It's hard to tell which team needs a victory more in Saturday's Notre Dame-Connecticut game. It's not hard to predict that it will be close.
The Fighting Irish are going through a tumultuous week filled with speculation over the future of head coach Charlie Weis, thanks to consecutive losses to Navy and Pittsburgh. The team's 6-4 record is a product of living on the edge from week to week; eight of Notre Dame's games have been decided by seven points or less, and not surprisingly, it has a 4-4 record in those coin-toss finishes.
Still, all that is child's play compared to the Huskies' season.
"We can talk about having hard luck and tough losses," Weis said. "UConn's had it even tougher than us."
Connecticut's five losses have come by a combined 15 points, and the Huskies have led in the fourth quarter of four of those games and were a missed two-point conversion away from tying Cincinnati in the waning minutes last time out. Perhaps no team in the country needed a bye week more than UConn did last week; the team suffered three straight close losses after cornerback Jasper Howard was slain on campus.
"The time away was definitely much needed, emotionally as well as physically," receiver Marcus Easley said.
What both teams need now is a win, Notre Dame to give Weis any shot at returning and the Huskies to keep alive their postseason hopes.
It's Senior Day at Notre Dame Stadium, and the Irish bitterly recall last year's loss to another Big East team -- Syracuse -- in a snowball-pelted home finale. They are trying to avoid repeating that history.
"Just seeing those guys walk out of there with a loss was awful," quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "I don't want that to happen to any of the seniors this year."
This is UConn's first-ever meeting with Notre Dame, and the trip to the historic grounds in South Bend is a treat for the fans of this young FBS program. While Easley said it's a game the players have looked forward to all season, coach Randy Edsall doesn't expect his team to come in wide-eyed and awed by the tradition.
"A lot of fans still have that, 'Pinch me, is this really happening' feeling," Edsall said. "For the players, they have to treat it like any other game. Some of these kids, they don't remember back to some of those days and some of those great players Notre Dame had, because these guys weren't even born."
The two teams have many contrasts, apart from their wildly different histories.
While Connecticut's passing game has improved this year, it's still a run-oriented team with a strong tailback tandem in Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon and a bruising offensive line. The Huskies will try to barrel through the Notre Dame defensive front like Navy and Pitt did.
The Irish have one of the nation's top passing games, and UConn's secondary has looked shaky since the Howard tragedy. The Huskies surrendered 480 passing yards (and 711 total yards) in a 47-45 loss to Cincinnati two weeks ago.
UConn has given up big plays late to lose games, while Notre Dame doesn't seem to get going until the final few minutes. The Irish did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter at Pitt and were blanked until the third quarter against Navy. They seem to like waiting until it's desperation time to mount a furious charge.
"I guess it's just a matter of trying to come out with the same urgency as in the beginning," center Eric Olsen said.
The urgency should be there this week. Both teams badly need a win, and it will probably be close.
The Fighting Irish are going through a tumultuous week filled with speculation over the future of head coach Charlie Weis, thanks to consecutive losses to Navy and Pittsburgh. The team's 6-4 record is a product of living on the edge from week to week; eight of Notre Dame's games have been decided by seven points or less, and not surprisingly, it has a 4-4 record in those coin-toss finishes.
Still, all that is child's play compared to the Huskies' season.
"We can talk about having hard luck and tough losses," Weis said. "UConn's had it even tougher than us."
Connecticut's five losses have come by a combined 15 points, and the Huskies have led in the fourth quarter of four of those games and were a missed two-point conversion away from tying Cincinnati in the waning minutes last time out. Perhaps no team in the country needed a bye week more than UConn did last week; the team suffered three straight close losses after cornerback Jasper Howard was slain on campus.
"The time away was definitely much needed, emotionally as well as physically," receiver Marcus Easley said.
What both teams need now is a win, Notre Dame to give Weis any shot at returning and the Huskies to keep alive their postseason hopes.
It's Senior Day at Notre Dame Stadium, and the Irish bitterly recall last year's loss to another Big East team -- Syracuse -- in a snowball-pelted home finale. They are trying to avoid repeating that history.
"Just seeing those guys walk out of there with a loss was awful," quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "I don't want that to happen to any of the seniors this year."
This is UConn's first-ever meeting with Notre Dame, and the trip to the historic grounds in South Bend is a treat for the fans of this young FBS program. While Easley said it's a game the players have looked forward to all season, coach Randy Edsall doesn't expect his team to come in wide-eyed and awed by the tradition.
"A lot of fans still have that, 'Pinch me, is this really happening' feeling," Edsall said. "For the players, they have to treat it like any other game. Some of these kids, they don't remember back to some of those days and some of those great players Notre Dame had, because these guys weren't even born."
The two teams have many contrasts, apart from their wildly different histories.
While Connecticut's passing game has improved this year, it's still a run-oriented team with a strong tailback tandem in Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon and a bruising offensive line. The Huskies will try to barrel through the Notre Dame defensive front like Navy and Pitt did.
The Irish have one of the nation's top passing games, and UConn's secondary has looked shaky since the Howard tragedy. The Huskies surrendered 480 passing yards (and 711 total yards) in a 47-45 loss to Cincinnati two weeks ago.
UConn has given up big plays late to lose games, while Notre Dame doesn't seem to get going until the final few minutes. The Irish did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter at Pitt and were blanked until the third quarter against Navy. They seem to like waiting until it's desperation time to mount a furious charge.
"I guess it's just a matter of trying to come out with the same urgency as in the beginning," center Eric Olsen said.
The urgency should be there this week. Both teams badly need a win, and it will probably be close.
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Brian Bennett
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.
