This week:

The UConn Huskies hit the road as they open up Big East play this Saturday in Piscataway, NJ against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.

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

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com odds, Rutgers is favored by 7.5 points and the over/under is 40.5 points.

My prediction is Rutgers 27 UConn 23.

Tickets:

According to the Rutgers ticket website, there are still tickets available to the game. As of 10/3, there are 2,000 tickets left.

Getting To The Game:

Here is the weather forecast for Piscataway, NJ. Here are directions, a seating chart, parking info for High Point Solutions Stadium as well as Rutgers stadium policies.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game is being televised live nationally by ESPNU. Tom Hart is on play-by-play with John Congemi on color. It is also available on ESPN3 in certain parts of the country.

The game will be replayed in its entirety on SNY on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. and in a condensed “Husky Power Hour” version on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Monday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. (Connecticut only) and Wednesday, Oct. 10 at noon (Connecticut only).

Radio:

For the 21st consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the IMG/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.

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. The UConn Tailgate Show will air from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. with Kevin Nathan and Bob Joyce. The pregame show begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by the game and then postgame “Husky Talk” with Kevin Nathan

UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. Here is a  full list of stations on the UConn IMG Sports Radio Network.

Rutgers Radio:

Coverage on the Rutgers Radio Network begins at 11 a.m. on WOR-710 AM in New York City, WCTC-1450 AM in Central Jersey and WIP-610 AM in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Chris Carlin (play-by-play), Ray Lucas (color analyst) and Anthony Fucilli (sideline) have the call. Marc Malusis (studio host) and Eric LeGrand (analyst) handle the pre and post-game duties.

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

Last Week:

UConn beat Buffalo 24-17 at home. The Scarlet Knights were off last week. They last played on September 22nd when the beat the Arkansas Razorbacks 32-26 in Little Rock, AR.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the 32nd meeting between UConn and Rutgers in a series that dates back to 1940. The Scarlet Knights hold a 21-10 edge and the teams have split their past ten meetings. Seven of the last ten most recent meetings have been settled by a touchdown or less. Since UConn joined the BIG EAST in football in 2004, Rutgers holds a 5-3 edge.

Connections:

UConn has 12 players on its team from New Jersey: FB-LB Jazzmar Clax (Freehold), LB Ryan Donohue (Montvale), CB Dwayne Gratz (Piscataway), TE James Horan (Rockaway), S David Kenney (Highstown), OT Richard Levy (Trenton), WR Shakim Phillips (Paterson), OG Tyler Samra (Wycoff), LB Omaine Stephens (East Orange), LB-FB Wyatt Vinci (Ridgewood) WR/R Nick Williams (East Windsor) and DT Ryan Wirth (Medford).

Rutgers has two players from Connecticut: DB Marcus Cooper (Bloomfield) and WR Mark Harrison (Stratford).

Rutgers offensive coordinator/WR coach Dave Brock was an assistant at Western Connecticut (1991-93).

Rutgers running backs coach Norries Wilson was the offensive coordinator (2002-05) and offensive line coach (1999-2001) at UConn and he was also the head coach at Columbia (2006-11).

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has a 13-2 head coaching record against Rutgers from his time as head coach at Syacuse and last year’s win as UConn’s head coach. 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.

UConn offensive coordinator George DeLeone was an assistant coach on defense at Rutgers from 1980-83.

Other UConn News:

Here are the quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference as well quotes from some of the players.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

Four members of the University of Connecticut football team were named to seven major award watch lists over the course of the 2012 preseason.

