Colonials Game Notes
October 6, 2010 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Hartford Colonials News Release
HARTFORD COLONIALS (1-1) VS. FLORIDA TUSKERS (1-2)
Rentschler Field, East Hartford, CT
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, 3 pm
TV: VERSUS
Radio: WPOP-AM/ESPN Radio 1410
2010 COLONIALS SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time/TV
9/18 SACRAMENTO W, 27-10
9/24 at Omaha L 26-27
BYE WEEK
10/9 FLORIDA 3 pm/VERSUS
10/16 OMAHA 3 pm/NESN
10/23 at Las Vegas 3:30 pm/VERSUS
10/30 at Sacramento 11 pm/VERSUS
BYE WEEK
11/11 at Florida 7 pm/HDNET
11/20 LAS VEGAS 3:30 pm/VERSUS
2010 UFL Standings
Team W-L Pct.
Omaha 2-0 1.000
Hartford 1-1 .500
Las Vegas 1-1 .500
Florida 1-2 .333
Sacramento 1-2 .333
THE GAME
Coming off a bye week, the Hartford Colonials play host to the Florida Tuskers at Rentschler Field. The game will be broadcast live on the VERSUS Network with play-by-play man Craig Minervini and color analyst Doug Flutie. Sideline reporters will be Damon Hack and Ryan Nece. ESPN Radio 1410/WPOP-AM will air the game with Jason Page on play-by-play and Rob Lunn doing color.
SO FAR
The Colonials opened the season with an impressive 27-10 victory over Sacramento, then lost a heartbreaker, 27-26, to Omaha six days later. Hartford had a 13-point lead late in the third quarter, but lost when Nighthawks quarterback Jeff Garcia threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson with 6 seconds remaining and kicker Jeff Wolfert converted the PAT. The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by Colonials quarterback Josh McCown, who completed 22 of 25 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Hartford's air attack was more effect than its ground game (71 yards on 28 attempts for a 2.5 avg.). McCown orchestrated three touchdown drives in the first half, but the offense was held to two field goals in the second half.
ROSTER MAKEOVER
Hartford's 52-man roster includes just nine players that were on the active roster for the final game last season when the team was known as the New York Sentinels. Florida's roster includes 20 players that played for the Tuskers when they played the Sentinels on Nov. 12 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.
LAST YEAR WAS LAST YEAR
Florida defeated the Hartford franchise, known as the New York Sentinels, twice in 2009 by scores of 35-13 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and 24-6 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.
COLONIALS HEAD COACH CHRIS PALMER
Hartford Colonials Head Coach and General Manager Chris Palmer is in his 38th overall season as a football coach and 23rd year in the professional ranks. The UFL is the fourth different professional football league Palmer has been a coach. The other three: NFL (1990-2000, 2002-09), the defunct United State Football League (1984-85) and the Canadian Football League (1983). Palmer was the Quarterbacks Coach for the New York Giants the last three seasons (2007-09) and served in that role for one year (2006) with the Dallas Cowboys. Prior to that he was the Houston Texans Offensive Coordinator (2002-05), Cleveland Browns Head Coach (1999-2000), Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Coordinator ('97-98), New England Patriots Wide Receivers and Quarterbacks Coach (1993-96), and Houston Oilers Receivers Coach (1990-92).
A FAST START
Colonials QB Josh McCown has been extremely accurate in the first two games. He has completed 76.7 percent of his passes (33 of 43) for 529 yards and five touchdowns. His 137.4 passer rating is first among UFL quarterbacks. McCown has not thrown an interception.
SPREADING IT OUT
Each of the five TD passes by McCown have been to a different receiver:
Player Yards Opponent
Lorenzo Booker 80-x vs. Sacramento, 9/18/10
Pat Carter 35 at Omaha, 9/24/10
Jason Chery 59 vs. Sacramento, 9/18/10
Tyson DeVree 14 at Omaha, 9/24/10
Markee White 4 vs. Sacramento, 9/18/10
x-set UFL record for longest play
ZERO PICKS
Colonials quarterbacks Josh McCown (33-for-43 completions) and Ryan Perrilloux (4-for-10) have not thrown an interception in 53 pass attempts through the first two games. Hartford is the only team that has not thrown an interception.
GETTING IT DONE ON THIRD DOWN
In the first two games, the Colonials have been effective on third down situations. Hartford has converted 11 of 24 third downs (45.8 percent) while its defense has held the opposing team to 5 of 24 (20.8 percent). Collectively on third down, quarterbacks Josh McCown and Ryan Perrilloux have completed 10 of 15 passes for 97 yards and three touchdowns.
