The 2010 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by Randy Edsall in his 12th and final season of his first stint as head coach, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 5–2 in conference play, sharing the Big East title with Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Due to victories against the other two co-champions, Connecticut earned the Big East's automatic bid to a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game. The Huskies were invited to the Fiesta Bowl, where they lost to Big 12 Conference champion Oklahoma. It was the first major bowl appearance in the program's 115-year history. The team played home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Schedule

Before the season Coaching changes Connecticut lost two assistant coaches in January, when the tight ends coach, Dave McMichael left to accept the same position at West Virginia, and defensive backs coach, Scott Lakatos, left for the same position at Georgia.

On February 4, UConn announced that Jon Wholley would return to the coaching staff as the tight ends coach, and Darrell Perkins would assume the defensive backs coaching position.

Roster changes The Huskies lost eight starters from the 2009 team to graduation. Among them, Marcus Easley and Robert McClain were drafted into the NFL. In addition to the graduation losses, quarterback Casey Turner, and offensive linemen Scott Schultz and Zac Zielinski, all backups, transferred out of UConn. On July 1, Randy Edsall announced that safety, Marcus Aiken had been dismissed from the University for academic reasons, and that wide receiver, Malik Generett was ineligible for the 2010 season, also for academic reasons. Generett remained enrolled at the university and could practice with the team, but is not able to play in games.

On July 9, former USC fullback, D.J. Shoemate announced that he was transferring to UConn from the scandal-plagued Trojan program, which earned a two-year postseason ban. Due to an NCAA ruling that states any USC junior or senior can transfer without sitting out for a year, Shoemate was eligible to play in 2010.

Recruiting On February 3, 2010, Randy Edsall announced that 20 student-athletes had signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Connecticut. Four; Jonathan Louis, Greg McKee, Andrew Opoku and Gilbert St. Louis; entered school in January to participate in spring practice. In addition to the 20 high school student athletes, two members from the 2009 recruiting class; Leon Kinnard and Michael Osiecki, also enrolled in school in January.

Awards watchlists The players listed below have been named to the following preseason award watch lists.

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award: Zach Frazer

Lombardi Award: Lawrence Wilson

Outland Trophy: Zach Hurd

Rimington Trophy: Moe Petrus

Bednarik Award: Lawrence Wilson

Maxwell Award: Jordan Todman

Butkus Award: Greg Lloyd Scott Lutrus Lawrence Wilson

John Mackey Award: Ryan Griffin

Doak Walker Award: Jordan Todman

Game summaries Michigan

Recap: Connecticut opened the season on the road against the Michigan Wolverines in the first meeting between the two schools. Total attendance for the game was 113,090 at Michigan Stadium. This was the largest crowd ever to attend a college football game.

The first quarter was all Michigan. First a 12-yard touchdown run by Vincent Smith. A few minutes later came a 32-yard TD run by quarterback Denard Robinson. Michigan started the second quarter with another touchdown, this time with a 3-yard run by Michael Shaw. The only scoring by Connecticut came in the second quarter: first a 32-yard field goal by Dave Teggert, and later a 2-yard run by Jordan Todman. In the third quarter Michigan's only points was a 24-yard field goal by Brendan Gibbons. In the fourth quarter Michigan's Vincent Smith ran in another touchdown, this time from 11 yards out. The extra point attempt was no good, however. Robinson ran for 197 yards, setting a school record for a quarterback.ESPN.com Recap Week 1 UConn at Michigan

Texas Southern

Recap: Jordan Todman rushed for 151 yards on 15 carries and 3 touchdowns, all in the first half, as Connecticut dominated an overmatched Texas Southern team, 62–3. Robbie Frey also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark with 101 yards on 12 carries and 2 touchdowns. It was the first time the Huskies produced two 100-yard rushers in the same game since November 21, 2009 against Notre Dame. The 59 point margin of victory tied the largest for UConn in their FBS era. The 62 points scored is a Rentschler Field record, and the second most tallied in UConn's FBS years.

After the victory, game balls were awarded to Jordan Todman (offense), Lawrence Wilson (defense) and Anthony Sherman (special teams).

Temple

Recap: Jordan Todman rushed for a career-high 192 yards, but had a costly fourth-quarter fumble that led to Temple's go-ahead touchdown as the Huskies lost to the Owls 30–16. Bernard Pierce ran for 179 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Owls to their first victory over Connecticut since 2002.

Despite outgaining Temple by over 100 yards in the first half, UConn could only muster two field goals, and trailed at halftime, 7–6. Todman scored the Huskies only touchdown on the opening series of the second half, when he ran 63 yards for the score. Temple answered with a touchdown scoring of their own, when Pierce scored from one yard out. David Teggart gave the lead back to the Huskies, with a 47-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

With a 16–14 lead, Todman, who earlier briefly left the game with an injured elbow, was stripped by Adrian Robinson while fighting for extra yards. Robinson returned the fumble for a touchdown. After a Huskies three-and-out series, Temple's Delano Green returned the ensuing punt to the Huskies two-yard line. Pierce later scored his third touchdown. The Owls added a late field goal to make the final score 30–16.

