Connecticut Huskies (0-7, 0-3 American) at No. 20/16 Louisville Cardinals (6-1, 2-1 American) Game 8 • Friday, Nov. 8 • 8:30 PM East Hartford, Conn. - Rentschler Field (40000) ESPN2 • UConn IMG Sports Radio Network
The Coaches
UConn Schedule/Results
UCONN INTERIM HEAD COACH T.J. WEIST Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time T.J. Weist, a 25-year veteran of the coaching profession who most recently served as 8/29 TOWSON (ESPN3) L, 18-33 the wide receivers coach at Cincinnati, is the interim head coach at UConn for the rest of the 2013 season and has a 0-3 record in that position. Weist was elevated to that 9/14 MARYLAND (ESPN3) L, 21-32 position on Sept. 30 -- four games into the 2013 season. Weist is in his first season at 9/21 No. 14/15 MICHIGAN (ABC) L, 21-24 UConn and continues to serve as offensive coordinator and also has position responsi9/28 at Buffalo (ESPN3) L, 12-41 bility with the wide receivers. During his time with the Bearcats, Cincinnati won a total of two BIG EAST Champion10/12 USF* (SNY/ESPN-R) L, 10-13 ships. Weist (pronounced WEEST) helped lead the Bearcats to a 10-3 record in 2012 10/19 at Cincinnati* (ESPNU) L, 16-41 and a 48-34 victory over Duke in the Belk Bowl. Weist served as Cincinnati’s offensive 10/26 at No, 21/25 UCF* (SNY/ESPN-R) L, 17-62 coordinator in the Belk Bowl as the Bearcats gained 554 yards of total offense on 53 11/8 No. 18 LOUISVILLE* (ESPN2) 8:30 p.m. plays and did not have a turnover. Cincinnati was 17 of 25 in passing for 332 yards. Weist joined the Bearcats after eight years at Western Kentucky mentoring the receiv11/16 at SMU* TBA ers. He also served as the team’s assistant head coach (2007-09) and offensive 11/23 at Temple* TBA coordinator (2003-06). Weist came to WKU from Indiana, where he served as wide 11/30 RUTGERS* TBA receivers coach from 1997-01. While at IU, he also carried special teams responsibilities with the return units and also served as the Hoosiers’ recruiting coordinator his first 12/7 MEMPHIS* TBA two years. Weist was also on the staffs at Tulsa (1996), Southern Illinois (1994-95), *Denotes American Athletic Conference Game Michigan (1990-93) and Alabama (1988-89). A native of Bay City, Mich., Weist was a wide receiver at Alabama from 1985-87, taking part in three postseason bowl games, and earned a letter as a senior. He earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education in 1988, and then added an exerDate Opponent (TV) Score/Time cise physiology master’s degree one year later. 9/1 OHIO (ESPN) W, 49-7
Louisville Schedule/Results
9/7
EASTERN KENTUCKY (ESPN3) W, 44-7 W, 27-13 W, 72-0 W, 30-7 W, 24-10 L, 35-38 W, 34-3 8:30 p.m. TBA TBA 7:30 p.m.
LOUISVILLE HEAD COACH CHARLIE STRONG 9/14 at Kentucky (ESPN) Charlie Strong is in his fourth season as the head coach at Louisville and led the 9/21 FIU (ESPN3) Cardinals to an appearance in the Sugar Bowl following the 2012 season and a 33-23 win over Florida in the game. Louisville had an overall record of 11-2 last season and 10/5 at Temple* (ESPN-R) Strong is now 32-14 in his time with the Cardinals. In 2010, he led Louisville to a 7-6 10/10 RUTGERS* (ESPN) record and a victory over Southern Mississippi in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl. In 2011, 10/18 USF* (ESPN) the Cardinals were 7-6 and 5-2 in the BIG EAST to tie for first place. Louisville lost to 10/26 at USF* (ESPN2) North Carolina State in the Belk Bowl. 11/8 at UConn* (ESPN2) Prior to taking over the Louisville position, he was an assistant coach at Florida from 2003-09. He served as the defensive coordinator for the Gators since 2003 and was 11/16 HOUSTON* the associate head coach since 2005. Strong was also an assistant coach on the Gator 11/23 MEMPHIS* staff from 1988-89 and 1991-94. Strong also had assistant coaching stints at South 12/5 at Cincinnati* (ESPN) Carolina (1999-2002), Notre Dame (1995-98), Mississippi (1990) and Southern Illinois (1986-87). He is a 1983 graduate of Central Arkansas, where he was a three-time all- *Denotes American Athletic Conference Game Rankings indicate ranking at time of game conference selection in football and two-time pick in track and field.
Radio & TV Coverage TELEVISION COVERAGE Friday’s game will be nationally televised by ESPN2. Carter Blackburn will handle play-by-play duties and is joined by Danny Kanell on color, while Allison Williams is on the sidelines. Bart Fox is the producer. The game will be replayed on SNY on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 2:00 p.m. 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 2013-14 year marks the 22nd consecutive season that WTIC is the flagship for UConn sports. The 2013-14 football and men’s and women’s basketball season also marks the second year that the radio rights are held by IMG College, which is UConn’s multi-media rights partner. Veteran UConn announcers Bob Joyce (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Kevin Nathan on the sidelines and Anthony “Rex” McCalla on production. UConn football on home Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray beginning at 6:00 a.m. For noon games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The
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UConn and Louisville have met nine times in the past, with UofL holding a 5-4 all-time edge. However, UConn has won four of the last six meetings. Husky linebacker Yawin Smallwood was recently named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, presented to the nation’s top linebacker. Smallwood was one of 12 semifinalists. UofL is UConn’s third ranked opponent this year at the time of game, after the Huskies dropped contests to then-No. 14 Michigan and at then-No. 21 UCF. The Cardinals are currently ranked 20th in the AP Poll and 16th in the USA Today Poll. UConn’s schedule is the 25th most difficult in the country based on the strength of schedule metric.