UCONN (0-0, 0-0 BE) vs. FORDHAM (0-0, 0-0 PL) GAME 1 w Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011 w 7:30 P.M. RENTSCHLER FiELD (40,000)
ESPN3 w WTiC-UCONN RADiO NETWORK
UConn Schedule/Results Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time 9/1 FORDHAM (ESPN3) 7:30 PM 9/10 at Vanderbilt (SNY) 7:30 PM 9/16 IOWA STATE (ESPN/2) 8:00 PM 9/24 at Buffalo (SNY/ESPN) 6:00 PM 10/1 WESTERN MICHIGAN(SNY)3:30 PM 10/8 at West Virginia*(SNY/ESPN) 12:00 PM 10/15 USF* TBA 10/26 at Pittsburgh* (ESPN) 8:00 PM 11/5 SYRACUSE* TBA 11/19 LOUISVILLE* TBA 11/26 RUTGERS* TBA 12/3 at Cincinnati* (ESPN/2) 12:00 PM * Denotes BIG EAST Conference game
Fordham Schedule/Results Date Opponent Score/Time 9/1 at Connecticut (ESPN3) 7:30 PM 9/17 COLUMBIA 1:00 PM 9/24 at Rhode Island 1:00 PM 10/1 at Colgate* 1:00 PM 10/8 at Penn 6:00 PM 10/15 LEHIGH 1:00 PM 10/22 at Lafayette 1:00 PM 10/29 at Army (CBS CS) 3:30 PM 11/5 at Georgetown* 1:00 PM 11/12 BUCKNELL* 1:00 PM 11/19 HOLY CROSS* 1:00 PM * Denotes Patriot League Conference game
GAME STORYLiNES
w UConn kicks off its 112th season of intercollegiate football, its ninth at Rentschler Field and its eighth as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. w
Cheshire native Paul Pasqualoni makes his debut as the Husky head coach. He has won more BIG EAST league games than any other head coach and is one short of the overall game record.
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UConn posted an 8-5 record last year, including a trip to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl -the first BCS game appearance its history. UConn won its second BIG EAST title in four years and its first-ever Lambert Trophy.
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With its win over Syracuse on Nov. 20,
THE COACHES CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH PAUL PASQUALONI UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni makes his Husky head coaching debut on Thursday against Fordham. The Cheshire, Conn., native was named the 28th head football coach in UConn history on January 14, 2011. Pasqualoni has had a highly-successful career on all levels of football -- professional, college and high school. He was the head coach at Western Connecticut from 1982-86 and led the team to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1985. He had an extremely successful tenure as the head coach at Syracuse from 1991-2004. Pasqualoni led the Orange to 107 wins, four BIG EAST titles and a 6-3 postseason record. Among his bowl appearances at Syracuse were two Fiesta Bowls (1992 and ‘97) and an Orange Bowl (‘98). Pasqualoni enters the 2011 season as the all-time winningest coach in BIG EAST Conference league wins with 62 and is second in overall wins with 107 -- and with his first UConn win will tie the record of 108. He is just one of two league coches in history to win four BIG EAST Championships. His overall college coaching record stands at 141-76-1 (34-17 at WCSU and 107-59-1 at Syracuse). For the past five seasons, Pasqualoni has served on NFL staffs -- with Dallas in 2005-07 and ‘10 and with Miami in 2008-09. His first coaching job was an assistant coach at Cheshire HS from 1972-75. He is a 1972 Penn State graduate. FORDHAM HEAD COACH TOM MASELLA Tom Masella is in his sixth season as the Fordham head coach and his tenth overall as a collegiate head coach. In 2007, he led the Rams to an 8-4 record for the Patriot League Championship. He was the head coach at Central Connecticut from 2004-05 and led the Blue Devils to a pair of Northeast Conference titles. He was also the head coach at Boston University in 1996 and ‘97 -- where he dropped a pair of games to UConn. Masella was an assistant coach on Skip Holtz’s 1998 staff as UConn had a 10-3 record and made its first postseason appearance in the Division I-AA playoffs. A 1981 Wagner graduate, Masella has also had assistant coaching stops at Wagner, Merchant Marine, BU, Louisiana Tech and Massachusetts.
RADiO & TV COVERAGE TELEVISION COVERAGE Thursday’s game will be televised by ESPN3.com. Bob Picozzi is on play-byplay while Christian Fauria is on color and Darren Chiappetta is the producer. The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:00 a.m. and in its entirity on Friday at 11:00 a.m. RADIO COVERAGE 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 Kevin Nathan and Bob Joyce. UConn football on home dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray beginning at 6:00 a.m.