Durzblog

Uconn made a nice statement in the middle of SEC country, Steve Spurrier's Gamecock's left humbled by what the coach described as a "sad, sad effort."

Connecticut got some great news today when they were awarded a spot in the PapaJohn's.com Bowl to be played January 2nd in Birmingham against the South Carolina Gamecock's of the SEC. Uconn's late three game winning streak took the Huskies from -- out of the bowls all together -- to a January date against a high profile coach from the best conference in the country.

Huskies pull out biggest win in program's history over the Fightin' Irish in South Bend. The victory, the first since the death of Jasper Howard, was as emotional as they come for the Uconn program. The ground attack and Offensive Line were the difference in the end; Jordan Todman rushed for 130 yards and a TD on 26 carries and Andre Dixon carried 20 times for 114 yards and the winning score.

With two games left (5-5. 1-4), Connecticut has their eyes set on clinching a bowl appearance for a third consecutive season.
One win could do it for them, two will for sure -- and both are winnable. This Saturday they host the Orange at noon and next Saturday night they will end the regular season in East Hartford versus South Florida.

This one was for Jazz...

The University of Connecticut football team opens up play at Ohio University on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

• No TV Coverage
  
• The games will be available at ESPN360.com. 
  
• As always Joe D will be on the call on WTIC 1080 (also on WTIC.com)
  

Let me start by saying that I rarely can even read Jacobs, much less enjoy what he has to say. Have a look at this piece though, even if JJ (as he does all the time) leaves out half the story -- like ND having a new AD and not really all that interested themselves -- it is good to see the ol blowhard sticking up for the State U.

I have had it with the pompous nature of ND athletics and this is why I like what is said here. The BE needs to stop being an enabler to the Irish -- let them go find another league to bend over for them -- and if the other catholic schools most go with them, then so be it. The Big East relationship with ND is embarrassing. Its time to move on...over and out.


UConn Doesn't Need Notre Dame -- Courant.com

Posted using ShareThis

Sept. 5 @ Ohio
Sept. 12 North Carolina
Sept. 19 @ Baylor
Sept. 26 Rhode Island
Oct. 10 @ Pittsburgh
Oct. 17 Louisville
Oct. 24 @ West Virginia
Oct. 31 Rutgers
Nov. 7 Cincinnati
Nov. 21 @ Notre Dame
Nov. 28 Syracuse
Dec. 5 South Florida

the OOC schedule includes 2 to 3 likely preseason top 25 teams -- the Huskies most challenging schedule since the transition to 1-A.....The road portion is highlighted by a trip to famous Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 21 to take on the Fighting Irish, the game will be televised on NBC -- a first for the program. Also of note, every single Uconn game will be played on Saturday this season.

________________________
Uconn Accepts Invite to International Bowl, ey....

The struggling Huskies (7-5, 3-4) will square off against the MAC champion -- UB Bulls -- on January 3rd in Toronto. Edsall and the lads will try and put a little gleam on a season that has turned upsetting for many a whiny Husky fan. Five years of existence and three bowl appearances people, lets have some perspective...

Ontario may not be warm this time of year..but the bars are great and the Leafs and Raptors are in town. Sounds like a potentially good dudes weekend to me.

bowl information and ticket packages can be found at uconnbowl.com







_________________________
Big East Bowls
(three ACC v BE showdowns)...

• Cincinnati v Virginia Tech -- Orange (Miami)
  
• Pittsburgh v Oregon State -- Sun (El Paso)
• West Virginia v North Carolina -- Meineke (Charlotte)
  
• Rutgers v North Carolina State -- Papajohns.com (Birmingham)
• Connecticut v Buffalo -- International (Toronto)
  
• South Florida vs Memphis -- Magicjack (St Petersburg)

UNC 38, Uconn 12
Going into an off week, the Huskies were brought back down to earth with a quickness...It was a comedy of errors -- but even mistake free you were left wondering if the Heels were just flat out a much better team. They sure looked a bunch more athletic than the traveling Huskies. Three blocked Desi Cullen punts, two interceptions and six penalties -- all happened within the first half, and it all contributed to a 17-3 hole. Uconn was still kind of in it at this point...Another interception and a couple of big runs turned this baby into a laugher. It was a tough night for Zach Fraser in his first collegiate start, but he can't take all the heat in this one. One bright note, to nobodies surprise, Donald Brown rushed for 161 yards on 33 carries and became the first UConn player to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing in a season since Cornell Brockington in 2004. Brown will likely pass 2,000 if he stays healthy. The 5-1 Huskies will look to regroup in two weeks against rival Rutgers -- who gave West Virginia a pretty good game this weekend.

Big Blue
Giants stadium turned into a lax social gathering by the end of the first quarter yesterday -- I spent more time talking to my mother-in-law, the row behind me, than I did watching the game. The poor lad in the Seahawks jersey in front of me was getting sympathy pats on the back before halftime. It was a nearly flawless performance by the Gints -- Eli Manning threw two touchdowns, Brandon Jacobs ran for two more and the unbeaten football Giants scored on their first five possessions in a 44-6 victory, the eighth straight for New York dating to last year's playoffs, and it gave the NFL champions their best start since 1990. In other football of interest -- the Bills lose for the first time, Skins over the Birds, Jets were off, Titans remain unbeaten and both Mcnabb and LT should be ashamed of themselves -- killing my fantasy run...

Phitin Phils
Philadelphia clinched its first trip to the NLCS since 1993 with a 6-2 victory over Milwaukee yesterday!!!!! Jimmy Rollins started the game with the Phillies' second postseason leadoff homer in team history and Pat Burrell would follow with a pair of jacks as they backed up a solid effort out of Joe Blanton..Good for Pat, he has been a lifer with the Phils and has put up with a bunch of noise throughout his career. Phillies move on to take on LA starting Thursday. Lowe v Hamels in game 1...in other playoff action, those Dodgers swept the Cubs and the worlds most lovable losers did not disappoint, another tough one to swallow for Chicago -- 100 years and counting..The Angels and Chisox both staved off elimination and forced game 4's today..look for Boston to advance and Tampa to lose forcing a game 5. Boston v Phils in the World Series -- that would be sick. I guess the story lines would be even better for Dodgers v Red Sox, but lets go Phils!

Notes
NHL hockey is underway and the usual slow start for the Rangers may take a year off this season. New skipper, Chris Drury, led le range' to a pair of two 2-1 wins against Barry Melrose's Tampa Bay Lightning in Prague over the weekend...J.J. Henry fired a closing round 67 yesterday to finish in the top 20 under some nasty conditions up near Syracuse at the Turning Stone -- inching him a couple of spots closer to the magical top 125. Up to 132 from 136 ($89,000 short of 125) -- this week he heads to San Antonio coming off of four top ten finishes in his last five starts at La Cantera. ...today is also the second annual charity golf outing that Henry is hosting in Fort Worth, seems like it is turning into a great event, click here for more...good to see Danny O taking some snaps for the Lions -- even if they are the worst team in the league...watched the Kimba Slice "match" on Saturday -- is CBS kidding putting that stuff on network TV?...sorry if this reads poorly, I have been on cold/flu meds for about 7 days now :(...

Be good
-BD

As the out of conference portion of the schedule is wrapping up (thanks be to God!) and we get into league play, we do appear to be looking at a highly competitive Big East race this fall. The league is taking some lumps for its poor early play, deservedly, and is now quietly rebounding with a few OOC opportunities still left to try and save some face. I guess aside from the WVU loss to ECU and RU laying eggs, the first few weeks cannot be considered all that surprising or noteworthy. USF did have a nice win last weekend at Kansas and WVU has a chance tonight at Colorado to kick start their campaign. Whatever happens this weekend and in the few other games later on this year (i.e. WVU and Auburn/Pitt and ND) -- this should be an exciting year in Big East play -- with a bunch of clubs having a legit shout at a BCS birth.

Lets breakdown what has happened thus far (the bad and some bright spots as well), take some inventory and make a few predictions. Starting at the bottom...

Syracuse, Miserable, in a word. Losses to Northwestern and the Zips of Akron are followed by a pants-ing by Penn State. How low can they go? We'll see as the Huskies of Northeastern invade the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Prediction 2-10 (1-6) -- Robinson fired at end of season.

Pitt, figured to lose an OOC game or two with ND and Iowa on the schedule, but did NOT need to lose to Bowling Green. 4-8 (2-5) and Wanny barely survives the heat, but maybe not for long. LeSean McCoy is the real deal, not enough for the Panthers... Would really like to be wrong here....

Rutgers, gets waxed by Fresno and UNC. RU is perhaps the most over hyped team in the country -- they absolutely have the most over hyped coach in the land. Should rebound and win the next two lay-ups v Navy and Morgan and add a win over Army in November. They will need to go 4-3 in BE play to get to a bowl, league schedule is not kind. Teel is good, but was much better with the Ray Rice fellow. Prediction 5-7 (2-5) -- Schiano "turns down" the Giants in the off season.

Cincinnati, Getting slapped by Oklahoma is not really the end of the world and we have seen worse beatings for sure. They are a talented club and are well coached, but the QB position is not a great place to be vulnerable at. A soft rest of the OOC schedule has the Bearcats set-up nicely for an attractive bowl record. 8-4 (4-3), International Bowl.

Uconn, still without a blemish, albeit barely vs Temple -- we'll blame it on the rain for now, especially after the pounding handed to UVA. A split with Baylor and UNC and a couple of close wins in East Hartford led by Donald Brown and a good running attack should have the Huskies fighting in the top half and bowling again. 8-4 (4-3), Pappajohns.com Bowl.

Louisville, got off to a tough start against rivals Kentucky -- but did rebound nicely against K-State last night and Victor Anderson sure looked good. They are a tough out in league play and get into the bowls, 7-5 (4-3), St. Petersburg Bowl.

West Virginia, the schedule is aggressive and the loss to ECU was a bitter pill for the league to swallow, the Neers and Pat White will need to bounce back this week and win in Boulder -- as they figure to have some trouble with Auburn (Oct. 23). Still are one of the more talented teams in the league. Another 8-4 club (5-2), Meineke Car Care.


South Florida, along with Uconn are the only other undefeated BE club, sporting the league's best win over Kansas, they will roll through the next couple of weeks...Should not have much problem getting to the December 6th game with West Virginia with at most two losses. USF beats WVU and goes to the BCS Sugar Bowl, 11-1 (6-1).

Predicted Final Standings
USF -- 11-1, 6-1
WVU -- 8-4, 5-2
L'Ville -- 7-5, 4-3
Uconn -- 8-4, 4-3
Cinci -- 8-4, 4-3
Rutgers -- 5-7, 2-5
Pitt -- 4-8, 2-5
Cuse, 2-10, 1-6

This weeks' games:
Wednesday
Louisville beat Kansas State, 38-29

Thursday
West Virginia at Colorado

Friday
Connecticut vs Baylor

Saturday
Pittsburgh vs Iowa
Rutgers at Navy
Cincinnati vs Miami (Ohio)
South Florida at Florida International
Syracuse vs Northeastern

6-2 at worst, if Pitt pulls the upset the BE could run the table...

--BD

Connecticut racked up 506 yards of offense en route to a 45-10 victory at a sold-out Rentschler Field last night improving to 3-0.

Making a case as the best running back in the Big East, Donald Brown, ran for 206 yards and three scores (youtube highlights). Uconn scored touchdowns on its first four drives and this puppy was over early. Brown is the nation's second-leading rusher, averaging 188 yards per game -- he had 112 yards and two touchdowns at the half and didn't even play in the fourth quarter.

Uconn had first-half drives of 70, 77, 86 and 75 yards, building a 28-0 lead and holding on the ball for an amazing 20 minutes. Connecticut would finish with 382 on the ground, while holding Virginia (1-2) to 219 yards of total offense -- most of that late. Putting things into perspective this was a great win -- but UVA will struggle to win 2 more game this year, they have very litte.

Back to the good news for those around the Nutmeg State this morning -- Tyler Lorenzen finished 13-for-15 for 124 yards and a TD. He also ran for 52 yards and did not throw any picks, looking like the Lorenzen of last season again. Granted a little of that was UVA's doing (i'm just saying) -- but its a start. Zero turnovers on the night for the Huskies is more like Edsall football than what we saw in the first two games.

CB extraordinaire, Darius Butler, had some action at wide receiver and actually scored on his first career carry, a 13-yard end around in the second quarter. Butler also had two grabs for 40 yards, and had two kick returns for 49 yards.

Also attending the party was highly touted freshman tailback Jordan Todman, making his debut, carrying the ball 13 times for 81 yards and a fourth-quarter TD.

A revived Husky team will return to action this Friday as they host the Big 12's Baylor Bears, the game is actually on a real station ESPN2 -- i'm sooo bitter about ESPNU and Dolan-Cable-vision.

A few tickets are still available at uconnhuskies.com or directly from ticketmaster

Post Game Quotes:

Uconn HC, Randy Edsall,
“This was a great win for us and the kids played very, very well. We had a good week of practice, prepared well, and came out here tonight very focused. Offensively that is probably as good of a first half that we played since I’ve been here. We were hitting on all cylinders and everybody was contributing. Defensively we played well so it was a total team effort. I am very proud of our guys.”

UVA HC, Al Groh,

On the play of UConn’s RB Donald Brown & Tyler Lorenzen:

“He was who we thought he would be. He’s very good. Fast, competitive – obviously – more than what we prepared for. [Lorenzen was] very strong. His ability to get drives started early on, throw accurately, get out of the pocket had us coming and going. The combo of his outstanding play, Donald brown’s outstanding play and our shortcomings in certain areas… it was coming from every direction.”

____________

the USA Today and AP polls were realesed today, Uconn is still in the recieving votes categroy, but moving up -- now around top 35, click here for full polls, top 25

Donald Brown carried 36 times for 214 yards and the winning touchdown, a 7-yard effort in overtime, to barely lift UConn to a 12-9 victory before a sparse "18,000" (announced) in hurricane conditions at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Huskies trailed 6-0 at the half and looked to be in trouble throughout the game. Uconn managed to tie the game up on two second half field goals as the defense stopped the Owls from putting anything else on the board in regulation. Edsall elected to go on defense after winning the OT toss, the visitors held the Owls to a field goal before the Huskies got the ball and scored. In doing so....Dodging a major bullet in Philly.

UConn blew several scoring opportunities, some, but certainly not all can be attributed to the nasty playing conditions. The team will have to become much more crisp if things are going to go well this season. To recap some of the blunders, Kicker Tony Ciaravino was 2 of 5 on field goals, including a 47-yarder that could have given the Huskies a 9-6 lead with 2:33 left in regulation. In the first half, Tyler Lorenzen coughed up the ball on the goal-line (the low point of the game) and he also missed a wide-open Michael Smith in the end zone and threw an early interception (though the ball was tipped).

A win is a win, as they say, but Edsall's boys will need to be much better. After seeing some of the other miZerable BE results this week -- the league is wide open.



Some quotes below from Edsall and from an understandably upset Temple HC, Al Golden.

Does Temple always blame other factors for their losses, what happened to the high road? It was a great effort out of them (once again) and they will be a very tough MAC teams this year -- no doubt. But the better team won this game, Uconn had 21 first downs to the Owls 10, out gained them 379 to 278 and out rushed them 293-128

The Temple coach ranted about a blown call (which he was right about) after the game and then offered this "We should have won this game, but we did enough to lose it," Golden said. Thanks coach, out rushed by 200 yards, you were lucky to be in the game.

That being said, the guy is a very good coach and he was clearly gutted after the game. I did like this quote, explaining why he went for a 4 and 1 on HIS OWN 34,

"It speaks to everything we are trying to do here. What I mean by that is, it's easy to punt the ball. Anybody can punt the ball. It's conventional wisdom. But you know what? We are trying to change 30 years of this crap, and I want to show them that we are going to go for it and make it right here. There is going to be a day, I pray it's sooner rather than later, that we are going to make that yard."

A relieved, Rand Edsall said,
"The kids knew what they needed to do, and we went out in the second half, got it tied, got it into overtime and found a way to win."

"It doesn't matter if it's the NFL, if it's high school or if it's college, there's going to be games like this that you ... hope you can do enough when you don't play your best to be able to find a way to win."

Up Next:
Saturday vs. Virginia, 7:30 p.m., on f#c*ing ESPNU. The Cavaliers beat the Huskies 17-16 last year in Charlottesville on a misplayed snap. The conference could use some help in a battle of the 5th and 6th best BCS leagues.

Kickoff slated for noon on Saturday with the Temple Owls down in Philly. A year of whining is now in the books, time to get it on. Should be a good game. Hopefully the weather does not make it to sloppy.

I will be tracking it online, thanks Jim Dolan -- I appreciate it. Unreal....

Schedule News!

UConn announced Thursday that it has a new non-conference home and home on its schedule for 2015 and 2016 with Tennessee. The Vols will be playing at Rentschler Field in 2015 (Sept. 26). The 2016 contest (Sept. 3) is in Knoxville. Great news for the program! Hathaway seemed to hint (during halftime of the Hofstra game on SNY) that there will be a couple others announced soon...Iowa has been reported as being on future schedules for a while now.

Future schedules are now highlighted by finalized deals with Notre Dame, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Maryland.

2009
Sept. 5: at Ohio
Sept. 12: vs. North Carolina
Sept. 19: at Baylor
Sept. 26: vs. Rhode Island
Nov. 21: at Notre Dame

2010
Sept. 2: vs. Northeastern
Sept. 18: at Temple
Sept. 25: vs. Buffalo
Oct. 2: vs. Vanderbilt
one open date

2011
Sept. 3: vs. Division I-AA opponent TBA
Sept. 10: at Vanderbilt
Sept. 17: vs. Iowa State
Sept. 24: at Buffalo
Nov. 5: at Notre Dame

2012
Aug. 30: vs. UMass
Sept. 8: vs. North Carolina State
Sept. 15: at Maryland
Sept 29: vs. Buffalo
one open date

2013
open with Division I-AA TBA
Sept. 7: vs. Maryland
Sept. 14: at Buffalo
Sept. 28: vs. Temple
Oct. 26: vs. Notre Dame at Gillette Stadium

Also: Notre Dame: 10.18.14 (away); 10.24.15: (neutral); 11.12.16: (away); 9.30.17: neutral. Tennessee 9.26.15; at Tennessee 9.3.16

Hoops Schedule,

Huskies announce a somewhat challenging slate. One more meaty team would have been choice, but they will likely face Wisconsin if they get to the Jam final.

knee jerk thoughts: The Zaga trip will be a test, the game at UB will be RPI friendly and Thursday night at the Garden -- look out!

