SB Nation Boston - Vanderbilt 24, UConn 21: Johnny McEntee Throws Three Picks In Losshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48863/boston-fave.png2011-09-11T00:41:12-04:00http://boston.sbnation.com/rss/stream/21807242011-09-11T00:41:12-04:002011-09-11T00:41:12-04:00Vanderbilt 24, UConn 21: Johnny McEntee, Huskies Fall To Commodores
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<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/35847/johnny-mcentee">Johnny McEntee</a> was extremely erratic, throwing for 99 yards on 10-of-27 passing while also tossing three interceptions as the UConn Huskies dropped their first contest of the season, 24-21, to Vanderbilt on Saturday.</p>
<p>UConn (1-1) recorded 193 total yards on offense (104 passing, 89 rushing) in the loss while surrendering 259 yards to Vanderbilt - 141 through the air and 118 on the ground.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113330/lyle-mccombs">Lyle McCombs</a> ran for 118 yards on 27 carries for UConn. Ryan Griffin had 47 receiving yards on four catches and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/87225/cole-wagner">Cole Wagner</a> had seven punts totaling 286 yards for an average of 40.9 yards per punt.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/11057/larry-smith">Larry Smith</a> completed 12-of-24 passes for 140 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for Vanderbilt. Jerron Seymour rushed for 70 yards and a score on eight carries and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116266/chris-boyd">Chris Boyd</a> had two catches for 46 yards and a TD.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/5896/dave-teggart">Dave Teggart</a> opened scoring for the Huskies, connecting on a 25-yard field goal with 7:46 left in the first quarter. Vanderbilt responded with two first quarter touchdowns - a 42-yard pass from Smith to Boyd with 5:54 left and a 40-yard run from Seymour to put the Commodores up, 14-3.</p>
<p>UConn answered with another Teggart field goal from 28 yards out with 9:59 left in the third quarter and a blocked punt that Byron Jones recovered in the endzone with 7:47 to go in the third, cutting the Huskies' deficit to one, 14-13.</p>
<p>The Huskies took their only lead of the game with 10:34 left in the fourth quarter on Yawin Smallwood's 64-yard fumble return and a two-point conversion pass from McEntee to Ryan Griffin, putting UConn up 21-14.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt knotted the score on a 50-yard interception by <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/38435/casey-hayward">Casey Hayward</a> with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116254/carey-spear">Carey Spear</a> kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2:56 left to capture the 24-21 victory.</p>
<p><i>For more UConn Football coverage, visit <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/connecticut-huskies">our team page</a> and blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theuconnblog.com/">The UConn Blog</a>.</i></p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/connecticut-huskies/2011/9/11/2417652/vanderbilt-vs-uconn-score-johnny-mcentee-lyle-mccombs-Gethin Coolbaugh2011-09-10T15:47:22-04:002011-09-10T15:47:22-04:00UConn Vs. Vanderbilt: TV Schedule, Time, Location And More
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<p><i><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113330/lyle-mccombs">Lyle McCombs</a> and the Connecticut Huskies are on the road to take on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/vanderbilt-commodores">Vanderbilt Commodores</a> in the second game of the season at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night.</i></p>
<p><b>Event: </b>Connecticut Huskies vs. Vanderbilt Commodores - NCAA Football, Week 2.</p>
<p><b>Date/Time: </b>Saturday, September 10, 2011 - 7:30 p.m. EDT.</p>
<p><b>Location:</b> Vanderbilt Stadium (Capacity: 39,790), Nashville, Tennessee.</p>
<p><b>Broadcast Info: </b>Saturday's game between UConn and Vanderbilt will be aired on <b>SNY</b> in Connecticut and the Northeast region, with Matt Stewart on play-by-play duty, Chris Doering providing analysis and Suzette Taylor down on the sidelines.</p>
<p>The game can also be heard on the radio on <b>WTIC 1080-AM</b>, the home of UConn football for the last 20 years. Joe D'Ambrosio is on play-by-play duty with Wayne Norman providing analysis and Jeff Dooley down on the sidelines.</p>
<p><b>Series Info: </b>UConn has played Vanderbilt twice in its history, with the Huskies and Commodores splitting the four meetings. The teams first met on October 26, 2002, and Vanderbilt escaped with a 28-24 victory in Nashville. Last season, UConn steamrolled Vandy, 40-21, on October 2. The game was tied at 21 entering halftime, but the Huskies were able to score 19 unanswered points to capture the win. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/35848/jordan-todman">Jordan Todman</a> ran for 190 yards and two scores in the victory for the Huskies.</p>
<p><b>Storyline:</b> In the season opener against Fordham, it was running back Lyle McCombs who stole the show, rushing for four tochdowns in UConn's 35-3 rout of Fordham. The Huskies used three different quarterbacks in the game, and still haven't pinned down their No. 1 option under center. Until they do, expect McCombs to see a lot of carries.</p>
<p><b>Prediction:</b> Vanderbilt is a step up from Fordham, but UConn should still roll.<b> Final Score: UConn 34, Vanderbilt 17.</b></p>
<p><i>For more UConn Football coverage, visit <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/connecticut-huskies">our team page</a> and blog, <a href="http://www.theuconnblog.com" target="_blank">The UConn Blog</a>.</i></p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/connecticut-huskies/2011/9/10/2416808/uconn-vs-vanderbilt-tv-schedule-time-location-college-football-preview-news-scoresGethin Coolbaugh2011-09-10T11:50:21-04:002011-09-10T11:50:21-04:00UConn Vs. Vanderbilt: Lyle McCombs, Huskies Take On Commodores
