UConn Football

I am not a UConn fan. I was raised in Connecticut, but I was never swept up in rooting for the local team. Now I attend Georgetown University, and all ties to UConn are officially severed.

With that said, the teams have a spot in my sports fan heart (except for the men’s basketball team—I hate Jim Calhoun). Nobody can deny that Geno Auriemma is the one of the best basketball coaches in college history.

But the college once known as a basketball powerhouse has a new team to respect.

With an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl, the UConn football team has done something that has never happened in the university’s history. Yes, that sentence, or variations of it, has been said thousands of times in the past week.

So has this one, even if it hasn’t been put so bluntly: The Huskies, unfortunately, have no chance against Oklahoma. If they win, it will be an upset of the century.

It seems pointless to break the game down, but that is what I plan on doing.

But first, a little history lesson, just to demonstrate the absolute unprecedented nature of what has happened for UConn football.

It was only in 2000 that the program entered the highest division in college football. Only a few years later, the football program was invited to a BCS conference, another unprecedented accomplishment.

During this entire process, the team was led by Randy Edsall, a coach who is respected for building a defense built on the fundamentals—good coverage, good tackling but nothing special—and an offense centered on a power running game.

Since 2004, just two years after becoming a full member of the Big East Conference, the Huskies have won three bowl games, beating Toledo (2004 Motor City Bowl), Buffalo (2008 International Bowl) and South Carolina (2009 Papajohns.com Bowl). They lost to Wake Forest in the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Some notable players that have been produced from the fledgling UConn football factory are Giants tackle William Beatty, Raiders safety Tyvon Branch, Colts running back Donald Brown and the infamous quarterback Dan “Run Out the Back of the End Zone” Orlovsky.

Now, they are about to walk onto the biggest stage in the history of the program.

But it’s like learning to ride a bike. Just when you take off the training wheels and make it to the big time, you realize that you are heading straight for a brick wall. The Oklahoma Sooners are just too much of a challenge for the UConn Huskies.

Anyone watching the Huskies this season knows that they are a running team. They need to be able to start with a good lead and control the game from there. Against the only high-powered offense that they faced this season, Michigan, they were destroyed. The Huskies only managed 10 points against a Michigan defense that gave up over 60 against Illinois.

Really, they are a one-dimensional team. If people are trusting Zach Frazer to take control of the offense and give at least a reason for the Sooners not to put eight in the box, they should be institutionalized. This is a guy who missed 10 of his last 12 passes in the all-important game against South Florida.

What is worse is that Edsall seems to call one play each time. Rarely do you see Jordan Todman go anywhere outside of the tackles. Todman, who is following in Donald Brown’s footsteps to the NFL (he should just hope that a shotgun-passing team doesn’t draft him and completely misuse his workhorse back potential), generally is sent up the middle or off the left or right guard.

Any other running play—a stretch handoff, a toss, a sweep, really anything besides a run up the middle—is not called with enough regularity for the defense to need to respect it.

Regardless, expect Todman to get a lot of carries in the Fiesta Bowl, even if the running game doesn’t work. He got 33 in his last game, even though he averaged only 2.8 yards per carry.

The biggest weakness of the Huskies is their pass defense. Obviously, this is something that the Sooners can and will exploit, with 4,000-yard passer Landry Jones and Biletnikoff Award finalist Ryan Broyles. Coming from a historically offensive conference, the Big 12 champs are not surprisingly able to put up points easily.

Broyles has had an incredible season and has set many records. However, the most telling statistic (from soonersports.com) is that Broyles has at least eight catches in each of his team’s games this year. The offense runs through him, like UConn's runs through Todman. However, Broyles will be much harder to stop, especially with the Sooners’ vast array of weapons, including DeMarco Murray. It isn’t hard for me to see some record numbers set by the Sooner offense.

UConn has generally been coached by Edsall into a solid, consistent defense. However, this year’s team hasn't been. They have missed tackles, blown coverages and been taken for a few Nantucket Sleigh Rides.

It is especially too easy for teams to air it out against the Huskies, with the most glaring example of this being the way that Rutgers was able to seize control of a game late by scoring two quick bombs to near wide-open receivers or how South Florida was able to pick apart the soft zone of UConn’s defense to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. Broyles and Jones should be able to hook up for some easy scores.