NOVEMBER
Fr 14 Western Carolina [gp] 7:30
Mo 17 Hartford [xl] 7:00
Fr 21 # vs. LaSalle 6:00
22/23 # vs. Miami or Southern Miss. 6:00
Mo 24 # vs. to be determined
Sa 29 Bryant [xl] 1:00
DECEMBER
Mo 1 Delaware State [gp] 7:30
Th 4 at Buffalo 7:00
Mo 15 Stony Brook [xl] 7:00
Sa 20 at Gonzaga 4:00 CBS
Fr 26 Fairfield [xl] 7:00
Mo 29 * Georgetown [xl] 7:00 espn2
JANUARY
Sa 3 *Rutgers [gp]
Tu 6 * at West Virginia
Sa 10 * at Cincinnati
Th 15 * at St. John's [MSG] 7:00 ESPN/espn2
Su 18 * Seton Hall [xl]
Wd 21 * Villanova [xl] 7:00 ESPN
Sa 24 * at Notre Dame 7:00 ESPN
Wd 28 * at DePaul
Sa 31 * Providence [gp]
FEBRUARY
Mo 2 * at Louisville 7:00 ESPN
Sa 7 Michigan [gp] 6:00 ESPN
Wd 11 * Syracuse [gp] 7:00 ESPN
Sa 14 * at Seton Hall
Mo 16 * Pittsburgh [xl] 7:00 ESPN
Sa 21 * South Florida [xl]
Wd 25 * at Marquette 7:00 ESPN
Sa 28 * Notre Dame [gp] 2:00 CBS
MARCH
Sa 7 * at Pittsburgh Noon CBS
# Paradise Jam

#20 Uconn at #3 West Virginia
3:30 ABC
Saturday afternoon's Uconn/West Virginia game will decide the Big East championship -- that may not have been a stunning claim 10 weeks ago (as the Mountaineers were picked to finish atop the BE) -- but the kicker is the Huskies are also in a position to claim the crown and the BCS spot that comes with it. UConn (9-2, 5-1) is the heavy underdog and are faced with the immense challenge of slowing the West Virginia's (9-1, 4-1) high octane offense in front of a fully crazed house in Morgantown. As the game nears though you cannot help to think that stranger thinks have happened, right?

The scary stuff....West Virginia has the No. 3 rushing offense in the nation -- averaging 289.4 yards a game. The Mountaineers run game is led by QB Pat White (averaging 95.8 yards a game rushing) and running back Steve Slaton who has gained 98.8 yards a game. In addition to the Slaton/White ground assault: WVU has one of the Big East's top receivers in Darius Reynaud (51 catches, 10 touchdowns), the best fullback in the conference in Owen Schmitt and a backup RB in Noel Devine, a freshman, that can flat out fly. They can score plenty and usually do.

"Nobody's stopped them," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "I don't think you're ever going to shut them down. You've got to be able to slow them down, but I don't think anybody is going to just take them and shut them right down."

Connecticut most likely has to gain a turnover advantage to stay in the game. WVU QB White has a growing propensity to fumble the ball -- that could potentially serve as an equalizer in this one. West Virginia has fumbled 22 times this season, losing 12 and White has fumbled five times in the last two games -- losing four.

Another key for the Huskies will be for the running tandem of Dixon and Brown who will try and put some points up and more importantly keep the Mountaineers offense off the field by moving the chains.

West Virginia may be the large favorite and are a possible national title game participant, but this is a big one for them and is not being taken lightly. "That's the only goal we talk about much -- capturing the Big East championship," West Virgina coach Rich Rodriguez said. "Now we're to the point that we can say this game is for the Big East championship. It is."

On Saturday, West Virginia is aiming for their 5th Big East tile as Connecticut goes for number 1. Call the chances slim, but that's fine with me. Five years ago, as I sat with my father watching Uconn beat Kent State in the Huskies last game at Memorial Stadium, if you told me that in November 2007 we would be playing the 3rd ranked team in the country with a shot at the Orange Bowl, I can't say I would have believed you. Win or lose, its been a hell of a ride. Go get em..

Other Big Ones Saturday:
#8 Virginia Tech at #16 Virginia (Noon)
Winner of this ACC Coastal match-up will face BC in Jacksonville for the ACC title and BCS slot.
#4 Missouri at #2 Kansas (8:00)
Winner clinches the Big 12 North and stays alive in the national championship race.

W-K-R-A-P in Cincinnati

The Uconn Huskies were returned to earth on Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati. The last undefeated team in the league went down in a game that never seemed very close -- in fact, it was utter domination by the Bearcats. Connecticut, which had been relying on a strong run attack of late, only carried the ball for 22 yards and were never able to gain any sort of momentum.

