Huskies Turn Up The Volume
Preparation For Another Loud Environment
The first time this season UConn ventured to a boisterous road environment, things didn’t go so well. In that game, the Huskies committed six first-half false starts in front of a packed crowd at Albertsons Stadium and lost to Boise State 62-7.
And so in advance of the team’s gameagainst Syracuse at t he
Carrier Dome,
UConn has taken measures to avoid a repeat performance.
Namely, t he
Huskies spent the past week blaring artificial crowd noise during practice, in an attempt to mimic what they’ll face Saturday.
“Communication was the biggest thing [against Boise State],” quarterback David Pindell said Wednesday. “We weren’t as clear because we didn’t expect the stadium to be that loud. But this week having the noise in the background helped us practice. We worked on our communication silently, and it helped us a lot all week.”
Though many road environments can get noisy, the Carrier Dome poses an unusual challenge. The arena has been nicknamed “The Loud House” due to the way sound echoes off its roof.
Still, UConn’s coaches say they’re not particularly worried about the environment.
“Honestly I haven’t made a big deal out of Boise because after the first couple drives, they settled down,” offensive coordinator John Dunn said. “They’ve handled it well, and I don’t want that to be a distraction or something that’s more than it is.”
Added coach Randy Edsall: “Hopefully we had our one moment when we went into that environment and didn’t handle it
as well as we should have. I would hope we’d be in good shape Saturday and not have the false starts we had a couple weeks ago.”
In fact, crowd noise may wind up being the least of UConn’s problems Saturday. Whereas the Huskies are 1-2 and rank last in FBS (by a lot) in yards and points allowed per game, the Orange have begun 3-0 and are coming off a 30-7 victory over Florida State. Syracuse combines a potent and versatile offense with a defense that has been particularly stingy against the run.
UConn has already faced a string of dangerous quarterbacks this season — UCF’s McKenzie Milton, Boise State’s Brett Rypien and Rhode Island’s JaJuan Lawson — and on Saturday the Huskies might face two more.
Dual-threat Orange quarterback Eric Dungey is expected to return against UConn after missing the second half last week with an eye irritation. And even if Dungey can’t play, Syracuse has a more than capable Plan B in freshman Tommy DeVito, who came off the bench against the Seminoles to complete 11 of1 4 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown.
UConn defensive coordinator Billy Crocker contrasted UConn, which has struggled with consistency on both sides of the ball, with Syracuse, which has seemed to find a rhythm in coach Dino Babers’ third season.
“You’re seeing right now with them the benefits of being in that system for [three years],” Crocker said. “That’s the continuity piece. The systems are in place, things are starting to run themselves. And that’s when teams start to have success.”
Naturally, Syracuse is a heavy favorite against UConn, pegged to win by nearly four touchdowns. For the Huskies to keep the game close, they’ll need another sterling performance from Pindell, who passed for 308 yards and rushed for 137 against Rhode Island, and some rapid improvement from a struggling defense.
However, UConn’s D could find itself in even rougher shape than usual, given injuries to safety Tyler Coyle, cornerback Tahj Herring-Wilson and linebacker Marshe Terry. HerringWilson and Terry suffered ankle injuries against Rhode Island, while Coyle left Tuesday’s practice with an apparent lowerbody issue.
Depending on injuries and who Edsall and Crocker choose to play on the opening drive, UConn could start anywhere from six to nine freshmen on defense Saturday.
The Huskies and Orange will kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPNews.