University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Football Flies Past Owls, 61-14
11/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, MEMORIAL!!!
After Saturday’s game, venerable Memorial Stadium’s run as the home of the Huskies will come to a end following a 50-year run. The Huskies will relocate to Rentschler Field in East Hartford for home games next year while the site of Memorial Stadium will become the Burton Family Football Complex, a multi-sport facility. The Huskies have enjoyed a 130-102-4 (.559) record at the stadium since opening it with a 26-6 win over St. Lawrence on October 10, 1953. Fans attending the Kent State game will receive a commemorative ticket made especially for the occasion. For more information on Memorial Stadium’s history, scroll to the end of the file.
THE COACHES
CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH RANDY EDSALL
A veteran of 19 years of major college coaching with three years in the NFL, Edsall has tackled the challenge of bringing a former NCAA Division I-AA team up to par with the BIG EAST in a six year span head on. He has compiled a 12-30 career record in his fourth season at UConn and has never faced Kent State. Immediately prior to becoming UConn’s 27th head coach on December 21, 1998, Edsall served as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech in 1998 under George O’Leary. Edsall began his coaching career at his alma mater, Syracuse, from 1980-1990, working under Frank Maloney and Dick McPherson in a variety of capacities. Amongst his highlights at Syracuse was being a part of the 1987 team that went undefeated at 11-0-1, tying Auburn, 16-16, in the Sugar Bowl. Edsall moved on to Boston College where he coached defensive backs under Tom Coughlin from 1991-93 before following Coughlin to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, staying on the First Coast through the 1997 season. Edsall is a native of Glen Rock, Pa., and graduated from Susquehannock High School.
KENT STATE HEAD COACH DEAN PEES
Dean Pees is 12-41 in his fifth year as head coach at Kent State and he has never faced Connecticut. A native of Dunkirk, Ohio, and a 1972 graduate of Bowling Green, one of four Ohio-based MAC schools on his resume, Pees started his coaching career as head coach at Elmwood High School in Bloomdale, Ohio, from 1975-78. Pees went from there to Findlay where we worked from 1979-82 before returning to the MAC as defensive coordinator at Miami from 1983-86. Pees coached the secondary at Navy from 1987-89 and then came back to the MAC as defensive coordinator at Toledo from 1990-93. Pees spent the 1994 season coaching the secondary at Notre Dame under KSU grad Lou Holtz before moving into the Big Ten for three years as Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator at Michigan State from 1995-97, helping the Spartans to three-straight bowl berths.
RADIO/TV COVERAGE NOTES
RADIO COVERAGE
For the 11th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford will serve as the flagship station for the UConn Radio Network. WTIC is the state’s only 50,000 watt clear channel 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 Bob Joyce on the sidelines. The UConn pregame show begins one hour prior to kickoff while at home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two hours prior with Arnold Dean. The UConn Radio Network is comprised of: WILI 1400-AM in Willimantic, WLIS-1420 AM in Old Saybrook, WMRD 1150-AM in Middletown, WICC 600-AM in Bridgeport and WSUB 980-AM in Groton. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet, with assistance from Yahoo!, at www.UConnHuskies.com.
THE UCONN HUSKIES: MUST SEE TV
UConn will have eight of its 12 games broadcast on live television this year. The BC game was an ESPN Regional production which aired on both NESN and MSG. The YES Network carried UConn’s games against Georgia Tech and Buffalo. WFSB-TV 3, Hartford’s CBS affiliate, is carrying five games as they Huskies battle Ohio, Temple, Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic and Navy. With eight total TV games, it is by far the most football games that UConn has ever had televised in a single season. Curiously, former Syracuse star Don McPherson will serve as UConn’s color commentator for seven of these eight games, appearing on three different networks.
EDSALL ON THE AIR
UConn head coach Randy Edsall will have weekly television and radio shows this year. The television show will air on Sunday nights at 11:45 pm on WFSB TV 3 in Hartford with Eric Clemons. Edsall, along with a selected player each week, will also be featured on an hour-long radio call-in show Thursday nights from 6:00 to 7:00 pm on WTIC 1080-AM with Joe D’Ambrosio and Arnold Dean.
SERIES NOTES
UCONN-KENT STATE HISTORY
Connecticut and Kent State are meeting for the third time ever this week and the first time in a half a century. The Golden Flashes swept a home-and-home series between the teams in the late 1940s, taking a 42-26 decision in Storrs in 1948 and posting a 27-0 shutout of UConn back in Ohio in 1949. UConn will make a return trip to Dix Stadium in Kent on Oct. 18, 2003. UConn is 3-5 all-time against teams from the Buckeye State, having faced Akron (1-0), Baldwin-Wallace (0-1), Cincinnati (0-1), Kent State (0-2), Ohio (1-0) and Ohio Wesleyan (1-1). It is the first time since 1949 that UConn has faced two teams from Ohio in the same season (Kent State and Ohio Wesleyan) as the Huskies beat Ohio University on Sept. 21.
