UCONN AT CINCINNATI FOOTBALL GAMEDAY

Where: Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati

Records: UConn 3-8 (2-5 American Athletic Conference); Cincinnati 3-8 (1-6).

TV: ESPNews

Internet: ESPN3

Radio: WTIC-1080, WAVZ-1300, WILI-1400; WGCH-1490

5 THINGS TO WATCH

1. Swan song for Newsome: When Arkeel Newsome arrived at UConn, Connecticut's leader for rushing yards and touchdowns scored in a season and a career came in with plenty of buzz. While he hasn't always been the featured back, he has the most 50-yard scoring plays in program history, is one of two Huskies with at least 5,000 career all-purpose yards and leads all UConn running backs in career receptions (106) and receiving yards (1,434). If he has 66 receiving yards, he will have at least 1,500 yards rushing, receiving and on kickoff returns, something no other FBS player has accomplished dating back to the 2005 season.

2. Eye on the future: With leading tackler Junior Joseph needing to miss the first half because of the targeting penalty he was called for in the second half of the Boston College game, redshirt freshman Ryan Gilmartin is expected to make his first career start. If that is the case, he will be the 14th freshman to start on either offense or defense for the Huskies which is the most since UConn began playing at the FBS level in 2002. UConn started 12 freshmen in 2006 and 2009. Considering how much time Nino Leone received at guaard in the BC game, perhaps he could become UConn's 15th freshman starter.

3. Catching on: Speaking of the UConn freshman class, Jason Williams' program record for receiving yards by a freshman may not stand for much longer. Williams had 354 yards in 2002 but Quayvon Skanes and Keyion Dixon have 301 and 293 yards. If Dixon has three receptions, he will have the second most receptions by a UConn freshman with Skanes' 34 catches already the program record.

4. Stumbling out of the gate: Neither team has exactly hit the ground running in the early stages of games. UConn has been outscored 73-40 in the first quarter of games this season but the Bearcats have struggled even more, being outscored 103-40 in the opening quarter. Cincinnati is tied with Nebraska for 128th out of 130 FBS programs allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 75.6 percent of their passes in the first quarter while UConn has allowed a first quarter completion percentage of 73.6. Cincinnati has given up more than twice as many yards as it has gained in the opening quarter while UConn is minus 171 in total offense in the opening 15 minutes which doesn’t look that bad compared to the Bearcats’ numbers.

5. Getting his kicks: Cincinnati's special teams have been just that as the Bearcats are one of four FBS teams not to have a touchback on a punt while James Smith averaged a career best 52.7 yards per punt in last week's loss to East Carolina. There have been issues in other special teams units as five kickoffs have gone out of bounds and the Bearcats have missed 8 of 17 field-goal attempts this season.