UConn, Cincinnati face offensive showdowns on the road

Big East Pregame – September 4, 2010

The universities of Connecticut and Cincinnati both go on the road to take on perennial national powerhouses in their season openers. UConn travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan to face a rebuilding Wolverine team and their 100,000+ fans. Cincinnati plunges even deeper by going cross country to Fresno, California for an opening day contest against the Fresno State Bulldogs. Both games are expected to turn into high-scoring offensive showdowns.

The reason lies with all four teams’ defenses. Michigan is strong on the defensive line, OK at linebacker and weak in the secondary. The same can be said about Connecticut. The Huskies might be a little stronger at the linebacker position, though. All-in-all, it’s speculated that both defenses will give up points and most sports pundits are anticipating lots of scoring opportunities for both sides. Michigan sports a commanding 91-15-2 in season opening games at home and a 5-1 record all time against Big East teams. Connecticut is undefeated against Big Ten schools, having beaten Indiana twice in their history. Playing against Michigan at Ann Arbor will be a giant step up in the Big Ten environment for the Huskies.

Cincinnati will bring a defense into Fresno which is not much improved over last season. And that’s not a good sign for a team that surrendered 36 or more points in four of the last five games in 2009. The two-time defending Big East titlists had relied on a potent quick-strike offense in their championship run last year. Fresno State fares no better with a defense that was drilled for 28.4 ppg last season in the pass-happy WAC conference. This game will be a rematch of last year’s Cincinnati-Fresno State contest won by the Bearcats, 28-20 in Cincinnati. Cincinnati is 18-18-2 all time against WAC opponents. Fresno State is 0-1 all time against Big East opposition. The Bulldogs are 6-0 in season openers at home with a 5-game home opener winning streak on the line. The Bearcats will put a 18-game regular season winning streak on the line in this game as well.

Prognoses

In the betting world, Fresno State is favored by a 2½ over Cincinnati. UConn-Michigan is being booked with the Wolverines a 2½ point favorite over the Huskies.

ESPN experts appear to be favoring Michigan over UConn. CBSSports.com Expert Picks have a majority lean towards UConn and Cincinnati victories. Danny Flynn of bleacherreport.com predicts Michigan winning a high scoring affair and Fresno State beating Cincinnati. BetVega.com sports betting news has UConn winning by 33-24 in the site’s weekly upset alert.

Pre-Game Summaries for September 2, 2010

Note: ppg = points per game by offense, pa = points against by defense

Connecticut vs Michigan at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan

2009 Record: UConn (8-5, 3-4), Michigan (5-7, 1-7)

Preseason Rank: UConn is unranked, Michigan is unranked

Preseason Rank (Conference): UConn #4 in Big East, Michigan #6 in the Big Ten Conference

Ranked Opponents: UConn 0, Michigan 0

Returning Starters: UConn 8 on offense, 7 on defense; Michigan 7 on offense, 8 on defense

Offense Rank (2009): UConn ranked 57 th, averaged 31.2 ppg; Michigan ranked 59 th, averaged 29.5 ppg

Defense Rank (2009): UConn ranked 62 nd, averaged 23.6 pa; Michigan ranked 82 nd, averaged 27.5 pa

Television: ABC/ESPN2 (at 3:30pm ET)

Cincinnati vs Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, CA

2009 Record: Cincinnati (9-4, 3-4), Fresno State (8-5, 6-2)

Preseason Rank: Cincinnati is unranked, Fresno State is unranked

Preseason Rank (Conference): Cincinnati #3 in Big East, Fresno State #3 in WAC

Ranked Opponents: Not yet

Returning Starters: Cincinnati 6 on offense, 5 on defense; Fresno State 7 on offense, 9 on defense

Offense Rank (2009): Cincinnati ranked 11 th, averaged 38.6 ppg; Fresno State ranked 17 th, averaged 33.8 ppg

Defense Rank (2009): Cincinnati ranked 67 th averaged 23.1 pa; Fresno State ranked 98 th, averaged 28.4 pa

Television: ESPN2 and ESPN3.com (at 10:00pm ET)

> Find a great selection of Cincinnati Bearcats merchandise and more online along with Big East football Scores from Big East Fans partner sites.

 

Fan-Tactics

The UConn-Michigan game is almost sold out, so the newly refurbished 109,901 seat Michigan Stadium will be bustling to say the least. The Huskies expect to have several hundred fans at the game. The rest will be Michigan rabbles. That would be at least 109,000 of them if the game is sold out. The game will have all the trimmings of a Michigan football party as thousands gather for pregame tailgating outside the stadium. The University of Michigan Victors Club will hold a Michigan Stadium rededication prior to the game. There will be a Fanfest across from the stadium and the first 25,000 fans will receive a free commemorative bottle of water. The Michigan Athletic Department will be giving away 100,000 commemorative lapel pins for those in attendance. The team and fans will renew the traditional Victors Walk into the stadium tunnel. The student section will feature a block M formation with students wearing school-provided blue t-shirts.

Fan festivities in Fresno, CA, might be as hectic prior to the Cincinnati-Fresno State contest. Although the 41,031 seat Bulldog stadium is not sold out, Fresno State officials are expecting a rousing celebration at the traditional pregame party on Bulldog Boulevard. The University of Cincinnati Alumni Association expects around 100 people who will attend a Bearcats fan pregame tailgate party at the Bulldog Diamond Concourse in Fresno. Bearcat fans will also be doing some game-time partying at Dave and Busters as well as the Bearcats Kids Zone in Cincinnati.

ALL FANS SEND US YOUR PRE-GAME AND POST-GAME PARTY PICS! (CLEAN ONES ONLY) We’ll post the best ones on our post-game report. We’re looking for the best and wackiest group photos and the best sign/shirt/button slogans. You can email your pics to BigEastFans@SportsAndAthletics.com .

THE FANS’ PREDICTIONS – UConn fan blogs for UConn-Michigan are posturing around a 28-24 final in favor of the Huskies. Michigan fans are predicting a shootout game with a 30-something to 20-something win for their guys. A majority of Bearcat fan blogs for Cincinnati-Fresno State have Cincy winning a close game. Ditto for the Bulldog fan blogs. We shall see.

Fan-Addicts

Michigan offensive lineman Elliott Mealer has an older brother, Brock, who was severely paralyzed in an auto accident on Christmas 2007. The accident took the lives of the Mealers’ father and Brock’s girlfriend. At the time of his hospitalization, Brock was considered to have a slim-to-none chance of walking. In a spectacular recovery effort, Brock defied the odds and at this Saturday’s game, the school will conduct a special recognition ceremony in his honor as he will lead the team onto the field under the GO BLUE banner.

By Don Perry
BigEast-Fans.com Staff Writer

For future Big East games, you can email your score predictions and game comments to BigEastFans@SportsAndAthletics.com . We’ll post some of your predictions and comments in this section of our post-game reports.