2010 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Preview: Connecticut

As the college football season passes the halfway point, West Virginia will travel to Connecticut in the Mountaineers’ third Big East conference game of 2010.

The Huskies will have its most experienced team since their debut into Division I football in the 2002 season. The return of 16 starters this year will attempt to earn the school its first outright Big East Title since netting a share of the championship in 2007.

The UConn offense as a whole produced very well in 2009 as they finished third in Total Offense and Scoring within the Big East Conference. On the national scene, the offense finished at 57th in the nation with 387 yards in Total Offense while finishing at a much better 27th in points per game with 31.

The Huskies rushing attack fell in the middle pack of the Big East as they finished fourth while coming up 39th in the nation with 170 yards a game. The passing game that produced 217 yards a game finished 61st in the national statistics while being second in the Big East conference.

As eight starters come back on offense, quarterback Zach Frazer will be the leader as he returns for his senior season in Storrs. Frazer played sufficiently in 2009 as he threw ten touchdowns for more than 1400 yards in addition to throwing nine interceptions in his junior season.

The ground game was led by sophomore Jordan Todman in 2009 as he completed the year with nearly 1200 yards while scoring 14 touchdowns. The offensive line will return four of five in 2010 for Todman to run behind including senior guards Zach Hurd and Mathieu Oliver.

The receiving corps will lack any starters returning while Junior Isaiah Moore will be the most consistent for 2010. Sophomore Ryan Griffin will be an added target for Zach Frazer this year as he will most likely get a nod as an All-Big East selection.

The Huskies defense didn’t perform as well finishing 62nd in the nation with 369 Yards and 24 points per game as a unit in 2009. In the Big East, Connecticut was pushed around as they were ranked sixth respectively in both categories.

The defensive line and linebackers controlling an opponent’s running games were bended as they allowed 132 yards per game for fifth in the conference and 45th nationally.

The secondary were thrown over all season as they were scorched for nearly 240 yards a game as the unit ranked last in the Big East and 88 nationally.

The Huskies Defense will also return eight starters this season which will likely be led by two senior linebackers to regulate the opponent’s game plans.

Lawrence Wilson, one of the aforementioned linebackers, led the Huskies in tackles with 140 including 80 solo along with leading the team in sacks with five. The defensive line will too have a returning duo as juniors Kendall Reyes and

Twyon Martin this season after a successful 2009 campaign.

Connecticut will be the biggest challenge for WVU in the Big East so far this 2010 season. The return of talent that UConn possesses will not be enough to upend the Mountaineers as the Huskies will fall 27-20 to move WVU to 3-0 in Big East play.

NEXT GAME: Cincinnati at West Virginia, November 13th , 2010