One bright spot for UConn is defensive tackle Kendall Reyes, who has been a force in the middle and will, hopefully for UConn, be able to plug up the middle of that line and potentially create some disturbances for Landry Jones in the pocket.

There is no denying that UConn football has taken a big step by winning its conference and going to a BCS bowl game, both firsts for the program. However, as stated above, it might be a little soon for the team at this point.

The Huskies won’t be able to stop Oklahoma, and it is doubtful that they will be able to match them score for score. They may be able to pull a win out of this game with some Boise State-like trick plays, but that’s a huge stretch.

Though people may bring up Bob Stoops’ trouble with handling big-time games (he’s lost his last five BCS games), the talent gap between the two teams is just too much for him to screw up. Oklahoma is going to win this by a big margin. UConn will have to get back up on the bike next year.

For most people in Connecticut, after Christmas, attention in sports turns to Kemba Walker and Maya Moore, Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma.

Everyone enjoys the December bowl that the University of Connecticut normally gets and then returns to the world of basketball.

Now, however, basketball will be taking a back seat as UConn's football team will be playing the biggest football game in Huskies history.

Connecticut will be playing in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day against No. 7 Oklahoma.

UConn earned their BCS bid by winning the Big East Conference in a three-way tiebreaker over No. 22 West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

What makes the Huskies' first BCS bid extra special is that it comes in UConn's seventh year in the Big East Conference and 10 years after the program's jump to the FBS (then Div. I-A) from FCS (then Div. I-AA).

"We've had national championships, Final Fours…this one because of the journey of this program from I-AA to I-A to the Big East to Rentschler, this one has a special place in UConn history," said Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway. "This is a magnificent day for our university."

While people in Connecticut and throughout UConn Country will be celebrating their historic achievement, the rest of the country is in an uproar. As is always the case after every season, something happens that makes people slam the BCS format.

This year, UConn's entry is that issue.

BCS No. 9 Michigan State, No. 10 Boise State and No. 11 LSU were left out of this year's party and people, while those mainly arguing for Michigan State and LSU are furious.

All eight of the top BCS teams: Auburn (National Championship), Oregon (National Championship), TCU (Rose), Stanford (Orange), Wisconsin (Rose), Ohio State (Sugar), Oklahoma (Fiesta) and Arkansas (Sugar) will all be playing in a BCS bowl.

ACC champion No. 13 Virginia Tech (Orange) and unranked Connecticut (Fiesta) round out the field.

Connecticut is the first unranked team to play in a BCS game.

However, at 8-4, they are not the first four-loss team—Florida State has done so twice, as has Virginia Tech.

While people argue as they do every single day about the BCS, Connecticut coach Randy Edsall will not be so quick to say UConn is undeserving.

"We played by the rules," Edsall said. "We won the Big East. So we get the BCS. That's what the rules are. Nobody is going to take anything away from us."

Connecticut had a rough start to the year. Injuries to the likes of Jordan Todman (the nation's second leading rusher), Zach Hurd, Scott Lutrus and other key players affected the Huskies, who were playing with a young, inexperienced team.

Probably the biggest problem was at quarterback when Cody Endres, who was very productive last season, was suspended from the team for violating team rules. Zach Frazer had to fill in at the start before Endres' return.

Endres did not last long before he was dismissed from the team permanently.

Frazer returned and got injured. Freshman Michael Box had to step in and received a concussion early on against Louisville.

Once Frazer returned again, the Huskies did not lose and have won five straight games.

The goal now for the Huskies: Take the next few weeks to prepare for the best team they have ever played.

People are quick to write off the "undeserving" Huskies, who are 17-point underdogs; that is not a good idea.

First, there is need to give credit where credit is due: The Oklahoma Sooners are a fantastic football team. They are No. 7 in the BCS and are 4-1 against the Top 25. They won the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday over Nebraska.

However, Oklahoma has not been completely dominant. The Sooners wins include non-conference wins over Utah State, Cincinnati and Air Force. These wins, which should have been blowouts, were won by a touchdown or less.

Two weeks ago, the Huskies beat Cincinnati 38-17. Oklahoma barely sneaked past the Bearcats 31-29.

They definitely do not make it pretty sometimes.

