2002 Connecticut Huskies football team

2002 Connecticut Huskies football
Conference	Independent
2002 record	6–6
Head coach	Randy Edsall
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (16,200)

2002 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
South Florida			–						9	–	2
#17 Notre Dame			–						10	–	3
Connecticut			–						6	–	6
Utah State			–						4	–	7
Troy			–						4	–	8
Navy			–						2	–	10
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2002 Connecticut Huskies football team marked the school's first as a full-time member of the Football Bowl Subdivision. The team was not part of a conference, and played as an Independent. It also marked the team's last season at its on-campus football stadium, Memorial Stadium. Despite a slow start, the Huskies finished with a record of 6–6, the first time in its short FBS history that it did not compile a sub-.500 record. Although not selected, it also marked the first time that the school was eligible for a bowl game.
The Huskies were led by consensus Freshman All-American, Terry Caulley, who led all freshman in rushing with 1,247 yards.^[1] Despite sitting out two games with injuries, Caulley's rushing total was only fifteen yards short of the team's single season record.
The turning point in the season came after a hard fought loss at Vanderbilt. Led by Caulley and sophomore quarterback Dan Orlovsky, the Huskies tore through the remainder of the schedule by defeating the opponents by a combined 199–55. The winning streak began with the final two games played at Memorial Stadium. They closed the stadium with their two highest point totals in the stadium's history (61 against Florida Atlantic, and 63 against Kent State.) They finished the season with their first ever victory over a bowl-bound opponent by defeating Iowa State 37–20 in Ames, IA.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31, 2002	12:00 PM	at Boston College	Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA	ESPN+	L 16–24	40,066
September 7, 2002	12:00 PM	Georgia Tech	Memorial Stadium • Storrs, CT	FSN	L 14–31	16,751
September 14, 2002	7:30 PM	at Buffalo	UB Stadium • Amherst, NY		W 24–3	17,012
September 21, 2002	12:00 PM	Ohio	Memorial Stadium • Storrs, CT		W 37–19	15,901
September 28, 2002	1:00 PM	Ball State	Memorial Stadium • Storrs, CT		L 21–24 ^OT	16,849
October 5, 2002	7:00 PM	at No. 1 Miami (FL)	Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL		L 14–48	52,131
October 19, 2002	12:00 PM	Temple	Memorial Stadium • Storrs, CT		L 24–38	15,723
October 26, 2002	2:00 PM	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN		L 24–28	21,210
November 2, 2002	12:00 PM	Florida Atlantic	Memorial Stadium • Storrs, CT		W 61–14	14,287
November 9, 2002	12:00 PM	Kent State	Memorial Stadium • Storrs, CT		W 63–21	15,332
November 16, 2002	12:00 PM	at Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD		W 38–0	25,664
November 23, 2002	2:00 PM	at Iowa State	Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA		W 37–20	34,582
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. "Terry Caulley bio". ticats.ca. Retrieved August 20, 2009.