UConn sports

Getting ready for UConn-LSU in the opener of the NIT Season Tip-off.

The Huskies will play a trio of games at Madison Square Garden over the next few weeks. Tonight against the Bayou Bengals (That’s LSU’s Tigers to you and me, Rusty), Friday against Duke or Arizona State and Dec. 9 against Kentucky.

It’s not the first meeting between UConn and LSU since the Shaq game in 1991 (they split a home-and-home in 2006 and 2007) but that NCAA game in Minneapolis is still burned in my memory.

I can still remember Lyman DePriest sitting on the UConn bench wearing a towel over his head and giant grin on his face. The 6-foot-5 DePriest, who earlier in his career had guarded the likes of BC guard Dana Barros, was assigned to help cover a 7-foot-1 giant known as Shaquille O’Neal.

O’Neal had 27 points and 16 rebounds but they were a “quiet” 27 and 16, if that’s possible, as UConn won 79-62. Chris Smith led the Huskies with 25.

DePriest, along with Rod Sellers and Toraino Walker, did a pretty good job slowing Shaq down.

And, of course, who did UConn play (and lose to) two games later? Yes, that would be Duke.

Maybe we’re headed (tournament organizers are praying that we are) for another UConn-Duke showdown.

- Neill

The tributes to Jasper Howard now up in the Burton Complex

The early notes from UConn football coach Randy Edsall’s meeting with the media Tuesday morning.

– What’s different this week, coming off a win, as opposed to the last three (or four) weeks?

“Maybe the smiles weren’t faked this week,” Edsall said.

– Don’t expect UConn to look past the Orange.

“The film doesn’t lie,” Edsall said. “You can see they’re a good football team.”

– No changes to the UConn depth chart this week.

– Last year UConn had a 2,000-yard rusher. This season, the Huskies could have two 1,000-yard rushers (Jordan Todman is at 956 and Andre Dixon is at 858.)

So is UConn better in the run game this year than it was last year?

“If I said ‘yes’ then that would be an indictment on Donald Brown so I would never say that,” Edsall said.

– No talk from the coach about a possible coaching vacancy at Kansas (as expected).

“You guys know me. You think I’m going to touch that with a 10-foot pole?” Edsall said with a laugh.

Edsall hasn’t been called by ex-UConn AD Lew Perkins or anyone else.

“I just go about my business. I can’t control what’s being said or the rumors being spread,” Edsall said. “I haven’t talked to anybody.”

– No bowl talk from the head coach.

“We’re just trying to get to win No. 6. Everybody knows what that means from a bowl standpoint,” Edsall said.

– Edsall on Syracuse WR Mike Williams quitting the team:

“He’ll probably be playing on Sunday’s (in the NFL),” Edsall said. “I’m just glad that he’s not playing right now.”

That being said…

“They’ve played pretty well without him,” Edsall said.

– Syracuse has allowed only one opposing rusher (Pitt’s Dion Lewis) to run for at least 100 yards.

The Orange lead the Big East and are ninth nationally in run defense.

– The Huskies won’t change their schedule much because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

They’ll practice early on Thursday to allow some of the local players (and some of their teammates) to get home for Thanksgiving dinner. No major switches, though.

There are no classes this week at UConn so the schedule has been changed a bit because of that.

– LB Greg Lloyd’s goalline hit on Notre Dame’s Armando Allen impressed plenty of people.

“I loved that,” Edsall said.

The coach said visitors to the Burton Family Football Complex should expect to see a picture of that hit up on the walls very soon.

– There’s “program height” and then there’s actual height. The same goes for weight.

But either Jordan Todman has put on some major pounds or there’s a typo in the UConn game notes. For the second week in a row Todman is listed as being 5-11, 230 pounds. That’s obviously a tad high.

We know UConn SID/Assistant AD Mike Enright works too many hours and rarely makes a mistake, so we don’t mind poking a little fun when he does.

