WATCH BOWL PREVIEW VIDEO
Friday, Jan. 1 • 8:30 p.m.
University of Phoenix Stadium (73,000/Grass)
Glendale, Ariz.
Television
ESPN
Sean McDonough, Matt Millen and Heather Cox
ESPN 3D
Joe Tessitore, Tim Brown and Ray Bentley
National Radio
ESPN Radio
Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards
Connecticut Radio
WTIC-AM 1080 (flagship)
THE GAME
The matchup between Connecticut and Oklahoma will take place in the 40th annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which has been played in each season since 1971 … BIG EAST teams have gone 2-3 in the Fiesta Bowl with wins by Syracuse (26-22 against Colorado) in the 1993 game and West Virginia (48-28 against Oklahoma) in the 2008 edition … This year’s meeting will be the first between Connecticut and Oklahoma … The schools have one common opponent — Oklahoma defeated Cincinnati 31-29 Sept. 25 and Connecticut defeated the Bearcats 38-17 Nov. 27.
CURRENT BIG EAST SCHOOLS IN THE FIESTA BOWL
12-21-73 Arizona State 28, Pittsburgh 7
12-25-79 Pittsburgh 16, Arizona 10
1-2-84 Ohio State 28, Pittsburgh 23
1-2-89 Notre Dame 34, West Virginia 21
1-1-91 Louisville 34, Alabama 7
1-1-93 Syracuse 26, Colorado 22
12-31-97 Kansas State 35, Syracuse 18
1-1-05 Utah 35, Pittsburgh 7
1-2-08 West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28
No. 25/rv CONNECTICUT (8-4)
Head Coach
Randy Edsall (Syracuse ’80)
74-69, 12th season
NOTES
Connecticut will play in a Bowl Championship Series game for the first time after the Huskies closed the regular season with five consecutive wins to capture a share of the BIG EAST championship … The Huskies won their second shared BIG EAST title in four years — Connecticut tied West Virginia for the championship in 2007, but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Mountaineers … The Huskies were 3-4 through their first seven games in 2010 before reeling off their current five-game winning streak … Connecticut is making its fourth consecutive postseason appearance and its fifth trip to a bowl game … The Huskies are 3-1 in bowl games … Connecticut was 5-0 at home and 2-4 on the road … RB Jordan Todman — the unanimous BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year — enters the game ranked second nationally in rushing (143.1 yards per game) … Todman has rushed for 1,574 yards and 14 touchdowns on 302 carries, earning All-America First Team status from Sporting News … Todman was an All-America Second Team choice of Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation … QB Zach Frazer has thrown for 1,202 yards and five touchdowns with four interceptions in 10 games … WR Michael Smith has 42 receptions for 595 yards and two touchdowns, while WR Kashif Moore has 32 catches for 390 yards and four TDs … LB Lawrence Wilson leads the BIG EAST in tackles (115 total, 9.6 per game) … DE Jesse Joseph has 8.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss … DE Kendall Reyes earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors, as did K Dave Teggart, who hit the game-winning field goal in the final minute against USF to put the Huskies in the Fiesta Bowl.
2010 RESULTS
|
September
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
at Michigan
|
L
|
10-30
|
|
11
|
Texas Southern
|
W
|
62-3
|
|
18
|
at Temple
|
L
|
16-30
|
|
25
|
Buffalo
|
W
|
45-21
|
|
October
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
Vanderbilt
|
W
|
40-21
|
|
8
|
at RUTGERS
|
L
|
24-27
|
|
23
|
at LOUISVILLE
|
L
|
0-26
|
|
29
|
WEST VIRGINIA
|
W
|
ot 16-13
|
|
November
|
|
|
|
|
11
|
PITTSBURGH
|
W
|
30-28
|
|
20
|
at SYRACUSE
|
W
|
23-6
|
|
27
|
CINCINNATI
|
W
|
38-17
|
|
December
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
at USF
|
W
|
19-16
|
|
January
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
vs. Oklahoma
|
|
8:30 p.m.
|
BIG EAST games in CAPS
No. 9/8 OKLAHOMA (11-2)
Head Coach
Bob Stoops (Iowa ’83)
128-31, 12th season
NOTES
Oklahoma reached the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl by virtue of its win against Nebraska in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship … The Sooners finished in a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South Division (with Texas A&M and Oklahoma State), but won the tiebreaker as the highest-ranked team in the Bowl Championship Series standings … Oklahoma will make its 44th bowl appearance and its 12th consecutive appearance in the postseason … Coach Bob Stoops has taken the Sooners to the postseason in each of his 12 years in Norman … The Sooners are 25-17-1 in bowl games … Oklahoma is led offensively by QB Landry Jones, who has thrown for 4,289 yards and 35 touchdowns with 11 interceptions … All-America WR Ryan Broyles has 118 receptions for 1,452 yards and 13 touchdowns … RB Demarco Murray leads the team in rushing with 1,121 yards and 14 touchdowns … Murray is the Sooners’ second-leading receiver with 595 yards and five touchdowns and leads the team with an average of 151.2 all-purpose yards per game … The defense is paced by DE Jeremy Beal, an All-America Second Team choice by Associated Press and the Walter Camp Football Foundation … Beal has team highs of 8.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss to go with six pass breakups and 66 tackles … LB Travis Lewis leads the team with 99 tackles, while CB Jonathan Nelson has 98 … FS Quinton Carter is an AFCA and AP All-America First Team choice who has 92 tackles and four interceptions.
2010 RESULTS
|
September
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
Utah State
|
W
|
31-24
|
|
11
|
Florida State
|
W
|
47-17
|
|
18
|
Air Force
|
W
|
27-24
|
|
25
|
at Cincinnati
|
W
|
31-29
|
|
October
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
vs. TEXAS
|
W
|
28-20
|
|
16
|
IOWA STATE
|
W
|
52-0
|
|
23
|
at MISSOURI
|
L
|
27-36
|
|
30
|
COLORADO
|
W
|
43-10
|
|
November
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
at TEXAS A&M
|
L
|
19-33
|
|
13
|
TEXAS TECH
|
W
|
45-7
|
|
20
|
at BAYLOR
|
W
|
53-24
|
|
27
|
at OKLAHOMA STATE
|
W
|
47-41
|
|
December
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
vs. Nebraska
|
W
|
23-20
|
|
January
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
vs. Connecticut
|
|
8:30 p.m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Big 12 games in CAPS
