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UCONN Preview

The Bulldogs will travel up the I-91 to East Hartford on Saturday for a showdown versus the Huskies.  Kickoff is scheduled for noon and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.

This contest will be the 50th game played between Yale and UCONN and the Bulldogs currently hold a 32-17 record versus the Huskies.  This is only the second time that Yale has ever played at UCONN.  The Huskies are 1-0 at home versus the Bulldogs and are also on a 4-game win streak in the series.

Although many FBS experts consider UCONN to be one of the worst teams in the country, they came up just short in their contests against Vanderbilt and Wyoming and seem to be playing harder under interim head coach Lou Spanos.  Spanos tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago in addition to other coaches and players, so his presence along the sidelines is questionable this weekend.   UCONN practices have been streamed to Spanos remotely and he has had his voice amplified over the loudspeakers in a bizarre situation one would only find in the post-pandemic world.  UCONN is not as disciplined as the Army team that we defeated years ago but they do have more raw talent, size and speed on the roster than that Army squad or any FCS team that we will face this season for that matter.

The Huskies have struggled to find consistency at the quarterback position with four different players attempting passes this season.  Redshirt sophomore quarterback Steven Krajewski is listed as UCONN’s starter on this week’s depth chart.  Krajewski completed 13 of 24 passing attempts for 128 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions last week versus UMASS.  Freshman running back Nate Carter has been one of the bright spots of the UCONN offense this season and he had a stellar game last week posting 136 rushing yards on 20 attempts for an average of 6.8 yards per carry.  Freshman receiver Keelan Marion leads the Huskies in receiving yards with 282 yards on 17 catches along with four touchdowns.  Senior tight end Jay Rose (6’3”, 253 lbs.) is second on the team in receiving yards with 157 yards on 10 catches and a touchdown.  The offensive line averages 294 lbs. across the board and is more athletic than we are accustomed to seeing in the Ivy League.

Sophomore linebacker Jackson Mitchell (6’2”, 229 lbs.) from Ridgefield, Connecticut not only leads the Huskies in tackles but also the nation.  Jackson has racked up an astounding 73 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble through seven games.  Junior defense tackle Travis Jones, Jr. is the largest defensive tackle that we’ll face this season at 6’5”, 333 lbs. and has been a force along the Huskies’ interior front posting 30 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.  Junior defensive end Kevon Jones, Jr. (6’2”, 247 lbs.) is yet another defender that has been hard for opponents to block with 35 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.  Freshman safety Durante Jones has been the most productive member of the secondary with 35 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble on the season.  As a team, the Huskies have allowed 452.1 yards of total offense per game.  UCONN has been unable to defend in the redzone with opponents scoring on 31 of 33 trips inside the 20-yard line.

Freshman kicker Joe McFadden is 8 of 11 on field goal attempts with a season long of 44 yards.  UCONN also relies on McFadden for punts in addition to freshman Haydn Kerr.  The two have combined for an average of 39.3 yards per punt.    

The Bulldogs will have to play a complete game this weekend to claim the spot as the top football program in the state.  The UCONN community has circled this contest as a must-win for the Huskies, so we’re in store for a tough, physical matchup on Saturday.

Go Bulldogs!    

26 replies on “UCONN Preview”

” Size Matters”
” Speed Kills”
” Home Field Advantage”
The cliches are stacked against us
Go Eli !

Excited the game is being broadcast on CBSSN. Hopefully the camera work is an improvement from ESPN+

We’ll see if Yale can clean up some mistakes and sustain their offense for longer stretches.

Go Bulldogs!

Whowever is the best football team in the state of Connecticut is ” the tallest Pygmy.”
U Conn sucks and they disgraced us.
Students from Storrs will swarm to to the Bowl next year mock Yale.
Perhaps being humbuled by U Conn ‘ s speed will help us find a higher gear in the
upcoming Ivy games ?
GO ELI !

Cornell up by 3 touch downs a lot if misdirection . Cornell changed there offense after the yale game. Nice offense if only yale had any balls and changed there offense a little bit a few games might of been different.

I heard Cahill , reads this blog for a laugh.? If he was smart. He might listen and take some of these suggestions and tweak his offense.

Whowever is the best football team in the state of Connecticut is ” the tallest Pygmy.”
U Conn sucks and they disgraced us.
Students from Storrs will swarm to to the Bowl next year mock Yale.
Perhaps being humbuled by U Conn ‘ s speed will help us find a higher gear in the
upcoming Ivy games ?
GO ELI !

O’Conner can’t check off his primary receiver. Throws are off. Not a good combination.

Man, I wish this game had been played two years ago. The 2019 Bulldogs would be up five touchdowns on this really terrible UConn team. As it is, this is hard to watch. Yale is virtually giving the game away. Just so hard to watch.

All along I felt it was imperative that Yale score first, lest UConn gain some confidence and start thinking they could win this thing. I think we are beginning to see the truth of that, as the Huskies just went up 21-0 on an increasingly desperate-looking Yale team. This is getting embarrassing.

Grooms , hits Hawes right in the hands . Oops .gotta help your QB out . Catch the damn ball.

Probably the worst overall passing stats in Yale history. And the passes they did complete were for very short yardage.

Agree. Defense continues to play well and should be even better as talented freshmen and sophs pick up more experience. Penalties continue to be a problem and ruined the last offensive drive. Despite the abysmal first half Yale almost pulled out the win in the fourth quarter. The offensive line needs to improve a lot in order for Yale to have a decent running game.
UConn d backs play at a different level compared to the Ivies. They disrupted catches and our receivers just couldn’t hold on to the ball after the reception. So can’t be too critical of either Griffen’s or Nolan’s passing performance today.
However I think Nolan creates more problems for the opposing defense and should now be the starter. Yale might have put up some points in the first half if Reno had let him play an entire quarter. Bottom line: rotating qbs rarely works unless the coach is Buddy Teevens

Hugely disappointing. I admire Team 148’s spirit and refusal to quit, but we must stop coming up with novel ways of losing or failing to win. I’m betting a missed extra point costs us a game, hopefully not our last one. That hasn’t happened in a while, has it?

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