Those height/weight numbers clearly belong to FB Anthony Sherman, but who hasn’t transposed a number on occasion?

- Neill

A few more comments from the Big East’s coaches:

– Rutgers coach Greg Schiano admitted his team was probably overconfident before its odd 31-13 loss to Syracuse.

“Yeah, I think so. I’d be naïve if I believe that didn’t have a factor,” Schiano said. “It’s a shame. Because that lesson we should know by now.”

One week after returning to the rankings, Rutgers laid something of an egg.

“I think it was a perfect storm last week in a bad way by us,” Schiano added.

– UConn’s win over Notre Dame meant plenty to the Huskies but it also was a huge for the Big East and its bowl picture. Notre Dame has now virtually been eliminated from the Gator Bowl picture and a league team is likely headed to Jacksonville.

UConn coach Randy Edsall said he knew the implications of a Husky win but it wasn’t a point of emphasis for the team.

“In my mind I knew what it was about but I would never put that kind of pressure on my kids,” Edsall said.

But the coach knows “everyone in the Big East Conference benefited.”

– Cincinnati QB Tony Pike will return to the starting lineup this week against Illinois.

“It’s going to be Tony Pike unless something happens in practice,” coach Brian Kelly said.

It’s been six weeks since Pike re-injured his left (non-throwing) forearm and backup Zach Collaros kept the Bearcats rolling.

– Louisville RB Victor Anderson will have shoulder surgery Tuesday and will miss the Cardinals’ finale.

Coach Steve Kragthorpe said Anderson may been able to, without surgery, play in a bowl game if the Cardinals had rallied and won their finale two games and got lucky with an invite. But that didn’t happen and now the plan is to have Anderson ready for spring practice.

- Neill

In case you were wondering, there are some tickets left for Syracuse-UConn this weekend. The game is Saturday at noon at Rentschler Field.

As of Monday there were less than 1,000 left. You can purchase them at uconnhuskies.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

There are also tickets available for the finale Dec. 5 against South Florida.

- Neill

The Big East’s weekly winners. Some info from the conference call and other notes to follow:

BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

B.J. Daniels • Fr. • QB • USF • Tallahassee, Fla.

Daniels accounted for 445 yards of total offense and three touchdowns to lead USF to a 34-22 win against Louisville. He completed 20 of 34 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 141 yards and two TDs on 22 carries. He became the 28th player in NCAA Bowl Subdivision history — and the first Big East player — to surpass 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game.

BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Doug Hogue • Jr. • LB • Syracuse • Yonkers, N.Y.

Hogue had 6.5 tackles for loss — the most by a BIG EAST player in a game this season — to go with 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble in Syracuse’s 31-13 win against Rutgers. Hogue had seven tackles in the game to lead an Orange defense that limited the Scarlet Knights to 26 rushing yards and 130 total yards.

BIG EAST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Jordan Todman • So. • RB • Connecticut • North Dartmouth, Mass.

Todman had 286 all-purpose yards, including a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, in Connecticut’s 33-30 win at Notre Dame in double-overtime. Todman’s touchdown on the long kickoff return answered a Notre Dame field goal and allowed the Huskies to enter the fourth quarter tied at 17-17. Todman, who had 156 yards on four kickoff returns, also ran for a game-high 130 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

Andre Dixon, RB, Connecticut — Rushed for 114 yards on 20 carries, including the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime period, in a 33-30 win at Notre Dame.

Lawrence Wilson, LB, Connecticut — Had a game-high 16 tackles with a fumble recovery in a 33-30 double-overtime win at Notre Dame.

Trent Guy, WR, Louisville— Had a game-high 170 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown on a 60-yard punt return in a 34-22 loss at USF.

Antwon Bailey, RB, Syracuse — Had a game-high 181 all-purpose yards, including a 14-yard touchdown run, in a 31-13 win against Rutgers. Had 77 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Kion Wilson, LB, USF — Had a game-high 12 tackles, with two tackles for loss, in a 34-22 win against Louisville.

