2011 Connecticut Huskies football team

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2011 Connecticut Huskies football
ConferenceBig East Conference
Record5–7 (3–4 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGeorge DeLeone (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorDon Brown (1st season)
Home stadiumRentschler Field
Seasons
← 2010
2012 →
2011 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 17 West Virginia $+   5 2     10 3  
No. 25 Cincinnati +   5 2     10 3  
Louisville +   5 2     7 6  
Rutgers   4 3     9 4  
Pittsburgh   4 3     6 7  
Connecticut   3 4     5 7  
South Florida   1 6     5 7  
Syracuse   1 6     5 7  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • + – Conference co-champions
As of January 11, 2012
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big East Conference. The team was coached by Paul Pasqualoni and played its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. It was Pasqualoni's first year with the team.

Previous season[edit]

The Huskies finished 8–5, 5–2 in Big East play to share the conference title with Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Due to victories over both schools, the Huskies earned the Big East's automatic bid to a BCS game, the first in school history, and were invited to the Fiesta Bowl where they were defeated by Big 12 champion Oklahoma 20–48.

Before the season[edit]

Coaching changes[edit]

The day after the Fiesta Bowl Head Coach Randy Edsall left the University to accept the same position at Maryland.[1] Paul Pasqualoni was hired to replace Edsall. George DeLeone was brought in as the new offensive coordinator, with former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Moorhead being demoted to quarterbacks coach.[2][3] Don Brown was brought in to replace Todd Orlando at defensive coordinator.[4] Orlando left to take the same position at Florida International.[5]

Roster changes[edit]

The Huskies lost six starters from the 2010 team to graduation. In addition to the graduation losses All-American RB Jordan Todman entered the NFL Draft a year early.[6]

Recruiting[edit]

On February 2, 2011, Paul Pasqualoni announced that 16 student-athletes had signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Connecticut.[7] Four; Kenton Adeyemi, Dalton Gifford, Michael Nebrich and Sean McQuillan; entered school in January to participate in spring practice.

US college sports recruiting information for 2011 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40 Commit date
Kamal Abrams
WR
Dover, DE Dover HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Jul 11, 2011 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 74
Andrew Adams
FS
Fayetteville, GA Woodward Academy 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 4.57 Dec 30, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 66
Kenton Adeyemi
DT
Wethersfield, CT Fork Union Military Academy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Dec 20, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 74
Jefferson Ashiru
LB
Powder Springs, GA McEachern HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 230 lb (100 kg) 4.7 Jan 27, 2011 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 78
Julian Campenni
DT
West Pittson, PA Wyoming Area HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 285 lb (129 kg) Jan 30, 2011 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 75
Tyree Clark
CB
Tampa, FL Alonso HS 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sep 23, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 74
Max DeLorenzo
RB
Berlin, CT Berlin HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.5 Jun 23, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 67
Deshon Foxx
RB
Lynchburg, VA Brookfield HS 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 4.4 Nov 29, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 45
Dalton Gifford
OT
Fairhaven, MA Bridgton Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Nov 28, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 72
Xavier Hemingway
OT
Powder Springs, GA McEachern HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Jan 24, 2011 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 77
Wilbert Lee
SS
Brooklyn, NY Boys and Girls HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jul 17, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 45
Sean McQuillan
TE
Glastonbury, CT Avon Old Farms 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 4.6 Aug 24, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 74
Michael Nebrich
QB
Fairfax Station, VA Lake Braddock Secondary School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.5 Jun 6, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 74
Paul Nwokeji
OT
Randolph, MA Thayer Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Jun 22, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 45
David Stephenson
CB
Stone Mountain, GA Stephenson HS 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 4.5 Jun 23, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 74
Marquise Vann
LB
Cincinnati, OH Fairfield Senior HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 223 lb (101 kg) Dec 16, 2010 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 78
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 79   Rivals: >50
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Connecticut Football Commitment List (16)". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  • "UConn College Football Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  • "Connecticut Huskies Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  • "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.

Awards watchlists[edit]

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 312:00 pmFordham*ESPN3W 35–334,562
September 107:30 pmat Vanderbilt*SNYL 21–2432,119
September 168:00 pmIowa State*
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
ESPN2L 20–2437,195
September 246:00 pmat Buffalo*SNY/BIG EAST NetworkW 17–318,215
October 13:30 pmWestern Michigan*
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
SNYL 31–3836,648
October 812:00 pmat No. 16 West VirginiaSNY/BIG EAST NetworkL 16–4356,179
October 153:30 pmSouth Floridadagger
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
SNY/BIG EAST NetworkW 16–1037,162
October 268:00 pmat PittsburghESPNL 20–3540,219
November 512:00 pmSyracuse
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT (rivalry)
ESPNUW 28–2138,769
November 1912:00 pmLouisville
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
BIG EAST NetworkL 20–3434,483
November 2612:00 pmRutgers
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
ESPN2W 40–2237,857
December 312:00 pmat CincinnatiESPNL 27–3527,930
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries[edit]

Fordham[edit]

1 234Total
Rams 0 030 3
Huskies 7 14140 35

Recap: This game was originally scheduled to be played on September 1 at 7:30 pm. However, due to Rentschler Field being used for relief efforts for Hurricane Irene, the game was moved to Saturday. The team discussed playing the game at the Yale Bowl in New Haven if the field did not become available in time, but on Wednesday, August 31, the team announced the game would be played in East Hartford on Saturday at noon.

Vanderbilt[edit]

1 234Total
Huskies 3 0108 21
Commodores 14 0010 24

Recap:

Iowa State[edit]

1 234Total
Cyclones 0 7107 24
Huskies 10 037 20

Recap:

Buffalo[edit]

1 234Total
Huskies 0 1007 17
Bulls 0 300 3

Recap:

Western Michigan[edit]

1 234Total
Broncos 0 17021 38
Huskies 0 71014 31

Recap:

West Virginia[edit]

1 234Total
Huskies 3 607 16
No. 16 Mountaineers 3 72310 43

Recap:

South Florida[edit]

1 234Total
Bulls 3 070 10
Huskies 3 3100 16

Recap:

Pittsburgh[edit]

1 234Total
Huskies 0 3107 20
Panthers 14 777 35

Recap:

Syracuse[edit]

1 234Total
Orange 0 7140 21
Huskies 7 0714 28

Recap:

Louisville[edit]

1 234Total
Cardinals 14 0713 34
Huskies 0 10010 20

Recap:

Rutgers[edit]

1 234Total
Scarlet Knights 0 10012 22
Huskies 14 10160 40

Recap:

Cincinnati[edit]

1 234Total
Huskies 0 6615 27
Bearcats 14 1470 35

Recap:

References[edit]