This week:
The UConn Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they head to the Bronx for a matchup with the Army Black Knights at Yankee Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM.
UConn is 2-6 (1-4 American). Army is 2-6.
The Line:
According to Rivals.com odds, UConn is favored by 4.5 points. The over/under is 47.5 points.
Tickets:
According to Ticketmaster.com, there are still tickets available for Saturday’s game.
Getting To The Game:
Here is link for the weather report. Here are directions and parking info for Yankee Stadium. Here is the Yankee Stadium seating chart for football. Here is mass transit info to get to the stadium. If you’re heading to the game from Connecticut, Metro North added some express trains directly to the stadium. Here is the A-Z information for Yankee Stadium
JASPER HOWARD MEMORIAL
A memorial in honor of Jasper Howard, the UConn football student-athlete who tragically lost his life five years ago, was dedicated at Rentschler Field on November 1, 2014. 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. Ben Holden is on play-by-play with Kevin O’Connell on color and Courtney Fallon 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 Army game will also be available on Sirius Radio Channel 134 and XM Channel 201.
Army Black Knights Radio:
WABC-770 AM serves as the flagship station for the Army Sports Network. Rich DeMarco has the call with Dean Darling (color) and Tony Morino (color). The Army Pregame show gets underway at 2 p.m. with Joe Beckerle and John Minko.
Last Week:
UConn beat Central Florida 37-29. Army fell to Air Force 23-6.
History:
Saturday’s game will be the sixth meeting between UConn and Army and the Huskies lead the series by a 4-1 count and have won four-straight games in the series.
Connections:
There are eight New York natives on the UConn roster – RJr. John-Luke Bogue (New Rochelle), RFr. DL Folorunso Fatukasi (Far Rockaway), RSr. LB Reuben Frank (Poughkeppesie), RFr., OL Thomas Hopkins (Hawthrone), RJr. S Junior Lee (Brooklyn), RJr. DS Dominick Manco (Lagrangeville), RSo. DT Mikal Myers (Newburg) and RFr. LB Cameron Stapleton (Staten Island).
There is one Connecticut native on the Army roster – Sr. OL Stephen Shumaker (Milford.).
UConn assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Don Patterson is a 1973 Army graduate and served on the cadet honor committee and was named to the highest-ranking cadet staff while at West Point.
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.
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.
Saturday’s game is the second that the Huskies have played in a currently active Major League Baseball stadium. UConn topped Buffalo in the 2009 International Bowl by a 38-20 score at the Rogers Center in Toronto – home of the Blue Jays. For years as a member of the Yankee Conference, UConn played games at Boston University at Nickerson Field, which was the home of the National League’s Boston Braves from 1915-53. The UConn men’s basketball team won the 1999 NCAA Championship at Tropicana Field – the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Connecticut boasts a 46-27 record against non-conference opponents in the regular season since making the move to the FBS in 2002. The Huskies have won 21 of their last 34 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), 1-2 (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 and 54 vs. UCF.
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 24 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 (4)
C Kyle Bockeloh, OT Andreas Knappe, DL Sean Marinan, 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 33-straight games, dating back to the 2011 season, the 12th-longest such streak in the country.
Deshon Foxx had an 88-yard TD pass reception from Whitmer in last Thursday’s game 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.
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.
Redshirt junior safety Andrew Adams tied a program record when he became the fifth Husky ever to record three interceptions in a game, doing so against UCF on Nov. 1. Adams was the first to accomplish the feat since Oct. 1, 2005, when current Indianapolis Colt Darius Butler recorded three picks against Army.
The UConn defense is ranked fifth in The American and 47th in the country in total defense at 369.9 yards per game. UConn is also ranked 27th nationally and fourth in the league in rushing defense (125.9 ypg) and is 70th in scoring defense (26.8 ppg). UConn is 29th in the country and second in the conference in punt returns at 11.38 yards per return.
In individual leaders, redshirt junior Marquise Vann (Cincinnati, Ohio) is tied for 32nd in the country in tackles with 9.4 per game – which is tied for fourth in the conference.
Preseason Award Watch Lists:
Geremy Davis
Casey Cochran
Notes from this week’s opponent Army:
Here are quotes from Army coach Keff Monken’s weekly pregame press conference.