MAC-NIFICENT
The Huskies have become quite familiar with the Mid-American Conference as UConn faces four teams from the league in 2002 in Buffalo (W, 24-3), Ohio (W, 37-19), Ball State (L, 21-24 OT) and Kent State. UConn also faced four MAC teams in 2000, posting a 2-2 record, and three MAC schools in 2001, going 1-2. The Huskies will play four MAC teams in both 2003 and 2004 as well. With their 2-1 mark so far in 2002, UConn now stands at 12-10 all-time against MAC schools. Five of UConn’s last six wins overall have come against schools from the MAC.
HEY, DON’T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
UConn LB Jamal Lundy and Kent State DB Najee Lundy are cousins...Kent State head coach Dean Pees and UConn assistant coach Dave McMichael were teammates at Bowling Green in the early 1970s under Don Nehlen...UConn’s Earnest Cole and Kent State’s Elijah Brooks, both true freshmen, were teammates last year at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md...Each team has several players that prepped at either Hargrave or Fork Union Military Academies, both in Virginia... UConn RB Cornell Brockington and Kent State RB David Alston both played at Willingboro High School in New Jersey...Brockington, Kent State WR Najah Pruden and Jamal Lundy are all natives of Burlington, N.J...Although none of the Golden Flashes are from Connecticut, Anthony Henriquez prepped at Milford Academy.
SQUAD NOTES
NOT HALF BAD AT MIAMI
UConn outscored Miami 14-6 in the second half of its game there on Oct. 5 which is a very rare accomplishment. In its current 30-game winning streak, Miami has lost just eight of its 60 halves. Of those eight lost halves, only three have come against an unranked team, as UConn joins Louisiana Tech (Oct. 28, 2000) and Rutgers (Nov. 2, 2002) in that regard. Miami’s other five lost halves came against Florida State (2000 and 2002), Virginia Tech (2000 and 2001) and Nebraska (2002 Rose Bowl). All of those teams were ranked 14th or better at the time.
WIN THIRD DOWN AND WIN THE GAME
Third down conversions, while a critical element in any football game, have proven to be the key to success in several UConn games this year. The team that has posted a better third down conversion percentage has won each of UConn’s nine games this season. Interestingly, the discrepancies in the percentages are often similar to the scores of the game. UConn’s two biggest losses (Georgia Tech and Miami) were also its worst conversion percentage differentials. UConn’s biggest wins (Buffalo and Florida Atlantic) saw its largest positive margins. The narrow overtime loss against Ball State saw less than a percentage point advantage for the Cardinals (47.0%-46.7%).
REVERSING THE QUARTERLY TRENDS
For much of the season, UConn has been dominated in the first quarter and dominant in the fourth quarter, but the past few weeks have seen a reversal of those fortunes. After just posting just 13 first quarter points through six games, UConn has scored in the first quarter of three consecutive games. UConn’s 7-0 lead after 15 minutes of the Vanderbilt game was the first time it was won the opening stanza since the season opener at Boston College. The Huskies tripled their output against Florida Atlantic, running out to a 21-0 first quarter lead. Conversely, UConn did not allow a single fourth quarter point for 91:08 after allowing a touchdown at BC in week one of the season but then allowed a total of 22 fourth quarter points against Temple and Vanderbilt, sealing tough losses.
UCONN STARTING TO MAKE THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES
After lagging badly behind its opponents for much of the season in terms of taking advantage of opposing miscues, UConn has caught up to its foes in points off of turnovers. UConn has been able to produce 48 points off of its 19 gained turnovers while UConn’s opponents have scored 49 off of UConn’s 16 miscues. The Vanderbilt game marked the only instance this year in which the team with more points off of turnovers has not gone on to win the game. The stat was especially critical in the overtime loss to Ball State when the Cardinals scored 14 points off of UConn miscues while the Huskies were shutout in a pair of chances.
