Lorenzen Shines In Husky Debut As UConn Tops Duke

HTML Stats

DURHAM, N.C. (September 1, 2007) – Junior Tyler Lorenzen (Freemont, Iowa) passed for 298 yards and rushed for another 56 as the University of Connecticut football team posted a 45-14 win over Duke on Saturday before a crowd of 17,251 at Wallace Wade Stadium. The contest was the season opener for both teams.

The Huskies dominated the contest from a statistical basis, outgaining the Blue Devils in total offense 487-169 and running 20 more plays -- 77-57. Duke had 15 rushing yards on 28 attempts.

The Huskies trailed 14-11 at halftime, but erupted for 34-second half points in the win.

UConn scored on two of its first three possessions of the second half. Junior wide receiver D.J. Hernandez (Bristol, Conn.) scored UConn's first touchdown of the season on a 57-yard pass from Lorenzen on the fourth play of the drive to make it 18-14 Huskies. Hernandez was converted from a quarterback to a receiver this year.

The Huskies took a 25-14 lead with 1:21 left in the third quarter on a two-yard pass from Lorenzen to junior tight end Steve Brouse (Selinsgrove, Pa.) that ended a six-play, 68-yard drive. Lorenzen competed five-straight passes in the drive for all 68 yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Terrence Jeffers (Lawrenceville, Ga.) was Lorenzen's favorite target with eight receptions for 92 yards. Sophomore Donald Brown (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.) rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries with 78 of those yards in the second half.

As the first half came to a close, Husky junior Tony Ciaravino (Boca Raton, Fla.) kicked a 19-yard field goal with five seconds left cut the Duke lead. The 19-yarder capped a 17-play, 83-yard drive.

The Huskies scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns as Brown had a 25-yard run (8:55 left), junior Lou Allen (Salem, Conn.) had a 11-yard run (2:31 left) and junior cornerback Darius Butler (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had a 36-yard interception return with 2:13 left.

UConn outgained Duke in the first half 227-115 and ran double the amount of plays -- 46 to 23.

The Blue Devils held a 7-5 lead after the first quarter and Ciaravino gave UConn a brief 8-7 lead on a 27-yard field goal with 10:55 left in the quarter. The lead was short-lived as Duke's Jabari Marshall returned the ensuring kickoff 94 yards for a 14-8 Blue Devil lead.

Both teams scored on their opening possessions of the season as Duke started the game with a six play-80 yard drive that ended with a six-yard pass from Thaddeus Lewis to Brandon King. The highlight of the drive was a 53-yard pass from Lewis to Eron Riley on the first play from scrimmage that put the ball at the UConn 32.

The Huskies came right back on their first drive of the season on a 30-yard field goal by Ciaravino that capped a seven-play, 56-yard drive with 11:22 left in the quarter that made it 7-3 Duke.

The other scoring of the first quarter came 1:05 later when UConn registered a safety as Lewis was sacked by Julius Williams and was recovered in end zone by Duke to make it 7-5 Blue Devils.

Duke was led in rushing by Justin Boyle with 31 yards while Jomar Wright had four receptions for 31 yards. Lewis had 148 yards passing for the Devils.

UConn opens the home portion of the season next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. when it takes on Maine at Rentschler Field. Tickets are available at the Online Ticketing Center on UConnHuskies.com. The game will be televised by WTNH-TV Channel 8 and various other ESPN Regional outlets.

CONNECTICUT FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES

AT DUKE -- SEPT. 1, 2007

TEAM NOTES

w   The last time UConn lost its season opener was the last time it opened on the road, Aug. 31, 2002 at Boston College when the Huskies fell, 24-16. The Huskies are now 5-1 in season openers in the FBS (Division I-A era). It is UConn’s first road season-opening win since a 45-35 win at Colgate on Sept. 5, 1998.

w   UConn is now 3-6 all-time against active ACC members, 2-0 against Duke and 2-3 in the Tar Heel State.

w   The 57-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Hernandez was UConn’s longest passing play since Hernandez threw a 61-yard touchdown to Brandon Young against Rhode Island on Aug. 31, 2006.

w   UConn’s safety was its fourth of the FBS era and its first since Nov. 26, 2005 when Deon McPhee sacked USF quarterback Pat Julmiste in the end zone. It is UConn’s first road safety of the FBS era (since 2002).

w   With the opening drive field goal it continues UConn’s streak of scoring on its opening drive of every season since 2000, a span of seven years. Each of the odd years in the span the score was a field goal and the even years it was a touchdown. UConn also scored field goals in 2001 (at Virginia Tech), 2003 (vs. Indiana) and 2005 (vs. Buffalo). The touchdowns came in 2002 (at Boston College), 2004 (vs. Murray State) and 2006 (vs. Rhode Island).

w   UConn wore silver pants with its white road uniforms today. It is only the second time in school history that the Huskies have worn this combination, the other coming on Oct. 5, 2002 for a game at the Orange Bowl against No. 1 Miami. UConn also switched to black cleats this year.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

w   Tyler Lorenzen’s performance today is the most by a UConn signal caller since Dan Orlovsky threw for a school record 445 at Syracuse on Oct. 30, 2004.

w   Terence Jeffers and Larry Taylor’s reception and receiving yard numbers today are career highs.

w   D.J. Hernandez’s 57-yard touchdown catch was the first touchdown reception of his career. Hernandez has now, rushed, thrown and caught a TD in his Husky career. He joins Ken Sweitzer (1984-87) and Keron Henry (2001-04) as the only Huskies ever to accomplish this feat.

w   Robert Vaughn’s and Scott Lutrus’ interceptions were the first of their careers.

w   Tony Ciaravino’s 30-yard first quarter field goal was a career long. His previous best was 29 against West Virginia on Oct. 20, 2006. It is the first time that a UConn kicker has made three or more field goals in a game since Matt Nuzie had four in the 39-10 win over Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl.

w   Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson made their first career starts at linebacker.

w   Freshman making their collegiate debuts today included Aaron Bagsby*, Marcus Campbell*, Kijuan Dabney*, Zach Hurd, Greg Lloyd*, Scott Lutrus, Alex Polito, Derek Rich, Anthony Sherman* and Lawrence Wilson (* denotes true freshmen).

w   Tyler Lorenzen is the ninth different quarterback to make his first career start in the Randy Edsall era. Here is how the others fared:

UCONN QUARTERBACKS IN FIRST CAREER START SINCE 1999

Name                  Date           A-C-I        Yds.      TD     Result

Ryan Tracey         9/2/00         49-23-1    340       3       L, 32-25 at EMich

Luke Richmond     11/4/00       20-8-2      113       1       L, 66-10 vs. MTSU

Chris Willis           11/11/00      28-20-2    168       1       L, 26-21 vs. URI

Keron Henry         9/1/01         29-10-1    110       0       L, 52-10 at VTech

Dan Orlovsky        10/6/01       32-14-1    180       1       W, 19-0 vs. EMich

Matt Bonislawski  9/1/05         18-11-1    121       2       W, 38-0 vs. Buffalo

D.J. Hernandez     10/15/05      43-19-1    191       2       L, 17-28 at Cincy

Dennis Brown       10/22/05      35-18-1    196       2       L, 24-26 vs. Rutgers