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UCONN – RUTGERS MATCH-UP PREVIEW

Scarlet Knights looking for first league win in emotional Storrs on Saturday

By Raphielle Johnson

Saturday brings another emotional first for the Connecticut football program, with Rutgers visiting in the first home game following the death of Jasper Howard. A few tributes are planned in his memory, and the athletic department requests that all attending the game show up early to take part. More information on what will take place Saturday afternoon can be found at www.uconnhuskies.com.

As for the game, this has the makings of a close contest despite the fact that Rutgers (5-2, 0-2) has lost both of their conference games to this point. The Scarlet Knights have the Big East’s best defense, allowing just three hundred yards per game, which makes up for an offense that’s seventh in the conference in total offense. With UConn putting up more than five hundred yards of offense last weekend it will be interesting to see whether or not they can build upon that output. Below is the projected Rutgers two-deep for Saturday’s game. +

Offense

QB 7 Tom Savage (Fr.)
11 Domenic Natale (Sr.)

RB 38 Joe Martinek (RSo.)
39 Jourdan Brooks (RSo.)

FB 19 Jack Corcoran (Sr.)
37 Andres Morales (Jr.)

It was pretty obvious who the man of the future was at the quarterback position during fall camp; it took a bad first half performance in the season opener against Cincinnati to make the freshman Savage the “man of the current”. In six games this season To has thrown just one interception to five touchdowns, ranking fifth in the Big East in pass efficiency (130.8 rating) and sixth in passing yards per game (184.6 yards/game). He hasn’t been asked to win games with his arm alone, but he’s got the arm strength to make all the throws.

The better that Martinek performs on the ground the better off the entire Scarlet Knight offense is. The redshirt sophomore rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 27-10 win at Army. With an average of 81.9 rushing yards per game Martinek ranks fifth in the conference in that category. Brooks, the primary backup, averages just under five yards per carry. Kordell Young, who has battled knee issues in his career, is a quick back that Rutgers can also incorporate in the passing game. Whoever is handed the ball will follow the lead of the experienced Corcoran, one of the better blocking fullbacks in the Big East.

WR 2 Tim Brown (Sr.)
18 Julian Hayes (Jr.)

WR 6 Mohamed Sanu (Fr.)
5 Tim Wright (RFr.)

TE 10 D.C. Jefferson (RFr.)
3 Shamar Graves (Jr.)

Savage has a good pair of receivers to go to in the speedster Brown and talented freshman Sanu. Brown ranks fourth in the Big East in receptions per game (4.6) and third in yards per game (92.7), averaging more than twenty yards per catch. Sanu, on the other hand, has twenty-eight receptions and is tied for eighth in the conference with four receptions per game. He’s not the deep threat that Brown is but has the frame (6-2, 215) of a nice security blanket on the outside.

Wright (6-4, 215) and Julian Hayes (6-1, 210) are also taller receiving threats but overall the Husky corners should be able to hold their own on the outside. As for the tight end position, it should be seen as a credit to D.C. Jefferson’s work ethic that he was able to switch positions (previously a quarterback) and move to the top of the depth chart. However, he and Graves have combined for just ten receptions to this point in the season; running backs Martinek and Kordell Young have combined for thirteen.

LT 75 Anthony Davis (Jr.)
71 Devon Watkis (RFr.)

LG 77 Art Forst (So.)
76 Mo Lange (Jr.)

C 61 Ryan Blaszczyk (Sr.)
65 Matthew Hardison (RSo.)

RG 70 Desmond Wynn (RSo.)
74 Howard Barbieri (Jr.)

RT 78 Kevin Haslam (Sr.)
73 Desmond Stapleton (RSo.)

This was built up as the best offensive line in the Big East before the season began, but similar to what happened to West Virginia’s highly-touted front last season the chemistry hasn’t always been there. While players such as Anthony Davis, Ryan Balszczyk and Kevin Haslam have a wealth of experience, this is a group that hasn’t had the greatest amount of experience together due to injuries.