BETTER NOT LEAVE EARLY
Six of UConn’s nine games this year have not been settled until late in the fourth quarter. The season opener at Boston College was not secured until UConn’s last gasp drive stalled out on downs with 1:06 to play. UConn led Buffalo just 10-3 midway through the fourth quarter before a pair of TDs put the game away. A week later, UConn trailed 19-13 after the third quarter but 24 unanswered fourth quarter points gave the Huskies a 37-19 win. The next week, Dan Orlovsky led UConn on a 95-yard TD drive to tie up Ball State with 0:29 to play in a game the Cardinals would take in overtime. Against Temple, UConn was within a single score until the Owls put it away on a touchdown with 2:48 to play. The thrilling Vanderbilt game saw four fourth quarter lead changes until the Commodores got the game-winner with 1:14 to play.
SENIOR DAY
While everyone will be playing a game for the last time at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, several Huskies will be playing in their last game ever before the UConn fans. UConn will recognize 16 seniors prior to the Kent State game for their accomplishments in the blue and white. The honorees are Dwaun Black, Clewi Challenger, Tommy Collins, Steve Cully, Marc Hickok, Cliff Hill, Roy Hopkins, Ed Injaychock, Matt Jackson, Jeff Larson, Jamal Lundy, Frank Quagliano, Greg Smoot, Wes Timko, Joe Villapiano and Razul Wallace.
UCONN STILL PARTIES LIKE IT’S 1999
The Buffalo game nearly evoked a recurrence of the 1999 season, Randy Edsall’s first at UConn. Just like in 2002, the 1999 Huskies opened 0-2 after losing to a pair of tough teams. UConn fell to I-AA power Hofstra in the season opener and then lost 45-14 at SEC member Kentucky against Hal Mumme’s "Air Raid" offense in 1999. Each time, UConn drew Buffalo in week three and came away with a comfortable win (23-0 in ‘99, 24-3 in ‘02). The 1999 win triggered a three-game winning streak. UConn won two straight in 2002 before a narrow overtime loss to Ball State. In 1999, UConn’s first win after having its winning streak snapped was on the first Saturday in November (29-24 vs. Northeastern on Nov. 6). The same thing happened in 2002 as UConn’s losing skid ended on the first Saturday in November with a 61-14 win over Florida Atlantic on Nov. 2.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Five true freshmen appeared in the Huskies season opener at Boston College, including an all-true freshman starting back field featuring fullback Deon Anderson and tailback Terry Caulley. Overall, seven true freshman have played for UConn this season. Brandon Young earned a slot in the wide receiver rotation while also serving for a while as UConn’s top punt returner. James Hargrave plays a backup role at Husky linebacker and on special teams. He started for the injured Jamal Lundy against Ohio and led UConn with 17 tackles. Ernest Cole has also seen time, mainly on special teams, while Rhema Fuller and Cathyln Clarke made their Husky debuts against Georgia Tech.
YOUNG GUNS
Frequent redshirting of players over the past couple of seasons and drastic expansion in the total number of available scholarships to 85, has enabled head coach Randy Edsall to put together a fairly young team. This is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. UConn has just four offensive scholarship seniors and 70% of scholarship players are sophomores or younger on offense.
2002 Scholarship Chart
Class Off. Def. Spec.
Sr. (12) 4 7 1
Jr. (21) 9 11 1
So. (17) 10 7 0
RFr. (13) 10 3 0
TFr. (21) 10 10 1
Total (84) 43 38 3
OUR OWN LITTLE EPCOT CENTER HERE IN STORRS
While the overwhelming majority of the UConn football team is comprised of players from the northeastern United States, the Huskies have a far greater foreign influence than your typical college football team with players hailing from three different continents. UConn has five Canadian players, two from Ontario (Hakeem Kashama and O’Neil Wilson) and a trio of Quebecois (Dan Desriveaux, Shawn Mayne and Jason Ward). Although now a Canadian citizen, Kashama was actually born in Zaire. Punter Adam Coles is a native Australian while offensive tackle Aloys Manga is a native of Duana, Cameroon. Although not a foreign nation, UConn’s Conn Davis grew up outside of the 50 states as a native of the Virgin Islands.
CONNECTICUT TRI-CAPTAINS
Senior tight end Tommy Collins, senior linebacker Jamal Lundy and senior defensive tackle Greg Smoot are the Huskies’ three captains for the 2002 season. All three have been regular contributors since their true freshmen year in 1999 and eventually developed into regular starters and team leaders. Smoot has started 42 of his 43 career games as a Husky while Lundy has been the first or second leading tackler in each of the past two years. Showing their team-first mentalities, all three have had a position change during their UConn careers with Collins shifting from fullback to tight end, Lundy moving from safety to linebacker and Smoot pushing inward from defensive end to defensive tackle.
OFFENSE NOTES
WHO YOU GONNA CAULLEY?