– Neill

Back from South Bend and ready for a nap. OK, I didn’t actually play in the game nor did I cheer, but it was a long day for we scribes, too.

Also it’s tough to sleep when you’re the next Kreskin _ or am I just Carnac?

Onto the news of the day. A couple of items from coach Randy Edsall’s chat with the media:

– If his team had lost to Notre Dame, Edsall would have been upset about the scenario. But there’s little doubt the coach had a few gripes with the two holding calls late in the game that wiped out game-winning touchdowns (or at least one game-winner and one that came within inches of being a TD).

WR Marcus Easley was called for the first (obviously a miss by the officials) and FB Anthony Sherman was flagged for the other (close, but didn’t look like holding at first glance).

Well, Big East Coordinator of Football Officiating Terry McAulay probably knew Edsall would be calling him about the plays so McAulay called first.

When Edsall landed at Bradley International Airport at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday night he had a lot of messages on his cellphone. One of them was from McAualay.

“He got to me because he probably knew I would be giving me a call,” Edsall said. “But he got to me before we landed and said that neither offensive holding call was a foul.”

It was kind of a surprising move. Edsall says he holds no grudge, though he wouldn’t say how many times before he’d received that kind of admission from McAulay or anyone else at the league office.

“Just like coaching officiating is a tough business,” Edsall said. “We don’t get everything right and there’s times where officials might not get everything right. I think that’s the human element of the game.”

– The coaches gave game balls to _ in addition to Jasper Howard’s family _ DT Kendall Reyes (defense), KR Jordan Todman (special teams) and the entire offensive line: LT Mike Ryan, LG Erik Kuraczea, LG Matt Olivier (who replaced Kuraczea after he was injured), C Moe Petrus, RG Zach Hurd and RT Mike Hicks.

– No significant injuries, it seemed. DE Jesse Joseph (shoulder) probable, OG Erik Kuraczea (lower leg) questionable, and WR Kashif Moore (lower leg) probable.

– Edsall had a long talk with Todman about his touchdown pose (Touchdown Jordan, nee Jesus?) when he scored in the second quarter.

“We don’t disrespect the game that way,” Edsall said he told the sophomore. “You hand the ball to the officials and you go celebrate with your teammates.

“And guess what? He did it the second time,” Edsall said. “He flipped the ball to the official, he turned around and he celebrated with his teammates. I did a good job of teaching after that first one. I think he got my message loud and clear.”

Of course, at the end of the game Andre Dixon tossed the ball into the crowd in celebration. On that one Edsall wasn’t so mad about the celebration…just the loss of a potential trophy.

“I wanted to tell him ‘You’re a knucklehead. Save that ball. We needed that ball,’ ” Edsall said with a laugh. “But that moment, I think that’s a little bit different.”

– Edsall said he would have done the same thing leading up to Dave Teggart’s missed field goal at the end of regulation. The Huskies let a lot of time tick off the clock intentionally and did not use their extra timeouts to try and gain more yardage.

Teggart missed from 37 yards, sending the game into overtime, but the coach wouldn’t change anything.

“Not at all. I don’t second-guess that one at all,” Edsall said. “We got the ball right in the middle of the field, right where we wanted it. The young man had made a 37-yarder from right in the middle of the field. And I have the utmost confidence in David that he can make that kick.”

- Neill

Let’s paraphrase Jack Buck for a minute.

I don’t believe what I just #$@%&*^*’ing saw!

I know some expert (and attractive) sportswriter wrote in some newspaper (the paper’s in Bridgeport…hint, hint…and Danbury, Stamford and Greenwich, too) on Friday morning that UConn would beat Notre Dame in double overtime but I’m telling you: even he didn’t really believe it.

That same expert has to drive back to Chicago and catch an early flight, but let’s take a quick look at UConn 33, Notre Dame 30 (2OT).

– In case you were debating, and you probably were, UConn coach Randy Edsall says Saturday’s win was the biggest in the program’s history.