Oklahoma is not all that far our in the clear against Connecticut—UConn has a very dominant defense. The secondary and linebackers have been eating quarterbacks alive. The Huskies are tied for fifth in the country with 19 interceptions on the season. They are tied for second in the country with four interception returns for touchdowns.

Oklahoma has 17 picks and one touchdown, but Zach Frazer has thrown only seven picks all season to Landry Jones' 11.

These are two completely different offenses: Oklahoma is all about the pass, while Connecticut dominates on the ground. The Sooners allow close to 150 yards a game. This is Jordan Todman's average. The Huskies junior, who was snubbed as a potential finalist for the Doak Walker Award, runs for about 150 a game.

Do not be surprised if he breaks out for 222 against anybody, even Oklahoma. His season high is 222 in a win over Pittsburgh.

It is very hard to say that UConn will get blown out. Obviously, Oklahoma will be the favorite, but Connecticut can play with anybody; the Huskies' strength on defense and special teams as well as the run gives them a chance against anybody.

Oklahoma will be playing with a black cloud over its heads. The Sooners have lost five straight BCS games, including three championship games and two Fiesta Bowls. West Virginia and Boise State, two relatively unknowns at the time, were able to stop the Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl.

Connecticut cannot be considered a no-contest for the Sooners.

If the defense, led by several experienced, talented players step up, Landry Jones will have some trouble. On offense, if UConn can make gaps for Jordan Todman to run wild and if Zach Frazer can run play-action with success, UConn will definitely have a shot at winning the game.

It may not be the most entertaining game of the BCS bowls this year, but Connecticut has a lot to play for and a lot to prove.

They are not going to go in considering themselves underdogs and will provide a very difficult challenge for regular power Oklahoma.

In the first five games of the building rivalry between South Florida and Connecticut, the home team won each game.

In his career, Dave Teggart never had made a 50-yard field goal.

Since making the jump to FBS (then Division 1-A) nine seasons ago and joining the Big East Conference seven seasons ago, UConn had not won a BCS berth.

History was made Saturday night.

At Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the Huskies defeated the Bulls 19-16 on a 52-yard field goal by Dave Teggart with 17 seconds left.

The win means that UConn won the Big East Conference with a record of 5-2 in conference play and 8-4 overall. They hold tiebreakers over West Virginia and Pittsburgh (both 5-2 in conference).

As Big East champions, the Huskies will play in a BCS bowl for the first time ever. The most likely destination is the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day, with Big 12 champions Oklahoma being the likely opponent.

South Florida came out swinging. The Bulls, led by freshman walk-on Bobby Eveld, pushed the ball down the field. The Huskies stood strong and allowed only a field goal from Maikon Bonani. Teggart matched him with a 40-yarder.

The critical play came in the final moments of the first half.

With about a minute-and-a-half left, UConn quarterback Zach Frazer was picked off by Jon Lejiste to give the Bulls prime field position at the end of the half.

The very next play, Eveld threw it right into the hands of Huskies linebacker Lawrence Wilson, who took it 55 yards to the house. The Huskies headed into halftime with a 10-3 lead.

UConn bent but never broke in the second half. Both Teggart and Bonani converted field goals to make the game 13-6 Huskies heading into the final 15 minutes.

Teggart converted again at the start of the fourth. The 50-yard rocket became Teggart's career long.

USF pulled back to tie the game late in the fourth. Eveld hit star receiver Dontavia Bogan for a 28-yard touchdown pass halfway through the quarter. With about one minute left, Bonani hit a 22-yard chip shot to tie the game up at 16.

The Huskies still had one minute and two timeouts to get down the field and make history.

The Bulls defense held strong, but once again Teggart came through in the clutch, breaking his career high set earlier in the quarter with a 52-yard game winner with 17 seconds left.

Offensive lineman and senior captain Zach Hurd took matters into his own hands for the traditional water cooler bath as he poured the entire cooler over Randy Edsall to begin the celebration. The Huskies ran to a corner of the field where a large crowd from Connecticut who made the trip down were waiting to celebrate history.

The Huskies had a hard time getting anything going on offense all game. Jordan Todman was held to a modest 93 yards and Frazer managed 112.

The important thing is that the Huskies got the critical yards to put themselves in position to score.