Senior Tight End Ryan Griffin

• John Mackey Award Watch List
• Lombardi Award Watch List

Sophomore Running Back Lyle McCombs

• Doak Walker Award Watch List
• Maxwell Award Watch List

Senior Linebacker Sio Moore

• Butkus Award Watch List
• Lombardi Award Watch List

Senior Defensive End Trevardo Williams

• Bednarik Award Watch List
• Lombardi Award Watch List
• Nagursky Trophy Watch List

Sophomore Linebacker Yawin Smallwood

• Nagursky Trophy Watch List (added on September 18, 2012)

The following four Huskies were named team captains for the season in the week prior to the season opener vs. UMass – redshirt senior outside linebacker Jory Johnson (Mobile, Ala.), redshirt senior offensive tackle Adam Masters (Bethesda, Md.), senior wide receiver Nick Williams (East Windsor, N.J.) and redshirt senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson (Edinboro, Pa.).

Pasqualoni is the all-time winningest coach in BIG EAST Conference league wins with 65 and overall wins with 113. He is just one of two league coaches in history to win four BIG EAST Championships. His overall college coaching record stands at 149-84-1 (34-17 at WCSU, 107-59-1 at Syracuse and 8-9 at UConn).

Connecticut begins its ninth season of BIG EAST Conference play on Saturday vs. Rutgers. UConn has a 3-5 record in BIG EAST openers, including a 43-16 loss at West Virginia last season. They’ve lost their last three Big East openers.

UConn owns an all-time mark of 25-30 in BIG EAST Conference games since joining the league for football in 2004.

UConn is 5-21 on the road in Big East play.

The Huskies finished non-conference play at 3-2.

UConn last faced a ranked opponent on October 8, 2011 at West Virginia.

Linebacker Jory Johnson was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after a career-high 14 tackles against Buffalo.

UConn was one of seven charter members of the BIG EAST Conference when the league was founded in 1979 and UConn is the only founding school that is currently playing football in the league and scheduled to do so in the future. The other five original members were Boston College, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Providence, Georgetown and St. John’s.

Here is where UConn stands in the lastest NCAA statistics:

• Total Defense – 6th at 242.60 yards per game
• Rushing Defense – 6th at 74.20 yards per game
• Passing Defense – 14th at 168.40 yards per game
• Scoring Defense – 23rd at 15.60 points per game
• Sacks – 13th at 3.20 per game
• Tackles For Loss – 19th at 7.80 per game
• Total Offense – 106th at 323.80 yards per game
• Rushing Offense – 109th at 112.00 yards per game
• Passing Offense – 84th at 211.80 yards per game
• Scoring Offense – 92nd at 23.20 points per game
• Punt Returns – 13th at 17.27 yards per return

Here is where UConn individuals stand in NCAA leaders

• Trevardo Williams – t8th in sacks at 1.30 per game (leads BIG EAST)
• Yawin Smallwood t9th in tackles for loss at 2.00 per game (leads BIG EAST)
  t41st in sacks at 0.80 per game
  t14th in tackles at 10.60 per game (leads BIG EAST)
• Nick Williams 16th in punt returns at 16.90 per return
  34th in kickoff returns at 24.44 yards per return

Notes from this week’s opponent Rutgers:

Here is video of Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood’s press conference.

Kyle Flood is in his first year as the head coach at Rutgers and is in his first year as a collegiate head coach. He had served on the Rutgers staff for the previous seven seasons and also had assistant coaching stints at C.W. Post (1995-96), Hofstra (1997-2001), Delaware (2002-05). He was part of the coaching staff that led the Blue Hens to the 2003 NCAA FCS Championship. Flood is a 1993 Iona College graduate. The last time Rutgers promoted an assistant coach on staff to the head coaching position was the naming of Frank Burns to replace John Bateman in 1973 — and Burns became the winningest coach in school history.

Rutgers will debut its new black uniforms Saturday as all fans in the stadium are asked to wear black for a stadium blackout vs. the Huskies.

Rutgers hasn’t been ranked in both polls since September 30, 2007.

With a win:

• Rutgers would win a game as a ranked team for the first time since 2007.
• Start the season 5-0 for the seventh time in 143 seasons of college football.
• Kyle Flood would become the second coach in school history to start 5-0. The only first-year RU head coach to begin 5-0 was John Bateman in 1960. Bateman guided the Scarlet Knights to an 8-1 record, including wins in his first five games as head coach.

