Connecticut vs Western Michigan Football Preview

One team is the defending champion of a BCS conference. The other is coming off a 6-6 campaign. One team played in the Fiesta Bowl last season. The other team didn’t even make a bowl.

Why is it, then, that the Connecticut Huskies – the owners of the 2010 Big East championship and that Fiesta Bowl date with Oklahoma – don’t feel like the favorite on their home turf against the Western Michigan Broncos this weekend?

It seems so counterintuitive to say this, but the reality of the situation is that Connecticut is in trouble against its Mid-American Conference opponent at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. The Huskies might be at home, and they might sport a much bigger brand name than WMU, but head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s team needs to do some heavy lifting if it’s going to nudge its record above the .500 mark on the first day of October.

Connecticut’s offense has been nothing less than awful this season. The Huskies lost two Football Follies classics against Vanderbilt and Iowa State, two monuments to sloppiness and ineptitude that any football coach would want to burn in the film room. The Huskies, as an offensive unit, are averaging fewer than 200 yards passing each time they take the field. The Huskies reside in the bottom third of the 120-member Football Bowl Subdivision in both rushing and passing yards. A program that established a reputation for cranking out elite running backs under former boss Randy Edsall is now managing just 121 rushing yards per game. UConn quarterback Johnny McEntee has thrown for only 613 yards in four games this season, an average of just over 150 yards per contest. Moreover, McEntee – while not gaining a lot of real estate through the air – isn’t even efficient. If a passer doesn’t throw for a high number of yards per attempt, he should at least complete a high percentage of passes to keep defenses honest and create a lot of “extended handoffs” to speedy playmakers on short but effective passing routes such as bubble screens or quick hitches. However, McEntee isn’t even bringing that benefit to the table. The struggling field general is 43 of 90 as a passer for the season, a completion rate below 50 percent. Pasqualoni and his offensive braintrust have to find a way to get more production and efficiency out of the tools at their disposal. Connecticut did win last weekend at Buffalo, but not because of an offense that labored en route to a paltry 17-point performance. Coordinator Dan Brown’s defense limited Buffalo to just three points, carrying the load once again for a decidedly imbalanced ballclub.

Western Michigan comes to East Hartford with an excellent shot at victory. If the Broncos don’t hang their heads after a wrenchingly close loss at Illinois, they should fare well in New England. WMU quarterback Alex Carder has thrown for 937 yards this season and shows much more flair than McEntee does in the pocket. The Broncos failed in short-yardage situations against Illinois, and that’s where UConn’s defense is likely to enjoy an advantage, but as long as WMU can keep the Huskies’ offense under wraps, the visitors from Kalamazoo, Michigan, should be in very good shape.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer