Thursday, Sept. 3 • 7:30 p.m.
VILLANOVA
at
UCONN
Pratt & Whitney Stadium (40,000/Grass)
East Hartford, Conn.
Television
ESPN3/SNY -
WATCH LIVE -
LIVE STATS
Eric Frede, Andy Gresh and Kerith Burke
UConn Radio - WTIC-AM 1080 (flagship)
THE GAME
Thursday’s game will be the 12th meeting between UConn and Villanova in a series that dates to 1987, when both schools competed in the Yankee Conference … Villanova holds a 7-4 series lead after the Wildcats took a 48-45 win in triple-overtime in 1999 — the Huskies’ final year as an FCS program.
VILLANOVA
0-0
Head Coach
Andy Talley (Southern Connecticut ’67)
215-128-1, 31st season at Villanova
243-146-3, 36th season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Villanova returns 14 starters and 32 letterwinners from last year’s team, which went 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association … The Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA FCS Championship before falling to Sam Houston State, 34-31 … Villanova was picked as the favorite in the CAA this season as the Wildcats earned 14 of the 24 first-place votes in the preseason media poll … QB John Robertson was the FCS national offensive player of the year last season after he completed 197 of 301 passes for 2,846 yards and 35 touchdowns with just three interceptions … Robertson also rushed for 1,078 yards and 11 touchdowns and averaged 82.9 rushing yards per game … LB Don Cherry was tabbed as the CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after he registered 134 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, five forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery in 2014 … Cherry was the runner-up for national defensive player-of-the-year honors last season … Head coach Andy Talley has led Villanova to 11 NCAA Championship appearances, including the 2009 national title.
UCONN
0-0
Head Coach
Bob Diaco (Iowa ’95)
2-10, second season
NOTES
UConn returns 13 starters, including seven on defense, from last year’s team … The Huskies went 2-10 in Bob Diaco’s first year as head coach as UConn looks to end a four-game slide from the end of last season … UConn won Big East titles in 2007 and 2010 and played in the Fiesta Bowl to cap the 2010 season, but has finished below the .500 mark in each of the last four seasons … RB Ron Johnson rushed for 429 yards and three touchdowns to lead the team as a freshman last year, while WR Noel Thomas had a team-high four touchdown receptions and is the team’s top returning receiver … QB Tim Boyle is the only returning player who saw time behind center last year, but QB Bryant Shirreffs, a transfer from North Carolina State, could end up as the Opening Day starter … The Huskies have three returning starters on the offensive line, including six-foot-eight, 310-pound OT Andreas Knappe, who emerged to start the last seven games at right tackle last season … The defense is led by LB Marquise Vann, who registered 105 tackles and seven tackles for loss, and LB Graham Stewart, who had 94 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss … S Andrew Adams had 95 tackles, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.