This week:
The UConn Huskies travel to Piscataway, NJ to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Rutgers Stadium.
Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Scarlet Knights.
The Line/Prediction:
According to Rivals.com, UConn is favored by 5.5 points. The over/under for the game is 42 points.
My prediction for the game is UConn 24 Rutgers 21.
Tickets:
As of the time of this post, there are plenty of tickets remaining. Head over to Rutgers online ticket office to purchase your tickets.
Getting To The Game:
Here is the weather forecast for Piscataway, NJ. Here are directions, a seating chart, parking info for Rutgers Stadium as well as Rutgers stadium policies.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
Friday’s game will be televised live nationally by ESPN. Brad Nessler is on play-by-play while Rod Gilmore is on color.
The game will also be replayed on SNY in its entirety on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 10 a.m.. The game will also be rebroadcast in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 6:00 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 2:00 p.m.
The game will also be streamed live on ESPN3.com.
Radio:
For the 19th 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 sidelines and E.B. 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. Here is a full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN Radio Network.
Rutgers Radio:
The Rutgers Radio Network begins pre-game coverage at 6:30 p.m. as Chris Carlin calls the action with former Rutgers QB Ray Lucas (color analyst) and Anthony Fucilli (sideline). The Rutgers Radio Network includes WOR-710 AM in New York City, WCTC-1450 AM in Central Jersey and 950 AM ESPN Radio in Philadelphia and South Jersey.
The Rutgers Radio Network feed is available nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 122) and XM Satellite Radio (channel 143). In addition, WRSU has complete coverage of the game on 88.7 FM in New Brunswick.
If you are on the home page, hit the read more button below to continue reading the UConn vs Rutgers preview.
Last Week:
The Huskies beat the Vanderbilt Commodores 40-21 at Rentschler Field. The Scarlet Knights lost to the Tulane Green Wave 17-14 at Rutgers Stadium.
History:
Friday’s game will be the 30th meeting between UConn and Rutgers in a series that dates back to 1940. The Scarlet Knights hold a 20-9 edge, but the teams have split their last eight meetings. Six of the eight recent meetings have been settled by a touchdown or less.
Since UConn joined the BIG EAST in football in 2004, Rutgers holds a 4-2 edge.
Connections:
The UConn roster has seven players from the state of New Jersey on its roster:
- Dwayne Gratz of Piscataway
- David Kenney of Highstown
- Kashif Moore of Burlington
- Andrew Opoku of North Brunswick
- Jerome Williams of Burlington Township
- Nick Willliams of East Windsor
- Ryan Wirth of Medford
Rutgers has two players from Connecticut — Marcus Cooper of Bloomfield and Mark Harrison of Stratford.
UConn offensive line coach Mike Foley worked alongside RU co-defensive coordinator coach Bob Fraser at Colgate from 1998-2005.
Other News:
Here is video from UConn Huskies head coach Randy Edsall’s pre-game press conference. If you don’t have time for the video, here are quotes from Edsall, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Dwayne Difton and Cody Endres.
Here is UConn’s injury report which by the way is something new this season.
Here is a video entitled UConn Football – The Unsung Heroes.
UConn begins BIG EAST Conference play this Friday vs. Rutgers and 2010 marks the seventh year of football league membership dating back to 2004.
UConn has a 3-3 record in BIG EAST openers with a 24-21 loss at Pittsburgh last year to open the slate. Before that, UConn had won two-straight openers with wins at Pittsburgh in 2007 and at Louisville in 2008.
UConn was one of seven charter members of the BIG EAST Conference when the league was founded in 1979 and UConn and Syracuse are the only two founding schools that are currently playing football in the league. The other five were Boston College, Seton Hall, Providence, Georgetown and St. John’s.
UConn owns an all-time mark of 17-24 in BIG EAST Conference games since joining the league for football in 2004. The Huskies posted their best conference record with a 5-2 mark in 2007.
The Huskies have put together a 19-27 (3-16 in Big East) road record since 2002. In non-conference road affairs over that same span, Connecticut has posted a mark of 16-11 and has won eight of its last 12 such games, including last year’s wins over Ohio, Baylor and Notre Dame and this year’s losses to Michigan and Temple.
Here are the categories where UConn is in the top 40 in the 2010 NCAA statistics:
- Rushing Offense – 25th at 209.40 (Second in BIG EAST)
- Scoring Offense – t31st at 34.60 (First in BIG EAST)
- Pass Defense – 31st at 176.60 (Fourth in BIG EAST)
- Pass Eff. Def. – 28th at 110.65 (Second in BIG EAST)
- Interceptions – t7th at 9 (First in BIG EAST)
- TO’s Gained – t15th at 12 (First in BIG EAST)
- Tackles For Loss – 9th at 8.20 (First in BIG EAST)
- Sacks – t21st at 2.80 (Second in BIG EAST)
- Sacks Allowed – t18rd at 0.80 (First in BIG EAST)
- Turnover Margin – t15th at +0.8 (First in BIG EAST)
Connecticut is also second in BIG EAST in total offense at 390.20 yards per game, which is 56th nationally.
