Connecticut Huskies | |||
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
First season | 1896 | ||
Athletic director | David Benedict | ||
Head coach |
Randy Edsall 13th season, 75–72 (.510) |
||
Other staff |
Rhett Lashlee (OC) Billy Crocker (DC) |
||
Stadium |
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field (Capacity: 42,704) |
||
Year built | 2003 | ||
Field surface | Grass | ||
Location | East Hartford, Connecticut | ||
NCAA division | Division I | ||
Conference | The American | ||
Division | East | ||
Past conferences |
Big East Conference (2004–12) Independent (2000–03) Atlantic 10 Conference (1997–99) Yankee Conference (1947–96) New England Conference (1923–46) Athletic League of New England State Colleges (1897–1922) |
||
All-time record | 502–542–38 (.482) | ||
Bowl record | 3–3 (.500) | ||
Conference titles | 26 | ||
Colors | National Flag Blue and White |
||
Fight song | UConn Husky | ||
Mascot | Jonathan | ||
Marching band | The Pride of Connecticut | ||
Rivals |
Temple Owls UMass Minutemen Rutgers Scarlet Knights Syracuse Orange |
||
Website | UConnHuskies.com |
The Connecticut Huskies football team is a college football team that represents the University of Connecticut in the sport of American football. The team competes in NCAA Division I FBS in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I-AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two-year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and became a full-fledged Division I-A team in 2002. From 2000 to 2003 the team played as an independent. The schools football team then joined the conference of its other sport teams, the Big East (later named the American Athletic Conference in 2013), starting in 2004.
The University of Connecticut began playing football in 1896 when the school was known as Storrs Agricultural College, and the team was known as the "Aggies." It teamed up with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Rhode Island to form the Athletic League of New England State Colleges for the purpose of scheduling football matchups between the schools. The first year was spent playing against local high schools and YMCA clubs. The following year provided their first competition against future rivals Rhode Island, an opponent that would be played over 100 times, and Massachusetts. Other early rivals included the Ivy League and the "Little Ivies", particularly Yale University starting in 1948, who have played the Huskies for 50 years.
Tragedy struck the team on September 27, 1919 when Gardner Dow died from brain injuries related to a flying tackle that he delivered in a game against New Hampshire. The college would honor Dow by naming the athletic fields after him. These fields would become the home for most of the school's athletic teams for the next three decades.