CONNECTICUT (4-6, 2-3 BE) vs. RUTGERS (8-3, 4-2 BE) GAME 11 w Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 w 12:00 p.m. RENTSCHLER FIELD (40,000)
ESPN2 w WTIC-UCONN RADIO NETWORK
UConn Schedule/Results Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time 9/3 FORDHAM (ESPN3) W, 35-3 9/10 at Vanderbilt (SNY) L, 24-21 9/16 IOWA STATE (ESPN2) L, 24-20 9/24 at Buffalo (SNY) W, 17-3 10/1 WESTERN MICHIGAN(SNY)L, 38-31 10/8 at West Virginia*(SNY) L, 43-16 10/15 USF* (SNY) W, 16-10 10/26 at Pittsburgh* (ESPN) L, 35-20 11/5 SYRACUSE* (ESPNU) W, 28-21 11/19 LOUISVILLE* (SNY) L, 34-20 11/26 RUTGERS* (ESPN2) 12:00 p.m. 12/3 at Cincinnati* (ESPN/2) 12:00 PM * Denotes BIG EAST Conference game
Rutgers Schedule/Results Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time 9/1 N.C. CENTRAL (ESPN3) W, 48-0 9/10 at North Carolina (SNY) L, 22-24 9/24 OHIO (ESPN3) W, 38-26 10/1 at Syracuse* (BE Net.) W, 19-16 10/8 PITTSBURGH* (ESPNU) W, 34-10 10/15 NAVY (ESPN3) W, 21-20 10/21 at Louisville* (ESPN2) L, 16-14 10/29 WEST VIRGINIA* (ABC) L, 41-31 11/5 USF* (ESPN3) W, 20-17 11/12 at Army (CBS SN) W, 27-12 11/19 CINCINNATI* (ESPNU) W, 20-3 11/26 at Connecticut* (ESPN2) 12:00 PM * Denotes BIG EAST Conference game
GAME STORYLINES
w UConn plays its final home game of the
2011 season on Saturday and it is the final appearance at Rentschler Field for 13 seniors.
w UConn needs to win both of its final two games to be bowl eligbile for the seventh time in nine years. w Redshirt freshman running back Lyle McCombs is now just the second Husky freshman to rush for 1,000 in a season. w
UConn has had fourth quarter leads in three of its six losses this season.
THE COACHES CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH PAUL PASQUALONI UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni made his Husky head coaching debut a successful one on Sept. 3 as the Huskies topped Fordham of the FCS. 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 is the all-time winningest coach in BIG EAST Conference league wins with 64 and overall wins with 111. He is just one of two league coaches in history to win four BIG EAST Championships. His overall college coaching record stands at 145-82-1 (34-17 at WCSU, 107-59-1 at Syracuse and 46 at UConn). For the previous five seasons, Pasqualoni had 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. RUTGERS HEAD COACH GREG SCHIANO Greg Schiano is in his 11th season as the head football coach at Rutgers. He is the longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST and had an all-time record of 68-66 at the school. He has led the Scarlet Knights to bowl wins in four years (2006-09) - a first in school history - and to five-straight bowl appearances (2005-09) -- another school first. Schiano was the defensive coordinator at Miami (Fla.) from 1999-2000 and spent 1996-99 as an assistant coach with the NFL’s Chicago Bears. He was an assistant at Penn State from 1990-96. Schiano is a 1988 Bucknell graduate and was a linebacker for the Bison.
RADIO & TV COVERAGE TELEVISION COVERAGE Saturday’s game will be televised nationally by ESPN2. Beth Mowins is on playby-play while Mike Bellotti is on color while Bart Fox is the producer. The game will also be replayed on SNY in a condensed mode on the “Husky Power Hour” on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. The game will be replayed in its entirity on Wednesday, Nov.30 at 10:00 p.m. SNY will also run a “Husky Power House” on Christmas Day, Dec. 25 when eight games will be shown between 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for holiday viewing. RADIO COVERAGE For the 20th 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 announcer Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Kevin Nathan (color) are working the Rutgers game with Bob Joyce on the sidelines. E.B. Davis on production. The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while at home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Bob Joyce and Kevin Nathan.