True freshman tailback Terry Caulley has eclipsed the 100-yard rushing plateau four times in his first seven collegiate games (Buffalo, Ohio, Ball State and Florida Atlantic) and he became the first Husky to post three straight 100-yard rushing games since Wilbur Gilliard ran for over 100 yards in the first four games of the 1995 season. Caulley’s 103.57 ypg average ranks 33rd in the nation overall and second amongst true freshmen, behind only Ohio State phoneme Maurice Clarett (127.38). After rushing for 62 yards in his debut against BC and missing the Georgia Tech game with a shoulder injury, Caulley had his breakthrough game at Buffalo, rushing for 136 yards, a performance he followed up with 117 yards against Ohio and 131 against Ball State. Caulley missed the Miami game with a neck injury. Called both "Mighty Mouse" and "Squeak" by his teammates for his 5-7 frame, Caulley has also caught 20 passes out of the backfield for 136 yards, even leading UConn with five receptions during the win at Buffalo. His nine rushing touchdowns this year are tied for the second most ever for a UConn freshman.
RUNNING TO PAY DIRT
Although UConn has not rushed the ball as well as it would have liked to so far this season, the running game has been productive in terms of generating points. UConn has already posted 15 rushing TDs this year, its most since rushing for 15 in 1999. With nine TD carries (in just seven games played), Terry Caulley has far eclipsed UConn’s 2001 leader in rushing TDs, Taber Small, who had four.
DAN-O PUTTING ON A SHOW
Sophomore Dan Orlovsky, a high school All-American and the Connecticut Player of the Year in 2000 at Shelton High School, has been steady as the Huskies’ starting quarterback this season, posting solid numbers. Orlovsky has hit on 161-of-276 passes (58.3%) for 1,855 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He had a streak of 77 consecutive passes without an interception snapped when throwing the ball up for grabs on a Hail Mary play at the end of the first half of the Ohio game. With a TD pass in each of UConn’s nine games this year, Orlovsky is looking to join Shane Stafford (1997) as the only Huskies to throw a TD pass in every game for an entire season. Orlovsky started the season off on the right foot as he showed great poise in leading UConn on a 12-play, 90-yard TD drive on the game’s opening possession at Boston College’s Alumni Stadium. That drive was UConn’s longest TD drive since going 92 for a score against Northeastern on Sept. 23, 2000 and for Orlovsky was part of a monster half that saw him hit on 14-of-17 attempts (82%) for 132 yards. He also led UConn in two 95-yard touchdown drives against Ball State, the latter one tying the game with 0:29 to play. Helping make Orlovsky more effective has been his improved running ability and UConn’s ability. Orlovsky’s positive rushes (non-sacks/TFLs) have accounted for 81 yards so far this season after rushing positively for just 43 yards in all of 2001. He has also rushed for three touchdowns in 2002, second best on the team.
TOUCHDOWN TOMMY COLLINS
Senior tri-captain Tommy Collins has been an integral part of the UConn passing attack from his tight end post this season. Collins leads the Huskies with 32 receptions, 433 receiving yards and five touchdowns, all career seasonal highs. Collins has a TD catch in five of UConn’s nine games this year after making just four total TD catches in his career entering the season. His career-high seven catches against Temple was also a career high and accompanied 84 yards and a touchdown. Doing a little bit of everything, Collins has also done a fine job as a blocker at tight end, serves as the punt team’s long snapper and has made six tackles on special teams, including four solos.
TAKING THE LONG ROAD
Showing increased poise and maturity, the UConn offense has been able to string together some long drives this season. UConn’s 27 touchdown drives have averaged 63.3 yards this season, including nine of 80 yards or longer and three of 90 yards or longer. Only eight times this year (four coming against FAU) has UConn started in opposing territory for a TD march, usually earning the six points with a strong drive. Amongst the highlights was a 90 yarder on the season’s opening possession at BC, a pair of 80 yard scoring drives against Georgia Tech and a 95 yarder to tie the Ball State game with 0:29 to play and force over time.
CODE RED
UConn just came off of a streak of almost seven full games without a red zone miscue. The Huskies steak saw the team convert on each of 21 consecutive red zone possessions, scoring 17 touchdowns and four field goals. UConn’s run started on Sept. 14 at Buffalo with a Marc Hickok field goal with 14 seconds left in the first half, and ended on Nov. 2 with a fumble by walk-on RB Jonathan Wholley at the goal line with 6:46 to play in UConn’s 61-14 win over Florida Atlantic.