Stapleton (listed as doubtful) and Caleb Ruch (probable) are both dealing with ankle injuries and if for some reason they can’t go the depth suffers. Desmond Wynn (shoulder) should be ready to go. On the average the Scarlet Knights are more than forty pounds heavier per man than the UConn front four but that won’t mean a whole lot when dealing with the conference leader in sacks, Lindsey Witten. And as a unit the Scarlet Knights have given up nineteen sacks, the second-most in the Big East.

Defense

DE 31 George Johnson (Sr.)
99 Jonathan Freeny (Jr.)

DT 96 Charlie Noonan (Jr.)
52 Eric LeGrand (So.)

DT 94 Scott Vallone (RFr.)
48 Blair Bines (Sr.)

DE 45 Alex Silvestro (Jr.)
91 Justin Francis (So.)

If you’re looking for a reason why the Scarlet Knights have good defensive numbers look no further than the front four. Of course it can be argued that their five non-conference games don’t compare to what they’ve seen (and will see) in conference play, and that would be valid as well. Freeny leads the team with 6.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss thus far, and George Johnson ranks second with 4.5 sacks. Justin Francis has 2.5 sacks and every player on the listed two-deep has at least half a sack on the year.

Silvestro, in fact, is tied with teammate Damaso Muñoz for the conference lead in fumbles recovered with three while Johnson has recovered two. Tackles Scott Vallone and Eric LeGrand have been praised in recent weeks by Coach Schiano for their improved play. The best asset of the defensive line is their ability to pressure the quarterback, which is crucial given the amount of experience they lost in the secondary due to graduation.

LB 50 Antonio Lowery (Jr.)
51 Manny Abreu (So.)

LB 44 Ryan D’Imperio (Sr.)
53 Jim Dumont (Jr.)

LB 17 Damaso Muñoz (Sr.)
42 Steve Beauharnais (Fr.)

The linebackers are experienced and the starters rank third (D’Imperio and Muñoz tied with 36) and fifth (Lowery with 35) on the team in tackles. Overall this group can run and they’re counted on to make a number of plays in stopping the run. Lowery didn’t play against Army due to injury but the play of freshman Steve Beauharnais (along with Rutgers using their nickel package often) made up for that absence. Lowery is a go for Saturday’s game. Muñoz leads the Big East in fumbles recovered with three, and he’s tied with the aforementioned Alex Silvestro.

CB 4 David Rowe (So.)
23 Brandon Bing (Jr.)

SS 26 Joe Lefeged (Jr.)
47 Patrick Kivlehan (So.)

FS 29 Zaire Kitchen (Sr.)
20 Khaseem Greene (RFr.)

CB 21 Devin McCourty (Sr.)
35 Billy Anderson (Sr.)

The most experienced players in the secondary in regards to playing time coming into the season are McCourty and Lefeged. McCourty leads the Scarlet Knights with forty-one tackles and also has three pass breakups. David Rowe is the corner that teams have been willing to attack more thus far and he’s got five pass breakups and an interception. Lefeged is a punishing hitter (also forced two fumbles) while Zaire Kitchen ranks second on the team with thirty-seven tackles.

Kivlehan (ankle) will also be available after missing last week’s win over Army. Rutgers ranks second in the Big East in pass defense (193.7 yards allowed per game) and fourth in pass efficiency defense (121.0 rating), making them a good test for an emerging Connecticut passing game.

Special Teams

K 1 San San Te (So.)
2 Kyle Sullivan (Fr.)

P 93 Teddy Dellaganna (Jr.)
91 Tyler Thomas (RFr.)

PR 6 Mohamed Sanu (Fr.)
26 Joe Lefeged (Jr.)

KR 21 Devin McCourty (Sr.)
26 Joe Lefeged (Jr.)

While special teams haven’t been a terrible weakness for the Scarlet Knights they certainly haven’t been world beaters in this department. Te has made eleven of sixteen field goal attempts with a long of forty-one this season. Dellaganna ranks sixth in the conference in punting with an average of nearly forty-two yards per punt with a net of 36.7 yards. He also handles kickoffs and had three touchbacks on forty-two kickoffs this season. In the return game the Scarlet Knights rank seventh in the Big East in punt return (6.2 yards per return) average and eighth in kick return (18.9) average. If the Huskies maintain lane discipline they should be able to keep Rutgers from making any big plays in the return game.

Gametime: Noon on Big East Network