UConn Next for Notre Dame: Huskies Try to Deal Irish Fifth Loss

The University of Connecticut's football team brings their 4-5 record  west to take on Notre Dame (6-4) on Saturday.  The Irish opened as a six-point favorite but the Huskies are confident and capable of dealing the Irish their fifth defeat of the season.

No team has had to deal with more adversity this year, on and off the field, than UConn.  When defensive back Jasper Howard was murdered on Oct. 18, the Huskies could have fallen apart.  With the leadership of coach Randy Edsall, the team stuck together and dedicated the rest of the season to their fallen star.

Nothing can compare with the loss of Howard, but this year's Huskies have had more of their share of heartbreaks on the field.  The five UConn loses, all to to teams either ranked when they played or currently ranked, came by a total of 16 points.

This is not your average five-loss team!  The Huskies are capable of staying on the field with the best teams in college football, and they've shown it this year.

UConn dominated North Carolina for three quarters but a freakish holding penalty in the end zone casued a saftey to be called on UConn.   North Carolina won 12-10.

Pittsburgh came back in the fourth quarter to win 24-21.  West Virginia needed Noel Devine to tip-toe down the side line, with two minutes left in the game, to beat them 28-24.

Rutgers threw an 80 yard pass with 33 seconds on the clock, after UConn took the lead, and won 28-24.  Two weeks ago, after trailing Cincinnati by more than two touchdowns, UConn fought back to lose by two points, 47-45.

Besides dedicating the season to Howard, there are other reasons why the Huskies want to leave South Bend with a win:

If UConn wants to go to a bowl game, they need to win two of their last three games to become bowl eligible.  In order to better their hopes, they'll need to win all three games and finish 7-5.

Zach Frazer, a Notre Dame transfer, quarterbacks UConn.  Frazer will want to play well against his old team.

UConn and Notre Dame have a proposal to play 6-10 games in the coming seasons.  Notre Dame wants the Huskies to play their "home" games at neutral sites in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

The Connecticut legislature isn't happy about playing these games out of state.  A win on Saturday would help UConn encourage the Irish to play the games at UConn's home field.

The Huskies will bring a balanced offense with them on Saturday.  Jordan Todman (826 yds) and Andre Dixon (730 yds) are two punishing runners who've done a good job replacing Donald Brown, now with the Indianapolis Colts.  They run behind a huge offensive line that has no trouble pushing other teams around.

Frazer, who replaced the injured Cody Endres at quarterback, needs to pick up his accuracy but if he gets the ball to  Marcus Easley, UConn's leading receiver, defenses have problems.  Easley broke one for 88 yards earlier this year.

UConn's defense is solid.  Cincinnati was the only team to score more than 28 points against them.  Lindsey Witten, one of the country's sack leaders, will be trying to get to Clausen but the UConn pass defense has given up too many passing yards.

Pittsburgh's Bill Stull passed for 268 yards against the Huskies.  Louisville's Adam Froman (295), Rutger's Tom Savage (236), and Cincinatti's Zach Collaros  passed for 480 yards.  Expect Clausen to have a huge day, what else is new!

EXTRA POINTS

Six points is too many to give away.  I expect UConn to cover the spread.

UConn has shown, throughout the season, they don't quit.  They come off a bye week and have had time to prepare for Clausen.

All the rumors swirling around Notre Dame about Weis' job can be a huge distraction.

PREDICTION:  UConn 31  Notre Dame 26