University of Connecticut Athletics
Live Chat, Winter Wear Drive At Syracuse Football Game
11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 2011
STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will once again conduct a "Winter Wear Drive" this year. The drive will take place at the UConn vs. Syracuse football game on Saturday, November 5 at Rentschler Field, which begins at noon. Donations can be dropped off at FanFest (outside of Gate B) from 8 a.m. to noon and at all entrance gates starting at 10:30 a.m. until kickoff.
Patrons are asked to bring gently-used coats, hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, etc. to the game and they will be collected as they enter the stadium.
The items will be donated to the Cornerstone Foundation in Rockville, Conn.; the Windham Area Interfaith Ministries of Willimantic, Conn., and the Salvation Army of Willimantic, Conn.
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UConnHuskies.com will once again have a live chat during Saturday's football game. We will start chatting at 11:45 a.m. Please join us!
The UConn football team returns home to Rentschler Field as the University of Connecticut hosts Syracuse for a noon time game BIG EAST contest on Saturday, November 5. Connecticut (3-5, 1-2) is coming off a Wednesday night loss at Pittsburgh, while the Orange (5-3, 2-1) fell to Louisville this past weekend, following an upset of West Virginia. When these two teams met a year ago, UConn became bowl eligible with a 23-6 road win.
Saturday's game will be televised live on ESPNU beginning at 12:00 pm. Live game audio can also be heard on the WTIC-UConn Radio Network.
For a look at UConn's weekly media release CLICK HERE.
Head coach Paul Pasqualoni held his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon. Below are quotes from the coach and selected student-athletes.
Paul Pasqualoni, Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"The
How has last weekend's winter storm affected the team?
"It affects the coaches tremendously. Many of them have families without power and heat. Their kids are out of school, so there are some concerns. That certainly doesn't make this week of preparation any easier. The coaches are handling it great, but it makes the week a little more difficult. The logistics of everything becomes a concern."
What do you make of the
"Anything other than preparation for this game is a distraction. The fact that I worked at
What do you see in Yawin Smallwood's progression at middle linebacker?
"After (Spring ball) we felt like Yawin Smallwood's skill set would have the best chance (at middle linebacker). Obviously, he had never played there. He's a young player in our program. I like his focus and his attention to what he is doing. That's a big part of playing the position. He progressively gets better each week. I'm not going to say, going into this game, that by any stretch of the imagination is he the finished product, but he is much more comfortable and confident in what he's doing than two months ago when we started the season. It appears that Yawin Smallwood has the skill set and the focus and the toughness to develop at that position. Time will only tell how good he becomes, but it has been a good spot for him and he's good for the spot. We're anxious to see him continue to get better."
Can you pinpoint the source of Johnny McEntee's struggles?
"Johnny (McEntee) will start the game on Saturday. His struggles have been a combination of we could throw the ball better, we could protect better and we could keep the penetration from getting up in his face and making him throw out of a small tight space. The runs can be more precisely. We've dropped some passes. We could catch the ball better. That would help Johnny."
Why did you choose the pro-style offense for this team?
"I would like to be able to run the ball here. From a flexibility standpoint, we'd like to have a fullback and a tailback. We'd love to utilize tight ends. That is a big part of it. When you get into the spread offense, you are immediately eliminating fullbacks and the tight end position from your offense. If you can become a good pro-style of attack with good personnel, the possibilities are endless. The flexibility in attacking teams becomes wide open. We're making progress. I think our run game against
What have you seen from the
"They both played very hard. The effort that was put out on the field was outstanding. The
What do you see from
"First off, (Ryan Nassib) is a pure pro-style quarterback. He has good feet and is elusive in the pocket. He can make first downs running. He throws the ball accurately and knows the system. He is very good with the protections and concepts of the routes. He knows where he wants to go with the ball. You can see the confidence and comfort level he has in this system."
Have you been able to pinpoint the team's red zone problems?
"Execution. We get into the red zone and have a limited amount of space down there. The depth and timing of the routes change. Teams like to pressure more in the red, especially in the tight red, which is 10 yards and in. On both sides of the ball, we've got to be able to execute. Everything has got to be precise and exact. Everything happens so quickly in the red zone."