Rutgers is 81-91-2 all-time against current members of the BIG EAST.

Rutgers looks to become 2-0 in the BIG EAST for only the third time since the BIG EAST began play in 1991. The only other years RU started 2-0 in conference play was 2011 (19-16 2OT win at Syracuse; 34-10 win vs. Pitt) and 2006 (22-20 win at USF; 20-10 win at Pitt).

The Scarlet Knights are 9-12 all-time in BIG EAST home openers, including victories in each of the last two years in conference home openers.

Rutgers is the only team in the nation to win three road games in the month of September in 2012.

Former Rutgers head coach and player Frank Robert Burns passed away on July 14, 2012. In 2012, every Scarlet Knight will wear a “FRB” sticker on their helmet in honor of Burns.

Thursday UConn Football Links:

Video: Big East’s best LBs face off this week [andrea adelson – espn.com]

Big East predictions: Week 6 [andrea adelson – espn.com]

UConn Defensive Coordinator Don Brown On Last Week (Buffalo), This Week (Rutgers), A Little In Between [desmond conner – hartford courant]

DC also answered some questions in his mailbag [desmond conner – hartford courant]

What to watch in the Big East: Week 6 [matt fortuna – espn.com]

Nick Williams drawing inspiration from Devin Hester [jim fuller – new haven register]

Mr. Dependable: UConn’s Johnson a steady hand [john silver – sny.com]

Scoring Might Be Scarce On Saturday [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn Must Be Careful With Rutgers’ Offense [hartford courant]

Connecticut native, Rutgers WR Mark Harrison looking for final word in rivalry [the star-ledger]

UCONN Q&A: Battle Tested Knights To Face Huskies [the star-ledger]

Rutgers vs. Connecticut should be a defensive slugfest on Saturday [the star-ledger]

Connecticut at Rutgers [sports xchange]

Next Week:

UConn returns home to Rentschler Field next Saturday to host the Temple Owls in a Big East game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. 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.

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

UConn Football links

Today’s UConn football links can be found in the Thursday links section of the UConn vs Rutgers preview.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn in the WNBA playoffs [carl adamec – sny.com]

Update on First Night visitors [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn not planning to name center for Calhoun [ap]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Men’s Soccer vs. Providence On Oct. 27 Changed To 4 p.m. [uconnhuskies.com]

M. Soccer. Blake’s Seven Saves Lead No. 2 Men’s Soccer Past No. 3 Georgetown, 2-1 [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Rowing. Anthony Brock Named Assistant Rowing Coach [uconnhuskies.com]

Field Hockey. No. 3 Field Hockey Off To Best Start Since 1999 With 2-0 Win at UMass [uconnhuskies.com]

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

Our long standing New England nightmare is over. Wait, you mean Bobby Valentine hasn’t been fired as of 9:55 a.m.? Okay then.

One of our long standing New England nightmares is over. The 2012 season has finally come to a close for the Boston Red Sox after the New York Yankees bent them over their knee last night and spanked the crap out of them to clinch the AL East.

The Red Sox as a team hadn’t lost at least 90 games since 1966 when they were 72-90. They topped that mark this season going 69-93.

We can all sit back and make excuses for what happened. The injuries, the trade, the fact that Valentine is an idiot, Ben Cherington didn’t do enough, ownership cares more about Liverpool.

Forgot the excuses, what we should be talking about is what’s going to be done to fix this team to get back into the playoffs.

The trade of Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez freed up a ton of payroll for the Red Sox. But the free agent class, sans Josh Hamilton, isn’t all that special.

The Red Sox need starting pitching, a first baseman, an outfielder or two and some bullpen help. We know they’re going to try and re-sign David Ortiz and Cody Ross.

But even if they do re-sign them, that doesn’t even crack the surface of what needs to be done.