The Huskies were taken to task in all three facets of the game and appeared to be much slower than their fired-up opponents. Cinci QB, Ben Mauk, had himself quite an afternoon -- throwing for 3 TD's and rushing for one as well. "It was disappointing that we had our worst effort of the season," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "But it's difficult to win when you don't win the battle at the line of scrimmage. We knew they were a physical team."

Uconn stayed in the AP (#25) and BCS (#23) and were removed from the USA/ESPN polls. The Dogs will look to regroup against the visiting Syracuse Orange this Saturday and if successful a BCS face-off game still looms in two weeks down in Morgantown.

_________________________________________________

Cowboys fly past Giants with Romo and Owens

"Annoying" may be the best way to describe yesterday's game in East Rutherford. The crowd was into this one from the start and the Giants seemed poised to make this a good contest, but the combination of TO and Romo was just too much. Romo hit Owens on two of his four touchdown passes and Dallas opened a big lead in the division by ending the Giants' six-game winning streak with a 31-20 victory.

Tony Romo is a very good QB and Owens is the best receiver in the game -- I hate (in a sports kind of way) them both -- but that is the truth. The Giants, who have now fallen 2 games behind Dallas and actually 3 since they would lose the tiebreak, can now focus on the wild-card. Eli Manning, who was typically neither very good or bad, is still left searching for a defining win in a Giant's jersey. The delay of game penalties in your own stadium are at the very best puzzling and that has to come to an end -- Dallas may have the talent to compensate for stupid penalties but New York does not. The G-men will look to rebound in a battle of 6-3 clubs next week at Ford Field in Detroit.

Donald Brown is back, coming off the bench to run for 154 yards and a touchdown, leading UConn over Rutgers 38-19 and giving the Huskies an 8-1 record for the first time in school history and keeping the "Dream Season" alive.

Brown, had a 33-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and a 70-yard run to set up a fourth-quarter field goal that helped put the game out of reach. In total, Donald carried the ball 24 times, 22 in the second half when UConn put away the Scarlet Knights. "Earlier in the season, I feel I was pressing a lot, I was trying to hit the home run too much," Brown said.

Randy Edsall is more than willing to spread the running duties around and lessen the burden on Andre Dixon. "We went with the hot hand," Edsall said. "It was good because he's been a lot fresher than Andre, so it was good for him to go in there and see him do that. We're going to need both of them."

Brown's performance came a year after he made his college debut against Rutgers, rushing for 199 yards in a 24-13 loss. The Huskies, picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Big East this year, are now 4-0 and are the only undefeated team in the conference -- ahead of 2-1 West Virginia. The Huskies, who are now #16 in both the AP and USA Today Polls, will look to keep things going next week on the road to Cincinnati.

The always steady Tyler Lorenzen threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 67 yards, and the Huskies' special teams accounted for nine points, with an early safety and a 97-yard kickoff return by Tyvon Branch. Conversely, Rutgers special teams killed them in this affair and gave Edsall a 4-2 record against his counterpart Greg Schiano.

Last year's "it" coach in the league (Schiano) has now given the keys to Edsall and it appears is if Randy is enjoying the ride more and more, as he should. The character that he has instilled in this team and the intangibles that he stresses are paying huge dividends for this coach who was reportedly on the "hot seat" entering the season (we will have to assume that was complete nonsense fabricated in the media, not that it matters at all now).

Uconn needs only to split with the Bearcats and the (league worst) Orangemen to set-up a Big East title game in Morgantwon on November 24. The winner of that game would play in a BCS bowl game. Of course, if WVU happens to drop another game Uconn could go into that game with the league crown already in hand. Uconn fans still giggle when talking about such possibilities but they are becoming more and more of a reality.

Back on earth, Schiano opted for a dual attack at quarterback Saturday night in attempt to keep the Husky defense off balance. Mike Teel threw 32 times for 343 yards in the losing effort and Jabu Lovelace (from the killer streets of Tenafly, NJ) took a dozen snaps and ran for 61 yards. Also on the ground Ray Rice ran 21 times for 116 yards and a touchdown but 97 of those came in the first half.

In total, Rutgers gained a massive 511 yards, including 307 yards in the first half -- when they held the ball for over 20 minutes. However, the Scarlet Knights had drives of 72, 74 and 69 yards result in field goals instead of touchdowns.
UConn led 25-16 at intermission despite running just 19 plays to Rutgers' 51.

Connecticut is earning a reputation which they seem to be coining a "bend but don't break" defense. Captain Dan Davis said, "One thing we pride ourselves on is red-zone defense, and all year we've been pretty good at that. We bend and give up some yardage, but stop them in the red zone."

Immediately after the game the team was turning their attention to Cincinnati (7-2,2-2), where although the Huskies are #16 in the country and are facing an unranked team, the line opened with Uconn getting 5.5.