STANDING STRONG IN THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE
While Dan Orlovsky’s third-quarter touchdown pass to Tommy Collins at Miami may have not meant much in the final outcome of the game it was very significant in the notebook. It was one of only nine passing TDs that Miami had allowed over the past two seasons combined. The 2001 season saw national powers like Syracuse, Washington, Virginia Tech and Nebraska play a full 60 minutes against the ‘Canes without throwing for a touchdown. Thus far in 2002, Boston College and Florida, amongst others, have not thrown for a TD in their games against Miami.
REGARDING HENRY
Backup quarterback Keron Henry was moved to wide receiver on the Monday after the Miami game and after a bye week made his debut as a wide receiver against Temple. Henry played on 11 snaps against the Owls, making one catch for zero yards. The move was designed to get the athletic 6-2 sophomore an opportunity to make more plays down field. Jermell Williams has replaced Henry as the backup quarterback behind Dan Orlovsky.
HUSKY GROUND GAME SHUFFLES THROUGH BUFFALO, FAU
When UConn posted 187 rushing yards in its 24-3 win at Buffalo on Sept. 14 and 214 against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 2, each proved to be a pretty significant total in the program’s recent history. The Buffalo sum marked the best single-game rushing output for the Huskies in a road game since racking up 203 in a triple-OT game at Maine on Oct. 11, 1997. The 214 against the Owls marked UConn’s best rushing performance overall of the Randy Edsall era and was it’s first 200-yard rushing game since gaining 203 against Rhode Island on Oct. 24, 1998.
YOUTH REIGNS IN CONNECTICUT BACKFIELD
UConn is starting true freshmen at both fullback and tailback in Deon Anderson and Terry Caulley, respectively. The diminutive, 5-7 Caulley dazzled in the fall camp, demonstrating the solid instincts that led him to be named last years’ Maryland offensive player of the year. Anderson took charge early on at the fullback spot. The three sport (football, wrestling and track) standout at Providence’s Hope High School and Connecticut’s Avon Old Farms Prep picked up the Husky offense quickly and won a starting nod. Anderson has not disappointed, picking up 109 yards this year on 31 carries, with a TD, while blocking well.
DEFENSE NOTES
HUSKY PASS DEFENSE RANKS HIGH NATIONALLY
The Huskies have been able to slow down its opposition’s passing attacked fairly well in 2002. UConn ranks 16th in the nation in passing defense by averaging just 172.22 yards per game and 50th in passing efficiency defense with a rating of 116.98. This has contributed to a total defense figure of 328.11 that ranks 27th in the country. Seven of UConn’s nine opponents this year have completed 15 or fewer passes, including as season low of eight by Temple. With 12 interceptions to its credit, the UConn defense is tied for 25th nationally and is not far behind NCAA leaders Arizona State, Auburn and San Jose State who have 18 apiece.
BUT HUSKIES NEED TO STOP THE RUN BETTER
While UConn has done a good job against the pass this year, the Huskies have not had as much success against the run. UConn is 64th in the nation in rush defense, allowing 155.89 yards per game. Every UConn opponent this season, except for Buffalo and FAU, has produced a 100-yard rusher against the Huskies, but none have had a 100-yard receiver. When UConn has stopped the run though it has been with a monumental figure. UConn held Buffalo to just 45 yards on the ground when the Huskies faced the Bulls on Sept. 14 while the Nov. 2 game against Florida Atlantic saw UConn set a school record by holding the Owls to minus-12 yards rushing. The previous low was minus-eight, set by Yale on Sept., 29, 1984.
CAN’T AVOID LLOYD
Sophomore Maurice Lloyd has had a hot hand of late from the weakside linebacker spot. Lloyd has assumed the team lead in tackles with 83 on the year after hitting double digits in four of the last six games. Lloyd has led the Huskies in each of the past three games in tackles with his 14 against Temple, 11 at Vanderbilt and seven against Florida Atlantic. He also recorded two TFLs in the Temple and Vanderbilt games and overall, Lloyd has made multiple TFLs in five out of UConn’s nine games this season.
FINCHER PHENOMENAL IN NEW STARTING ROLE
Sophomore Alfred Fincher, a native of Norwood, Mass., made the most of his opportunity after beating out incumbent middle linebacker Razul Wallace this fall. Fincher second for UConn with 76 total tackles on the year and has 6.5 tackles for loss. At BC, in his first career start, Fincher tied for the team lead with seven solo tackles and was credited with a team-best 15 total to accompany a pair of tackles for loss, a pass deflection and his first career interception which he ran back 19 yards to the BC 42 yard line late in the third quarter. His only missed start this season came against Temple when UConn played most of the game in a nickel package against the Owls’ spread offense.
