2009 International Bowl
Connecticut 38 ... Buffalo 20
GAME
RECAP: Brown runs wild, but UConn loses 5 fumbles
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2009 CFN International
Bowl Preview
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2009 International Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More
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1.
Oh c’mon, MAC. Connecticut was
giving it away, and
Buffalo still got destroyed.
Five turnovers in the first half
and Buffalo was only able to
come up with 20 points. Five
turnovers, all fumbles, and
Buffalo still lost by 18.
Buffalo would’ve been in this
game even if it had lost to Ball
State in the MAC title game,
Bull fans bought up tickets, as
expected, and the team deserved
to be in a bowl even before the
championship, but this was an
International Bowl thumping for
the second year in a row, and it
was the third time in as many
bowls that the Big East beat the
MAC. The bowl makes geographic
sense for the Big East, but the
league needs better overall bowl
ties and this game needs a
better matchup. It’s one thing
to play the MAC Champion vs. the
Big East, like this turned out
to be, but normally, the
champion will go to the Motor
City Bowl. But one more blowout
like this and the bowl officials
will need to rethink the
matchup. -
Pete
Fiutak
2. Donald Brown going pro?
Nooooooo. But he said he was
coming back for his senior year?
It’s funny how a huge game over
a MAC team would influence a
decision, but obviously Brown
knew he was going to be taking
off all along. With his
impressive 261-yard performance
he went over the 2,000-yard mark
for the season, and if it was
possible, it went even more
under the radar than what former
UCF back Kevin Smith and
Tulane's Matt Forte did last
year (before he became a Chicago
Bear). Iowa's Shonn Greene won
the Doak Walker, and deservedly
so, but no back carried his team
like Brown did. UConn had
absolutely nothing offensively
to count on this season outside
of the ground game. Everyone
knew it was Brown running the
ball, and he still he went for
over two bills. And now he's off
to the NFL where his combination
of durability, quickness and
power should find him a job
somewhere. He had a special
college career, even if no one
really noticed. -
Pete
Fiutak
3.
After leading the country in
rushing and bombarding Buffalo
for 260 yards on 29 carries,
Connecticut RB Donald Brown
would've entered next season as
a fringe Heisman contender. He
was the obvious portion of a
power Husky ground game that
rung up 359 yards on the ground,
most of them between the
tackles, and now that he's gone,
the workload will open up for a
new star to watch out for. A
little off the radar is true
freshman Jordan Todman, who also
ran well against the overmatched
Bulls, going for 61 yards on
only seven carries. While Brown
is a north-south runner who can
move a pile, Todman is a burner
with outstanding
change-of-direction in the open
field. Now, it'll be Todman who
needs to give the Huskies the
punch out of the backfield as
they shoot to improve their bowl
positioning in 2009. -
Richard Cirminiello
4.
Connecticut coach Randy Edsall,
along with the coaches of any
other kick returners across
America (or Canada, given
the fact that today's game was
played in Toronto) who don't
know the football rulebook
should write the following
sentence on a chalkboard 1,000
times:
"If you muff a punt or kickoff,
it's not a safety if you
recover the ball in the end
zone."
Keep writing, Randy. Teach your
kids the rulebook.
"If you muff a punt or kickoff,
it's not a safety if you recover
the ball in the end zone."
Okay, just 998 more times to go.
-
Matthew
Zemek
5. Connecticut doesn’t have the
best defense in the country, but
it might have the most
underrated unit around. None of
these kids were heavily
recruited outside the Northeast,
yet they all fly to the ball,
force mistakes, and swarm
tackle. Even in the region, Cody
Brown, Scott Lutrus, and Julius
Williams aren’t household names,
but they’re all playmakers that
have elevated their games since
arriving in Storrs. Year-in and
year-out, Randy Edsall and his
staff, including coordinator
Todd Orlando, do a magnificent
job of coaching up this group.
It’s no fluke that UConn has
been among the nation’s leaders
in total defense, three years
running. -
Richard Cirminiello