November 21, 2007
 | ||
| Tyler Lorenzen | |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – At about this time last year Connecticut was preparing to put away the helmets and shoulder pads after enduring a 48-17 loss to Louisville to finish the season with a 4-8 record.
This year the No. 20-rated Huskies are going to go to a bowl game. Precisely which one will become much clearer sometime Saturday night in Morgantown when UConn faces West Virginia for the Big East championship.
Connecticut’s five conference victories this season nearly equal its total of six conference wins since joining the league in 2004. The Huskies (9-2, 5-1) are assured of their best-ever Big East finish regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game.
This year’s turnaround has many components: a reliable defense, a sound running game and consistent quarterback play from junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez is impressed with all facets of Coach Randy Edsall’s team.
“I give a lot of credit to them and I also give credit to my wife (Rita),” Rodriguez said. “She said in the summer that you have to watch out for UConn. You have to look at how much bad luck they had. Normally you won’t have that much bad luck two years in a row.
“I know they had the same 11 guys start defensively two years in a row and that is probably for two reasons: one, they stayed healthy and two, they are pretty good. They were so much better last year than their record showed.
“They are a sound, well-coached football team and they are playing with a chip on their shoulder,” Rodriguez said. “Once a team starts winning, they have a confidence level and they’ve been winning and have had that confidence all year.”
Connecticut has won all seven games at home this year, including consecutive conference victories against Louisville, USF and Rutgers. This season’s Connecticut team joins the 1993 West Virginia squad as the only two teams in Big East history to win seven home games.
UConn’s two losses this year have come on the road at Virginia, now ranked 16th, and at No. 24 Cincinnati two weeks ago.
Lorenzen has been a stabilizing factor for the UConn offense, completing 170 of 293 passes for 2,118 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has only thrown five interceptions in nearly 300 pass attempts.
“He’s a big guy – 6-5, 240,” Rodriguez said. “He will scramble and throw the ball down the field and he will probably run the ball more often. You can tell he is an athlete. When he takes off and runs he will be hard to defend and we know that because that’s what we do with our own guy.”
Sophomore wide receiver Terence Jeffers has nice size (6-1, 211) to go with a team-best 39 catches for 522 yards and five touchdowns. Jeffers had a season-high 92 yards receiving in the season opener at Duke, and had 80 yards receiving and a touchdown in last week’s 30-7 win over Syracuse.
Converted quarterback D.J. Hernandez has also been a factor in the passing game, catching 29 passes for 405 yards and two scores.
 |
Sophomore Andre Dixon has emerged as one of the better tailbacks in a tailback-heavy Big East. Dixon got his first opportunity at Temple and responded with a 21-carry, 129-performance in a 22-17 victory against the Owls. Dixon also had 100-yard games against Akron and Louisville and leads the team with 742 yards and three touchdowns on 145 carries. Donald Brown also has solid numbers gaining 620 yards and scoring seven rushing touchdowns.
“They control the game from the standpoint that they play good, sound, fundamental football,” Rodriguez said.
Defensively, Connecticut is giving up just 14.3 points per game to rank third nationally in scoring defense. On the ground, the Huskies are surrendering just 125.9 yards per contest. The Huskies have also collected 26 turnovers to rank 18th in the nation in that category. UConn has returned five picks for touchdowns this year.
Danny Lansanah and Lawrence Wilson both have more than 100 tackles this year; Lansanah also shows 11 ½ tackles for losses, two sacks and three interceptions.
“They certainly have players that we’re concerned about and we have to make sure that we don’t beat ourselves from an execution standpoint,” Rodriguez said. “We have to take care of the football and not give up big plays.”
Julius Williams has 8 ½ sacks and Cody Brown shows 6 ½ sacks on a defense that has reached the quarterback 27 times in 11 games. Brown is tied with Lansasah for the team lead in tackles for losses with 11 ½.
“Their defense is never out of position,” Rodriguez said. “You don’t see guys out of position or who don’t know their assignments. They do a lot of great things and they know their assignments.”
Connecticut is making just its second trip to Morgantown since joining the Big East four seasons ago. The Huskies dropped a 45-13 decision to the Mountaineers in Morgantown in 2005.
In that game, UConn held West Virginia to 372 yards of offense but managed just 12 rushing yards and 129 yards of offense in a 32-point loss.
WVU (9-1, 4-1) is looking for its fourth conference title in the last five years.
“We want to be competing in November for a championship and we’ve been fortunate to be in that position the last few years and we’re playing for a championship again,” Rodriguez said. “Our goal every year is to play for a Big East championship and that is where we are right now.”
West Virginia Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong announced on Tuesday that any remaining student tickets will go on sale Friday through the Mountaineer Ticket Office. WVU students are away on Thanksgiving Break and many will be traveling back to Morgantown on the weekend.
According to the Mountaineer Ticket Office, approximately 7,400 out of 12,500 student tickets have been claimed as of Tuesday afternoon. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit student initiatives and coordinated through the Student Government Association.
“This is a game with the Big East Conference championship on the line and with significant postseason implications, so it was important to accommodate as many fans who want to attend the game,” said Pastilong. “Student leaders were consulted in the decision and they were supportive of the idea to insure a full stadium with an excellent atmosphere to support their fellow students on the football team.”
Saturday’s game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised regionally on ABC (Bob Wischusen, David Norrie and Jeannine Edwards). Other regional games on the network at 3:30 include Georgia-Georgia Tech and Oregon-UCLA.
Print View 
Email
No comments:
Post a Comment