ROY’S A NATURAL
Hopkins is part of a tie for 22nd place in the NCAA by averaging 0.44 interceptions a game (four in nine games). UConn’s only three fifth-year seniors on the team, joining Marc Hickok and Frank Quagliano, Hopkins’ four interceptions this season equals his total for the rest of his career combined. Hopkins by far leads UConn with his 12 pass breakups this year while making a solid 38 tackles. Hopkins also blocked an extra point kick against Temple.
MY OH MEYER
Junior safety Chris Meyer has made his presence known both with some hard hits and also with the sheer quantity of them. Meyer is second on the team with 53 solo tackles on the year and is third to Alfred Fincher and Maurice Lloyd with 74 total tackles. Meyer has two interceptions. His first of the year plus a 17-yard return, coming late in the Ohio game, was one of the most important factors in the momentum swing that secured a Husky victory. Meyer also had 10 solo tackles against the Bobcats.
UCONN FORCES BUFFALO TO GO THE DISTANCE
Critical to the success of the Husky defense at Buffalo was its good work on first and second down in forcing the Bulls into several third-and-long situations. UB was forced to convert on third-and-10 or more eight times against UConn and were denied on all eight attempts. Against BC and Georgia Tech combined, UConn’s foes only faced double-digit distances on third down five times (converting two). The Bulls faced third-and-15 or more four times. UB was 1-for-14 overall on third down (7%) after BC and Georgia Tech converted on a combined 32% (9-for-28) of its total tries. As a result of their tough defense, UConn forced six three-and-outs at Buffalo, a percentage that represents 40% of UB’ 15 possessions. UConn forced five more three-and-outs against Ohio but forced an average of 2.75 in its four games after that, all losses. UConn fixed this by forcing five three-and-outs against FAU.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
THE CROCODILE PUNTER
Junior Adam Coles, a native of Gladesville, Australia and a former Australian Rules Football player, has made a solid transition to the American version of football and is quietly making noise in UConn’s record book. Coles is presently second all-time at UConn with a 39.8 average for a minimum of 80 career punts and ranks amongst the top five in school history for both number of punts and yardage. Coles hasn’t disappointed this season, kicking for a 40.0 average, including a long of 64 at Miami. In that game, Coles showed his AFL background on a punt in the second quarter when the snap went well over his head and he had to back peddle about 20 yards, finally getting off what he termed a "snap kick" at his own seven yard line just before being flattened by Miami’s Marcus Maxey. Although it went in the book as a 24 yard boot, it went about 50 yards in the air. Coles was named to the Ray Guy Award’s preseason watch list.
ON THE MARC
Senior Marc Hickok tied a pair of school records in UConn’s win 61-14 over Florida Atlantic on Nov. 2. Hickok was a perfect eight-for-eight in his extra point attempts against the Owls, tying the school record of eight successful PATs set in 1980 by Bob Segar against Rhode Island and equalled by Jim McManus against Yale in 1998. The eight PATs extended Hickok’s streak to 29 consecutive successful PAT tries, tying Rob Moons’ school record set in 1988. Hickok shanked his first PAT try of the year (5:20 into the Boston College game) and has not missed since.
CHASIN’ JASON
Junior Jason Dellaselva has made his presence known this year on special teams. Dellaselva leads UConn with seven special teams tackles, covering both kickoffs and punts. He also serves as the team’s kick returner, averaging 20.7 yards on his 19 returns, including a long of 47 yards against Miami, a team that held its opponents to a scant 13.8 yards per return entering the UConn game. Dellaselva’s was the longest kick return against Miami since Larry Johnson of Penn State ran one back 69 yards on Sept. 1, 2001. No one has returned a kickoff for a touchdown against the Canes since 1998 (Kevin Johnson of Syracuse). Dellaselva also recovered the fumble off of a muffed punt by Miami.
EVERYONE GETTING INTO THE MIX
Head coach Randy Edsall stresses the importance of special teams every day, even sitting in daily on the UConn special teams meetings. A majority of the team’s players are involved in special teams in some capacity and it shows on the tackle chart. As evidence of this full participation, 21 different Huskies have made a special teams tackle over the course of the 2002 season, led by Jason Dellaselva and Deon Anderson with seven each, while Tommy Collins has added six tackles (four solo) on special teams.
SCHEDULE NOTES
WHO ARE YOU? WHO? WHO? WHO? WHO?