#43 Lyle McCombs, RS-Freshman, Running Back
What does this week mean to the team and what needs to be done to win this week?
"
On the running game performing well last week:
"Our run game is getting better every week and every game. We need to keep it up and continue to have it be a staple of our offensive."
You had 125 yards last week, can you sustain that again against
"There's always an opportunity to make things happen every game. We are going to run the ball. My job is to take advantage of those opportunities and make the most of them."
#18 Johnny McEntee, RS-Junior, Quarterback
How's the mood with the team after last week's loss to
"Well, we are just getting ready for this week. We needed that win to get to 4-4. There's still a lot we can accomplish this year and we need to take it game-by-game. We have three home games here and that's a big opportunity for us to get it going. We need to start that stretch the right way with
On the
"We all saw them play
Does this game mean anything extra to you guys knowing Coach Pasqualoni was there for such a long time?
"We know it's a big game for him. It's big obviously because it's the next game, but we know he really wants this one and we need this game."
What is the mentality now that you've dropped below .500?
"It's a little frustrating, obviously. At the beginning of the year, no one saw this team going 3-5. But you have to keep going and roll with the punches. There's another game right away."
What are the major difficulties on third down for the offense this year, especially anything more than third-and-four, third-and-five?
"Well when it's third and five, you have to pass. You can't really run the ball or else you don't have much of a chance to get the first down. Teams know that. That's mostly on me, some on the receivers too I guess. We have to be better on third down and execute our plays. It's mostly on me as the quarterback, I know I'm going to get that pressure and be looked at when we don't convert."
#99, Kendall Reyes, RS-Senior, Defensive Tackle
On team's emotions:
"We still can make it a winning season. Coach talks us up in practice and the season can be what we make of it. We still have four games left. We are taking it one game at a time. We can't quit, there is a lot of football left and we are ready to go. We had two great practices the other day and I'm confident in this team. We're going to be ready for
On going from USF win to Pitt loss:
"We just didn't execute. There is no excuse. We had really great practices and it didn't translate to the game. It was just one of those days. You don't like it when it happens, but sometimes it just happens. That was a tough one to swallow but we need to learn from it. It left a foul taste in everyone's mouth. We're mad, which is good because you need to play with a chip on your shoulder."
#3, Sio Moore, RS-Junior, Linebacker
On Pitt loss:
"We obviously didn't capitalize on some things we should have during the game and it really hurt us. We really need to take this missed opportunities seriously this week."
On Pitt's 400 yards:
"It's always frustrating. In the end it is not about the yardage it's about the points that get put up by the yardage. We need to start getting these wins. That will happen if everybody can do their job individually. Then from there things will go the right way."
On upcoming games:
"Either you win or you don't. We have to get something going right now. We are just taking it one game at a time. All I can do is make sure I am taking care of everything I need to."
On power outages:
"It hasn't affected us too much. On campus they are doing a great job of keeping of everything running. I can't imagine not having power. I hope it will get fixed as soon as possible."
#28, Jory Johnson, RS-Junior, Linebacker
On frustration with Pitt loss:
"It is disappointing. The most disappointing thing is we are working really hard in practice and you can see our improvement but it doesn't show every game. We're not seeing the results that we should."
On time off from Pitt to
"We were down on ourselves. Pitt was not what we envisioned. It has given us an advantage to have some extra time off. It gives us more time to have meetings and watch film on
#11, Scott McCummings, RS-Freshman, Quarterback
What is the mindset of this team right now?
"We want to get back out there and prove ourselves because we feel that we've been underperforming. We feel like we've been giving away a lot of games. We need to show how UConn football actually plays."
Is there any less optimism than when the season started?
"Not at all. Everyone believes that every single game means something and we're not giving up on out season at all."
Is it frustrating to be used in only a limited package in the offense?
"I just want to get on the field and play as many plays as I can. Obviously, I'm going to be a little disgruntled if I can't contribute, but I'm not looking to do anymore than I can do right now. The coaches know what I can do and they're giving me plays accordingly."
Players Mentioned