While last year’s offseason was a crazy one for the Red Sox because of what happened, this one is shaping up to be even more crazier. It will defintely be worth following closely.

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

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

After falling in extra innings last night, the Boston Red Sox will look to put a wrench in the AL East celebration plans of the New York Yankees tonight in their final game of their miserable 2012 season.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Yankees television market, you can catch the game on YES. If you don’t live in either market you are in luck as well as ESPN will coverage of the game (outside of Red Sox and Yankees televison markets). You can also watch the game online at WatchESPN. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Daisuke Matsuzaka makes what should be his final start in what also should be skipper Bobby Valentine’s last game as manager. In his 10 starts this season, Matsuzaka is 1-6 with a 7.68 ERA. He has not faced the Yankees this season and is 3-3 with a 5.52 ERA in 10 career starts. Five of those starts have come in the Bronx where he is 1-2 with a 5.34 ERA.

Hiroki Kuroda looks to help the Yankees clinch the AL East in his 33rd start of the season. In his previous 32 starts, Kuroda is 15-11 with a 3.34 ERA. He’s made four starts against the Red Sox this season and is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Kuroda has made five career starts against the visiting nine and is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the overnight and day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

69-92		94-67
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Derek Jeter	SS
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Ichiro Suzuki	LF
3. Daniel Nava	LF	3. Alex Rodriguez	3B
4. Cody Ross	RF	4. Robinson Cano	2B
5. James Loney	1B	5. Nick Swisher	RF
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	6. Mark Teixeira	1B
7. Ryan Lavarnway	DH	7. Curtis Granderson	CF
8. Pedro Ciriaco	3B	8. Raul Ibanez	DH
9. Jose Iglesias	SS	9. Russell Martin	C
Daisuke Matsuzaka	SP	Hiroki Kuroda	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

NOTES:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

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

The real reason why fans aren’t Triple Crown-obsessed [boston herald]

Cherington won’t say Valentine is lame duck [rob bradford – weei.com]

Red Sox beef up front office by hiring scouting director who signed Mike Trout [clubhouse insider]

Bobby V: “I had every opportunity to succeed — and didn’t” [clubhouse insider]

Fitting end to Matsuzaka’s time with Sox [csn new england]

Report: Red Sox to fire Valentine [csn new england]

Tonight marks a likely farewell to Dice-K [espn boston]

W2W4: Sox can play ultimate spoiler [espn boston]

Video: State of the Nation [espn boston]

Podcast: Bobby V on Michael Kay show [espn boston]

Matsuzaka a fitting choice to end this season [extra bases]

Scout that helped lead Daisuke Matsuzaka to Red Sox reflects on pitcher’s career in Boston [full count]

As season winds down, Bobby Valentine jabs at Red Sox medical secrecy [full count]

Bobby Valentine says Red Sox coaches undermined him, talks John Farrell in final Big Show appearance [full count]

Right to the end, everything is wrong for Red Sox [tony massarotti – boston globe]

Westborough Furniture-Maker Finds Way to Get David Ortiz’s Presence Into New Yankee Stadium After Jersey Removed [nesn.com]

Jon Lester Already Looking Forward to Bouncing Back in 2013 With Help From LL Cool J [nesn.com]

Robinson Cano Leads Torrid Yankees Lineup as Red Sox’ New Regulars Look to Cap Off Season With Victory [nesn.com]

Bobby Valentine Says Members of Coaching Staff Weren’t Loyal to Him, Felt Undermined at Times [nesn.com]

Red Sox’ Managerial Plans, Jacoby Ellsbury’s Future Will Be Among Top Offseason Storylines [don orsillo – nesn.com]

Valentine says he was undermined by his coaches [projo sox blog]

Dice-K to toe rubber in Sox’s final game [redsox.com]

Bobby V: I had every opportunity to succeed [alex speier – weei.com]

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

photo credits: getty images, getty images

The Boston Red Sox had the perfect chance to make things interesting in the AL East last night.