Teggart has hit several clutch field goals in his career. He hit a game-winner as time expired in last year's 29-27 win over USF and also hit a chip shot against West Virginia in October to start UConn's current five-game win streak.

"You dream about those situations all the time as a kicker," Teggart said. "We kickers don't get on the field that much, so you want to make the most of your opportunities when you're out there and that's what I tried to do."

Randy Edsall has been UConn's coach since current South Florida coach Skip Holtz left to be closer to family in 1999. He finished what Holtz started by bringing the Huskies into the FBS. He could not be happier.

"To be heading to a BCS game and to win the Big East championship within seven years of being in this league and really, the short time we've been a Division I-A program, says a lot about the character, the resolve, the work ethic of all these people that are in the program now but even the guys that came before and all the former players from when this program started, so I couldn't be happier for everybody and the people in the state."

Connecticut will learn its fate on Sunday night, when the bowl matchups are announced. It is most likely that a date with Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl is the future for the Huskies. In that case, they will play in Glendale, Arizona on New Year's Day. The other possibility is the Discover Orange Bowl in Miami on January 3rd. The Orange Bowl, however, does not seem likely to pass up on Pac-10 at-large Stanford, despite Stanford's bad reputation for poor traveling by fans. Whoever they pick will take on ACC champion Virginia Tech.

The automatic BCS berths went to Oregon (Pac-10), Auburn (SEC), Oklahoma (Big 12), Virginia Tech (ACC), Connecticut (Big East) and we have to wait for the final BCS standings released tonight to learn whether Wisconsin, Ohio State or Michigan State will be representing the Big Ten. Wisconsin is the most likely.

Future Big East team TCU is the only announced at-large. The Horned Frogs, 12-0 (8-0 Mountain West) will play in the Rose Bowl.

For years now, it seems as though the argument against the BCS has been the snubbing of the little guy. You know, the TCUs, Boise States and Utahs of the FBS division. These programs seem to win every single game on their schedule and in convincing fashion, but rarely get picked to play with the big boys.

The BCS was founded in 1998 in attempts to end the debate of who the true national champion should be year-to-year. The idea was to prevent co-champion debates like in 1997 when Michigan finished #1 in the AP poll, yet Nebraska was #1 in the coaches poll.

However, since its inception, the BCS has provided more cause for debate than clarity.

Take the 2004-2005 season, for instance. Auburn ran the gauntlet that is the SEC and came out undefeated, only to play the bridesmaid to undefeated Oklahoma and USC. What about the 2003-2004 season that saw LSU win the national title game, only to see USC finish ahead in the polls?

How about a one-loss Kansas team finding themselves on the outside looking in of a national championship game that saw two-loss LSU get the nod. (I will note that LSU played Oklahoma, who beat KU, but the argument is the same.)

But, national championship games aside, it wasn't until 2005 that a "mid-major" program finally got a shot, as Utah would play—and demolish—a non-deserving AQ team in Pitt.

And therein lies my problem with the BCS. Only this year instead of Pitt, it's UConn.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the Huskies on a personal level. I like coach Randy Edsall, and it's nice to a see a team who made the jump to FBS football only ten years ago, have some large-scale success.

However, it would be better if it wasn't the result of a technicality, as UConn finished 8-4 and unranked in the top 25.

The idea of AQ conferences are ridiculous.

I understand the idea behind it. AQ conferences assure teams in the premier conferences that they will play in big bowl games. But, if these teams are so great, why does there need to be a process in place?

Does anyone honestly think that UConn, or any team from the Big East, is really deserving of a BCS game and all that it entails?

Since the BCS began its system of bowl determination, there have been six teams with three losses that won a spot at the big kids table. Only one team had gone to a BCS bowl with four losses: the 2005-2006 Florida State Seminoles.

To further the point, each one of those three-loss teams, and FSU, gained entry via the "Conference Champion" clause. What's more, each one of those teams was never ranked higher than 10th, and that was a Kansas State team who beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game, only to see OU play for the national title.

Talk about your muddied waters. Do teams outside of the top 10 really have any business playing in games that were meant for the "best of the best," as they [the BCS powers that be] say?

In a word: No.

Boise State will likely remain the same in the upcoming BCS rankings, but aren't they more deserving than unranked UConn? How about the Nevada squad that upset Boise? What about 10-2 Utah? 10-3 Hawaii? All schools that are ranked in the top 25, but will likely play in the Dyson Vacuum Cleaner's Bowl or the Your Ad Here Bowl.