“There’s no doubt this is the biggest and best win that we’ve had so far in the short time we’ve been an FBS school,” Edsall said.

Edsall, who was an assistant at Boston College in 1993 when the Eagles stunned the college football world here, knows what it’s like to walk out of here a winner.

– Drink this one in for a minute: Notre Dame is 55-9-1 in games against an opponent making its first visit to Notre Dame Stadium.

UConn is just the ninth team to win its debut here.

The others?

Oh, some team named USC (1931), some guys from Texas (1934), a couple rabble-rousers from Iowa (1940), some nice men from Missouri (1972), as well as the 14th-ranked Clemson Tigers (1979) and the 20th-ranked Seminoles of Florida State (1981).

Michigan (1942) and Penn State (1982) also won in their first trip to ND Stadium, though that sort of doesn’t count because they both played the Irish previously at Cartier Field.

– Notre Dame has a losing record against 12 schools now, including UConn (0-1). Also in that mix are Yale (0-1) and Michigan (15-21-1).

– UConn RB coach Terry Richardson was in Florida for his mother’s funeral but his young backs (Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman) played very, very well.

“Coach Richardson we love you. We know you buried your mother today,” Edsall said. “I think those kids, Jordan and Andre, ran a little bit harder today with his absence.”

– Edsall dedicated the win to the memory of Jasper Howard, something he and the Huskies have been trying to do for a while.

“Now we can take a game ball and send it down to JoAnglia and Henry and David and the Howard family,” Edsall said. “Because I know one thing: that little number 6 was up there looking down on us today.”

It was the Huskies’ first win since Jazz’ death.

“You’re trying so hard to honor him by winning on the field,” Edsall said. “And we hadn’t done that. So that first win we were going to get was going to be special. What better place than here?”

– Zach Frazer won in his return to South Bend. He wasn’t great but held it together and made some big plays.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis sought the ND transfer out after the game.

“I didn’t want to see him before the game because I thought that would be a distraction,” Weis said. “I didn’t think it would be fair to him to do that. So I wanted to make sure I saw him after the game to congratulate him and wish him well.”

– After he scored on a long run UConn RB Jordan Todman did a little pose in the endzone. Edsall didn’t like it and told Todman as much.

After the game a talented scribe from a competing newspaper (a fine gentleman named Jake) asked Todman: “That wasn’t a Touchdown Jesus, was it?”

“I’m afraid it was,” Todman said.

We’re afraid Todman will be running the steps of Memorial Stadium for that one.

We’re also pretty sure Todman will think it was worth it.

– Kashif Moore celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday with a nice leaping catch for a touchdown in overtime.

- Neill

Jordan Todman has the Huskies in the thick of it.

His 96-yard kickoff return made it 17-17 midway through the third quarter. Oh, and he had nearly 100 yards rushing and another touchdown already Saturday.

But the UConn defense, unless it’s going to force more turnovers, looks like it can’t stop ND.

The Irish took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched all the way down to the UConn 1, thanks in large part to a fourth-and-2 play in which Armando Allen rumbled 26 yards.

LB Greg Lloyd made another nice stop on third-and-goal at the 1-yard line (more like 1-and-a-half line), denying Armando Allen a TD, and the Irish settle for a 20-yard field goal from David Ruffer. That made it 17-10 Notre Dame.

Then came Todman’s heroics. He went 96 yards without being touched (he may have brushed one of his blockers) to tie the game.

Notre Dame was headed for the go-ahead score as Michael Floyd caught a pass over the middle in the red zone and headed to the end zone. But UConn corner Robert McClain, who was initially beat on the play, stripped Floyd of the ball and Lawrence Wilson recovered it for UConn.

But after a putrid UConn offensive possession (Zach Frazer is sacked, fumbles, but it isn’t called that way, and the Huskies punt quickly) the Huskies punt the ball right back.

ND’s got the ball again and is driving. Even a botched flea-flicker turns into a positive for the Irish.

- Neill