The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Boston College vs. UConn
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
Records: UConn 3-7; Boston College 5-5.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: WTIC-1080, WAVZ-1300, WILI-1400; WGCH-1490
1. Understudies get their opportunity: With Bryant Shirreffs deciding not to risk any further concussions by not playing for the rest of the season, David Pindell will get to make his third straight start and second in a row at quarterback for UConn. Boston College will also be without its passing leader as Anthony Brown will miss the remainder of the year with a leg injury. UConn has faced five of the top 18 passing offenses this season. Even with the dynamic Brown at the helm, BC ranks 114th out of 130 FBS teams in passing yards per game. Senior Darius Wade started three games during the 2015 season, but there’s been chatter that true freshman E.J. Perry might get the call. It should be noted that in FBS games this season, quarterbacks who came into the season with previous starting experience threw for 397 yards and completed 72 percent of their passes with 29 touchdowns and four interceptions against the Huskies. The two FBS games won by the Huskies came against first-year starting QBs who managed one TD and 307.5 yards per game.
2. Catching on: Since making the move to the FBS level, no freshman class has more receptions than the 84 made by Quayvon Skanes, Keyion Dixon, Mason Donaldson, Kevin Mensah and Nate Hopkins. They need just 7 yards to break the program record for receiving yards by freshmen set during the 2002 season, the Huskies’ first at the FBS level. Skanes has already set a program record for catches by a freshman with 34. With 301 receiving yards, he is 53 shy of UConn’s freshman record set by Jason Williams in 2002. Ball State and Washington State are the only FBS teams to have more catches by the freshman class than UConn.
3. Home cooking? Although the game is at Fenway Park, it is still considered a UConn home game. When Mark Lev, managing director of Fenway Sports Management, met with the Connecticut media a couple of weeks back, he said he was hoping for an attendance number around 25,000. It would be the first time a UConn home game drew at least 25,000 fans since a 24-16 loss to UCF on Oct. 22, 2016, had a crowd of 28,008.
4. Going bowling? Farmington native and former Cheshire High coach Steve Addazio is a win away from doing something no other Boston College coach has accomplished: A victory would make the Eagles bowl-eligible for the fourth time in his five seasons at the helm, a first in program history. UConn is guaranteed to finish with a losing record for a program-record seventh year in a row, but if it can win Saturday and beat Cincinnati in the regularseason finale, there’s a chance it could earn a bowl bid even with a 5-7 record.
5. Familiar faces: Addazio is far from the only coach on the BC staff with ties to Connecticut or UConn. Defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni of Cheshire was UConn’s head coach from 2011 until being fired after four games in the 2013 season. He recruited 12 UConn players who have started at least one game on offense or defense this season, including leading tackler Junior Joseph; sack leader Cole Ormsby; yards-from-scrimmage leader Arkeel Newsome; 30game defensive starters Luke Carrezola, Foley Fatukasi and Jamar Summers; tight ends Alec Bloom and Tommy Myers; and offensive lineman Trey Rutherford. Former UConn players Julian Campenni and Adam Mueller are graduate assistants on Addazio’s staff.