| | In a non-conference showdown from East Hartford, the Connecticut
Huskies will host the Army Black Knights this Saturday at Rentschler Field.
Since opening the season with victories in two of their first three contests,
the Huskies have dropped two consecutive matchups, including a tough 38-16
loss to USF last week in their Big East opener. Since 2002, the Huskies are
an impressive 11-5 in games coming after a setback. As for the Black Knights,
they have alternated victories and losses, splitting their first six contests.
Last week, the Black Knights were relentless against VMI and cruised to a 62-7
victory. A win today would push Army's ledger over .500 for the first time
since the 1996 season and would also snapped a seven-game losing skid against
Big East opponents. This will be the fourth consecutive meeting between Army
and Connecticut and just the fifth overall. Army took the first contest back in
1979, but since then the Huskies have won three straight matchups, including an
easy 47-13 win last year at West Point.
For the most part this season the Black Knights have been mediocre at best
offensively. However, that was not the case this past week against VMI, as Army
exploded offensively, scoring 62 points. Army, which is averaging 164 ypg on
the ground, abused VMI's front line throughout the contest and finished with
an eye-popping 278 yards on 52 carries. The Black Knights scored six rushing
touchdowns in the win and now have scored 13 of their 16 offensive touchdowns
on the ground. Five different players scored rushing touchdowns in the
victory. Wesley McMahand led the team with 80 rushing yards and two scores,
while Tony Moore added 63 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. On the season,
McMahand is leading the Black Knights with 456 rushing yards and four
touchdowns. While the ground game had most of the success in the win, the
passing attack did just enough to keep the defense honest. David Pevoto
completed 9-of-13 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown. Although Army is a
run-first team, Pevoto still has 727 yards on the season, but unfortunately
the signal-caller has made too many mistakes, throwing eight interceptions,
while completing just three touchdown passes.
Army's defensive unit has also been solid this season, as the Black Knights are
holding opponents to just 21.8 ppg on only 320.7 ypg. The weakest link for Army
this season has come against the run, as opponents are churning out 173.7 ypg
on the ground. The team has done much better against the pass, allowing only
147 ypg through the air. In the victory over VMI, the Black Knights put
together their best defensive showing up to this point, holding VMI to just
191 total yards. The front line was once again abused by the ground attack,
surrendering 170 yards on just 37 carries, but fortunately the team buckled
down against the pass, allowing just 21 yards through the air. The Black
Knights forced four turnovers in the contest and held VMI to just eight first
downs. On the season, Army is allowing opponents to convert on third down just
34 percent of the time and the Black Knights' success on third down continued
last week, holding VMI to just 1-of-11. Brian Chmura led the team with five
tackles in the win. Cameron Craig is currently second on the team with 40
tackles, but has a team-high 14 TFLs and 3.5 sacks.
Since scoring 52 points in the season-opener, the Huskies have had a tough
time offensively. Connecticut is currently averaging just 22.4 ppg this season
and only 355.8 ypg. The only real threat the Huskies is in the backfield. UConn
is producing a whopping 205.8 ypg on the ground, and just 150 ypg through the
air. In the recent setback to USF, the ground game was stymied by the Bulls, as
the team finished with just 60 yards on 26 carries (2.3 ypc). Terry Caulley,
who is leading the team with 453 rushing yards, was held to only 38 yards on 14
attempts. Ironically, while the Huskies struggled to run the ball, the passing
attack actually had some success, as quarterback Matt Bonislawski completed 20-
of-40 passes for 201 yards and one touchdown. It was easily the best
performance for Bonislawski on the season. Coming into this matchup, the
signal-caller has just 377 passing yards and has completed just 45.5 percent of
his passes.
As for the Huskies' defensive unit, the team is allowing just 23.4 ppg and
331.4 total ypg. The biggest weakness for the Huskies has been against the run,
as the team is allowing the opposition to collect a whopping 193.2 ypg on the
ground. In the setback to USF, the Huskies were once again abused by an
opponent's ground attack, this time it was the Bulls and they posted 205 yards
on 41 carries. Overall, the defense surrendered 358 yards and allowed USF to
collect 18 first downs. The defense also went without creating a turnover in
the contest, which should not be surprising, considering the Huskies have
forced just seven turnovers all season. Connecticut held USF to just 3-of-9 on
third downs, but struggled inside its own territory, as the Bulls converted on
all six red zone chances. Ryan Henegan led the defense with 10 tackles, while
Darius Butler added seven stops. Danny Lansanah collected five tackles in the
loss and now has a team-best 35 stops on the season.
Both Connecticut and Army have had success running the ball this season and at
the same time the two teams have struggled to stop it. Expect to see both
teams put their ground games on display, in an entertaining game from start to
finish.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Connecticut 31, Army 24
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