In addition, Jordan Todman is fourth in the country in rushing yards per game at 159.50 and is second in the BIG EAST. He is also fifth in all-purpose running and tied for 17th in scoring.
Mike Smith is 47th in the country and fifth in the BIG EAST in receiving yards per game at 74.60.
Lawrence Wilson is tied for 33rd and is third in the league with 9.60 tackles per game while Taylor Mack is 45th in the country and fourth in the BIG EAST in punt returns.
Dave Teggart is tied for 41st and fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring and is tied for 25th in field goals per game at 1.60, which is third in the BIG EAST.
Jesse Joseph is tied for 31st and second in the league in tackles for a loss with 1.50 per game and is tied for 28th and third in the league in sacks with 0.90 per game.
This season, Connecticut is ranked 31st in the country in pass defense at 176.60 yards per game.
A number of members of the 2010 Huskies have been named to preseason “Watch Lists” for 2010. They are:
- Sophomore Tight End Ryan Griffin (Londonberry, N.H.)
John Mackey Award Watch List
- Senior Offensive Guard Zach Hurd (Waterford, Conn.)
Outland Trophy Watch List
Preseason Third Team All-American by the Sporting News
- Junior Center Moe Petrus (St. Laurent, Que.)
Remington Trophy Watch List
- Junior Tailback Jordan Todman (North Dartmouth, Mass.)
Doak Walker Award Candidate
- Senior Linebacker Lawrence Wilson (Birmingham, Ala.)
Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List
Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List
Bronko Nagurki Trophy Watch List
Preseason Third Team All-American by the Sporting News
News from this week’s opponent:
Here is video from Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano’s weekly press conference.
Two former Scarlet Knights currently playing in the NFL, New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty and New York Jets linebacker Jamaal Westerman, are planning on attending Friday’s game.
Greg Schiano is 4-4 all-time vs. Randy Edsall.
Rutgers has enjoyed playing under the Friday night lights on ESPN/ESPN2, going 5-2. Last season, Rutgers split its two Friday night appearances, losing to Pitt and winning at Army.
In those seven Friday night contests, Rutgers has had a running back rush for more than 100 yards five times. Rutgers is a perfect 5-0 on Friday night when a player has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game.
Since 2005, Rutgers is 7-3 in home games at night on ESPN or ESPN2. Over the 10-game span, Rutgers has defeated the nation’s No. 2 ranked team (USF in 2007) and the No. 3 ranked team (Louisville in 2006) in ESPN night games at Rutgers Stadium.
Rutgers is fourth nationally (first in the BIG EAST) in scoring defense, allowing 12.0 points per game.
Senior DB Joe Lefeged is 48th in the NCAA and third in league play with an average return of 25.6 yards.
Rutgers is third in the nation in third down defense. The Scarlet Knights have limited the opposition to 12-of-51 conversions (23.53 %) on third down this season.
Rutgers has allowed the second-fewest amount of first downs in the nation with 51 this season. The Scarlet Knights rank fourth nationally, allowing just 12.75 first downs per game.
Rutgers is second nationally in kickoff yardage allowed, trailing only UAB (14.4).
The Scarlet Knights lead the nation in fourth down efficiency defense after holding the opposition to an 0-for-5 conversion rate on fourth down.
Rutgers and Colorado are the only schools in the nation to not allow a fourth down conversion in five attempts.
In 2010, the Scarlet Knights are second in the BIG EAST and 27th nationally in turnover margin at +0.75 per game.
The Scarlet Knights rank seventh nationally and first in the BIG EAST in rushing defense (80.0 yards per game).
Rutgers has allowed just one running back to crack the 100-yard mark in a game vs. the Scarlet Knights over the last 15 games. Only Pitt’s Dion Lewis (180 rushing yards) has been able to rush for more than 100 yards in a game against the RU defense over the last 15 games.
Thursday’s UConn football links
Video: Discussing the UConn-Rutgers rivalry [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]
UConn’s Wreh-Wilson becoming a force [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]
Big East predictions: Week 6 [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]
What to watch in the Big East: Week 6 [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]
The UConn Report: Rutgers week [Chip Malafronte – New Haven Register]
Edsall On Practice: Liking What He Sees This Week So Far [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Update from Edsall [Neill Ostrout – CT Post]
UConn’s Joseph questionable for Friday’s game [CT Post]
UConn at Rutgers: Who has the edge? [CT Post]
Rutgers, Once America’s Darling, Has Fallen [Hartford Courant]
UConn Receivers Making Progress [Hartford Courant]
UConn’s quick study at cornerback [The Republican-American]
Next Week:
The Huskies are off next week. They’ll return to action on Saturday, October 23rd when they travel Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to take on the Louisville Cardinals.
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