QUICK STRIKE
The Colonials have engineered some quick scoring drives. Four of their six touchdown drives in the first two games have been in five plays or less. The average time of possession in those four TD drives has been less than a minute (:59.75) and have covered an average of 70 yards. A closer look:
Plays Yards Time of Pos. How Scored
4 50 1:08 Josh McCown 4-yard pass to Markee White
2 8 :54 McCown 59-yard pass to Jason Chery
2 78 :57 McCown 80-yard pass to Lorenzo Booker
5 70 1:00 McCown 35-yard pass to Patrick Carter
ROSTER ADDITION
The Colonials signed offensive lineman Jacob Bender on Oct. 4. He became available after the Saints released him from the team's practice squad. Bender has played in two NFL regular season games, both with the Jets in 2007 after the team drafted him in the sixth round that year. He has spent most of the last two seasons on the practice squads of the Patriots, 49ers and Giants.
SUNSHINE STATE ALUMNI
There are five players on the Colonials who played college football in the state of Florida:
Pos. Player School
RB Lorenzo Booker Florida State
DB Marshall McDuffie Florida Intl.
LB Frantz Joseph Florida Atlantic
WR Taurus Johnson South Florida
LB Kenny Ingram Florida State
SUPER BOWL RINGS
As the New York Giants Quarterbacks Coach in 2007, Chris Palmer earned a Super Bowl ring when the Giants defeated the Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Colonials linebacker Tank Daniels was on that Giants squad and has a ring. Colonials long snapper Jared Retkofsky won a ring with the Steelers when they defeated the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. Colonials Offensive Line Coach Todd Washington has ring as a player with the Buccaneers after their victory over Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII.
COLONIALS YOUNGEST IN UFL
With an average player age of 25.3 years old at the start of the season, Hartford is the youngest team in the UFL. Florida (27.8) and Omaha (27.8) are tied for the oldest team. The average age of a UFL player at the start of the 2010 season was 26.8 years old. The youngest player on the Colonials is LB Simoni Lawrence, 21 (DOB: 2/1/89). Punter Jy Bond (DOB: 4/22/79) is the oldest player on the team at 31, followed QB Josh McCown (7-4-79).
BORN DOWN UNDER
Colonials punter Jy Bond was born in Melbourne, Australia. He was released by the New York Giants in June and signed with the Colonials after Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes recommended him to Colonials Head Coach Chris Palmer.
JOSH McMENTOR
Colonials QB Josh McCown has been serving as tutor reserve QB Ryan Perrilloux. McCown and Perrilloux room together at the team hotel.
A MARKEE IN-DOOR PERFORMANCE
Colonials receiver Markee White signed with the team Aug. 23, three days after an electrifying performance in Arena Bowl XXIII. White caught four touchdown passes - all in the second quarter - to lead the Spokane Shock to a 69-57 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm. He was named Offensive Player of the Game. In his UFL debut Sept. 18, White caught the first of three touchdown passes from Josh McCown.
CITY PRIDE
Colonials fullback Asaph Schwapp, a Hartford native who graduated from Weaver High School in 2005, has a collection of tattoos that pay tribute to his hometown. His latest ink is the Hartford Whalers logo on the inside of his wrist. Other tattoos include the Interstate 91 sign on his arm and the word "Hartford" in same type font as it appears on the masthead of his hometown newspaper, the Hartford Courant.
SPORTS SATURDAY IN HARTFORD
Saturday is a busy day for the Hartford sports community. Thousands of runners will participate in the ING Hartford Marathon in the morning. This precedes the Colonials-Tuskers game at 3:00 pm. At night, the Hartford Wolf Pack opens its American Hockey League season against Charlotte at the XL Center at 7.
BYE WEEK COMMUNITY SERVICE
During the bye week, the Colonials remained active in the community. On Sept. 28, seven players traveled to the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. offices in Simsbury, CT, to kick off the company's United Way campaign. Andre Dixon, Ryan Glasper, Frantz Joseph, Taylor Mehlhaff, Ryan Palmer, Asaph Schwapp and Kyle Whitehurst attended the festive event in their home game jerseys and signed autographs for employees.
United Football League Stories from October 6, 2010
- Colonials Game Notes - Hartford Colonials
- Pociask's Allegiance Lies With Tuskers - Florida Tuskers
- Maurice Clarett Q&A - Omaha Nighthawks
- Ahman Green and Omaha Nighthawks Players to Hang out with Local Youth - Omaha Nighthawks
- United Football League Asks Fans To Suggest Tie-Breaker Scenarios - UFL 1
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