And that's just the "small" schools.

Never mind Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma State or Michigan State—who will likely be the Big Ten snub with Ohio State and Wisconsin claiming two BCS bids.

No, ladies and gents, you will see UConn—whose marquee win was against an average West Virginia team—play in January.

In an age where there are no winners and losers, only first place and second, isn't time that something as trivial as a bowl bid should be earned? After all, it's not like there aren't 35 to choose from.

I think Michigan State and friends would support that cause.

But since we are only allowed to play the cards we are dealt, we must wait until 2014 for a new deal, no FDR pun intended.

Let's hope for a playoff, or at the very least a pay-off, at the next go-round.

When I was a little kid, back in the 1990s, I would regularly travel to Storrs. It is only a short driving distance from my house and worth every trip to support Connecticut basketball and football.

I still remember going to football games behind Gampel Pavilion at Memorial Stadium. Back then, it would be a modest affair with maybe three or four thousand fans maximum, sitting anywhere they pleased like at a high school game.

Back in the days of the FCS football program, coached when I watched by Skip Holtz and then Randy Edsall, the idea of UConn playing for a spot in a BCS game 10 or 12 years down the road was unthinkable.

Eight years after UConn moved up to the FBS and six years after joining the Big East, that is exactly what is at stake.

The Huskies will be on display at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night when they take on their conference rivals, the South Florida Bulls. A Husky win gives them the Big East Conference crown and a spot in a BCS game, with the Discover Orange Bowl the most likely destination.

The Huskies and Bulls have increasingly heated their rivalry of late; each of the last three games has been decided by a touchdown or less.

History is not on the Huskies' side. Since South Florida joined the Big East in 2005, the home team has won every game in this rivalry.

Last year, the Huskies held on for a two-point win on a snow-covered field in East Hartford.

It will be a difficult task, as the Huskies take on former UConn head coach Skip Holtz, who left in 1998 when his mother got cancer. He moved to South Carolina to be close to his family and joined the staff of his father, former Connecticut assistant coach and college football legend Lou Holtz. He is in his first year at South Florida.

It is senior night for the Bulls and while Holtz says that he will always be a Connecticut fan, his team is only thinking about winning for its seniors.

"I'm excited about the growth that program has made, and to see where it has come is rewarding," he said. "But, still, I want this one for this team, for these seniors."

The Bulls are not thinking about playing spoiler, even though a win over South Florida sends the Huskies to a BCS game as champion of the Big East Conference.

"If they come in here and beat us, they go to the BCS, and of course we'll try not to allow that," Bulls wide receiver Dontavia Bogan said. "But this would mean a lot for the seniors, because we've put in a lot of hard work."

On the visitor side, UConn has been being messed with for a couple weeks now by critics. Professional analysts and several fans on websites such as bleacherreport.com have been saying the Huskies do not deserve a spot in the BCS.

Randy Edsall would disagree with you, but the Husky coach, who has been with the team since it was an FCS school transitioning to FBS in 1999, will not worry about a bowl game, BCS or not, until the end of the game Saturday.

“I can’t control what people think or what people say,” Edsall said. “The whole thing is…let’s just take care of our business and do what we can do and worry about what we control...

“This game is no different than the last four we played. We have been playing one-game seasons the last five games. This game is no different than the other games we approached. If we win, you move on, if we don’t win, you don’t get as big a prize.

“I told them what the truth was, we deal in truth serum, we don’t deal in fantasy. We have won and we have stayed in the hunt. If we win, we win a championship. With that championship is the reward of a BCS game.”

That is all you will hear of the BCS, three forbidden letters by Edsall this week, from the coach until Saturday at around midnight.

This group of players, led by fifth-year senior quarterback Zach Frazer, a transfer from Notre Dame a couple years ago, have been in must-wins several times in the last two seasons.

Last year, after a huge morale-boosting victory over Louisville, tragedy struck the Storrs campus when star cornerback Jasper Howard was murdered outside the Student Union. I was not yet a UConn student, but the emotions traveled throughout the state, as all of UConn Country mourned this loss that affected us all.

I did text a friend at Storrs the morning of the tragedy to ask the state of the university in the aftermath.

