Week 11: Connecticut at Cincinnati

Big game in the Queen City.

It’s one that might help solve the question of which team is the king of the Big East.

West Virginia is the highest ranked league team, but Connecticut is the only one with a spotless conference mark at 4-0. The No. 16 Huskies and Mountaineers are the only two teams with their fates in their own hands. The two meet on Nov. 24 in Morgantown, W.Va.

“I didn’t know how many wins and losses we’d have (this season), but we had a lot of guys who had been hurt that we were getting back,” said Connecticut coach Randy Edsall. “I felt if we could stay healthy and get good play from the quarterback position, we could be a better football team.”

They have received good, albeit not spectacular, play from junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen at quarterback. He is ranked fifth in the Big East in both passing yards (averaging 191.4) and total offense (223.3). Perhaps most important, though, is Lorenzen has thrown but four interceptions in 233 pass attempts.

“He does a great job of leading our team, making sure we don’t turn the ball over,” Edsall said. “If we can continue to do that well, we give ourselves a chance to win.”

So far, so good for Connecticut in that department. Although the Huskies’ Saturday opponent, Cincinnati, leads the Big East in turnover margin (plus 15), UConn is next (plus 13).

And the Huskies have taken advantage. It’s something they have to do because they are but sixth in total offense within the Big East and fourth in total defense.

“They do all the little things well,” said Cincy coach Brian Kelly.

Like limit the opposition to an average of 13.7 points a game. That does lead the Big East and is third nationally.

Winning this game would be huge for UConn, which is at 8-1 for the first time in program history. Not only are the Huskies in unchartered territory, they need to prove they can beat a quality opponent on the road. In away games this season, Connecticut defeated lightly regarded Duke (45-14) and Pitt (34-14) and lost to Virginia (17-16). And although this season is very different than any other the Huskies have put together, UConn has historically been poor on the road within the Big East. The program is 2-9 since joining in football.

A big key in this game will be for Connecticut’s two-headed tailback tandem of Donald Brown and Andre Dixon to run effectively on Cincy’s defense, which is No. 2 in the Big East against the run.

The question in relation to the Bearcats centers around their state of mind. After winning its first six games, then losing a pair to Louisville and Pittsburgh, UC was ousted from Top 25s. The team also dropped a notch below the Big East title contenders. But they showed life last week by winning at South Florida in a 38-33 nail-biter.

As is the case with Connecticut, Cincinnati thrives on that turnover. In the two-game slide, the Bearcats created just one. They more than made up for that, though, by forcing USF into a whopping eight in Tampa.

Junior safety Mike Mickens and cornerback DeAngelo Smith both have five interceptions apiece for a unit that had four picks against South Florida’s Matt Grothe.

For UC, though, keep an eye on quarterback Ben Mauk. He’s completed 60.4 percent of his passes and has thrown 18 touchdowns. If he has success against Connecticut’s pass defense, ranked fifth in the Big East, the Bearcats should pull this one out.

Cincinnati by 5