UConn Huskies (1-2, 0-0 American) vs. UCF Knights (3-1, 0-0 American) Seot. 28, 2019 | 700 p.m. | ESPN2 | UConn IMG Radio Network Spectrum Stadium (44,206) Orlando, Fla. THIS WEEK’S CONTEST UConn opens its 2019 American Conference schedule on the road against UCF on 2019 SCHEDULE (1-2, 0-0) Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 p.m. at Spectrum Stadium. Saturday’s game is being televised on ESPN2 with Roy Philpott (PxP), Kelly Stouffer (Analyst) and Lauren Sisler (Sideline) Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time on the call. 8/29 WAGNER(ESPN3) W, 24-21 9/7 ILLINOIS (CBSSN) L, 23-31 UCONN VS. UCF HISTORY 9/21 at Indiana (BTN) L, 3-38 Saturday’s game will be the seventh meeting between the two schools with UCF lead- ing the all-time series, 4-2. UConn opened the 2018 season aginst the No. 21 ranked 9/28 at UCF* (ESPN2) 7 P.M. Knights and lost at Pratt and Whitney Stadium 56-17. 10/5 USF* (CBSSN) 7 P.M. 10/12 at Tulane* (TBD) TBA The Knights won the most recent meeting in Orlando on Nov. 11, 2017 at Spectrum 10/19 HOUSTON* (TBD) TBA Stadium in Orlando. The No. 12 ranked Knights scored 21 points in the first and fourth quarter to record their ninth win of the season. David Pindell passed for two touch- 10/26 at UMass (NESN) 3:30 PM downs and rushed for another 11/1 NAVY*(ESPN2) 8 PM accumulating 95 yards on the ground. 11/9 at Cincinnati* (TBD) TBA 11/23 ECU* (TBD) TBA The Huskies’ last win over UCF came in Orlando on Oct. 15, 2015, 40-13. UConn rushed for four touchdowns on the day including Arkeel Newsome 11/30 at Temple* (TBD) TBA rushing for two scores. Quarterback Bryant Shirreffs completed 16 passes for *Denotes American Athletic Conference Game 256 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns (rushing & passing). TELEVISION COVERAGE In 2013, UCF won 62-17 over the Huskies on October 26, 2013 at Bright Big 10 Network House Networks Field in Orlando. UCF QB Blake Bortles threw for four TDs and 286 yards in the game and rushed for another TD. UCF was ranked 21st Roy Philpott (PxP), Kelly Stouffer (Analyst), Lauren Sisler in the country at the time of the game. UConn had two turnovers in the first (Sideline) half, which put them in a hole early and trailed 45-10 at halftime. UConn QB Tim Boyle started the game and was 7-for-21 in the air for 47 yards while Lyle McCombs had 88 yards of rushing. RADIO COVERAGE UConn IMG Sports Network UCONN IN THE AMERICAN Mike Crispino (pbp), Wayne Norman (analyst), Adam UConn has a record of 11-37 against American Conference opponents since Giardino (sideline), Bob Joyce (pregame host) the creation of the league in 2014. The Huskies were picked to finish last in 97.9 ESPN Hartford, WINE 940 AM, WGCH 1490 AM, WICC the East Division according to The American Conference preseason poll. In American Athletic Conference openers the Huskies are 0-6. 2019 will be the last season 600 AM, WAVZ 1300 AM, WATR 1320 AM WILI 1400 AM the Huskies play in The American Conference before flipping to Independent status. and 95.3 FM GROUND AND POUND SATELLITE RADIO The Huskies won their season-opening game against Wagner, 24-21, behind a strong 380 (XM) 969 (Internet) running attack from Kevin Mensah and Art Thompkins. Mensah rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown on a career-high 36 carries. It was the sixth time in the junior’s Also Available Online With the TuneIn Radio career that he rushed for 100-yards or more. Application In his UConn debut, Thompkins rushed for 91 yards and a score. GETTING TO THE QB QUICK HITS The Huskies racked up four sacks in their season opener against Wagner. Lwal Uguak (2.0 sacks), Pierce DeVaughn and Dillon Harris all registered their first career sacks. • The UConn defense has already forced UConn only sacked the quarterback on 11 occasions in 2018 and did not record a five turnovers this season (11 in 2018) four-sack effort. UConn has posted7.0 sacks in 2019 after recording only 11 in 2019. Uguak leads the team with 3.5 sacks this season. Darrian Beavers sacked the QB a • UConn is 0-6 in American Athletic team-high 4.0 times in 2018. Conference openers. #RAISETHEBAR There are already signs of improvement for the 2019 Huskies on opening night against • The Huskies are 1-0 in night games Wagner. Coming off a rough year defensively in 2018, the this season. defense forced six three-and-outs vs. the Seahawks. UConn forced 17 three-and-outs during the entire 2018 campaign. The Huskies limited big yardage plays against Wagner, giving up only