in non-conference regular season games: 6-6 (2002), 9-3 (2003), 4-1 (2004), 3-1 (2005), 3-2 (2006), 4-1 (2007), 4-1 (2008), 4-1 (2009), 3-2 (2010), 2-3 (2011), 3-2 (2012) and 0-4 (2013), 0-1 (2014).
UConn is now 9-4 in season openers since making the jump to then-Division I-A in 2002. UConn has won nine of its 12 season openers at Rentschler Field (2003-Indiana, 2004-Murray State, 2005-Buffalo, 2006-Rhode Island, 2008-Hofstra, 2010-Texas Southern, 2011-Fordham, 2012-UMass) and also downed Duke, 45-14, in Durham, to open the 2007 season and Ohio University, 23-16 in Athens, to open 2009.
UConn has an all-time record of 48-25 at Rentschler Field and a 26-12 mark in non-conference games. UConn has played to 90.6-pct. of capacity all-time there, drawing 2,609,22 fans, or an average of 36,239 per game.
The Huskies were picked to finish 9th in the American in 2014.
The Huskies played a total of 57 players against BYU and 19 of them (33.3%) where making their first collegiate appearance. Among the highlights were redshirt freshman Joshua Marriner (Chesapeake, Va.) rushing for UConn’s lone touchdown of the night; freshman Arkeel Newsome (Ansonia, Conn.) making an 18-yard reception the first quarter; redshirt sophomore punter Justin Wain (Wilmington, N.C.) averaging 35.8 yards on four punts; redshirt freshman Tommy Myers (Coventry, Conn.) making his first career reception in the third quarter; redshirt freshman linebacker Cameron Stapleton (Staten Island, N.Y.) combining on a second-quarter sack; freshman tight end Alec Bloom (Ligonier, Pa.) having two receptions for 24 yards.
Other Huskies making their collegiate debuts: redshirt sophomore C Kyle Bockeloh (Houston, Texas), freshman LB Luke Carrezola (Langhorne, Pa.), freshman OL Ryan Crozier (Plantation, Fla.), senior DB Chris DeBerry (Torrington, Conn.), freshman LB Vontae Diggs (Downers Grove, Ill.), redshirt freshman H Blake Feagles (Ridgewood, N.J.), redshirt freshman DL Foley Fatukasi (Far Rockaway, N.Y.), redshirt freshman OL Tommy Hopkins (Hawthorne, N.Y.), redshirt freshman LB Junior Joseph (Sinking Springs, Pa.), freshman TB Ron Johnson (Naples, Fla.), redshirt freshman LB Cole Ormsby (Windsor, Conn.), freshman OL Trey Rutherford (Markham, Ont.) and freshman CB Jamar Summers (East Orange, N.J.).
Preseason Award Watch Lists:
Geremy Davis
Casey Cochran
Notes from this week’s opponent Stony Brook:
Chuck Priore is in his ninth season as the head coach at Stony Brook and has an overall record of 52-41 at the school and a 91-50 overall record as a head coach. During his time at Stony Brook, he has led the Seawolves to appearances in the NCAA FCS playoffs twice – in 2011 and ’12 – and the team advanced to the second round both times. He has led Stony Brook to six league championships. From 2000-05, Priore was the head coach at Trinity in Hartford and led the Bantams to four league championships and undefeated seasons in his last three years. He has also coached at Albany (1983-85), Union (1986-91) and Penn (1992-99). He is a 1982 Albany graduate and was a fullback in college.
Here is Stony Brook’s depth chart for the game.
Here are Stony Brook’s 2014 roster and 2014 schedule.
Saturday’s game against Connecticut will be the seventh contest all-time against an FBS program. The Seawolves are 1-5, earning a win over Army in 2012.
Stony Brook’s first FBS game was against the University of South Florida in 2010. The Seawolves are scheduled to face Temple in 2016.
There will be two first-time wrinkles in the 2014 Stony Brook schedule. For the first time in school history, Stony Brook will play 12 games, including six at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
Stacey Bedell (Massachusetts), Rahim Cassell (Oregon), Shane Johnson (Pittsburgh), John Kinder (Syracuse) and Kye Morgan (Virginia) each are FBS transfers who will play for Stony Brook in 2014. The Seawolves have featured FBS transfers from the Pac-12, American Athletic Conference, Big 12, Big 10 and ACC.
Stony Brook’s 2014 captains will be led by a trio of seniors – OL Mike Lisi, OL Cody Precht, DB Christian Ricard and TE Will Tye
Thursday UConn Football Links:
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Video: UConn WR Kamal Abrams Dealing With Loss of Close Friend [sox & dawgs]
Joseph makes impact in first UConn game [jim fuller – new haven register]
Diaco not concerned about UConn’s ability to rush the passer [jim fuller – new haven register]
After BYU, UConn Realizes Offense Needs To Step It Up [hartford courant]
All hands on deck [journal inquirer]
UConn to Build Memorial for Slain Football Player [nbc connecticut]
The First Sad Field Goal of 2014 [every day should be saturday]
Next Week:
UConn will host the Boise State Broncos on Saturday, September 13 at 12 p.m. at Rentschler Field.
Vaive, a fourth-year pro out of Miami University (Ohio), skated in 27 games with the Wolf Pack in 2013-14, after signing a Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement January 11. In those 27 contests, the 6-4, 210-pound Buffalo, NY native scored one goal and added four assists for five points, and served 31 minutes in penalties. In 13 games with the Wolf Pack’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors, Vaive struck for ten goals and eight assists for 18 points, while logging 20 PIM. In the ECHL postseason, he tied for second on the Road Warrior team in goals, with six, and chipped in five assists for 11 points, in 13 contests.