A 3-1 lead over the New York Yankees in the 9th inning with the Baltimore Orioles having already won their game. They had their closer Andrew Bailey on the mound.

But two batters in, the game was tied at 3-3 after Bailey gave up a leadoff single to Curtis Granderson and then a two-run pinch-hit home run by Raul Ibanez. It didn’t stop there though as Bailey loaded up the bases after retiring Ichiro Suzuki for the first out.

Hopefully former Red Sox skipper in a day or two Bobby Valentine went to the bullpen and pulled his closer for Mark Melancon. As Red Sox fans on Twitter gasped at the call, Melancon proved them all wrong by retiring Mark Teixeira on short fly ball to center and then got Robinson Cano to ground out to end the inning and prolong the game.

The Sox had a chance to take the lead in the 11th with their former 2004 World Series hero on the mound for the Yankees in Derek Lowe.

James Loney led off with a single but was retired on a fielder’s choice by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Salty went to second on a wild pitch before Ryan Lavarnway struck out. Then Pedro Ciriaco, the Yankees killer all season long, was shown some respect as he was intentionally walked so the Yanks could face the light-hitting Jose Iglesias.

Instead of pinch-hitting for Iglesias with Scott Podsednik, Mike Aviles or even Danny Valencia, Valentine stuck with Iglesias who ended up grounding into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

What I don’t get is why didn’t Valentine pinch-hit for Iglesias. At the very least if you pinch-hit with Pods, you could force the Yanks to go to a lefty. Many Sox fans questioned the lack of a move by Valentine, including myself. And it was Rob Bradford of WEEI.com who came up with the most likely and probably funniest answer.

Because Iglesias never got to two strikes RT @soxanddawgs why not pinch hit Aviles?

— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) October 3, 2012

The Yankees would eventually go on to win the game in the 12th after Andrew Miller ran into trouble after getting the first two outs of the inning.

He walked Francisco Cervelli who hadn’t played in 25 games and then walked Granderson. Then Ibanez played hero again with a single to left that scored Cervelli.

The win for the Yankees allowed them to maintain their one-game lead over the Orioles. But a Red Sox win tonight and Orioles win tonight would set up a one-game playoff on Thursday to determine the AL East winner. The reason this would happen besides the Red Sox and Orioles winning tonight is the fact that the two teams tied the regular season series at 9-9.

I really really hope that this happens tonight for at the very least, I DO NOT WANT TO WATCH THE YANKEES CELEBRATE.

Oh and if you want to watch an even more interesting game tonight, be sure to tune into the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics game at 3:35 p.m. The A’s came into the series needing a sweep of the Rangers to win the AL West crown. They’ve won the first two games so tonight’s game between them is for the division crown.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.

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

Pedroia shows the way [boston herald]

Lester promises to overcome lost year [boston herald]

Lowest low nears end [boston herald]

Ells back in lineup [boston herald]

Time for Bobby to go [boston herald]

Lester on his season: ‘I’m glad it’s over’ [rob bradford – weei.com]

Ibanez does Sox in twice as Yanks win in extras, 4-3 [csn new england]

Bailey’s forgettable season continues with blown save [csn new england]

Loretta weighs in on Lowell, Ausmus [espn boston]

Would Sox target Yankees’ Blakeley? [espn boston]

Valentine defends handling of Ellsbury [espn boston]

Pedey, Papi want to work with Iglesias [espn boston]

Rapid Reaction: Yankees 4, Red Sox 3 [espn boston]

Bailey: ‘I went out there and blew it’ [espn boston]

Jon Lester relieved to put grim season behind him [espn boston]

Red Sox coverage in today’s Globe [extra bases]

Andrew Bailey: ‘This game is what’s going to push me forward to next year’ [full count]

The scout that helped lead Daisuke Matsuzaka to Red Sox reflects on the pitcher’s career in Boston [full count]

Red Sox Cautious With Wrist Injuries to Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava After Carl Crawford Woes [nesn.com]

Daisuke Masuzaka May Need to Overcome Physical, Mental Hurdles to Fully Come Back From Tommy John Surgery [nesn.com]

Dustin Pedroia Playing With Broken Finger, Solidifying Role as Leader in Clubhouse (Video) [nesn.com]

Cody Ross Recognized With Red Sox 10th Player of the Year Award (Video) [nesn.com]

Yankees Spoil Red Sox’ Chance at Playing Spoiler, Ensure That Boston Will Finish Last in Division [nesn.com]

Valentine Hurt After Reading Text Message on Bike [new york times]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. 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.

