Let's put a lid on the Syracuse game. Some highlights from Edsall's Sunday call.

• Game balls to Jordan Todman (offense), Kendall Reyes (defense) and Cole Wagner (special teams). Wagner was a bit of an unsung hero Saturday, averaging 49.5 yards per punt on four kicks. The stat that really jumps out is three of those punts went inside the 20. That equates to hang time, distance and accuracy. The dome is a major advantage for punters (see Long, Rob). Still, quite a day for Wagner. UConn won the field position battle, pinning Syracuse to an average drive start from its own 24 compared to UConn at its own 41, a huge help for the defense. "Giving them 80 yards or more to go is an advantage for the defense every time," Edsall said.

• Edsall was disappointed with the penalties, and felt Teggart should have made the 49 yarder he missed wide right in the second quarter. Yep. Dome conditions raise expectations for kickers. Edsall said Teggart shouldn't have missed wide with a spot in the middle of the field. It's the reason he decided to pass up a 50-yarder late in the third quarter to go for it on 4th-and-4 from the Orange 33 with the score still 17-6.

• Edsall was asked to compare Zach Frazer with Tyler Lorenzen, as both have shown a knack for winning games with incomplete skill-set packages. Edsall pointed out that Tyler was a better athlete and a better runner and that Frazer throws a better ball but doesn't make plays with his feet. The similarities are with their intangibles. "They're both competitors, they both want to win," Edsall said. "And they both understand if you don't turn the ball over, you give your team a better chance to win."

This has nothing to do with anything, but it was a strange weekend in Central New York. I covered the No. 5 Yale men's hockey game at Cornell Friday night, and while killing time in the Cornell bookstore I overheard a young Ivy League student trying to talk his girlfriend out of dumping him over the phone. Quite an impressive argument this young man made. Rational, logical, impassioned. He still got dumped (took it very well, actually). But that was a future politician, for sure. At the game that night, the Cornell student section -- always the best in college hockey. Think of Duke's Cameron Crazies, but wearing several layers on winter clothing. -- started a chant of "over-rated" directed at Yale. This, by the way, came AFTER Yale dominated the game in a 4-2 victory.

The next morning in Syracuse, I watched a cop pull over a van from my hotel room and make an arrest. An hour later while eating breakfast at the local Denny's, I overheard a table of three meatheads discuss which street-fighting techniques worked best for them whenever it got to "brawlin'" ... now I know the importance of knowing the pressure points on an opponent. And a short time later, my lap top bit the dust, forcing me to drive to Best Buy and purchase a new one from a sales associate named Billy Jack. Then, wandering the Carrier Dome press box in the pregame, I witnessed Herm Edwards give an interview to a Syracuse student radio station. Couldn't figure out which was more bizarre -- Herm's answers, his speaking style or the facial contortions he made in answering every question with a level of body animation usually reserved for (bad) Broadway productions. In case you weren't aware, Herm furrows his brow quite often, even when perusing the odd-and-ends at the media salad bar.

An odd weekend, indeed.

A quick Aloha to the WTIC radio tandem of Joe D'Ambrosio and Wayne Norman, who flew back to Hartford late last night only to catch a 6 a.m. flight out to Maui for the hoops tournament. (I feel your pain. Really.) Rumor has it the boys were on the same planes as Donyell Marshall and Danny Ainge in their cross-country travels. Key dining tip fellas: eat at Sansei Seafood and Sushi Bar in Kihei. Had one of the top five meals of my life there. And yes, I remember and rank things like the top five meals I've ever eaten. Not far from the tournament, either. The place is freaking phenomenal, and I'm not even a sushi fan. Have the chef's tasting menu, which is for two people. You can thank me when you get back to the mainland.