Tag: UConn

Watch: Josh Heupel kicks off Tennessee-UConn game week

Watch: Josh Heupel kicks off Tennessee-UConn game week

No. 16 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) will host UConn (1-7) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Week 10.

Rankings reflect the US LBM Coaches Poll.

Kickoff between the Vols and Huskies is slated for noon EDT. SEC Network will televise the homecoming matchup. Saturday will mark the first meeting between Tennessee and UConn in football.

Third-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with media on Monday and previewed the Vols’ contest against UConn.

“Looking forward to this week,” Heupel said. “We are continuing to get better. We are looking forward to homecoming week here. I know it’s a noon kickoff, but I expect our fans to show up and show out in a great way and create a great environment. It’s a great opportunity to welcome back so many of our alumni here, so looking forward to that.

“November is also Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, and we have a unique opportunity to honor the legacy of Pat Summitt. We’ll be doing that at the game with our uniform, but we’ll also be doing that with a commemorative cup that everyone can purchase. All of that will go to UT Medical’s research on Alzheimer’s.”

Heupel’s press conference can be watched below.

Tennessee football releases depth chart ahead of UConn game

Tennessee football releases depth chart ahead of the UConn game.

No. 16 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) will host UConn (1-7) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Week 10.

Rankings reflect the US LBM Coaches Poll.

Kickoff between the Vols and Huskies is slated for noon EDT. SEC Network will televise the non-conference homecoming matchup. Saturday will mark the first meeting between Tennessee and UConn in football.

Tennessee enters the contest after winning at Kentucky, 33-27. UConn lost at Boston College, 21-14, in Week 9.

College football top 25 rankings: A look at the US LBM Coaches Poll in Week 10

Ahead of Saturday’s non-conference game at Neyland Stadium, Tennessee released its Week 10 depth chart. Tennessee’s depth chart versus the Huskies is listed below.

Kickoff time announced for Tennessee-UConn football game

Kickoff time announced for the Tennessee-UConn football game.

Tennessee will host UConn on Nov. 4 at Neyland Stadium.

Kickoff is slated for noon EDT and SEC Network will televise the homecoming matchup in Week 10.

The contest will be the first between Tennessee and UConn.

Tennessee kicked off its 2023 season on Sept. 2, defeating Virginia, 49-13, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tennessee’s home schedule has contests against Austin Peay (W, 30-13), UTSA (W, 45-14), South Carolina (W, 41-20), Texas A&M (W, 20-13), UConn, Georgia and Vanderbilt.

The Vols’ road schedule features games at Florida (L, 29-16), Alabama (L, 34-20), Kentucky and Missouri.

2023 Tennessee Vols football schedule: Downloadable smartphone wallpaper

Win percentage chances for Tennessee’s final five football games

See the 3 universities Cooper Flagg has scheduled visits for this fall

Cooper Flagg is taking his first official visit to reigning NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion UConn this weekend, according to On3.

Cooper Flagg, widely considered the top high school player in the nation, is making moves to realize his college decision. He has three scheduled visits this fall, according to a new report from On3, and the first one will be this weekend.

The 6-foot-9, 195-pound forward will visit reigning NCAA men’s basketball champion UConn this weekend, according to the outlet. The Huskies are hoping for yet another victory this year, and adding Flagg to their class of 2024 that already includes a pair of four-star players in Ahman Nowell and Isaiah Abraham would would raise their potential to stay atop once the class arrives.

Their not the only recent champion seeking the services of Flagg. The 2022 National Champion Kansas Jayhawks are also in pursuit and have a visit scheduled from Oct. 6-8, according to On3.

Kansas already has one top-tier commit in the class of 2024 in Flory Bidunga, a five-star center ranked No. 8 in the class.

Flagg rounds out his early-year visits with Duke, which he will visit from Oct. 20-22, according to On3. The Blue Devils already have a crazy good recruiting class in 2024, with a pair of five-star forwards in Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel and a four-star forward in Darren Harris. The Blue Devils will try to sell him on his fit with the group and amplify their star power even further.

While Flagg is taking his time to make visits and choose his next stop, he sped up the process considerably by reclassifying to the class of 2024 in August. He’ll get to see three programs over the next month and take another step toward his decision. These surely won’t be his only visits.

How social media reacted to Notre Dame-NC State: Wolfpack side

Wolfpack fans learned this wasn’t UConn.

NC State beat UConn in its season opener, but most respectable programs should be able to do that.

Not all of them can beat a program such as Notre Dame, and the Wolfpack were unable to do so. While this might still be a good year for them, they  have a lot of work to do to compete with a team on this particular level. Until then, they’ll have to figure out when went wrong in a 45-24 defeat.

Here are some Wolfpack fans reacting on social media after the defeat:

What the experts are predicting: Notre Dame at NC State

What do you predict for this game?

