UConn Huskies (2-3, 0-2 American) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (3-2, 0-2 American)
Oct. 8, 2016 | 11:30 a.m. | CBS Sports Network | UConn IMG Radio Network
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field (40,000) East Hartford, Conn.
The Coaches
UCONN HEAD COACH BOB DIACO UConn head coach Bob Diaco is in his third year as the head coach at UConn and his third overall as a collegiate head coach. In 2015, he led UConn to a 6-6 regular season record and an appearance in the St. Petersburg Bowl vs. Marshall. He led UConn to wins in three of its final four regular season games in 2015, including a win vs. Houston, which was ranked No. 13 in the country at the time. UConn finished the season ranked 33rd in the country in total defense, 15th in scoring defense and seventh in red zone defense. UConn led the American in all three category. The St. Petersburg Bowl was the ninth bowl game Diaco coached in, including the 2012 BCS title game when he was on the Notre Dame staff and the 2010 Sugar Bowl with Cincinnati. Diaco served on the Notre Dame coaching staff as the defensive coordinator from 2000-13 and was the assistant head coach in 2012 and ‘13. He was the 2012 winner of the Frank Broyles Award, given to the top assistant college football coach in the country and was the first Irish assistant to receive the prestigious award. He was a semifinalist for the award in 2011. Diaco joined the Notre Dame staff in 2010 as defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach, took responsibility for the entire linebacker position in 2011 and added responsibilities as associate head coach in 2012. His 2012 Irish defense ranked among the top 10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 12 different categories Diaco has an impressive coaching resume as he served at Virginia (2006-08) as the linebackers and special teams coordinator and Cincinnati (2009) as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach before joining the Notre Dame staff. A native of Cedar Grove, N.J., and a 1995 Iowa graduate, Diaco began his coaching career in 1996-97 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. He then served on the staffs of Western Illinois (1999-2000) as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach, Eastern Michigan (2001-2003) working with the same positions and Central Michigan (2005) as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection at Iowa as a linebacker under Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry and was named the team’s co-MVP in 1995, starting in all 23 games over his junior and senior seasons.
UConn Schedule/Results Date Opponent (TV) 9/1 Maine (ASN) 9/10 at Navy* (CBSSN) 9/17 virginia (sny) 9/24 SYRACUSE (CBSSN) 9/29 at Houston* (ESPN) 10/8 CINCINNATI* (CBSSN) 10/15 at USF* (CBSSN) 10/22 UCF* (TBA) 10/29 at East Carolina*(TBA) 11/4 TEMPLE* (ESPN2) 11/19 at Boston College (TBA) 11/26 TULANE* (TBA)
Score/Time W, 24-21 L, 28-24 W, 13-10 L, 31-24 L, 42-14 11:30 a.m. 7 p.m. TBA TBA 7 p.m. TBA TBA
*Denotes American Athletic Conference Game
Cincinnati Schedule/Results Date 9/1 9/10 9/15 9/24 10/1 10/8 10/22 10/29 11/5 11/12 11/18 11/25
Opponent (TV) Score/Time UT Martin (ESPN3) W, 28-7 at Purdue (BTN) W, 38-20 Houston* (ESPN) L, 40-16 Miami (Ohio) (ESPNews) W, 27-20 USF* (CBSSN) L, 45-20 at UConn* (CBSSN) 11:30 a.m. East Carolina* (TBA) TBA at Temple* (TBA) TBA BYU (TBA) TBA at UCF* (TBA) TBA Memphis* (CBSSN) 8 p.m. at Tulsa* (TBA) TBA
CINCINNATI HEAD COACH TOMMY TUBERVILLE Tommy Tuberville is in his fourth year in charge of the Bearcat program and is a veteran of college coaching. He led Cincinnati to a 7-6 record in 2015 and an appearance in the Hawaii Bowl. The team was 9-4 in 2014 and played in the Belk Bowl and was 9-4 again in 2013 and played in the Military Bowl. He had also had successful head coaching stops at Mississippi (1995-98), Auburn (1999-2008) and Texas Tech (2010- 12). His overall head coach record is 158-93. In his three seasons at Texas Tech, he had a 20-17 mark and a pair of bowl appearances. In his ten seasons at Auburn, he led the Tigers to 85 overall wins, which is fourth in school history. Tuberville led Auburn to seven-straight bowl appearances. In 2004, *Denotes American Athletic Conference Game Tuberville led Auburn to its best season ever as the Tigers won a school-record 13 games and captured the SEC Championship and the Nokia Sugar Bowl title. Tuberville was named the AFCA, Associated Press and Walter Camp Football Foundation National Coach of the Year. At Ole Miss, Tuberville had a 25-20 record and Quick Hits was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Texas A&M in 1994. He • Senior wide receiver Noel Thomas is sixth in the country in recepwas also an assistant coach at Arkansas State (1980- 84) and Miami, Fla. (1986tions per game and second in the American Athletic Conference; he 93). Tuberville is a 1976 graduate of Southern Arkansas and played free safety at is also second in the conference in receiving yards per game and is the school.
Radio & TV Coverage TELEVISION COVERAGE Saturday’s game is being televised live by the CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan on play-by-play and Corey Chavous along with Melanie Collins on the sidelines. Scott Snyder is the producer. RADIO COVERAGE The UConn IMG Sports Network is the home of Husky football on the radio. WTIC Newstalk 1080 in Hartford serves as the flagship station and is the state’s only 50,000 watt signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada. The 201617 year marks the 25th consecutive season that WTIC is the flagship for UConn sports. The 2016-17 football, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s ice hockey seasons also marks the fourth year that the radio rights are held by IMG College, which is UConn’s multi-media rights partner.
#UConnNation
second in the league.
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Thomas is now eighth in school history in career receptions with 129 and is 12th in career receiving yardage with 1,579.
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Senior punter Justin Wain is a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Award, presented by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. The award recognized the top college football student-athlete
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Junior quarterback Bryant Shirreffs is ninth in UConn career history in total offense.
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Senior safety Obi Melifonwu lead the Huskies in tackles with 47 and has had double-figure tackles in four-straight games.
2016 University of Connecticut Football Game Notes
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