seven play for 10 yards or more. In last year’s matchup with FCS opponent, URI, UConn gave up 24 plays of 10 yards or more. The Huskies have already forced five turnovers on the defensive side of the ball through three games. During the 2018 season, UConn only captured 11 turnovers. UConn Football Game Notes September 28 at UCF CONTINUITY ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE UConn had the same quintet play in every game on the offensive line in 2018 (LT Ryan Van Demark, LG Nino Leone, C Ryan Crozier, RG Cam LIVE LIKE THE CAPTAIN DeGeorge, RT Matt Peart). The Huskies were one of only six programs Graduate transfer D.J. Morgan has burst onto the scene for the Huskies and is nationally to start the same group in every game last season and are joined becoming a leader of an improved UConn defense. by Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Ole Miss and Washington State. Entering the season, the Huskies were tied for 11th in the country with 98 Morgan, a transfer from Notre Dame, is fifth in The American Conference with career starts among thier offensive lineman. 7.0 tackles per game. Overall, he has 21 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. School Career 2018 Oregon 153 65 PENCILING IN PEART Louisiana 130 55 Redshirt senior Matt Peart has started all 39 games that he has played since Texas Tech 116 stepping on the UConn campus. The offensive lineman redshirted in 2015 and Iowa State 114 since then has been a fixture in the starting lineup. Peart is part of an experi- Michigan State 113 enced offensive line that helped the Huskies rush for 234 yards on Thursday Boise State 107 against Wagner. Marshall 103 51 Southern Miss 103 54 YOUTH OF A NATION Boise State 103 55 The UConn Huskies relied on a youth movement to eat up the majority of the Auburn 99 59 playing time in 2018. The Huskies played 40 underclassmen (Freshmen, Redshirt Syracuse 98 37 Freshmen and Sophomores) last season which ranks T5th in the nation. The list UConn 98 60 of schools is below: Additionally, UConn is one of only 11 schools nationally to welcome back at Georgia 55 least four starters on its offensive line. Colorado 48 Coastal Carolina 42 5 – Auburn, Boise State, Iowa State Clemson 41 4 – Georgia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Texas State, Troy, UConn, UTSA, WKU UConn 40 Auburn 40 SENIOR BOWL Redshirt senior Matt Peart has been selected to participate in the 2020 The Huskies will deal with youth again in 2019 with 43% of the roster freshmen/ Senior Bowl Watch List. The Senior Bowl’s 2020 Watch List includes redshirt freshmen. That percentage ranks 25th in the country. athletes from nearly every level of college football. These are the players who we are looking to fill the 110 roster spots that form the North and SENIOR SELECT South squads for the nation’s premier all-star game It is a common practice that college football teams are littered with seniors and players that have redshirted and return for a fifth and final year. In 2019, that THE STADIUM will not be the case at UConn. At last check the Huskies have 11 seniors and The Huskies moved into Rentschler Field in East Hartford for the 2003 graduate transfers which ranks tied for fourth fewest in the country. season and are set to begin its 17th season as the home of UConn football. 5 Virginia Tech The stadium officially became known as Pratt & Whitney Stadium at 6 Texas A&M Rentschler Field in 2015. 10 Penn State 11 Appalachian State UConn has an all-time record of 63-42 at Rentschler Field and a 35-16 11 Coastal Carolina mark in non-conference games. UConn set a new all-time single-game 11 UConn attendance record at Rentschler Field on Sept. 21, 2013 against Michigan 12 North Carolina St. with a crowd of 42,704. That capacity was achieved with extra bleachers 12 Rice brought in for that game. Against ECU the Huskies had a record-low crowd 12 Wake Forest with an announced attendance of 14,036. 13 Illinois 13 LSU 13 Old Dominion Weekly Media Schedule Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 • Coach Edsall • Coach Edsall • Coach Edsall • Coach Edsall weekly telecon- weekly AAC press confer- postgame press ence at 11 a.m. ference with teleconference conference local media at Simulcast on the at 11:20 a.m. UConn Football followed by 4 p.m. Facebook Page requested play- • Contact Pat ers. • Contact Pat McKenna for • Requested McKenna for call-in info. players available call-in info in the defensive meeting room immediately afterr Edsall’s presser.