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<p>Lyle McCombs and the UConn Huskies (1-0) face the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-0) in their second game of the season at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night at Vanderbilt Stadium.</p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot/scores/live/preview.aspx?id=31588">(Sports Network)</a> </b>- The <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/connecticut-huskies" class="sbn-auto-link">Connecticut Huskies</a> of the Big East Conference and the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/vanderbilt-commodores" class="sbn-auto-link">Vanderbilt Commodores</a> of the SEC will meet this weekend in Nashville.</p>
<p>Connecticut opened the season against FCS foe Fordham last weekend cruised to a 35-3 victory as expected. That game marked the debut of Paul Pasqualoni as the new leader of the program, as he takes over for Randy Edsall who left to take the Maryland job. Pasqualoni, who had great success as the leader of the Syracuse program, is the first man ever to be head football coach at two Big East schools. He inherits a group of Huskies that finished 8-5 last season, including a 5-2 record that was good enough to earn them a Big East title and a BCS bid.</p>
<p>As for Vanderbilt, it is also under new leadership, as <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/115134/james-franklin" class="sbn-auto-link">James Franklin</a> takes over the perennial SEC basement dweller. Vandy made a winner of Franklin in last week's debut, as the squad had no trouble disposing of FCS foe Elon by a 45-14 final. Considering that the Commodores have won just two games in each of the last two seasons, Franklin's group has nowhere to go but up.</p>
<p>Connecticut beat Vanderbilt by a 40-21 final last season to tie the all-time series between the teams at 1-1.</p>
<p>UConn had plenty of questions in need of answers in the opener against Fordham, most important of which involved the quarterback position. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/35847/johnny-mcentee" class="sbn-auto-link">Johnny McEntee</a> and Mike Nebrich both saw time under center, and McEntee was clearly the more impressive of the two. He completed 8-of-12 passes for 113 yards with no interceptions and showed a great deal of poise.</p>
<p>The Huskies have an impressive track record of star running backs, and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113330/lyle-mccombs" class="sbn-auto-link">Lyle McCombs</a> may be the latest to carry the load. Against Fordham, McCombs carried the ball 24 times for 141 yards and four touchdowns, and 60 of his yards came on one long run. As for the receivers, Ryan Griffin led the pack with 97 yards and a score on three grabs. The offense finished with 434 total yards and 21 first downs, but Vanderbilt foes figure to pose a stiffer challenge than Fordham.</p>
<p>It comes as no surprise that the Huskies were dominant defensively last weekend. Fordham was only able to post 169 total yards, including a mere 20 rushing yards on 30 attempts. UConn registered one takeaway and one sack. Teddy Jennings was outstanding in that affair for the Huskies, as he posted 2.5 TFLs. As for teammate <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/35859/sio-moore" class="sbn-auto-link">Sio Moore</a>, he broke up a pair of passes.</p>
<p>Last week, Elon scored a touchdown early in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 21-14 against Vanderbilt. To the credit of the Commodores, they dominated the contest from that point on, scoring the final 24 points of the tilt en route to the 31-point victory.</p>
<p>Vandy finished with a modest total of 309 yards, but the fact that the club didn't commit a single turnover was far more important than any other stat, aside from the final score. Quarterback <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/11057/larry-smith" class="sbn-auto-link">Larry Smith</a> completed just 13-of-27 passes for 125 yards, but he did throw two touchdowns with no interceptions. Smith also ran for a score in the romp, and <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/116266/chris-boyd" class="sbn-auto-link">Chris Boyd</a> had a pair of touchdown receptions.</p>
<p>Coach Franklin and offensive coordinator John Donovan view the week one performance of Smith with obvious optimism, as the quarterback completed only 47 percent of his passes a year ago with a mere six touchdown passes. The signal caller has plenty to prove, but he is certainly exhibiting confidence and doing all the things a leader is supposed to do.</p>
<p>Defensively, Vanderbilt was far from dominant against Elon last week, yielding 323 yards and a pair of touchdowns to the sub par opponent. Sure, the Commodores were tough against the run, permitting a lowly 2.2 yards per carry, but they surrendered 13.3 yards per pass completion. Still, it did help matters that they were able to come up with a pair of interceptions.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/11083/chris-marve" class="sbn-auto-link">Chris Marve</a> is clearly the best player on the defensive side of the ball for the Commodores, and the linebacker posted nine total tackles in the opener, including a pair of TFLs. Marve is a two-time All-SEC performer who is an impact hitter at 6-0 and 242 pounds.</p>
<p>The Huskies and Commodores are fairly evenly matched and should produce an entertaining game this weekend. Give the slightest of edges to Vanderbilt, based solely on the home field advantage.</p>
<p><b>DATE & TIME:</b> September 10th, 7:30 p.m. (et)</p>
<p><b>FACTS & STATS:</b> Site: Vanderbilt Stadium (41,221) -- Nashville, Tennessee. Television: CSS. Home Record: UConn 1-0, Vanderbilt 1-0. Away Record: UConn 0-0, Vanderbilt 0-0. Neutral Record: UConn 0-0, Vanderbilt 0-0. Conference Record: UConn 0-0, Vanderbilt 0-0. Series Record: Series is tied, 1-1.</p>
<p><b>Sports Network Predicted Outcome:</b> Vanderbilt 23, Connecticut 20.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/connecticut-huskies/2011/9/10/2416471/uconn-vs-vanderbilt-lyle-mccombs-college-football-scores-previews-newsGethin Coolbaugh