What's new in the world of Uconn sports

All right, we do want to shift gears right now, though, and tell you about what's happening in the world of sports. And we have the absolute perfect person to do that, the great Mark Robbins. Here he is in his glamour chair all by himself as I join him right now. Hey, look at you walk behind me. That's right. You didn't get right in my single shot. I'm not crossing your face. No way. I don't want to disrupt your light. So, UConn Sports, we've got a lot going on. We're going to talk about the football team's big win. You predicted a win. I didn't. Way to go, Mark. but it's already basically hoop season maybe men's and women's just can't believe it getting ready for exhibition matchups against my alma mater Syracuse that's right the women will start it off tonight 6:30 at Mohegan Sun and then the men tomorrow night against Syracuse as well at seven o'clock at Mohegan all right well let's talk about the women's team first listen i know these these are just exhibition games but they're against good programs here what are you looking for it doesn't mean that they don't matter right uh what it's not really what i'm looking for i want to know what Gino is looking for but no i'm looking i'm looking to see if Olivia Colson right there the freshman can she come in can she play meaningful and productive minutes as a big for Gino he's got Jenna Alfe who used to start two years the two out of the last three years didn't start last year uh will she be back in the starting lineup as a big for Gino what will they do now without Azzie without Page now for a second year can everybody come together can Sarah Strong get even better i mean it sounds crazy she was player of the year a year ago i think she needs to play even better to get this team to the national title it's amazing they lost obviously a lot of talent from last year yet no one is saying this is a rebuilding year for Geno Huskies No, they've got a solid starting five, and they've got a little bit of depth. They need a little bit more because you never know. Injuries pop up throughout the season. They'll play hard tonight. You know, let's hope nothing happens. But injuries could start even in practice. But it's a longer season now is my point. So your depth is more challenged and tested throughout the year. All right, I know you've got a sound bite for us. Set us up. Who are we going to hear from them? This is Gino. and with all the expectations as there are every year regardless of who's in the uniform talking about how difficult it is to to win at UConn to win and and reach the final four and national title games all every year when you get to the final eight are all eight of those teams capable of winning a national championship if that's the case then you should win one every eight years but when you win four in a row and you win you know how many times the expectation is we should win every time we're there and unfortunately you get to realize as you get older no you shouldn't no you shouldn't and then when you do it's amazing i love you know so much perspective right now and he really speaks for a place of authority i love it yeah i mean he's right yeah nothing is promised nothing is the day is not even given right i know he has given a lot of advice to coach Hurley on the men's side over the years in part saying listen you can't expect to win the national championship every year you're going to burn out this team again talk about to that lost talent but boy oh boy are they loaded as well the men's team I feel like they're kind of brimming with confidence going into the season I think so and it's always particularly important to listen to what the how the coaches think about their teams at this time of year regardless of the sport in the early season and in the preseason if they're not boasting but if they're very confident and talking about having a talent and a great team uh listen to them because most of the time they say yeah we got maybe potential and we're gonna we got a lot of things to work on but if they come out and say we're really good if we do these things they know what they're talking about yeah i know we're gonna give him Coach Hurley in a second he doesn't say hey then the team doesn't have to put a lot of work in but he says look if they do and if things go right this could be another special season yeah and of course it's about injuries as well Braylon Mullins hasn't you know has been practicing limitedly right over the last couple of weeks he got hurt in the very game that we're talking about tomorrow night the first preseason game for the men last year he got hurt against Boston College and um it took a little bit of a while it took a while for him to get in so every every one of these games is important but then again you can't go overboard all right we hear from a second tomorrow night's game at Mohegan Sun for the men's seven seven o'clock tonight 6 30 tomorrow seven tonight 6 30 for the women and will he can son seven o'clock for the men okay let's listen here to coach hurley about what he's saying about his squad before the first exhibition game going into each season i feel like for me i'm doing my job and where i want to be with the program leading it where you feel like you're consistently in contention with a team that has championship caliber potential yeah there it is championship caliber. I love that he does not mince words. Now, UConn football, I'm not saying they're championship caliber, but that was an impressive road win. I did not believe in the Huskies. Shame on me. Not only did they win the game, they looked like the better team, really, from play one. Don't you think? Coach Candle would certainly disagree with you. For many moments, they did look like the better team, but again, this is a young team with so many newcomers you got to learn to come together and win at the end and they did and they went at 34 to 20 and it was probably a little tighter than a 14 point uh finish would indicate but it is a great win on the road as coach candle will talk about to go on the road in major college football and get a victory uh is very difficult and this team played well and it was a win that they had to have and you know sports photojournalist bob hoover he does news too but i call him sports he made a very astute point and going into the game he liked uconn to win like you did and one of the reasons he liked them to win is he said you know temple likes to pound the ball on the ground and uconn's defense has been better stopping the run than the pass and that played out it was a a better performance from the defense and the offense i mean it's been impressive really very explosive especially the beginning of games and again in this game getting touchdowns in the first quarter i think each i think it was was a 14 all in the first quarter or was it 21 but uh it was 21 14 early in the second uconn but they exploded early that's the point and um their run game is is really really good as well and when they got ahead that was the great thing about it they were able to pound the rock and and and close it out all right let's listen to coach candle what he said after that big win at temple um a good second quarter by us really as bad as we could play in a third quarter uh but you know ultimately comes down to playing good football in the fourth quarter and being able to win tough yardages you know and get key first downs and you know our offensive front and our defensive front i think did a really good job you know in that second half once they got settled in so uh proud of our team not easy to go on the road and get a win don't care where it's at especially against a well coached team like i mentioned before win on the road and before you hit the road mark big stakes for uconn next week they got another an important game. Yeah, got a bye week this week. So it's a week from this coming Friday, the 23rd at home against UMass. And that game is going to be tougher than we probably originally thought. UMass a little better than expected. Yes, so got off to a 4-0 start, has lost its last two, but is a much better football team than it has been. Alright, Mark Robbins, the great Mark Robbins. I joined a shot, if you notice, I did not disrupt his life. I so appreciate that. He's a diva. We want to get over to someone who I would say is not a diva. The very gritty Thank you.