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

UConn Football links

From Buffalo To Piscataway: A Few Words From UConn Offensive Coordinator George DeLeone [desmond conner – hartford courant]

UConn Football: Free RB Martin Hyppolite? [desmond conner – hartford courant]

Redshirt appears likely for Casey Cochran [jim fuller – new haven register]

Rutgers game is extra special for some Huskies [jim fuller – new haven register]

Jersey boys: UConn-Rutgers Tuesday presser [sny.com]

Huskies feeling extra intensity for Rutgers game [ct post]

UConn Faces First Big East Football Opponent In No. 22 Rutgers [hartford courant]

Wrecking Ball: Huskies From Jersey Want To Destroy Rutgers [hartford courant]

QB Casey Cochran likely to be redshirted [new haven register]

Huskies’ Jersey Boys hate Rutgers [new haven register]

UConn needs to pick up a Big East road win if it wants to go bowling [the day]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Faris faces final frontier [carl adamec – sny.com]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Gay using Olympic cut as motivation this season [ct post]

Jabari Parker to visit Duke, MSU [espn chicago]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. UConn Baseball Holds Strong Ties to its Past [uconnhuskies.com]

Field Hockey. No. 3 Field Hockey Prepares For Game Wednesday at UMass [uconn huskies.com]

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

After being spanked last night, the Boston Red Sox look to play spoiler tonight in the second game of a three-game set with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Yankees television market, you can catch the game on YES. If you don’t live in either market you are in luck as well as the MLB Network will coverage of the game (outside of Red Sox and Yankees televison markets). If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Jon Lester looks to do what Clay Buchholz couldn’t do last night and that’s finish strong in his 33rd and final start of 2012. In his previous 32 starts, Lester is 9-14 with a 4.94 ERA. He’s made four starts against the Yankees this year and is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA. Lester has made 21 career starts against the Evil Empire and is 9-4 with a 4.27 ERA. 12 of those starts have come in the Bronx where he is 7-2 with a 3.70 ERA.

David Phelps takes the start for a struggling Ivan Nova as he looks to help the Yanks clinch the AL East tonight in his 11th start (33rd appearance). In his previous 32 appearances (10 starts), Phelps is 4-4 with a 3.34 ERA. His four career appearances (two starts) against the Red Sox have come this season in which he is 1-1 with a 3.44 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the overnight and day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

69-91		93-67
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Derek Jeter	SS
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Nick Swisher	RF
3. Daniel Nava	LF	3. Alex Rodriguez	3B
4. Cody Ross	RF	4. Mark Teixeira	1B
5. James Loney	1B	5. Robinson Cano	2B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	6. Russell Martin	RF
7. Ryan Lavarnway	DH	7. Curtis Granderson	CF
8. Pedro Ciriaco	3B	8. Eduardo Nunez	DH
9. Jose Iglesias	SS	9. Ichiro Suzuki	LF
Jon Lester	SP	David Phelps	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

NOTES:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

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

Pedroia playing with broken finger [rob bradford – weei.com]

Another accuser comes forward against Fitzpatrick [csn new england]

Red Sox managerial search to start with Farrell [csn new england]

Pedroia: Many reasons why I’m playing with a broken finger [csn new england]

Ellsbury back in lineup after missing last week [csn new england]

Pedroia in lineup despite broken finger [espn boston]

Some Red Sox minor league updates [extra bases]