I got a simple, resonating answer:

"You can be in East Campus and hear a pin drop at Hilltop," my friend said.

That is a long distance for those unfamiliar with UConn.

The games that followed were full of grief and anguish, as the Huskies looked to be letting their season uncontrollably slip away.

But then, something happened—a sudden change that made 2009 the greatest in UConn history.

Many believe a certain No. 6 had taken the strings and not a moment too soon.

The moment is the second half of the Cincinnati game.

After two straight heartbreaking losses, the 4-4 Huskies went to play the No. 5 Bearcats in Cincy. They trailed 30-10 at halftime.

The second half was something else entirely.

The Huskies won the second half 35-17 and only a failed two-point conversion by the Huskies gave Cincinnati a 47-45 victory by a thread.

That would be the last Husky loss of the season.

They went on to, in succession, beat Notre Dame in South Bend (to date the Huskies' proudest victory) in double overtime, Syracuse, South Florida and then South Carolina in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.

Then there is this year: On top of injuries to key players such as Jordan Todman, Scott Lutrus and Zach Hurd amongst others near the start of the season, the Huskies had to deal with suspensions, primarily the suspension and eventual reinstatement, then expulsion of quarterback Cody Endres.

Endres, who seemed to be the No. 1 heading into this season after splitting snaps with Frazer last year, was expelled from UConn for drug violations. This season, he threw for 471 yards and five touchdowns in two-and-a-half games. His loss was a difficult one for the Huskies.

Zach Frazer was forced to become the sole quarterback and leader on the offensive side of the ball. While having team captain Zach Hurd on the line and star running back Jordan Todman in the backfield, Frazer was under a lot of pressure, even from the Huskies student section, where when times looked down, the chants of "Cody Endres!" (even after his expulsion) and "Michael Box!" (freshman) have been heard repeatedly.

Frazer has become much more effective of late, leading the Huskies in their victories in the last four games, especially over Pittsburgh.

For Frazer, Saturday is the biggest game of his, and all his teammates' careers in his eyes.

“It puts something else on the table,” Frazer said. “It’s not just let’s go win this game. It’s you have to win this game to get what you want. We are going into that with more excitement because we know what we can get out of it.”

Like a pack of wild dogs, all the Huskies will be hungry; just ask defensive lineman Kendall Reyes, whose contributions on the defensive side of the ball have been superb and clutch for UConn.

“I am more motivated for this game because this is the last game,” Reyes said. “There is a lot on the line and all our guys know that. All we think about is USF. We want to go out and get this win.”

Though they do not want to think about it too much, one has to think that the criticism of them and the BCS will be in the back of UConn's mind. Do they deserve to be there?

“We have a right to be there,” Frazer said. “If we beat South Florida, we can go there.”

This game is surely a game to watch. Pretty much everyone in Connecticut will have their televisions turned to ESPN at 8pm Saturday night for this incredibly important game.

This is about more than one win and one trophy; this game is about two decades of hard work to bring a middle-of-the-road FCS program to the threshold of the most important series of games in the FBS.

That is a short time frame realistically.

No football players to ever wear the Husky blue and white have played in a more important game.

At last, the talk can end and the football can do the talking. It's rivalry time! History could be upon us! All we can do is watch it unfold.

Last season, UConn quarterback Zach Frazer had his big chance to win at Notre Dame—the team that couldn’t guarantee him a starting spot before he transferred to Connecticut.

This season, he has a chance to show Notre Dame what they missed, as a win at South Florida will propel the Huskies to something Notre Dame has become unaccustomed to lately: a BCS bowl game.

After defeating West Virginia a few weeks ago, UConn owns the tie breaker with the Mountaineers and will win the Big East if they can knock off B.J. Daniels and the South Florida Bulls.

Winning the Big East will land the Huskies in a big time BCS bowl, likely the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona or the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Either one would be a huge step up from what would happen if they lost this game, considering a 7-5 Notre Dame can occupy the bowl spot of the second place team in the Big East.

Just as well, a Pitt victory along with a West Virginia victory could push UConn way down if they lose this game.

Junior running back Jordan Todman is among the best in the country and the top runner on the East Coast: His 5.5 yards per carry is second among all running backs with at least 250 carries.