These guys are picked to lose every week, the chip on their shoulder and the constant attention to details has been a great combination thus far. A win versus the Bearcats is going to make things begin to look very black and white..quite a change amidst this dream season.

Big East Standings

Connecticut 4-0 8-1
West Virginia 2-1 7-1
Cincinnati 2-2 7-2
Louisville 2-2 5-4
Pittsburgh 2-2 4-5
Rutgers 2-3 5-4
South Florida 1-3 6-3
Syracuse 1-3 2-7

BoSox sweep Rockies to win 2nd World Series in 4 years

Two-year-olds on South Boston playgrounds could be heard saying this morning, "now i have lived a full life and can die happy," after suffering through a couple of long years not winning the world series. The curse of the Damino can finally be laid to rest! Now if the Schill Dog actually leaves town there can be some quiet to go along with this new found peace.

AP
Overwhelming in every way, the Red Sox swept to their second title in four years Sunday night. Jon Lester, Mike Lowell & Co. left little room for drama with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in Game 4.

Then again, no NL team could have blocked Boston this October.

This was hardly a repeat from 2004, when the Red Sox ended their 86-year championship drought by beating St. Louis. Boston is a major league bully these days, playing in rarefied air before crowds who demand to win.

"It doesn't get old," manager Terry Francona said.

Gone are those pleading, pathetic days when the Red Sox were practically begging to win a title. They've got this down pat now.

At this rate, New England fans might get spoiled. Francona's team has become a perfect counterpart to coach Bill Belichick's bruisers on the Patriots.

After trailing Cleveland 3-1 in the AL Championship Series, the Red Sox won seven straight games and won their seventh World Series crown.

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Dream Season??
Uconn's largest ever win puts them up to #16 in the AP with a big one home to Rutgers this Saturday. Uconn remains in sole possession of first place in the Big East ahead of WVU, the only other league team with less than two losses. I'm jet-lagged -- so the Courant article is below....

SHAWN COURCHESNE, Hartford Courant

UConn football coach Randy Edsall can be stubborn.

Getting him to talk about the significance of nearly any victory can be difficult. He likes to call every win just another deposit in the bank.

But on Saturday, UConn broke the bank.

The Huskies, picked to finish seventh in the Big East, got the statement victory that many said was missing from their surprising run through the first eight games of the season.

After taking a 16-0 halftime lead, UConn held off No. 11 South Florida to win 22-15 before 40,000 at Rentschler Field.

It was the first victory over a ranked opponent for UConn since going to Division I-A in 2000. The Bulls (6-2, 1-2) came in ranked 10th in the BCS standings and were No. 2 in the AP Top 25 before losing at Rutgers in its previous game.

UConn (7-1, 3-0) remains the only unbeaten team in the Big East. West Virginia is 2-1, but every other team has two losses.

Even Edsall, coaching his 100th game at UConn, couldn't avoid expounding on just how much it all meant. Pressed on the question, "Was this the biggest victory ever for UConn football?" he finally broke.

"You want me to say it?" Edsall said. "Yeah, it is. When you beat this team that's top 10 and we've never done it before, yeah, it's got to be the best victory we've ever had in football.

"I hope that there will be more to come and we're going to work very, very hard each and every day to make sure that we continue in these situations to find a way to win."

Moments after UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen took a final knee to let the clock run out, fans began jumping out of sections on the east end of the stadium to join players celebrating on the field. A slow trickle turned into a mass, as fans surrounded the team. Edsall said the fans deserved to come onto the field for the job they did in helping make for a chaotic fourth-quarter environment for the Bulls offense.

"There were a lot of naysayers who never thought a day like this would happen here at UConn and with this football program," Edsall said. "But when you have a bunch of young men and you have a group of older men leading and nobody cares who gets the credit and everyone is unselfish and more worried about the other guy than they are themselves, days like today happen. That's what it's all about. It's amazing. The band's still playing out there."

Uconn rallies past Louisville, moves to 6-1



Friday night's 21-17 victory at the Rent was the best win in the young history of Connecticut D-1 football. Never mind the Cardinals are 4-4 (with a loss to Syracuse) and the now famous non fair catch, Uconn beat a good D-1 program for the first time. At 6-1 (2-0 in the league), Connecticut has put itself in a position to reach some uncharted territory and with that comes a new found excitement within the program and fan base that has not been around since Danny O was taking snaps.

Andre Dixon led Connecticut running 22 times for 115 yards and the biggest score of the game -- a go-ahead 5-yard touchdown run with 1:32 left. Tyler Lorenzen was 9-for-18 for 130 yards and no interceptions for the Huskies who Sunday entered the BCS top 25 for the first time in school history with a #23 national ranking.

