UConn Tops Pittsburgh In BIG EAST Opener

Huskies Move To 4-0 For First Time Since 1997

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PITTSBURGH (September 22, 2007) – Junior quarterback Tyler Lorenzen (Freemont, Iowa) was 12 of 25 in the air for 174 yards to lead the University of Connecticut football team to a 34-14 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday before a crowd of 40,145 at Heinz Field.

UConn improves to 4-0 on the season and is 1-0 in BIG EAST play while the Panthers are 2-2 and 0-1 in the BIG EAST. UConn has now beaten Pitt in three of their four meetings as BIG EAST members. The Huskies are 4-0 for the first time since 1997.

The Huskies were led in rushing by sophomore Doanld Brown (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.), who had 53 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Junior D.J. Hernandez (Bristol, Conn.) and sophomore Terrence Jeffers (Lawrenceville, Ga.) each had three receptions.

The Huskies scored the last 17 points of the second quarter. After Pitt made it 10-7 UConn, Lorenzen led the Huskies on an eight play-60 yard drive. Brown had the score on the drive on a four yard rush. Lorenzen hooked up with Hernandez on two receptions for 41 yards on that drive.

After forcing Pittsburgh into a three-and-out, the Huskies came right back and engineered a nine play-69 yard drive that resulted in a TD and made it 24-7 Huskies. Brown again was the scorer on a a one-yard run and Lorenzen had 53 yards of passing on the drive.

Pittsburgh took possession with 32 seconds left in the fist half, but Panther quarterback Kevan Smith fumbled the ball, which set up a 39-yard field goal by junior Tony Ciaravino (Boca Raton, Fla.) as time expired to make it UConn 27-7 at the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, UConn made it 34-7 as redshirt freshman Lawrence Wilson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) had a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Wilson also led UConn in tackles with 11.

Pitt scored the final TD of the game on a 21-yard TD pass by Pat Bostick to Oderick Turner.

Connecticut led 10-0 after the first quarter and outgained the Panthers in total offense by an 89-26 count. Pittsburgh got on the board for the first time as LeShean McCoy had a 19-yard touchdown run with 9:20 left in the second quarter. McCoy had the last three rushes of the drive for 44 yards.

UConn took a 7-0 lead on a one-yard rush by junior Lou Allen (Salem, Conn.) to finish a three play-six yard drive. The drive was set up an interception of a Kevan Smith pass by senior Danny Lansanah (Harrisburg, Pa.), who returned it 26 yards.

After forcing Pitt to punt on its second possession of the game, UConn went on a 15 play-75 yard drive that ended with a 26-yard field goal by Ciaravino. Lorenzen rushed for 23 yards during that drive.

Pittsburgh was led in rushing by McCoy with 11 carries for 70 yards while Smith was three of nine for 29 yards. In the second half, Pittsburgh used Pat Bostick at quarterback, who was 27 of 41 for 230 yards.

UConn returns to action next Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at Rentschler Field when it plays a non-conference game against Akron. The game will be televised by ESPN Regional as the BIG EAST Game of the Week and will be seen in Connecticut on MyTV9 (WCTX).

CONNECTICUT FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES

AT PITTSBURGH w SEPT. 22, 2007

TEAM NOTES

w   The Huskies improve to 4-0 for the first time since 1997. The Huskies have not been 5-0 since starting the 1995 season with a 6-0 run.

w   UConn is now 3-1 all-time against Pitt. It is the first road win by either side in the series.

w   The Huskies are now 2-2 in BIG EAST openers. It is the first time that UConn has won a road BIG EAST opener.

w   UConn gets its second-ever BIG EAST road victory. The other came on Nov. 25, 2004, a 41-35 win at Rutgers.

w   UConn now has three interception return touchdowns on the year (Wilson tonight, Luturs vs. Maine and Butler at Duke). That ties the school record set in 2004.

w   The team’s 27 first half points tonight are the most that UConn has ever scored in a road BIG EAST game. The previous high was 21 at Rutgers on Nov. 25, 2004. It is the most points that UConn has scored against any Division I-A team in the first half since scoring 30 against Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl. It is the second-most points that UConn has ever scored in the first half of a BIG EAST game regardless of site. UConn scored 31 points in the first half against temple at Rentschler Field on Oct. 23, 2004.

w   UConn has now scored on its opening drive in three out of four games so far this year. The lone exception was against Maine (Sept. 8). UConn’s defense did score early in that game though as Scott Lutrus ran an interception back 25 yards for a touchdown at 14:12 on the game’s second play. The Huskies have scored in the first quarter in each of their last eight games.

w   The UConn defense has generated an interception in each of the four games this year and each of UConn’s last six contests overall dating back to the Nov. 18, 2006 contest against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

w   With his two first half field goals, Tony Ciaravino has now made each of his last six field goal tries. It is the longest streak of successful field goals by a Husky since Matt Nuzie hit 10 consecutive kicks from Sept. 25, 2004-Nov. 13, 2004.

w   On his early second quarter punt return, Larry Taylor passed Joe Markus (1979-82) for the school’s career punt return yardage record. Markus amassed 1,013 punt return yards as a Husky. Taylor ranks second in BIG EAST history in this category, trailing only Santana Moss who had 1,196 punt return yards from Miami from 1997-2000.

w   Danny Lansanah’s first quarter interception is his first of the year and the sixth of his career.

w   Lawrence Wilson and Lindsey Witten’s interceptions were the first of their respective careers.