For Todman, a win at South Florida would give him big time exposure in a big time bowl for the NFL scouts to take an extra look at him next season.

Frazer has been inconsistent at times and his stats are mediocre, but he and Todman have led the Huskies to four straight wins after getting shut out against Louisville. Frazer, who was benched at one time this season, has a chance to show his coach and his team the senior leadership he provided last season in the Huskies’ huge overtime win at Notre Dame.

Despite the fact that UConn needs this win to clinch a BCS bowl, South Florida has opened up as a favorite to win the game.

USF comes in with the same record as UConn, but two of their last three wins have come in overtime after escaping with a one point win against Rutgers. They were also out-gained against Western Kentucky and stopped Miami on four straight plays from their own one yard line to close out the first half last week.

A late Jake Harris interception, while the Hurricanes were in field goal range, took the game to overtime where the Bulls prevailed.

On paper, this is a game that looks to go either way, but the sense of urgency and leadership lies with Connecticut.

Winters in New England are long and cold, but a party in Arizona or Miami will be the perfect way for the UConn faithful to kick off 2011. Additionally, the payout for a BCS bowl game, although it's split up more than many realize, is greater than a non-BCS bowl game.

UConn coach Randy Edsall has coached his team through 12 years of Division 1-AA, Division 1 independents and now the Big East. This is his big chance for a decade of commitment and hard work to pay off.

With Notre Dame likely heading to the Champs Sports bowl on December 28th, Zach Frazer will surely take some secret comfort in the team that let him go, now watching him on television in a BCS bowl, in the warm weather from cold Indiana, after his Huskies win this game.

All the time here at UConn, I hear students and fans speculating that the Huskies have a good shot of going to the Fiesta Bowl.

If we win out (against Cincinnati and South Florida) and Pitt loses to West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on Friday, we would be through to the BCS.

Were this to happen, we would likely face the Big 12 champion, which, barring an unlikely scenario, would either be Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or Nebraska.

For a program that started the season 3-4 and seemed pretty much done, that is very impressive. Or is it?

At 8-4, would we really deserve a BCS bid? Yes, we would have won the Big East and there really wouldn’t be anyone (except maybe West Virginia) who would be more deserving, but in all likelihood, we would be unranked.

Yes, it would be an impressive end to the season, but would it really be a big step for this program?

Chances are we would get clobbered by the Big 12 team, leaving us 8-5, which is the same record as last season. It’s only because the rest of the Big East is horrendous that we would have gotten nearly as far as we did.

Quite frankly, we would be the worst team ever to make a BCS game—yes, worse than the Pittsburgh team in the 2005 game (after the 2004 season). Coincidentally (or not), both teams are from the Big East.

As a Husky fan, I certainly hope we can make it to the Fiesta Bowl, but we (or whoever wins the conference) would not be nearly as deserving of it as any of the one-loss teams in the Big Ten, at least one of which will not go through.

UConn (or whoever wins) will be unranked—yes, unranked—and they’re more deserving of the BCS than a Top 10 team.

Looking at the rankings, the at-large BCS teams will likely be TCU, Boise State, LSU and someone from the Big Ten. At least one Top 10 team will be left out—and an unranked team from Big East will go to the Fiesta Bowl.

I don’t think that seems fair. Then again, I don’t think the BCS as a whole is fair.

I’m glad they changed the name from I-A to FBS. Because quite frankly, this is a load of...FBS.

Connecticut got its first win on the road this season while becoming bowl-eligible with a 23-6 domination of Syracuse.

The Huskies (6-4, 3-2) had struggled on the road thus far this season, losing at Michigan, Temple, Rutgers, and Louisville. The Huskies were 4-18 on the road since joining the Big East going into the game at the Carrier Dome.

Jordan Todman once again proved why he should have been a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award. The star running back ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Quarterback Zach Frazer felt more comfortable than ever this year in the win. The senior was 13 of 21 for 98 yards, getting excellent conversions on fourth down two times. Though he was not explosive, as always, it was the running of Todman that was key to UConn's offense.

Dave Teggart missed a 49-yard field goal attempt, but hit two from 35 yards and one from 21 to help the Huskies pull away.

UConn only gained 254 yards of total offense, but the defense once again held strong, holding Syracuse to 235.

