There are so many numbers that could be thrown out there with the high-paced Syracuse offense set to meet up with the bend but do not break style of defense installed by Bob Diaco at UConn. However, it is a different matchup that has caught my attention for Saturday's showdown of former Big East rivals.

I did some checking, OK I did lots and lots and lots of checking, and discovered that UConn ranks third from the bottom nationally in total offense in the first quarter and during that same period of time, only two teams have given up more yards than the Syracuse defense. I used that research for the foundation of the story I just filed for tomorrow's paper but here's a look at it.



TEAM     RUSHING              PASSING                         OFFENSE
                    Att-Yards-TD    Comp-Att Yards TD-Int    Plays-Yards-TD
Texas St      14--5-0                     8-12      59     0-0            26-54-0
Charlotte     20-19-0                  10-21      72      0-0           41- 91-0
UConn        30-67-0                     5-8       43      0-0           38-110-0
Rutgers        19-16-0                    6-17    104     1-1           36-110-1
UTEP           24-71-1                   4-13      41      0-0           37-112-1
Tulane          23-87-2                   5-7        30      0-0           30-117-2
Fresno          26-69-1                   9-18      73      0-1           44-142-1
LSU              14-57-1                  7-19       89     1-0            33-146-2
N. Texas       26-63-1                11-23     105     0-2            49-168-1
FIU               12-80-1                 14-24      93     0-1            36-173-1
TEAM     RUSHING              PASSING                         DEFENSE
                    Att-Yards-TD    Comp-Att Yards TD-Int    Plays-Yards-TD
Hawai'i         44-320-4               24-33 309 4-1                       77-629-8
Rutgers         43-302-3               12-22 262 5-1                       65-564-8
Syracuse       22-220-3               12-23 271 2-0                       55-491-5
La-Mon        47-299-3               15-24 166 2-0                       71-465-5
Kansas          40-325-1               11-21-139 2-0                      61-464-1
N IllIinois     31-154-2               14-24 290 2-1                      55-444-3
UNC             41-228-4                15-18 216 2-0                     59-444-6
Akron           48-168-2                19-26 275 3-0                     74-443-5
Kent             46-191-3                13-24 250 3-2                      70-441-6
Rice              35-179-3                12-19 255 1-1                     54-434-4
For those wondering, Syracuse's offense ranks 13th in total offense in the first quarter with 458 yards on 82 (yes 82) plays while UConn's defense would be somewhere in the middle of the pack giving up 335 yards.