Connecticut at Pittsburgh

Connecticut lost 44 starts due to injury last season - more than any team in the Big East and more than most teams in the country. Randy Edsall has begun to recruit, and stock this team with good players. The injuries allowed many players to get their baptism under fire in 2006. Coupling that with deeper and better recruiting, UCONN now has something it has never had in any season under Edsall - depth! The Huskies mediocre home performance vs. a hapless Temple team last week has loaded this line chock full of value. That Temple game was a look ahead for this Huskies group, anxious to get the Big East season rolling. The last couple of seasons the Huskies were without a leader on offense. They tried Hernandez at QB, and he simply could not move the team. They also tried Bonislawski, and he wasn't the answer either. Neither threw for even 1,000 yards. The Huskies attack was on the ground. That made them easy to defend, as teams stacked eight or nine in the box and dared the Huskies to throw. And they couldn't. Enter JC transfer Tyler Lorenzen who threw for 3,000 yards with 26 TDs and 3 INTs as a JC. The Huskies are immediately upgraded. They have also sent DJ Hernandez to WR, which gives them more speed, and a game-breaker outside. Lorenzen has already thrown for nearly as many yards as the best QB from last season, and has completed 68.2% with only two INT'S. Donald Brown is now backed up by Andre Dixon, who went over 100 yards last week, and is averaging 6.1 yards per carry. The Huskies are also better defensively, and now the shoe is on the other foot. Tyler Palko had a great career at Pitt, but now the offense is led by Kevan Smith and Bill Stull. The Panthers have four INTs and just two TD passes. LeSean McCoy leads the ground attack, but the Panthers remind us of the Huskies last year. They don't trust the young QB to open up the offense yet. Despite the efforts of Palko, Pitt was out-gained by over 75 yards per game in Big East play and had a +8 trunover margin. Those fortunes should reverse, with the inexperience this season. Connecticut beat this team last season, and sent Pitt into a tailspin from which they never recovered. This year the Huskies have the firepower and the defense to hang within this lofty number at the very least.