2002 Connecticut Huskies football team

2002 Connecticut Huskies football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–6
Head coach	Randy Edsall (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Norries Wilson (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Hank Hughes (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

2002 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
South Florida			–						9	–	2
No. 17 Notre Dame			–						10	–	3
Connecticut			–						6	–	6
Utah State			–						4	–	7
Troy State			–						4	–	8
Navy			–						2	–	10
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2002 Connecticut Huskies football team the University of Connecticut in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season as an independent. It was the program's first season as a full-time member at the NCAA Division I-A level. It was also the team's last season at its on-campus football stadium, Memorial Stadium. Head coach Randy Edsall was in his fourth year leading the team.

Despite winning only two of their first eight games, 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 for a bowl game, Connecticut was Bowl eligible for the first time. 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, Iowa.

The Huskies offense was led by consensus Freshman All-American, Terry Caulley, who led all freshman in rushing with 1,247 yards. Despite sitting out two games with injuries, Caulley's rushing total was only 15 yards short of the team's single season record.

Schedule

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