Notre Dame could face its first real competition of the season in NC State. The Irish have to go on the road, and the Wolfpack will give them everything they’ve got. Worth noting is that even though this will only be the fourth time the programs have met, an Irish win would draw the teams even in the all-time series. While the Irish don’t have historical losing records against that many opponents, it sure would be nice to knock one of them off the list.

Let’s look at what some college football experts are predicting for this game:

Tale of the Tape: Notre Dame defense vs. NC State offense

Time for the D to step it up again.

As prolific as Notre Dame’s offense has been through two games, the defense deserves just as much credit. It has allowed only two field goals and no touchdowns thus far. It also has generated turnovers and made life uncomfortable for opposing offenses. Regression to the mean is sure to happen at some point, but that doesn’t mean the defense can’t keep this dominance going for as long as possible.

NC State’s offense showed it has a strong running game in its season-opening win over UConn. Of course, it’s hard to say for sure how capable the unit is given who they played and the fact that the Wolfpack have played only one game. However, it’s a relatively safe bet that this offense will give the Irish’s defense more than what it’s been challenged with so far in this young season.

Here’s a look at how the Irish’s defense matches up with the Wolfpack’s offense:

NC State statistical leaders through one game

Does anyone on this list concern you?

NC State is having a very peculiar season with its schedule. It opened the 2023 season with a win over independent UConn and now will face a second straight independent in Notre Dame. It then will face VMI before playing its ACC schedule except for one game against Marshall. Talk about one quirk after another.

Like the Irish, the Wolfpack have a quarterback finishing out his eligibility with them after spending the remainder of his career at a different school. In this case, the Wolfpack’s quarterback spent the previous five seasons at Virginia and even has experience facing the Irish (including on this writer’s wedding day). Of course, that’s only one player. There are many others who could give the Irish fits in what many are saying is their first real test of the season.

The Wolfpack have played only one game, but here’s who you might want to look out for when they face the Irish:

UConn G Christian Haynes impresses vs. NC State

UConn RG Christian Haynes had a strong 2023 debut that cements him as one of the top IOL prospects for 2024

The University of Connecticut doesn’t typically produce a lot of NFL draft interest. The Huskies have had just six players drafted since 2015, none in 2023.

That drought will end in 2024. UConn has three players on the preseason Senior Bowl watchlist, with the most prominent being offensive guard Christian Haynes. Based on his performance in the Huskies’ matchup against visiting North Carolina State, Haynes could hear his name called early in the draft.

Haynes, playing right guard, had an outstanding debut. Normally it’s not easy to notice interior linemen unless they mess up, but that’s not the case for Haynes. He leapt off the game film.

With impressive agility and a seek-and-destroy style of play, Haynes was a snowplow in the run game.

Pass protection wasn’t as glorious, but Haynes fared well against the Wolfpack. In a quick once-over of the game, I had him getting beat twice in pass protection, one of which resulted in a sack. His game reminds me some of Larry Warford back at Kentucky. Warford was the No. 65 overall pick in 2013 and had several successful NFL seasons before injuries ended his career.

Expect to see Haynes in upcoming mock drafts as a Day 2 prospect. He could very well surpass Will Beatty as the highest-drafted UConn offensive lineman in program history. Beatty was the No. 60 overall pick back in 2009.

 

Big result: No. 16 Rutgers field hockey wins at No. 15 UCONN

On Friday, No. 16 Rutgers field hockey (4-0) defeated No. 15 UCONN (1-2) 2-1 in double overtime.

It may be early September, but Rutgers women’s field hockey got a huge win on Friday. On the road, No. 16 Rutgers field hockey (4-0) defeated No. 15 UCONN (1-2) 2-1 in double overtime. Rutgers had seven of the first nine shots through 20 minutes of play but would manage to go scoreless through the first three quarters.

The first lead of the game came in the third quarter when Rutgers’ Guillerm Causarano scored her first goal of the season (36:46), giving the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead. UCONN would tie the game a few minutes later (43:22) when Julia Bressler scored her first goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

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Each team would go scoreless in the fourth quarter and the first overtime, leading to double overtime. Rutgers’ Paulina Niklaus scored the game-winner during the 80th minute to give the Scarlet Knights the victory over the Huskies.

 

Even though the Huskies outshot the Scarlet Knights 17 to 21, Rutgers still managed to pull out the victory to stay undefeated. Rutgers redshirt junior Sophia Howard had a stellar performance as the goalkeeper, saving nine shots in 80 minutes of action. After the first four games in the 2023 season, Howard has only let up two goals.

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The Scarlet Knights are road warriors, winning four straight road games to start the 2023 season. Rutgers is back in action next Friday (September 8, 2023) when they travel to Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, to take on Villanova.