Virginia Travels to Connecticut Saturday Night

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Virginia (1-1, 0-0 ACC) at Connecticut (2-0, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Game 3 Saturday, Sept. 13 7:30 p.m.

Rentschler Field East Hartford, Conn.

Surface: Natural Grass
Series vs. UConn: Virginia leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 2007 (UVa 17, UConn 16)
Television: ESPNU
Radio: Virginia Sports Network
Satellite Radio: XM Radio Ch. 190
School Websites: VirginiaSports.com, UConnHuskies.com

TV Coverage
ESPNU is televising the game.
Clay Matvick (play-by-play), David Diaz-Infante (analyst) and Melissa Knowles (sidelines) have the call.

Radio Coverage
All Virginia games are broadcast on the Virginia Sports Network, originating at WINA/WWWV in Charlottesville.
Dave Koehn (play-by-play), Frank Quayle (analyst) and Tim Sherman (sidelines) have the call.

On the Road Against Non-Conference Opponents
This is the only road non-conference game the Cavaliers play this season.
It marks the 11th year in a row they have played at least one non-league road game.
Under Al Groh Virginia is 3-7 in non-conference road games since 2001 (regular-season games).
UVa’s last non-conference road win was a 23-21 win at Middle Tennessee last year.

UVa Makes First Trip To Connecticut in 64 Years
Virginia is making its first-ever visit to the University of Connecticut and its first trip to the state since 1944.
Virginia has played six games in the state of Connecticut all vs. Yale, with the last coming in 1944 (6-6 tie).
UVa went 2-3-1 in those contests.

Things You Need To Know
This is just the second meeting ever between Virginia and Connecticut UVa won a 17-16 squeaker last year in Charlottesville.
Virginia has won five straight games at night; UConn has won nine straight at home.
Virginia’s four non-conference opponents are 7-1 this season, with the lone loss coming by Richmond against UVa last weekend.
Three of Virginia’s four non-conference opponents are ranked (USC, East Carolina – FBS; Richmond – FCS) and the other, Connecticut, is receiving votes.
Virginia has had a dozen players make their first career starts in the first two games this season.

Virginia vs. The Big East
Virginia is 21-18-1 all-time vs. the current membership of the Big East.
Against schools who were Big East members at game time, Virginia is 13-10 overall.
Most of the games came against in-state rival Virginia Tech (6-7) when the Hokies were Big East members. UVa is 2-0 vs. Syracuse, 2-1 vs. Pittsburgh, 1-0 vs. Temple, West Virginia and Connecticut and 0-1 vs. Boston College and Miami.
UVa last played on the road against a Big East opponent in 2006, a 38-13 loss at Pittsburgh.
Virginia is 6-3 against the Big East under Al Groh, including 2-2 on the road.

Cavaliers Strong Under The Lights
Virginia has won five straight games played at night.
UVa won all four of its night games in 2007.
The Cavaliers’ last loss under the lights was Oct. 7, 2006, at East Carolina (31-21)

Something Has To Give
While UVa boasts a five-game winning streak in night games, UConn owns a nine-game home winning streak.
The Huskies’ streak dates to 2006 and ranks sixth-best currently among FBS teams.

Wahoos Win on the Road When Scoring First
After going 2-9 on the road in 2006 and 2007, Virginia was 4-2 last season.
Since 1987, UVa played 111 games at opponents’ stadiums, winning 55
One of the keys in the 55 wins is UVa’s ability to score first. The Wahoos are 40-15-1 (.723) in that span when they score first.
Virginia has scored first in six of its last nine road wins dating back to 2004.

Virginia Averages Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game Since 01
Virginia has been the ACC’s least-penalized team during Al Groh’s eight years as head coach.
UVa has averaged just 44.9 penalty yards per game since 2001.
Virginia’s game last week was an aberration, with UVa accumulating 103 penalty yards the Cavaliers’ most since 2001, Groh’s first season.

Penalty Yards Per Game Since 2001

* joined ACC in 2004 or 2005

2007: Virginia 17, Connecticut 16
Chris Gould kicked a 19-yard field goal with 3:20 to play and Virginia won its sixth consecutive game and knocked Connecticut from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 17-16 victory.
The Cavaliers trailed 16-14 and had struggled on offense all day before driving 79 yards for the go-ahead field goal.
The Huskies got consecutive 11-yard runs from quarterback Tyler Lorenzen after Gould’s field goal to reach Virginia’s 44, but UConn lost 21 yards when a snap in the shotgun zipped passed Lorenzen, a false start penalty that made it second-and-31 and then fumbled on the next snap.

Hoos Win When Holding Opponents to Fewer Than 100 Yards Rushing
Since 2004, Virginia has held 19 opponents to 100 rushing yards or fewer, including Richmond (19 yards) last Saturday.
Virginia is 17-2 in those games. The lone losses were to NC State and Texas Tech last season.

Mack Is Lone Connecticut Native
Virginia has one native of Connecticut on its roster, freshman running back Torrey Mack of Stratford.
Mack rushed for 1,177 yards and 20 touchdowns on just 86 rushes as a senior at Stratford High (13.7 average per carry).
UConn boasts two Virginia natives freshman QB Casey Turner (Chesapeake/Great Bridge) and OL Jimmy Bennett (Alexandria/West Potomac).

Torchia, Burrell Earn First Career Starts
TE Joe Torchia and LB Denzel Burrell each made the first start of their careers vs. Richmond.
In two weeks, 12 Cavaliers have made the first start of their careers six on offense and six on defense.

Kick-Block Unit Has Big Day vs. Richmond
Virginia’s field goal kick-block unit blocked two kicks against Richmond.
It is the first time UVa blocked two kicks in a game since the North Carolina game in 2000.
Matt Conrath deflected Andrew Howard’s 29-yard FG attempt late in the first half, causing it to go wide.
Nick Jenkins then blocked Howard’s 29-yard try late in the third quarter.

Cavaliers Second Youngest Team in ACC
Virginia has 72 freshmen or sophomores on its roster. The Cavaliers and Virginia Tech rank second to Georgia Tech for the youngest team in the ACC.
Georgia Tech has 75 players that are either freshmen or sophomores.
North Carolina (68), Duke (66) and Boston College (64) rank fourth through sixth, respectively.

More On The Youth Movement
Virginia has just 16 seniors on its roster.
That total is among the fewest in the country only 17 programs have fewer seniors on their rosters.
Central Michigan and Toledo each have just 10 seniors on their rosters.

Bring The A’ Game Early
UVa’s first three opponents (USC, Richmond, UConn) combined to win 31 games last year.
USC is currently ranked No. 1 nationally and East Carolina is No. 14 (Associated Press), while Richmond is the FCS No. 3 squad.
UConn is receiving votes in both polls.
UVa’s four non-conference opponents this year are 7-1 thus far.

Overall Schedule Also Strong
UVa’s opponents combined to go 91-64 (.587) last year.
UVa’s opponents’ 2007 winning percentage ranks 19th nationally.
Eight of the 12 opponents had .500-plus records and played in bowls in 2007.
UVa’s schedule was ranked 10th toughest in the country recently by ESPN.com.