Pedroia will play against Yankees, despite broken finger [extra bases]

Dustin Pedroia: Jacoby Ellsbury ‘doesn’t have to answer anything’ [full count]

Stats, sorry Sox and Sterling [lee lewis – republican-american]

Report: Orioles Weren’t Happy With Red Sox Lineup on Monday Night [nesn.com]

Alex Rodriguez Is Only Marginally Hotter Than Jose Iglesias With Bat, According to Bill James’ Temperature Gauge [nesn.com]

Dustin Pedroia Working to Set Example for His Younger Teammates by Playing Through Broken Finger [nesn.com]

Adam Greenberg’s Resiliency Impressive to Ex-Teammate Rich Hill, Who Calls Comeback ‘Great Thing for Baseball’ [nesn.com]

Bobby Valentine Indirectly Calls Jacoby Ellsbury Platoon Player, Defends Decision to Sit Him on Monday [nesn.com]

Compare — except there’s no comparison — these two lineups [projo sox blog]

Matsuzaka to make what likely will be final Red Sox start [projo sox blog]

Ellsbury a platoon player? Valentine explains rationale [projo sox blog]

Pedroia playing through broken finger [projo sox blog]

Lester looks to spoils Yanks’ division title dreams [redsox.com]

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

photo credits: getty images, getty images

Apparently, the season is over for the Boston Red Sox. And with the way things have been going, it looks like it’s been over for a long while now.

They’ve had the perfect chance to play spoiler over the final three weeks of the season. But they haven’t done diddly squat in that department.

Using what amounts to a spring training lineup against one of the most powerful offenses in the league in the New York Yankees, the Red Sox were spanked 10-2. The Yankees win coupled with the Baltimore Orioles loss to the Tampa Bay Rays allowed the Yanks to pull ahead of the O’s by a game in the AL East race with two games to play.

Even with the win, the Rays were eliminated from the AL Wild Card race as the Oakland A’s won. And with that A’s all five teams in the AL Playoffs have been determined (Yankees, Orioles, Tigers, A’s, Rangers). But seeding is still left to be determined.

As I stated above, the Yanks lead the Orioles by one game with two to play. The same goes for the Texas Rangers who lead the A’s by a game with two to play in the AL West. The A’s do control their own destiny as they are playing the Rangers and two more wins gives the A’s the AL West crown. And to complicate matters more, the Orioles and A’s are tied atop the Wild Card standings for home field advantage in the one game playoff slated for Friday.

Clay Buchholz was hoping to finish off his 2012 season with a strong start. It was far from that. By the time all was said and done, Buchholz lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing eight runs on six hits and two walks. Three of the six hits allowed were home runs.

All of the runs allowed and charged to Buchholz came in the second inning when the Yankees sent 13 batters to the plate.

Robinson Cano started it off with a solo home run. Buchholz then struck out Mark Teixeira that was followed by a Nick Swisher single. Curtis Granderson made it 3-0 with a two-run homer and Russell Martin made it 4-0 as he went back-to-back with the Grandyman. Walks to Eric Chavez and Derek Jeter plus a single by Ichiro Suzuki loaded the sacks full Alex Rodriguez who made the second out of the inning with a sac fly.

Cano chased Buchholz from the game with a two-run double to make it 7-0. Then Teixeira greeted an Alfredo Aceves 87 MPH pitch by whacking it out of the park to make it 9-0.

And given the spring training lineup that Bobby Valentine put out there, this one was over. You can’t fault Valentine for the lineup though.

Dustin Pedroia likely broke his finger when he slid into second on Sunday and Jacoby Ellsbury has been bothered a by a lat strain the past few weeks. So right there, you’re taking out two of your better hitters and guys who can get on base.

Che-Husan Lin led the Sox with two hits. Daniel Nava‘s one hit was good for a solo home run. The other run for the visiting nine came on a Jarrod Saltalamacchia sac fly in the seventh.

