UConn Huskies (2-3, 0-1 American) vs. UCF Knights (0-5, 0-1 American)
3:45 p.m. ET | ESPNU | UConn IMG Radio Network Bright House Networks Stadium (45,323) Orlando, Fla.
The Coaches
UCONN HEAD COACH BOB DIACO UConn head coach Bob Diaco is in his his second year as the head coach at UConn and his second overall as a collegiate head coach. 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 as the school played in the BCS National Championship Game and posted an overall record of 12-1. 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. UCF HEAD COACH GEORGE O’LEARY George O’Leary is in his 12h season in charge of the UCF program and has guided the team to seven bowl appearances during his tenure there, including last year’s St. Petersburg Bowl against North Carolina State and a 52- 42 win in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl over Baylor. During UCF’s time in Conference USA, he led the Knights to two conference championships and four division titles. O’Leary is also currently serving as UCF’s interim athletic director. O’Leary enters Saturday’s game with an overall head coaching record of 133-98 and a 77-63 mark at Central Florida. He also served as head coach at Georgia Tech with a 52-33 record from 1994-2001. O’Leary also had assistant coaching stops at Syracuse (1980-86), Georgia Tech (1987-91), the San Diego Chargers (1992-93) and the Minnesota Vikings (2002- 03). O’Leary is a native of Central Islip, N.Y. and is a 1969 graduate of New Hampshire.
UConn Schedule/Results Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time 9/3 VILLANOVA (SNY) W, 20-15 9/12 ARMY (CBSSN) W, 22-17 9/19 at Missouri (ESPN) L, 9-6 9/26 NAVY * (CBSSN) L, 28-18 10/2 at BYU (ESPN2) L, 30-13 10/10 at UCF * (ESPNU) 3:45 p.m. 10/17 USF * (ESPNU or ESPNews) 12 p.m. 10/24 at Cincinnati * TBA 10/30 EAST CAROLINA * (ESPNU) 7 p.m. 11/7 at Tulane * TBA 11/21 HOUSTON * TBA 11/28 at Temple * TBA *Denotes American Athletic Conference Game
UCF Schedule/Results Date Opponent (TV) Score/Time 9/3 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL L, 15-14 9/12 at Stanford L, 31-7 9/19 FURMAN L, 16-15 9/26 at South Carolina L, 31-14 10/3 at Tulane * L, 45-31 10/10 UCONN * (ESPNU) 3:45 p.m. 10/17 at Temple * (CBSSN) 7:30 p.m. 10/24 HOUSTON * TBA 10/31 at Cincinnati * TBA 11/07 at Tulsa * TBA 11/19 EAST CAROLINA * (ESPN) 7:30 p.m. 11/26 USF * (ESPN) 7:30 p.m. *Denotes American Athletic Conference Game
Radio & TV Coverage
TELEVISION COVERAGE Saturday’s game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. Anish Shroff is on play-by-play, Ahmad Brooks does color and Andy Bock 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 2015-16 year marks the 24th consecutive season that WTIC is the flagship for UConn sports. The 2015-16 football and men’s and women’s basketball season also marks the third 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. Norman, who is in his 35th season of being part of the UConn radio team, is ranked 14th in country in terms of consecutive years broadcasting college football for a single school – play-by-play or color. Bob Robertson of Washington State leads the way with 49. The survey was done by the Louisiana Tech Athletic Communications Office.
Quick Hits • • •
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UConn plays its first American Athletic Conference Eastern Division game as it travels to UCF. Including Saturday’s trip to Orlando, the Huskies will have travelled 9,140 round trip air miles this season. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Bryant Shirreffs has thrown for over 200 yards in three of his first five career starts. First or second year players have accounted for 53 of UConn’s 81 receptions this season and only five have been made by a player in final year of eligibility. UConn is ranked 41st in the country this week in total defense and is second in the American. The Huskies are 35th in the country in scoring defense and third in the American. Redshirt junior kicker Bobby Puyol has made all six of his field goal attempts this season.