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The Connecticut Huskies play the disrespect card like it’s going out of style. Every year before the season begins, most people see UConn on their teams’ schedule and mark it down as a ‘W’. I am absolutely guilty of doing this. It’s uncanny that for whatever reason they always seem to sneak up on everyone and smack them in the mouth. This is no different when they play Cincinnati. Just look at their past few matchups:
- 2008: L 40 -16, Cincinnati’s only in-conference loss of the season. UC’s QBs had a very bad day.
- 2009: W 47 – 45, a shootout that looked to be over at halftime but came down to UConn’s final drive.
- 2010: L 38 – 17, UConn abused the Bearcats in all facets of the game that day.
Needless to say, the Bearcats haven’t played their best games against the Huskies. The main problem is because Cincinnati always seems to have a difficult time stopping UConn’s power running game which has been the bread and butter for them even when Randy Edsall was the head coach. Former Syracuse head man Paul Pasqualoni is now coaching them up now and has not shied away from this type of offense. UConn runs the ball almost 58% of the time which in the past has caused huge problems for the Bearcats. Similar to Syracuse, the Huskies have a super frosh running back in Lyle McCombs and a big offensive line to carve out running lanes. The star running back and bulldozer O-Line has been a winning combination for Connecticut even when Jordan Todman and Donald Brown (both NFL draft picks) were playing for them.
But that’s where the strengths stop on offense for the Huskies. When quarterback Zach Frazer graduated in 2010, he seemed to take the rest of the signal callers on the roster with him (not literally but sort of). Get this: No quarterback on the roster in 2011… recorded a stat for the Huskies in 2010. Talk about being green at one position. So it’s no surprise that Coach Pasqualoni used the ol’ ‘QB-by-committee’ technique when he took over earlier this year. It was basically a three-way tie between Johnny McEntee, Scott McCummings, and Michael Nebrich up until the Buffalo game a month into the season when McEntee ended up winning the job. If the name ‘Johnny McEntee’ sounds familiar, you may recognize him from his YouTube Trick Shot video where he goes by Johnny Mac. Swell. On the season, the Mac Attack (I coined that phrase, not him) has been average at best throwing for about 1,800 yards and 10 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions. It’s clear Pasqualoni is giving him a limited playbook especially with the rushing attack he has at his disposal. Even so, Johnny Mac’s arm doesn’t scare me in the least.
Another weakness for the Huskies is their receiving corps, which got blasted at the beginning of the season by losing three wideouts just as fall camp was beginning. Since then guys like Kashif Moore and Isiah Moore (probably no relation), along with tight end Ryan Griffin have filled in nicely to pick up the slack. But none of them are burners and Cincinnati’s secondary, while egregiously horrible at times, shouldn’t have any more problems this week containing the playmakers as they did against Syracuse. The Huskies rank 93rd in the country with only 17 plays of 25 yards or more. As you can tell, their downfield threats don’t have me worried, either.
What is a cause for concern is UConn’s defense, which always seems to be solid each and every year and the same goes in 2011. Recently, the Huskies have overtaken Cincinnati as the statistically best team against the rush in the Big East, giving up only 84 yards per game and good for 3rd in the nation. They are led in that aspect by a talented group of linebackers, all of which will return in 2012. The seasoned vet of the group is junior Sio Moore who was just an absolute killer lining up next to Lawerence Wilson in 2010. This year he’s third on the team in tackles but the two guys above him on the list are fellow linebackers Jory Johnson and Yawin Smallwood. As a unit, they are very talented, which is on par with past UConn teams.
Connecticut’s front four is just about as good. I’ve been tracking them all season in my ‘Bearcats Nation vs. ESPN Big East Blog’ series and by the numbers they are very tough. The main guy to look out for is defensive end Trevardo Williams. He is currently 3rd in the nation with 12.5 sacks after notching 4 last week against Rutgers. With Hoffman banged up and Lefeld still adjusting to playing offensive tackle at the college level, they will have their hands full with Williams on the edge.
Switching gears, UConn’s secondary is an interesting case of giving up tons of yards but taking advantage of opportunities when they come their way. The Huskies are 117th in the country giving up almost 300 yards per game through the air. I think that’s reflective of opposing coaches going with the ‘Why run when you can pass’ philosophy and letting their quarterbacks fire away on the DBs. UConn has given up the 80th most pass attempts of any team in college football which has allowed the Husky secondary to pick off 16 passes this season, which is good for 10th. They are extremely opportunistic on the back end.
UConn’s special teams unit isn’t what it was last season, at least on returns. Nick Williams is all that remains of the dynamic pairing with Robbie Frey in 2010 and has yet to run one back for a score. However, Williams is still a solid return man that is always dangerous touching the ball and is 29th in the country from a return yardage standpoint. Their punter is a sophomore Cole Wager who has averaged a solid 41.35 yards per boot this season. He’s gotten a lot of practice, however, punting the ball 72 times (11th most). In other words, UConn punts A TON.
Outcome
Cincinnati – 27
UConn – 14
The Bearcats win this game based on the simple fact that they must win. They just have to. Simply getting to a bowl doesn’t matter to the Bearcats like it does to the Huskies but getting a quality postseason game and opponent will be very important for this program. I’ll get to the keys to this game tomorrow but UC should approach this game the same way they did Syracuse: Bottle up the running back and you’ll stop the offense. That alone should produce a Cincinnati victory on Saturday.