After the game, Todman was named to the Big East Conference's weekly honor roll.

Buffalo

Recap: Connecticut returned home to face the University at Buffalo Bulls. It was the first time the teams met since the 2009 International Bowl. The Huskies started the scoring early when Jerome Junior intercepted a pass by Bulls quarterback Jerry Davis for a touchdown. D.J. Shoemate, who started for the injured Jordan Todman, would later add a first-quarter touchdown and a 14–0 UConn lead. Buffalo responded by scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter, both on passes from Davis to Ed Young, and the score was tied 14–14 at halftime.

Cody Endres, in his first game back from suspension, replaced UConn's starting quarterback, Zach Frazer, in the second half, and led the Huskies to two quick scores, including a 56-yard touchdown pass to Michael Smith. Robbie Frey, who replaced Shoemate late in the first half, added a touchdown, and finished with 112 rushing yards on 13 carries. Endres threw a second touchdown pass and finished with 139 passing yards while completing 7 of his 11 passing attempts. Blidi Wreh-Wilson completed the scoring for Connecticut when he returned an intercepted pass 46 yards for a touchdown.

Sio Moore, who was making his first career start, had 16 tackles and an interception, and was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week. Robbie Frey was also named to the weekly honor roll.

Game balls: Robbie Frey (offense), Jerome Junior (defense) and Anthony Sherman (special teams)

Vanderbilt

Recap: Jordan Todman rushed for 190 yards and scored 2 touchdowns as Connecticut defeated Vanderbilt, 40–21. Both of Todman's touchdowns were in the first half when the Huskies took a 14–0 lead. Vanderbilt scored game's next three touchdowns, all in the span of 3 minutes and 38 seconds to take a 21–14 lead late in the first half. Cody Endres, making his first start of the year, threw a touchdown pass to Kashif Moore to tie the game at 21 going into halftime.

The Huskies took the lead when they scored on the opening drive of the second half with a touchdown pass from Endres to Corey Manning. It was Manning's first reception and touchdown of his career. UConn would add a field goal and a defensive touchdown from Blidi Wreh-Wilson later in the second half. Wreh-Wilson's interception return for a touchdown was his second in as many weeks. Late in the game, Vanderbilt snapped the ball through the end zone for a safety to make the final score, 40–21. It was Connecticut's second win ever against an opponent from the SEC.

Wreh-Wilson, who also recovered a fumble in addition to his interception and touchdown, was named the Big East's Defensive Player of the Week. Todman was named to the weekly honor roll.

Rutgers

Recap: Chas Dodd threw for 322 yards and led Rutgers to 10 fourth quarter points as the Scarlet Knights defeated UConn, 27–24. The Huskies led by 7 with less than 4 minutes remaining in the game when Dodd completed a 52-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Deering to tie the game. San San Te later kicked the game-winning field goal with 13 seconds left in the game.

Jordan Todman led the Huskies with 123 yards rushing, including a 66-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The run was a career long for Todman. Quarterback Cody Endres made his second consecutive start, and threw for 153 yards and a touchdown. Nick Williams scored his first career touchdown when he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.

Louisville

Recap: The Huskies travelled to Louisville after their first bye week of the season to play the Cardinals. During the week off, two starters were lost from the team when offensive guard, Erik Kuraczea withdrew from the university, and quarterback, Cody Endres was suspended for the remainder of the season. Head coach Randy Edsall later announced that Endres would not return to the team for his senior season in 2011. Endres's suspension meant that freshman, Mike Box would make his first career start. He would only complete 4 of 12 passes for 35 yards, and would eventually leave the game with a concussion.

Louisville scored 13 points in each half and was led by Bilal Powell, who had 105 yards rushing. They earned two touchdowns, one on a pass from Adam Froman to Cameron in the first quarter, and the second on a 75-yard punt return from Doug Beaumont. Kicker Chris Philpott added 4 field goals. The Huskies were led by 80 rushing yards from Jordan Todman. Their only venture into the red zone resulted in a missed field goal by Dave Teggart. It was the first time UConn was shut out since November 2005, when they lost at Pittsburgh, 24–0.

West Virginia

Recap: Jordan Todman had a career-high 33 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown as UConn earned its first victory ever over West Virginia. Despite being outgained, 414−278, the Huskies were beneficiaries of 4 Mountaineer lost fumbles, including one by Ryan Clarke in overtime.

West Virginia scored first when wide receiver Brad Starks took an end-around handoff 53 yards for a touchdown just under 5 minutes into the game. Kicker Tyler Bitancurt added a 43-yard field goal to make the score 10−0 at the end of the first quarter. The Huskies did not gain a first down until the second quarter, and punted on each of their first 6 possessions. However, Zach Frazer, who started in place of an injured Mike Box, led them on a 12-play, 63-yard drive, culminating with a 39-yard field goal from Dave Teggart to end the first half. It was the first point that they had scored in nearly 8 quarters.<