Connecticut Huskies (0-0, 0-0 American) vs. Towson Tigers (0-0, 0-0 Colonial) Game 1 • Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013 • 7:30 PM East Hartford, Conn. - Rentschler Field (40,000) ESPN3 • UConn IMG Sports Radio Network
The Coaches CONNECTICUT HEAD COACH PAUL PASQUALONI UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni is in his third season in charge of the UConn program and the Cheshire, Conn. native was named the 28th head football coach in UConn history on January 14, 2011. Pasqualoni was the final all-time winningest coach in BIG EAST Conference league wins with 67 and overall wins with 115. He was just one of two league coaches in history to win four BIG EAST Championships. His overall college coaching record stands at 151-90-1 (34-17 at WCSU, 107-59-1 at Syracuse and 10-14 at UConn). Pasqualoni has had a highly-successful career on all levels of football -pro¬fessional, college and high school. He was the head coach at Western Connecti¬cut 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 19912004. 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). For the previous five seasons, Pasqualoni has served on NFL staffs -- with Dallas in 2006-07 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. TOWSON HEAD COACH ROB AMBROSE Rob Ambrose is entering his fifth season in charge of the Towson program and has an overall record of 19-26 at the school, but a 16-7 mark in the past two seasons. His overall head coaching record is 22-33 as he was the head coach at Catholic University in 2001. Ambrose led Towson to an appearance in the 2011 NCAA FCS tournament and a final national ranking of eighth with a 9-3 record. Last season, the Tigers were 7-4 with a final national ranking of No. 18. Towson has won or tied for the CAA title in each of the last two years. Ambrose previously was on the UConn staff from 2002-08. He joined the UConn staff as the quarterbacks coach and added the title of passing game coordinator in 2005. He then served as UConn’s offensive coordinator from 2006-08. The Huskies played in three bowl games while Ambrose was on the staff. Ambrose is a 1993 Towson graduate and played wide receiver for the Tigers.
Radio & TV Coverage
TELEVISION COVERAGE Thursday’s game will be televised by ESPN3. Bob Picozzi is on play-by-play while former Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler is on color. Rich Schroder 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 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 Joe D’Ambrosio (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. For Thursday’s game vs. Towson, radio coverage on WTIC will kickoff at 4:00 p.m. with the UConn Tailgate show with Nathan and Bob Joyce. Network coverage beings at 6:00 p.m. with the pregame show. UConn football on home Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The
UConn Schedule/Results Date 8/29 9/14 9/21 9/28 10/12 10/19 10/26 11/8 11/16 11/23 11/30 12/7
Opponent (TV) TOWSON (ESPN3) MARYLAND (ESPN3) MICHIGAN at Buffalo USF* at Cincinnati* at UCF* LOUISVILLE* (ESPN2) at SMU* at Temple* RUTGERS* MEMPHIS*
Score/Time 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. TBA 3:30 p.m. TBA TBA TBA 8:30 p.m. TBA TBA TBA TBA
*Denotes American Athletic Conference Game
Towson Schedule/Results Date 8/29 9/7 9/14 9/21 9/28 10/5 10/12 10/19 10/26 11/2 11/16 11/23
Opponent (TV) at UConn (ESPN3) at Holy Cross delaware state at North Carolina Central at Stony Brook* NEW HAMPSHIRE* VILLANOVA* at Albany* at Richmond* DELAWARE* at William & Mary* JAMES MADISON*
Score/Time 7:30 p.m. 1 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 2 p.m. 6 p.m. 12 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 12 p.m. 7 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m.
*Denotes CAA Conference Game
Quick Hits
• UConn kicks off its 114th season of intercollegiate football dating back to 1896 and its first as a member of the American Athletic Conference. • The 2013 season marks the tenth anniversary of the opening of Rentschler Field with many special events planned for the season to commemorate that. • Junior linebacker Yawin Smallwood was named to the Watch List for several awards, including the National Player of the Year Award given by New Haven’s Walter Camp Football Foundation. • Junior Lyle McCombs was named a preseason candidate for the Doak Walker Award, given to the top running back in the country. • Towson enters the game ranked 11th in the national in The Sports Network Preseason FCS poll.