Hopefully the Red Sox can put forth a little better effort tonight. It’d be nice to see them play spoiler.

And oh by the way, one more loss for the Red Sox clinches last place in the AL East.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.

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

Buchholz, Sox stink [boston herald]

Grand finale a bad joke [boston herald]

Yanks control their own fate [boston herald]

Pedey’s season comes to close [boston herald]

Thumbs-up on Bailey for next year [boston herald]

X-rays reveal Pedroia’s finger broken [rob bradford – weei.com]

David Ortiz insists this offseason won’t resemble his last one [rob bradford – weei.com]

Yanks get 9 in 2nd, blow out Sox, 10-2 [csn new england]

Not the ending Buchholz, or Red Sox, wanted [csn new england]

Pedroia has fractured finger, won’t play final 2 games [csn new england]

Ortiz: 2012 ‘disaster all the way around’ [espn boston]

Rapid Reaction: Yankees 10, Red Sox 2 [espn boston]

Pedroia confirms broken finger [espn boston]

Boston Red Sox need David Ortiz now more than ever [espn boston]

Was this the worst Red Sox rotation ever? [full count]

Ryan Lavarnway Improved ‘An Awful Lot’ Defensively, Looks to Regain Stride at Plate [nesn.com]

Will Middlebrooks Takes Batting Practice For First Time Since Suffering Broken Wrist [nesn.com]

Red Sox Simply Playing Out Their Hand as Depleted Lineup Inches Closer to Season’s End [nesn.com]

Red Sox Cautious With Wrist Injuries to Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava After Carl Crawford Woes [nesn.com]

Eddie Bane’s Hiring Shows Red Sox Are Tweaking New-School Approach to Talent Evaluation [nesn.com]

Strapped by injuries, Valentine’s lineup not viable [redsox.com]

Pedroia has fractured finger; season likely over [redsox.com]

Lavarnway struggling to find groove at plate [redsox.com]

Hand healing, Sweeney expects normal offseason [redsox.com]

Red Sox’s belly flop spoils mood for Orioles, baseball fans hungry for thrilling finale [yahoo! sports]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. 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.

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

UConn Football links

UConn, Rutgers get defensive [jim fuller – new haven register]

Sean Mulcahy’s Report Card [sean mulcahy – sny.com]

Cheer On UConn Football In South Florida [uconnhuskies.com]

Rutgers’ Mark Harrison has plenty in common with former Husky Marcus Easley [new haven register]

Flood anticipates UConn’s ‘D’ plan [the daily targum]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

An introduction [carl adamec – sny.com]

Motion Filed To Dismiss Charges Vs. Geno Auriemma, USA Basketball [hartford courant]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Jim Calhoun: Ray Allen Had Right To Make His Own Choice [dom amore – hartford courant]

Jim Calhoun Tells Breakfast Crowd: ‘You Have Me For Life’ [hartford courant]

Jim Calhoun trying not to overshadow new coach [new haven register]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. No. 2 Huskies Travel To Face No. 5 Georgetown Wednesday; Alvarez Player of the Week [uconnhuskies.com]

Field Hockey. Chloe Hunnable Wins Second-Straight BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Rowing. Rowing Opens At Head Of The Riverfront [uconnhuskies.com]

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

The Big East Conference announced the game time and television assignment for the UConn Huskies home game against the Temple Owls on Saturday, October 13.

The kickoff at Rentschler Field will be at 1 p.m. and the game will be available only online at ESPN3.com. That’s right folks, if you want to watch the game you have to hope that your cable or internet provider is one of the ones that allows you access to ESPN3.

This marks the second game the Huskies have had to play on ESPN3. The first was the loss to Western Michigan.

I can tell you this much. If I don’t end up going to the game, I’ll be watching the game on my iPhone 4S WatchESPN App. The video online the last time was so choppy and laggy at times that I gave up and watched on my phone where I had no problems at all.

Of course, since there’s plenty of tickets available, you could also head to the game at the Rent.

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