Jeff Monken is in his first season as the head football coach at Army. He served as the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2010-13 and led the Eagles to three straight appearances in the FCS playoff semifinals from 2010-12. He was the running backs and special teams coach at Georgia Southern from 2010-13 and the running backs coach from 1997-2001. He also coached at Hawaii (1989-90), Arizona State (1991), Buffalo (1992-94), Concordia (Ill.) (1996), Navy (2002-07) and Georgia Tech (2008-09).
Here is Army’s depth chart for the game.
Here are Army’s 2014 roster and 2014 schedule.
Army has a long history with the New York Yankees organization and will play at the stadium for the 41st time. The Black Knights played their first game at Yankee Stadium in 1925 and are 14-21-5 all-time at the historic venue.
Saturday marks Army’s third appearance in the new Yankee Stadium following contests against Notre Dame in 2010 and Rutgers in 2011.
The Army football team wore teal ribbons on their helmets during last Saturday’s contest against service academy rival Air Force in support of the “It’s On Us” campaign to halt sexual assault.
The Army football program made it official prior to its first game, welcoming Friends of Jaclyn Foundation teammate Sean Callahan to the squad. Callahan, 11, was adopted by the Black Knights in June as part of Hope Week and was presented a jersey from assistant coach Orlando Mitjans, Jr., during an event at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square.
With 36 states represented on the Army roster, the Black Knights lead the nation in the reach of the roster. Army features athletes from 36 states, 10 more than Navy.
While Army has retired four numbers, Army does not issue the number 12 to any of its players. Rather, the number is reserved for the Corps of Cadets, the 12th man of Army Football. Most shirts that feature a number, use 12. Numbers 24 (Pete Dawkins), 35 (Felix “Doc” Blanchard), 41 (Glenn Davis) and 61 (Joe Steff y) have been retired.
As the Army football team enters the field, one of the long traditions is to touch the Officer plaque. A team member holds the plaque aloft and the players reach up as they are passing by.
The plaque states: “I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player.” Gen. George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army during World War II, made the statement at the Pentagon when he needed an officer to train and lead a ranger type battalion on a secret mission.
The Army football team will wear unit patches on its helmets during the 2014 season. In past years, the team has showcased patches on its jerseys. In addition to the helmet sticker, a player will carry out a unit flag. For the UConn game, the patch will be for the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Fullback Larry Dixon and safety Geoffery Bacon will serve as team captains for the 2014 season.
Army coach Jeff Monken has returned to the tradition started by Jim Young of awarding a Ranger jersey for extraordinary effort and plays that can help the team win. Players selected wear a special jersey with the U.S. Army Ranger patch on the front during practice.
- at Stanford
- at Wake Forest
- at Yale
- Ball State
- Daniel Grochowski, Alex Tardieu, Edgar Poe, Angel Santiago, Larry Dixon, Terry Baggett , Tony Giovannelli, Matt Hugenberg, Andrew King, Jeremy Timpf, Richard Glover, Chris Carnegie
- Rice
Army is among the nation’s leaders in rushing yards per contest with 294.8, while averaging 23.5 points per game.
Army senior running back Terry Baggett has been selected as a 2014 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete, presented by Fidelity Investments, and is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy.
Army junior Alex Tardieu is among the nominees for the 2014 Ray Guy Award, awarded annually to the nation’s top punter.
Thursday UConn Football Links:
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Video: History of Army Football At Yankee Stadium [sox & dawgs]
Yankee Stadium Layout For UConn Football vs Army [sox & dawgs]
Breaking Bread With Bob – 11/4/14 [sox & dawgs]
UConn welcomes tight ends back into passing game [jim fuller – new haven register]
UConn Club. From The Crowd: Jasper Howard Statue Dedication [uconn huskies]
WR Noel Thomas Becomes More Prominent In UConn’s Offense [hartford courant]
Next Week:
UConn is off next week. They return to action on November 22 when they’ll host the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rentschler Field.
Forward Michael Kantor has been reassigned by the parent New York Rangers to the Wolf Pack’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors, forward Shawn O’Donnell has been loaned to the Road Warriors by the Wolf Pack, and defenseman Jared Nightingale has been released from his Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement by the Wolf Pack, and will be returning to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.