As a part of their move to Division I-A status the Huskies will face a revamped schedule in 2002, one which features six first time opponents for UConn. The Huskies oppose Georgia Tech, Ohio, Miami (Fla.), Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic and Iowa State for the first time ever on the gridiron this season. In fact, fellow-Division I-A neophyte Buffalo is the only 2002 opponent that UConn has faced more than 10 times with the Huskies and Bulls playing for the 13th time on Sept. 14. Entering the season, a total of just 36 games had been played all-time between UConn and its 2002 opponents combined, fewer than its series with six individual schools, a list led by Rhode Island with 92 meetings. In addition to its new opponents, UConn will face its first ever member of the Big 12 Conference (Iowa State) and faced only its second ever foe from the Southeastern Conference (Vanderbilt). UConn previously travelled to SEC member Kentucky in 1999. The Georgia Tech game marked UConn’s second ever game against an active Atlantic Coast Conference opponent with the Huskies having faced North Carolina in 1990. UConn also played then-Southern Conference member Maryland in 1942 prior to the ACC’s formation in 1953.
HUSKIES PLAYING THE BCS FIELD
UConn faces opponents from four different conferences this season that are amongst the six members of the Bowl Championship Series as the Huskies face foes from the ACC (Georgia Tech), BIG EAST (Boston College, Miami, Temple), Big 12 (Iowa State) and SEC (Vanderbilt). Facing four different BCS conferences ties UConn for the most of any school in the nation in the 2002 season joining Florida State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The one common denominator is that all seven schools play at least one ACC team while all but the Red Raiders face a BIG EAST squad.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN...AND AGAIN
With the decrease in regional scheduling brought about by UConn’s independent status, the Huskies will make some historic road trips in the program’s lineage which dates back to 1896. UConn’s game at Miami marked the furthest south the team has ever travelled for a game, eclipsing its trip to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium for a game last year against South Florida. This mark should hold forever as the Orange Bowl is the southernmost stadium in the continental United States for a I-A school although it is a couple of miles north of the actual UM campus in Coral Gables. UConn’s game at Iowa State in Ames just narrowly misses being its furthest ever western destination, a nod that goes to Dallas, Texas where the Huskies faced SMU in 1989.
SET YOUR WATCHES
The team’s games at Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) and Iowa State (Ames, Iowa) are significant as they mark just the third and fourth times, respectively, that UConn will ever play outside of the Eastern time zone. Both schools are located in the Central time zone. The Huskies have twice previously played an hour behind Storrs, losing at SMU in Dallas in 1989 and at Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro in 2001. UConn has never played in either the Mountain or Pacific time zones.
LOOKING AHEAD
The 2003 and 2004 Connecticut football schedules feature teams from the BIG EAST, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conferences and also include a home-and-home series with Army. The schedules, which were announced in mid-September, will mark the first two years of play for UConn at Rentschler Field in East Hartford and are also the final schedules before the Huskies enter BIG EAST Conference play in 2005. Of the 23 games UConn will play in 2003 and 2004, ten of them will be against teams from Bowl Championship Series Conferences, while two others will be the Army series. The complete 2003 and 2004 Husky football schedules are shown to the right with times and television information to be announced at a later date.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
CONNECTICUT’S NEW CLOTHES
The Huskies have been sporting completely new ensembles this season. Blue and white with silver trim, the fashionable look was designed by new sponsor Aéropostale. The uniforms also bear a patch on the right chest commemorating the team’s 50th and final season at Memorial Stadium before moving into Rentschler Field in East Hartford next season. Additionally, this season’s helmets will include a white interlocking "UC" logo on a blue background. The uniforms feature the players’ names on the back for the first time under head coach Randy Edsall’s watch. The red accents commonly found on UConn uniforms have been replaced with silver accents on the 2002 football jerseys. Instead of white uniform pants for home games this year, UConn will don silver britches. Also, the front of the jerseys will say "Connecticut" instead of "UConn," a point that Edsall was especially passionate about. At the team’s August 9th media day he said "We’re Team Connecticut. From Greenwich to Torrington and Norwich to Danbury, we want everybody to know that we’re your team. We want people from all those areas to come up and experience the things that we’ve got going." UConn and Aéropostale recently announced a new corporate partnership that will see the company provide practice and sideline apparel for football and 18 other UConn sports. Aéropostale will also be involved in a number of campus activities.
TAKE A HISTORY LESSON BEFORE HUSKY HOME GAMES
Start off your Connecticut football home game days by touring the new 2,700 square foot J. Robert Donnelly Husky Heritage Sports Museum. Located in the newly expanded UConn Alumni Center and within shouting distance of Memorial Stadium, the museum is the ultimate living document to UConn’s many athletic successes. Long time Husky Sports Information Director Tim Tolokan serves as the museum’s curator and director. Banners, memorabilia and NCAA championship trophies line the display cases while video monitors perpetually replay glorious moments from UConn’s athletic past. The Connecticut Basketball Rotunda is a can’t-miss for any Huskies fan, preserving the memory of the school’s national championships in both men’s and women’s basketball.