The big story...UConn scored its first points of the game on Larry Taylor's controversial 74-yard punt return. With 13 minutes left in the third quarter, Taylor settled under a 45-yard punt and signaled for a fair catch around the Huskies 25, Cardinal pursuers stopped in their tracks as they (and anyone watching the game) assumed the play was dead (though there was no whistle) and Taylor slipped away down the sidelines untouched for the score that would have to be one of the stranger plays I have ever seen.

Make no mistake, Uconn will gladly take the win, but I'd imagine that most fans might be a little annoyed with Taylor for even attempting this trickery and embarrassed a bit as the TV cameras showed his smirking on the sidelines appearing to be happy that he just pulled a fast one.

Louisville should not be blaming the officials for this one, they were up 10 with 11:35 to play and could not come up with the points or the stops to put this one away. Uconn supporters would also argue that they were stripped of a touchdown when it appeared the Huskies recovered a muffed punt on the 1 yard line.

Enough about the officials, this rain drenched game was decided by the Uconn defensive lock down (after Earl Heyman's fumble recovery touchdown putting the Ville' up 17-7) and the two late scoring drives by Lorenzen and his offense. Trailing by its largest margin of the game early in the 4th, a quick bounce back drive and DJ Hernandez TD all within 1:30, gave the Huskies a sense of being right back in this one. On the next offensive series, when Dixon seemed to drag 5 guys in the end zone with under 2 to play, for the first time the Huskies were in the driver's seat. The job was finished fittingly by Danny Lansanah picking off a Brain Brohm pass at the Uconn 20 with 15 seconds to play.


"It was a great team victory for us tonight," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "All three of our phases on the team really did a great job and contributed in every aspect. I'm just proud of the coaches, proud of the kids, what they did."


Big East Standings
TEAM, BE W-L, OVERALL W-L,
Connecticut, 2-0, 6-1
Rutgers, 2-1, 5-2
South Florida, 1-1, 6-1
West Virginia, 1-1, 6-1
Pittsburgh, 1-1, 3-4
Cincinnati, 1-2, 6-2
Louisville, 1-2, 4-4
Syracuse, 1-2, 2-6

Huskies:
The Uconn football team suffers first defeat of season on the road to UVA. Back and forth battle is decided when Huskies oddly abandon the silent snap, and scr*w the pooch losing 25 yards on a hike gone wrong, while driving late in the 4th down 1. Not much created on offense by either side in a nip and tuck affair.

Boys will look to regroup for a (legit)nationally televised ESPN (not the U) game against the Louisville Cardinal on Friday evening. The Cards knocked off top 20 Cincinnati on the road this weekend, the schedule will not get any easier from here on out for the dogs.

Rest of Big East:
Scarlet Knights dominate the Orange up at the Dome and ruin homecoming from the Syracuse alums, not that any actual went to the game. USF (now #2 in the BCS and AP polls) manhandles UCF and shows a little Miami Hurricane of yesteryear by scoring a few late ones. WVU had a bye and Pitt played like they had a bye in losing to Navy on Wednesday.

College Football:
BC and ND never as close as score showed. Oklahoma showsus something in taking out Mizzou. Kentucky outlasts LSU in Lexington and the Cal Bears blow a shot at number one...the Ohio State University takes over number one with a thriller over Oberlin.

MLB:
Rockies continue to make me feel better about my Phils, now at 19 of 20, AMAZING! Cleveland and Trot Nixon (and God according to Trot) make things interesting by putting up a TD at 1:30am on the Sox at a frigid looking Fenway, take-a-ways from Game 2 -- Mike Lowell is a brilliant 3B and Grady Sizemore is going to Cooperstown. Dice-K against Westbrook tonight in Cleveland, bring your OFF spray.

NFL:
God I hate you New England Patriots, but man do i respect you...no running game -- no worries, the Pats put on an aerial show in the 2nd half. TO keeps the boys around for a bit, but it was never really in doubt. Brady much better QB than dad...Adrian Peterson as Tiger Woods once said, "hello world"...Jets in Rams unis are still the Jets...Favre helps the Gigantes out...Dolphins and Rams remain win-less.

**NBA and NHL reports on hold, I will pick-up the NBA after the Masters.

PIX in review
Take the Irish over BC w/the 13.5o --
-- barely, but yes
Put the ranch on New England over smiley interception man and the Cowboys-only getting 4 --
-- man i'm good
PGA pick: Bill Haas gets virgin win in Sin City
-- tough weekend for Bill, t21 --36,000, card is secured however
LPGA pick: Wie won't break 80 --
-- finishes +18, but breaks 80 all 4 rounds, kudos!!
Husky fans take UVA and be happy if you lose....(bet with your brain not your heart) --
--Cavs win game, but do not cover, brain and heart lose out