(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Central Florida (8-0, 5-0 in American Athletic Conference) plays its second-to-last home game of the season against the University of Connecticut (3-6, 2-4 in AAC) Week 11 action at Spectrum Stadium.
The No. 18 Knights are looking to tie their longest win streak in school history at nine games with a win over the Huskies. UConn, on the other hand, needs to win out to make a bowl game.
Since joining the AAC, the Knights have recorded a 2-2 all-time record against the Huskies, UCF winning the first and most recent meetings. UCF and UConn have never met outside of the AAC.
Last season, in UCF head coach Scott Frost’s first matchup against the Huskies, the Knights came back from a 13-0 deficit in the second quarter to win 24-16.
Here is what to look for when the Huskies come to Central Florida to take on the Knights on Saturday.
Randy Edsall Returns to UCONN
At the end of the 2016 season, UCONN fired head coach Bob Diaco after an 11-26 record in three seasons. To replace him, the program hired Randy Edsall. Edsall is the winningest head coach in UConn history, going 74-70 from 1999 to 2010. In 2010, the Huskies won the Big East Conference and earned a trip to the Fiesta Bowl, ultimately losing to the University of Oklahoma 48-20.
Edsall subsequently announced his departure for the head-coaching job at the University of Maryland no more than a day after the loss. While he was at Maryland, the Terrapins went 22-34, and Edsall was fired midway through the 2015 season. After a year in the National Football League with the Detroit Lions, Edsall returned to UConn. In his first season back, the Huskies matched their 2016 season win total by the seventh game of the year.
“It’s not about me,” Edsall said to USA TODAY in May. “It’s about what I can do to hopefully restore the pride and the brand that was built here before with UConn football. I think that’s the thing. But I would say this: It’s good to be home again. Because I really do consider this my home. Really, it’s great to be home.”
UConn Offense Has Difficulty Scoring
UConn’s offense is tied for 90th in the country, scoring 24.7 points per game. However, the Huskies’ yardage ranking is in the top half of the Football Bowl Subdivision. UConn ranks 57th in total yards, gaining 412.4 yards per game. Of the top 57 teams in total yards per game, UConn’s scoring offense is the worst, as only 10 other schools in that group also score less than 30 points per game. The Huskies are also one of three teams in the bottom 40 of scoring offenses that average over 400 yards of offense a game.
Part of UConn’s lack of scoring is due in part to its inefficiency in the red zone. The Huskies rank 119th in the FBS in red-zone efficiency, scoring on only 72.7 percent of their red-zone trips. Despite the Huskies’ offensive shortcomings, UConn has shown improvement this year, scoring only 14.8 points per game last season.
“Offensively, it looks like they’re getting better all the time,” Frost said at the team’s game-week presser on Nov. 6. “They’re putting up more points. So, in this conference, I said it a bunch, you have to be at your best to beat everybody.”
Huskies Defense Is Among Nation’s Worst
Earlier this season, UCF played the worst statistical defense in the country in East Carolina University. Though UConn’s defense isn’t last in scoring or yards allowed, it’s still near the bottom. The 38.3 points per game allowed by UCONN rank 123rd out of 130 teams in the FBS in scoring defenses, and the 554.3 yards allowed per game rank 129th in the nation. The weakest point of the UCONN defense is its pass defense. The Huskies are last at No. 130 in passing yards allowed per game, letting teams teams throw for 378.6 passing yards per game.
Frost, however, still acknowledged the productivity of linebacker Junior Joseph. In his senior year, he’s recorded 77 total tackles with a career-high 49 solo efforts.
“I have a lot of respect for [Joseph], the linebacker,” Frost said. “He played really well against us last year, and I think, looking at tape, he looks like the heart and soul of that defense. I think they have a couple really good D-linemen, too.”
UConn Starting Quarterback Out with Concussion
In a Week 10 loss to the University of South Florida, UConn starting quarterback Bryant Shirreffs suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter. Shirrreffs will not play against UCF. David Pindell will replace Shirreffs as the starter.
Pindell began the year as the starter against the Holy Cross Crusaders of the Football Championship Subdivision before being pulled in the third quarter in favor of Shirreffs. Pindell has appeared in four games this season, completing 56.8 percent of his passes and throwing for 222 yards with zero touchdowns and an interception. He also has the ability to run, as noted by defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, recording 51 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries so far this year.
“I think [Pindell] can run it a little better,” Chinander said after practice on Nov. 7. “I don’t think their offense changes much. I just think it’s a little more emphasis on the quarterback run game.”
Is the Civil Conflict Still Alive?
One strange aspect of the UCF-UConn series is the manifestation of the Civil Conflict. In 2015, Diaco commissioned a trophy and tried to manufacture a rivalry between the schools. Then-UCF head coach George O’Leary wanted nothing to do with the rivalry, as Diaco didn’t start recording the results until after a 40-13 Huskies win in 2015.
In the second season with the trophy in 2016, Frost and UCF left it on the bench after a Knights victory. Now, with Diaco gone, Edsall and new athletic director David Benedict have distanced themselves from the rivalry as well.
“No, [I don’t know where the ConFLiCT trophy is],” Frost said. “Somebody asked me on the press-conference phone call a minute ago where it is, and, yeah, I don’t wanna get into that too much. It was a big deal last year, but—yeah, whereabouts unknown, I would say. It’s definitely not here.”
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UCF and UConn kick off on Saturday at noon.
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for a three-win UConn team, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
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