The Huskies shut down Syracuse running back Delone Carter, who ran for only 67 yards on 19 carries. Quarterback Ryan Nasib threw 20 completions on 36 attempts for 171 yards.

Junior defensive lineman Kendell Reyes made life miserable for Nasib. Reyes grabbed an interception and forced a fumble on a sack which was recovered by Trevardo Williams at the Orange four yard line. Todman would score on the ensuing drive.

UConn's defense was all around solid on Saturday. This continued a hot streak for them. UConn only allowed 13 points against West Virginia and threw Pittsburgh's offense way off balance, despite 28 points, but enough to give the Huskies a crucial win.

The Huskies have now beaten Syracuse (7-4, 4-3) five times in seven meetings. The team that has won the rushing game came out victorious each time.

The win ensures a bowl game for UConn, but Randy Edsall's men have even more in mind.

In 2007, UConn had its first taste of BCS aspirations. The Huskies earned a share of the Big East title, but could win it outright with a win at West Virginia. They ended up losing 61-21, ending their BCS dreams.

Those fires have been rekindled.

After a frustrating 0-2 start to the Big East in a start to the season mauled by injuries and suspensions, the Huskies have won three in a row (West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse), upsetting the balance in the conference and sit in with a chance to win the Big East outright for the first time ever.

The Huskies joined the Big East after two years as an independent in 2004. Winning the conference outright and advancing to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl would be a huge statement for the program.

UConn have a record of 3-2 in the conference. They sit in a tie with West Virginia behind Pittsburgh who are 4-1 in the Big East.

If UConn win their remaining two games (against Cinicinnati next Saturday and at South Florida on Dec. 4), then they will need West Virginia to win the Backyard Brawl over Pittsburgh and the Huskies would be going to the BCS for the first time ever.

UConn will go in with expectations to win their last two games. After that, all they can do is let fate take its course.

No matter what though, UConn will be in a bowl for the fourth straight season and fifth time since becoming an FBS school in 2002.

Jordan Todman is the victim of a robbery.

On November 11, it was reported that Todman, a junior running back at the University of Connecticut, who has in two weeks led his team to victories over West Virginia and Pittsburgh, was robbed by Southern Methodist University when he was left off their list of semifinalists for the prestigious Doak Walker Award.

The Doak Walker Award is annually given to the nation's top running back. Therefore, it would make sense to have the 10 best running backs listed as semifinalists, right? Wrong.

Todman is seventh in the nation in rushing yards with 1,176 in eight games for the Huskies. Of the six players in front of him, five have played at least 10 games.

Cam Newton, Auburn's quarterback and therefore not in the running, has played 11. LaMichael James, the nation's leading rusher, is the only one to have played in only nine games like Todman. Todman missed UConn's win over Buffalo. As he is averaging 147 yards per game, had he played in that game, he would currently be fourth in rushing and third amongst running backs.

Four BCS-conference running backs in the top 10 in the nation in rushing—LaMichael James (Oregon), Kendall Hunter (Oklahoma State), Bilal Powell (Louisville), and Daniel Thomas (Kansas State)—were announced as semifinalists. Todman is the only BCS running back in the top 10 left off the list.

The other finalists are John Clay (Wisconsin), Mark Ingram (Alabama), DeMarco Murray (Oklahoma), Jacquizz Rodgers (Oregon State), Vai Taua (Nevada) and Ed Wesley (TCU). Of these six players, only Taua and Wesley appear in the top 25 in the nation in rushing (10th and 19th). Mark Ingram does not even appear in the top 40.

So, if the award is to go to the nation's top back, why would Ingram, who is in fact 68th with 694 yards, be chosen over Todman, who is seventh with 1,176 yards and still has at least one more game to play than five of the six players ahead of him?

Todman lead the way with 222 yards to set up UConn's 30-28 victory over Pitt last Thursday and scored a very important touchdown and ran for 113 yards against West Virginia in a 16-13 overtime win two weeks before. He is having a career season and is showing that he is a premier back in the nation.

What justification does Southern Methodist University have for leaving this star back off their list? As I said, had he not been hurt, he would potentially have been fourth in the nation with still one or two less games played than five of six players ahead of him!

I find it hard to believe that the committee has found a valid reason to leave Todman off their list. If they have one, I would love to hear it.