ANCHORS AWAY
UConn will end the season with a two-game road trip which starts next Saturday in Annapolis, Md. when UConn faces Navy at noon. WFSB TV-3 in Hartford will broadcast the game. The Huskies are 0-5 all-time against the Midshipmen, dropping five-straight meetings between 1975-79. The Huskies will also look to snap a nine-game winning streak south of the Mason-Dixon line. The trip will serve as a homecoming for several Husky Marylanders, including true freshmen Terry Caulley and Brandon Young.
STADIUM/ATTENDANCE NOTES
CLOSING TIME
The Kent State game is the Huskies’ final at Memorial Stadium after a 50 year run. UConn has posted a 130-102-4 (.559) record all-time in the 16,200 seat facility that opened on October 10, 1953, with a 26-6 win over St. Lawrence. Memorial Stadium will be torn down to make room for the Burton Family Football Complex, a multi-sport facility which will house coaches’ offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms and other improved facilities. To help recognize the 50th and final season at Memorial Stadium, UConn is wearing commemorative patches (pictured) on the chest of their 2002 game uniforms. Amongst some well known opposing players that Memorial Stadium has hosted are Boston University’s Bill Brooks and Jim Jensen, Holy Cross’ Gordie Lockbaum, UMass’ Greg Landry and Navy’s Phil McConkey.
STARTING A COMMOTION
Swelling interest in the Husky football program as it gradually moves up into BIG EAST play can be evidenced by a rise in attendance. The Ball State game drew 16,849 fans to Memorial Stadium, the most in the facility’s 50-year history, breaking a mark set on Sept. 7 when 16,751 came out for the Georgia Tech game. The Ohio game drew 15,901, the tenth most ever at Memorial Stadium. UConn’s season-ticket base for 2002 stands at a school record of approximately 11,300 while the Huskies have also sold a record of approximately 600 student season-tickets.
TOP FIVE CROWDS AT MEMORIAL STADIUM
Attn. Date Opponent Score
16,849 9/28/02 Ball State L, 24-21 (OT)
16,751 9/7/02 Georgia Tech L, 31-14
16,632 9/9/00 Colgate W, 37-7
16,585 10/28/00 South Florida L, 21-13
16,549 9/23/00 Northeastern L, 35-27
SURE COULD USE THOSE EXTRA SEATS RIGHT ABOUT NOW
Operating at 98.16% of capacity at 16,200 seat Memorial Stadium this season, the Huskies presently rank tied with Alabama for 23rd in the nation in average attendance based on percentage of capacity. While UConn is not yet a member of the conference, no BIG EAST school is amongst the top 25 schools in this category, while Notre Dame is the only other independent. Iowa State, which UConn wil visit on Nov. 23, leads the nation at 105.87%,
MOVIN’ ON UP TO THE EAST SIDE
The Huskies will move into brand new Rentschler Field in East Hartford for the 2003 season with the stadium set to open its doors on August 30 for a game against the Big Ten’s Indiana Hoosiers. Conveniently located within miles of Interstates 91, 84 and 384, Adriaen’s Landing and downtown Hartford, the new home of the Huskies lies on 75 acres of land donated to the State of Connecticut from the historic Pratt & Whitney Airfield by company founder Frederick Rentschler. The new stadium will hold approximately 40,000 seats and 40 luxury suites in a massive press box tower which will help enclose the natural grass field. The $91 million construction project, part of Governor John Rowland’s economic development program for the Hartford metro-area, is currently about 80% completed and on schedule. The picture above is from October 18 when Randy Edsall helped install the stadium’s bluegrass playing field.
STADIUM SUPERLATIVES
Undefeated and Untied Seasons: 4 (1959, ‘64, ‘86, ‘89)
Winless Seasons: 1 (1977)
Most Wins: 5 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1998)
Fewest Wins: 0 (1977)
Top Attendace (Game): 16,849 vs. Ball State, Sept. 28, 2002
Top Attendance (Season): 79,511 to date in 2002
Most Points (Game): 61 vs. Florida Atlantic, Nov. 2, 2002
UConn Shutouts: 21 (last vs. Eastern Mich., Oct. 6, 2001)
Times Shutout: 7 (last vs. Navy, Sept. 23, 1978)
Longest Unbeaten Streak: 12 (1956-1958, one tie)
Longest Losing Streak: 7 (1974-1975)
