Strong, UofL Prepare for Connecticut Road Trip
November 04, 2013 | Football
Nov. 4, 2013
MONDAY'S LINKS
Charlie Strong: Video | Audio | Transcript 
Marcus Smith: Video | Audio | Transcript
Shawn Watson: Video
THE GAME: The 16th-ranked University of Louisville football team hits the road to face Connecticut in a crucial American Athletic Conference game Friday night at 8:30 p.m.
The game between the Cardinals and Huskies will air on ESPN2. Carter Blackburn will serve as the play-by-play announcer, with Danny Kannell at his side as the color analyst and Allison Williams on the sidelines. Paul Rogers and Craig Swabek will handle the radio call on the Nelligan Sports Network, with Doug Ormay serving as sideline reporter. The radio broadcast also will be available on online here.
RANKINGS: Louisville enters week 11 of the 2013 season ranked 20th in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings and the Associated Press poll and 16th in the USA Today Coaches poll. Connecticut is 0-7 overall, including a 0-3 record in the American Athletic Conference.
Connecticut: Connecticut enters the American Athletic Conference game with a 0-7 overall record, including a 0-3 mark in league play. The Huskies are led interim head coach T.J. Weist and are coming off of a bye week preceded by a 62-17 loss to UCF.
Connecticut linebacker Yawin Smallwood is one of 12 players nationally to be selected as a semifinalist for the Collegiate 2013 Butkus Award. Smallwood, a 2012 all-BIG EAST first team selection, was named to virtually every preseason national defensive award watch list this year, and has not disappointed thus far. The redshirt junior is UConn's leading tackler with 79 stops in 2013, good for 11.3 per game. That mark is second in The American and sixth in the nation.
Tim Boyle made the last start at quarterback in the loss to UCF, and has thrown for 506 yards, while tossing five picks. He is completing 42.7 percent of his throws and has yet to toss a touchdown pass. Geremy Davis, who led the Huskies last season, is the team's leading receiver this year with 35 receptions for 544 yards.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be just the 10th meeting between the two schools, with the Cardinals holding a 5-4 series advantage. The Cardinals have won two of the last three encounters with Connecticut, but the Huskies captured a 23-20 triple-overtime win in Louisville last season. UofL is 2-2 all-time at Rentschler Field, including a 34-20 win over the Huskies in 2011. Connecticut defeated the Cardinals 38-25 in E. Hartford in 2009.
What You Missed from Monday's Press Conference
Head coach Charlie Strong talked about the production from the tight end position, but also lightened the mood by commenting on the speed of tight end Ryan Hubbell and why he's able to get open.
“I think its Hub (Ryan Hubell) and that speed. (Laughter). Outrunning everybody? (More laughter). No, it's a combination of both. He's open a lot and Teddy (Bridgewater) has been able to find him down the seam. What you do is put pressure, because if people are playing you in cover two, you allow the two outside receivers to release outside and pull the safeties off the hash then the middle is wide open, which I call the canyon. The canyon is wide open and Hubs (Ryan Hubbell) is able to make the catch and run some. You like to see good things happen for him, because he's so tough. He battles injuries and he's out there right now. If anything is ever wrong with him, you never would know it, just because of how hard he works.”
Senior defensive end Marcus Smith followed Strong at the podium and discussed his days as a high school quarterback.
“I can throw it really long. I am not going to say it is accurate right now. I could throw it pretty far.”
Smith continued by saying, “It was really hard for me to get sacked. I tell people when we are at practice when we are going against Teddy (Bridgewater). When people think they have a sack in practice, they don't really have a sack because Teddy can get away from anything. I feel like my footwork and the stuff that I did is similar to his.”
