UConn Football vs. Memphis: How to Watch, By The Numbers, Keys To Game

KICKOFF: 7:00 PM

TV: ESPN, WatchESPN

ANNOUNCERS: Dave LaMont (play-by-play), Mack Brown (color analyst) and Jen Lada (sideline)

RADIO: UConn IMG Radio Network (WTIC 1080 AM, WILI 1400 AM, WAVZ 1300 AM, WGCH 1490 AM); TuneIn; Sirius 84, XM 84, SiriusXM Internet 84

ANNOUNCERS: Joe D'Ambrosio (play-by-play), Wayne Norman (color analyst), Ken Sweitzer (sideline)

POINT SPREAD-OVER/UNDER: Memphis - 14.5; O/U 72 points

SERIES HISTORY: The UConn Huskies and Memphis Tigers have met just two times on the gridiron with each team winning at home once. The Huskies got their win in 2013 while Memphis won in 2014.

UConn Huskies Depth Chart for Memphis

By the Numbers:

182.32 - Bryant Shirreffs passing efficiency rating, 4th in the country and first in the American Athletic Conference.

6 - Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson threw for six touchdowns in the Tigers’ upset over UCLA three weeks ago, but has not been as effective since then, throwing for just one touchdown with three interceptions in last week’s loss to UCF.

379.8 - UConn remains last in the country in passing defense, surrendering nearly 380 yards per game in air. The pass defense is giving up 45 more passing yards per game than the second worst passing defense of Nevada.

27- Memphis linebacker Austin Hall is fifth in country with 27 tackles. Hall could be a factor in stifling a UConn running game that has shown promise at points this season.

206- Wide receivers Aaron McLean and Keyion Dixon combined for 206 receiving yards against SMU last week. It will be interesting to see if Shirreffs continues to target these two as the season progresses and how Rhett Lashlee will utilize McLean’s size and Dixon’s speed going forward.

Keys to the Game/What to Watch For

Begin Better

In all four games this season, UConn has allowed the other team to get ahead quickly. In three of those games, the Huskies did a nice job of fighting through and getting it close again, but two of those times the comeback bid fell short.

Secondary, Please

The secondary showed signs against SMU but still struggled overall. It was encouraging to see some pressure on the opposing passer last week, which would go a long way to helping the beleaguered secondary out. As it stands, this group is really young, even younger than it started with Tahj Herring-Wilson now starting at corner, but we’ll just keep putting secondary improvement here every week because it’s the team’s greatest weakness by far.

Offense Put it Together

These numbers the UConn offense is putting up are certainly a shock to our system, but they still need to keep going up to compete with Memphis, Missouri, and the Florida schools. Bryant Shirreffs has been playing better, and it has allowed a lot of new guys to get into the playmaking fold. Crazy as it sounds, they’re capable of much better than the already solid performance. If there’s going to be an upset over the course of the season, we’re gonna need 35-40+ points from this group.

Turnovers?

UConn recovered a fumble against Holy Cross and had a late-game, more or less garbage time interception against Virginia. Sacks and TFL have been on the rise, which is promising, and turnovers are in many instances a factor of luck so hopefully we can get like four Memphis turnovers to support the upset bid.