UConn football vs. East Carolina Pirates: How to watch, by the numbers, what to watch for

KICKOFF: 12 P.M. ET

TV: ESPN3

ANNOUNCERS: Robert Lee (play-by-play), Matt Chatham (color analyst)

RADIO: UConn IMG Radio Network; TuneIn; 97.9 ESPN Hartford, WINE 940 AM, WGCH 1490 AM, WICC 600 AM, WAVZ 1300 AM, WATR 1320 AM WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM

ANNOUNCERS: Mike Crispino (play-by-play), Wayne Norman (color analyst), Adam Giardino (sideline), Bob Joyce (pregame host)

RECORDS: UConn (2-8, 0-6 American); ECU (3-7, 0-6 American)

POINT SPREAD: ECU - 15

OVER/UNDER: 66

SERIES HISTORY: The UConn Huskies and the East Carolina Pirates will meet for the sixth time on the gridiron. ECU holds a 4-1 advantage.

Fun With Numbers

766 - Number of days (as of game day) since UConn has beat an FBS team at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Their last FBS win at PAWSARF was on October 21, 2017 when they beat Tulsa, 20-14.

15 - Seniors who will be honored on Saturday before the game

11 - ECU is 11-of-11 during the last three games in the red zone (5 TDs, 6 FGs). Edsall’s red zone efficiency bonus might be in trouble.

130 - Jack Zergiotis’ ranking of about 130 starting quarterbacks in FBS, according to Pro Football Focus.

47 - Matt Peart’s consecutive starts on the offensive line under the previous head coach and Randy Edsall

478 - Cam Ross’ receiving yards as a true freshman which lead the team

What to watch for

Will Krajewski Start?

It would be the perfect denouement for Randy Edsall’s third season since his return, wouldn’t it? Edsall did say, back in October, that the recently-injured redshirt freshman could feature for the Huskies again this year, and with Zergiotis’ recent struggles, it would at least make a marginal amount of sense to throw him back out there against a porous ECU defense.

Saturday will test out a hypothesis: can Steven Krajewski repeat his 22-for-33, three-touchdown performance against UCF on September 28. Of course, it mostly took place in garbage time, but you never know until you try.

Mensah continues to roll

Kevin Mensah has been the lone constant in UConn’s offense the past two years, a product of getting the rock handed to him many, many times. His 200 attempts are more than double the next-highest on the team, Art Thompkins.

The Toledo transfer was supposed to help take the load off Mensah, but so far he’s outpaced his number of carries and yards per carry through ten games. This has him on pace to continue shooting through the UConn record books, needing 100 yards this weekend to pass Wilbur Gilyard for the sixth spot all-time.

Farewell to the “seniors”

UConn will say farewell to 15 seniors on Saturday, including a pair that nobody was expecting. Starting linemen Cam DeGeorge and Nino Leone will also be honored on Senior Day, despite each having one year of eligibility left. Both have been starters for the past two years, and both will be leaving the Huskies without completing their senior seasons.

Edsall stated that all players leaving UConn with eligibility remaining — six others, along with the pair of linemen — are leaving of their own accord, meaning none are getting forced out. Either way, it’s not a great sign for a program still trying to establish some sort of consistency/veteran presence three years into Edsall’s second run.