UConn Football: Huskies' Top Five Games That Will Decide 2010 Season

The 2009 UConn football team dealt with an immense loss last season on and off the field. The Huskies five losses were by a combined 15 points. Beside losing all of their games on either close calls or missed opportunities there was a much bigger loss at UConn.

Jasper Howard, a star cornerback was fatally stabbed to death on October 18th. This event brought the UConn community together and at the same time put the spotlight on this Huskies team.

The Huskies went on to endure three gut-wrentching last second loses at West Virginia, home against Rutgers, and then at Cincinnati.

All was forgotten when UConn went into South Bend and defeated Notre Dame in double overtime. This was an emotional win that began a four game winning streak to end the season.

It was special for this young UConn team. Although they lost two offensive players in Andre Dixon and Marcus Easley, this Huskies team has the talent to score a lot of points.

On defense the secondary lost Robert Vaughn and Robert McClain, two playmakers who were leaders on and off the field. If the Huskies fill that need during the summer, they are going to be a dangerous team.

5. Friday October 8th at Rutgers

All conferences games in the Big East have major implications when you are fighting for one BCS bid. In college football it is all about winning the conference, especially in the Big East, where there are only eight teams.

This Friday night matchup at Rutgers is critical because UConn struggles on the road. They seem to have a harder time when they make the short trip down to New Jersey to play Rutgers.

Rutgers is a good football team. Greg Schiano doesn't get enough credit for the job he has done in Piscataway. Tom Savage is a highly talented quarterback, who looks to lead Rutgers headed into this season.

I can't even call this a trap game, because UConn knows they need to bring their A game or they will lose. This has slowly become a nice little rivalry and after last season's 80 yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left, I'm sure the Huskies will be hungry to seek revenge for that loss.

4. Thursday November 11th Pittsburgh

Last year UConn blew a 13 point fourth quarter lead at Pittsburgh against Dave Wannstedt's team. It was another classic game where UConn opened up the passing game with their ground attack.

The only problem was when Pittsburgh got the ball back in the fourth trailing by a point. They ate clock over the six minutes that were left in the game and kicked a game winning field goal that was the length of an extra point.

UConn's defense had no answer for freshman Dion Lewis, who is sure to be a big problem for the Big East this season. As a freshman he ran for almost 1800 yards.
He is the focal point of their offense and a player that UConn linebackers Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson are going to have to stop on contact.

This is a critical November game that should have serious implications on conference standings. Pittsburgh is always a tough team and is almost a shoe-in to be predicted to finish first and second on Media day.

3. Saturday November 27th Cincinnati

Butch Jones comes in to take over for Brian Kelly, who has bolted to Notre Dame.

Last season Cincinnati went undefeated and played Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

The Bearcats lost quarterback Tony Pike and Marty Gilyard, but have returning starters on both sides of the bowl.

Look for mobile quarterback Zach Collaros to become a playmaker on this team. He is the player that UConn is going to have to stop. He was the starter last year when UConn lost a shootout 47 to 45 and Collaros himself collected over 500 total yards of offense.

This game will be at home late in the season with the possibility of having Big East title implications.
Cincinnati came out of nowhere last season and was a Texas field goal miss away from playing for the National Title.

The BCS computers don't lie and there's no reason, if the chips fall the right way, that an undefeated Big East team can't play for a Championship.

That's what makes every game just as important and this could be a showdown two days after Thanksgiving.

2. Saturday September 4th at Michigan

Many people would argue this is the biggest game in the entire history of UConn's division I career.

Edsall and his team will enter the newly renovated Big House that can seat almost 110,000 screaming fans.
Michigan has been in the news a lot this offseason and what makes this matchup important is that it is against former Big East rival Rich Rodriguez.

UConn went into South Bend and effectively ended Weis job when Notre Dame lost to UConn. This game is the season-opener that both teams' fans are waiting for.
It is only a little more than a month away.

The combination of Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson could be difficult for UConn to contain. UConn's offense is going to have to continue its success on the ground in order to establish time of possession.

Michigan runs a spread offense that can score in bunches if defenses aren't ready for what they are faced with. This game is in the national spotlight at 3:30 opening weekend on ABC. A game that both teams are going to be fired up to come out and play.
This battle is sure to tell us a lot about both teams.

It's the main non-conference test for UConn, and with a win could start the season off at 5-0. Each and every game is critical but this game has been talked about significantly over the last few weeks.

1.Friday October 29th West Virginia

If UConn wants to get over the hump and become a big-time college football program that attracts national attention, it is going to have to defeat West Virginia this year.

UConn have never beaten WVU. Not once. The Mountaineers hold a perfect 6-0 record against the Huskies. Not to mention a 66-13 drubbing led by Pat White and Steve Slaton in Morgantown in 2007 that gave WVU a BCS berth.

Last season, UConn led in the fourth quarter but once again defensive letdowns led to Noel Devine's 60 yard touchdown to put West Virginia ahead for good.

Don't forget Noel Devine returns for his Senior season and his 178 yards against the Huskies defense last year were more than any other running back put up against UConn.

West Virginia lost quarterback Jarrett Brown, but Bill Stewart is going to have a team that will contend for the Big East. He always has talented players waiting for the chance to get on the field.

UConn will have to combat them with strength up-front and more importantly experience. This is a primetime game on Espn2 on a Friday night. It will be the Huskies third conference game of the season and comes during UConn's toughest stretch of the season.

To be the best you have to beat the best. That's exactly what this game sums up to be. Randy Edsall knows it. UConn would love to deliver a loss to West Virginia for the first time in front of the home crowd.
There's not a better opportunity than this season for them to do exactly that.