Fiesta Bowl: UConn Huskies 17-Point Underdogs Against Oklahoma Sooners
Despite the 8-4 record and mediocre schedule, the UConn Huskies have some strengths that cannot be overlooked by the Oklahoma Sooners during this Fiesta Bowl matchup.
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The sports books in Las Vegas don’t give the Connecticut Huskies much of a chance in Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl, pinning the Huskies as a 17-point dog to the Oklahoma Sooners.
It goes without saying that UConn is possibly the worst team to grace a BCS bowl game, and Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 in the country a mere two months ago. At no point in the 2010 season did the Huskies break the top 25 (although the final AP poll has cast them at 25th overall).
Oklahoma has the fourth-best passing offense in college football, averaging 336 yards a game. The Sooners boast Landry Jones at quarterback, a talented sophomore who has picked up nearly 4,300 passing yards in 2010. Does UConn even have a chance? The real question is, can you spot them 17 points and still expect to win?
After starting the season with a loss to Michigan in the Big House, things weren't looking good in Storrs. The Huskies haven't seen good quarterback play since 2004, the last season Dan Orlovsky suited up for UConn. Zach Fraser, Connecticut's senior signal caller, has only completed 52.7% of his passes in 2010, the worst mark of his career.
The Huskies lost to Temple in the third week of the season, and after seven games UConn was 3-4. How does a team with four losses get to the Fiesta Bowl, you ask? The Big East is an abysmal football conference, and Connecticut was able to execute a bruising rushing attack to take the conference crown and the automatic BCS bid. Junior RB Jordan Todman has rushed for 1,574 yards on the season, scoring 14 touchdowns and accounting for the majority of the Connecticut offense.
UConn does have some strengths, much to the surprise of the casual fan. The Huskies have only turned the ball over 17 times all season, including only seven interceptions. Connecticut is efficient in the red zone, converting 93% of their possessions from that distance into points. With those types of statistics, its no wonder that head coach Randy Edsall was able to lead his team to the Fiesta Bowl.
Connecticut is not as talented as Oklahoma, nor do they have the athletes or the fanbase. But UConn has a better shot in this game than Cincinnati did last year against Florida - the coach is still in town and the team is looking to steal a BCS win for their proud school. If Todman can break a few solid runs off early, this could be an interesting game.
