Paw Prints - UConn Huskies (4-4, 1-3) @ Cincinnati Bearcats (8-0, 4-0) Preview

This week:

The UConn Huskies travel to Cincinnati, OH to take on the #5/4/7 Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday night at Nippert Stadium at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Bearcats.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com, the Bearcats are 17 point favorites and the over/under is 52. My prediction is Cincinnati 27 UConn 21.

Tickets:

The game is sold-out on Saturday night. However, Cincinnati’s secondary ticket provider, the Seat Exchange, has tickets available for the game.

Getting To The Game:

Here is a map for the University of Cincinnati campus. Here is a link for directions and parking to Nippert Stadium. Here is a seating chart for Nippert Stadium. Here is the fan guide and a link to the FAQ. Here is the weather report for Cincinnati.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game will be televised live by ABC Sports and is one of three games in the time spot joined by USC-Arizona State and Nebraska-Oklahoma. Brent Musburger is on play-by-play while Kirk Herbstreit is on color and Lisa Salters is on sidelines.

Radio:

For the 18th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the 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 side lines and Eric Davis on production.

The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Arnold Dean. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. For a full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN radio network, click here.

Cincinnati Radio:

The game will air over the Cincinnati Bearcats Radio Network presented by IMG College starting at 11:30 a.m. on 700 WLW AM, XM 203, and Sirius 122. Dan Hoard (play-by-play), Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst), Tom Gelehrter (sideline), and Mo Egger (host/engineer) make up the UC broadcast team.

The radio broadcast can also be heard over the internet at GoBEARCATS.com.

Last Week:

For the second straight week, the Huskies lost a heartbreaker, this time to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 28-24. The Cincinnati Bearcats beat the Syracuse Orange 28-7.

History:

The Huskies are 1-4 all-time against Cincinnati and 1-3 in BIG EAST action. Also, they are 0-3 at Nippert Stadium. The Huskies only win came last year when they won 40-16.

Connections:

The UConn roster has two players from Ohio on it — Lindsey Witten of Cleveland and redshirt freshman defensive end Ted Jennings of Dayton.
The Cincinnati roster does not have a Connecticut native on it.
UConn’s assistant head coach for defense Hank Hughes coached defensive line for the Bearcats in 1993 under Tim Murphy. Cincinnati went 8-3 that season.

Other News:

UConn’s four losses this year have been by a combined 13 points and the Huskies have held fourth quarter leads in each of the game.

Saturday vs. Rutgers: UConn led 24-21 after taking their first lead of the game with 38 seconds to go. Rutgers scored on an 81-yard pass play for the 28-24 win.
Sept. 12 vs. North Carolina: UConn led 10-0 after three quarters, but gave up 12 fourth quarter points for the loss. The Tar Heels scored the winning points on a safety when UConn was called for holding in the endzone.
Oct. 10 vs. Pittsburgh: UConn led 21-3 late in the third quarter. Pittsburgh scored a TD with 12 seconds left in the third quarter and added a TD and field goal as time expired for the win.
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia: UConn led 17-14 at halftime and took a 24-21 lead with 3:50 to go in the fourth on an 88-yard TD play. West Virginia came right back and scored on a 56-yard running play with 2:10 to go for the win.

Here are the categories where UConn is in the top 30 in the 2009 NCAA statistics:

Passing Offense – 39th at 238.50 (Second in BIG EAST)
Total Offense – 38th at 402.25 (Third in BIG EAST)
Total Defense – 31st at 323.00 (Fifth in BIG EAST)
Scoring Defense – 36th at 20.63 (Fifth in BIG EAST)
Net Punting – 20th at 38.00 (First in BIG EAST)
Kickoff Returns – 16th at 25.42 (Second in BIG EAST)
Fumbles Rec. – t39th at 7 (Fourth in BIG EAST)
Interceptions – t14th at 11 (Third in BIG EAST)
Sacks – 14th at 2.88 (Third in BIG EAST)

In addition, Jordan Todman is tied for 42nd in the country in rushing yards per game at 83.00 while Andre Dixon is 36th at 87.88. Robert McClain is tied for tenth in interceptions at 0.50 per game along with teammate Robert Vaughn. Desi Cullen is 15th in punting, and second in the BIG EAST, at 43.79 yards. Lindsey Witten is tied for second in sacks at 1.31 per game. Lawrence Wilson is ninth in tackles.

Cincinnati leads the nation in tackles for a loss (9.5), ranks second in sacks (3.6), third in turnover margin (1.6), and ninth in scoring defense (12.9).

Offensively, the Bearcats lead the country in passing efficiency (168.49), rank fifth in scoring offense (39.1), eighth in total offense (454.0), and 10th in passing offense (305.3).

Cincinnati has turned the ball over four times in 2009, all on INTs, the fewest turnovers in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

Cincinnati is also the lone NCAA FBS team to have not lost a fumble in 2009.

Could We See Johnny McEntee By The End Of The Night? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

How Likely Is It That We’ll See 2009 Huskies In A Bowl? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Edsall: Pre-Cincinnati [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

What to watch in the Big East, Week 10 [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

Hard-luck UConn takes on hard-charging Cincinnati [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

Breaking Down My Career Choices: If You Can’t Laugh At Yourself Edition [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Update from Edsall, no bombshells [Neill Ostrout – Connecticut Post]

Kanuch Named To CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn at Cincinnati: Who’s got the edge? [Connecticut Post]

Primetime at Cincy is like free 3-hour ad [New Haven Register]