North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Connecticut
10/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 8, 2003
CONNECTICUT (4-2) at NC STATE ( 3-3)
DATE: Saturday, October 11, 2003
TIME: Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. (EDT) Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC (53,800)
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network. AIRTIME: 12:00 p.m. (EDT)
TELEVISION: None
OPPONENT---- Connecticut took advantage of three turnovers to beat Division 1-AA opponent Lehigh 35-14, Saturday before a home crowd of 35,322. The victory was the Huskies eighth in their last ten games dating back to last season. Lehigh dropped to 3-2.
UConn was led by junior quarterback, Dan Orlovsky and freshman runningback, Matt Lawrence. In his first career start, Lawrence rushed for a career-high 88 yards and a touchdown while Orlovsky threw for three touchdowns.
Trailing 3-0 and failing to sustain a drive in its first three offensive possessions, Connecticut broke through when cornerback Justin Perkins recorded the first of his two interceptions giving the Huskies the ball at the Lehigh 30-yard line. Orlovsky wasted no time, connecting with senior wide out O'Neil Wilson on a 29-yard completion. Lawrence bullied over from the one on the next play, and the Huskies never looked back.
Although UConn was able to move the ball easily throughout the first half, the game remained 7-3 through most of the second quarter due to two missed field goals by freshman kicker Graig Vicidomino. Two plays after the second missed field goal, senior defensive tackle Ryan Bushey forced Lehigh running back Jermaine Pugh to fumble. Linebacker Maurice Lloyd recovered the loose ball and the Huskies capitalized. Orlovsky went to the air right away, hitting sophomore wide receiver Brandon Young (7 catches for 100 yards) with a 25-yard scoring pass to give the Huskies a 14-3 halftime lead.
Connecticut stretched its lead midway through the third quarter when Wilson caught an 18-yard scoring toss from Orlovsky after Perkins registered his second pickoff of the contest.
UConn's scoring was capped when Orlovsky hit junior wide out Keron Henry with a four-yard scoring strike and junior backup running back Chris Bellamy raced into the end zone from eight yards out in the fourth quarter. The Mountain Hawks mounted two fourth-quarter scoring drives against mostly reserve defenders.
Orlovsky finished the game 22 of 40 for 282 yards with one interception. He has thrown a touchdown pass in 18 consecutive contests, which is the second longest streak in school history.
This season is Connecticut's third as a Division 1-A program. Its other wins this season have been over Indiana (34-10), Army (48-21) and Buffalo (38-7). The Huskies have lost to Boston College (24-14) and Virginia Tech (47-13). In the VPI game, the Hokies cashed in on UConn mistakes with an interception return for a touchdown, a kickoff return for a TD and scored on a blocked punt.
In the first quarter vs. Virginia Tech, the Huskies lost star running back, Terry Caulley for the season with a knee injury. Caulley was the nation's leading rusher at the time with 601 yards. However, since Caulley left the lineup, the Huskies have still managed to run the ball averaging 150 yards a game (176 for the season). The offensive line is dominated by juniors and is of average size. The leader is left tackle Ryan Krug (6-4, 310).
Orlovsky averages nearly 40 passing attempts a game and has completed 59 percent of his throws for 1,716 yards. His 16 touchdown passes tie him for No. 2 nationally. His is 12th in the nation in passing and 18th in total offense (284 ypg.). He's thrown for 300 or more yards against Indiana, Army and Virginia Tech. Orlovsky is built like NC State's Philip Rivers (6-5, 226) and has no trouble seeing downfield. However, he has thrown 8 interceptions in 6 games.
The top passing targets for Orlovsky are Shaun Feldeisen (6-1, 223, Sr.) with 32 catches for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns and O'Neil Wilson (6-2, 189, Sr.) who has 26 receptions, including 5 for touchdowns.
Defensively, UConn is allowing an average of only 21 points and 312 yards a game (25th nationally), including a stingy 167 passing yards (12th nationally). The Huskies have forced opponents to go three-and-out 30 percent of the time this season causing them to punt a staggering 8.3 times a game.
Connecticut boasts a tremendous amount of experience on its starting defensive line that includes three seniors and a junior. Defensive end, Uyi Osunde, leads the team with 4 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. The linebackers appear to be solid. Middle linebacker, Alfred Fincher (6-1, 240, Jr.) has 50 stops and is the team's co-leader in tackles with safety Terrance Smith (5-11, 202, Sr.). Smith is the Huskies lone returning starter from 2002's secondary. The corners are Justin Perkins (5-11, 166, Jr.); a top cover man until a knee injury forced him to miss last season, and freshman Ernest Cole (5-10, 173).
Australia native and former Australian Rules Football player, Adam Coles (6-5, 227, Sr.), is an experienced left-footed punter and is UConn's career leader in attempts and yardage. This season he's punting for a 41.3-yard average. Placekicking and returns have seen a revolving door situation.
Redshirt freshman, Matt Nuzie, has missed 7 of his last 8 field goal attempts. True freshman Graig Vicidomino, who took over for Nuzie, missed a PAT at Virginia Tech and two field goals against Lehigh. Nuzie enters the NC State game as the potential starter after kicking all four of his point after attempts against Lehigh.
Jason Williams (6-0, 175, So.) is 43rd nationally in kick returns with a 23.9-yard average, including an 82-yarder that nearly went for a touchdown against Buffalo. Freshman, David Sanchez has returned 22 punts for only a 5.3-yard average.
INJURIES--NC State: OT Chris Colmer-Doubtful, Parsonage Turner Syndrome; WR Sterling Hicks-Out, knee; TB T.A. McLendon-Questionable; hamstring; TB Josh Brown-Questionable, Hip flexor/abdominal strain; LB Pat Thomas-Probable, bruised knee Connecticut:TB Terry Caulley-Out, knee.
