Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
Remember Connecticut? The Huskies may have fallen off the radar a bit after they lost to West Virginia in their regular-season Super Bowl and then went into hiding -- er, a bye week.
But UConn is still here and could still win the Big East with just a couple of dominoes falling in the right places at the right times.
More on that in a moment. First let's get to the news of the day in Storrs which, as per usual, revolves around the quarterback situation.
Randy Edsall told the media this afternoon that his starter for Saturday's game will probably be either Cody Endres or Zach Frazer. Endres started the last two, and Frazer the two before that until he suffered a head injury at Rutgers. Edsall said whichever quarterback better limits his turnovers this week in practice will likely get the nod Saturday. Tyler Lorenzen, who broke his foot at Louisville, has been cleared to resume some practicing but does not appear ready to play this week.
Edsall also brushed off any talk about the rumors of him possibly returning to his alma mater to replace Greg Robinson at Syracuse. "I have too much work to do," he said. "I have a game to win."
Which leads us back to the original discussion. The West Virginia loss certainly hurt the Huskies (6-3, 2-2), but it wasn't a fatal blow to their conference title hopes. Of course, UConn must win out to have any kind of chance, but with games against Syracuse, scuffling South Florida and then Pittsburgh at home, that's entirely plausible. Then it would need West Virginia, Cincinnati and Pitt to all lose at least one more to force a tie atop the standings.
The Huskies should hope Pittsburgh beats Cincinnati and West Virginia, and they can knock off the Panthers themselves in the season finale. Then -- voila! -- they're tied for first at 5-2. And given the Big East's tiebreaker rules, Connecticut would be in decent shape to win the BCS bid with victories over Pitt and Cincinnati under its belt.
"It's the Big East, so anything can happen," UConn linebacker Scott Lutrus said.
If you follow this program, you know Edsall doesn't encourage much talk beyond the standard "one-game-at-a-time" philosophy. Still, his players know that this finishing stretch will define their season and perhaps their legacy. The Huskies have qualified for a bowl, and could become the first team in school history to make back-to-back postseason games at the FBS level.
"If we win out, we can finish with the same record as we had last year, and that will still be a great season," Lutrus said. "That will show that UConn is really stepping up. It just helps because we know people are still doubting us. If we put together back-to-back seasons like this, people won't be able to call it a fluke anymore."
The Huskies have had more than a week to marinate in their disappointment over the 35-13 loss to West Virginia, a game they led 13-7 at halftime. Now they've got to turn their attention to Syracuse, where they're 0-2 in the Carrier Dome in Big East play. Lutrus said the defense has paid extra attention on causing turnovers during its bye week work. In the Huskies' three losses, they've hurt themselves with turnovers and mistakes while not creating enough by the other team.
If they shore that up and a few breaks go just right the next couple of weeks, Connecticut could be back in the Big East spotlight.
Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville.
