Hartford Colonials Game Notes

Published on October 5, 2010 under 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.

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.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

The Colonials have been very active in the community. Quarterback Josh McCown agreed to donate $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Hartford when he signed with the Colonials. On September 3, McCown was among a group of 12 players who spent time with preschool children at the Boys & Girls Club of New Britain as part of the United Way Dar of Caring. The same morning another 10 players answered phones at the annual 102.9 DRC-FM Children's Miracle Network Radiothon at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford and visited patients. In addition, DB Tra Battle is getting involved in the community with "Tra's Battle for Success Foundation," which focuses on assisting youth organizations.

2010 COLONIALS DEPTH CHART

OFFENSE

QB: 12 Josh McCown 11 Ryan Perrilloux

FB: 44 Asaph Schwapp

RB: 26 Andre Dixon 28 Lorenzo Booker 25 Kevin Jones

WR: 16 Patrick Carter 80 Taurus Johnson 13 Jason Chery

LT: 65 Orrin Thompson 73 Cliff Louis

LG: 68 Rueben Riley 72 Jacob Bender

C: 70 Keith Gray 62 Tim Mattran

RG: 77 Greg Isdaner 79 Isaac Sowells

RT: 75 Peter Clifford 74 Colin Brown

TE: 86 Ronnie Ghent 85 Tyson DeVree 87 Charles Davis

WR: 88 Markee White 81 Shaheer McBride 84 Syndric Steptoe

DEFENSE

LE: 97 Michale Spicer 54 Julius Williams

DT: 96 Vince Oghobaase 95 Derek Walker

DT: 69 Jonas Seawright 90 Adrian Grady

RE: 99 Maurice Fountain 55 Auston English

SLB: 91 Kenny Ingram 52 Tank Daniels

MLB: 51 Frantz Joseph 58 Danny Lansanah 56 Joe Mortensen

WLB: 53 Simoni Lawrence

LCB: 23 Ryan Palmer 22 Gerard Lawson

FS: 20 Ben Hannula 34 Marshall McDuffie 24 Emanuel Cook

SS: 40 Ryan Glasper 27 Tra Battle

RCB: 30 Manny Collins 21 Kyle Whitehurst 39 Trevor Ford

SPECIALISTS

P: 6 Jy Bond

K: 10 Taylor Mehlhaff

LS: 61 Jared Letkofsky

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Chris Palmer

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Osia Lewis

Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Dave Ragone

Offensive Line: Todd Washington

Offensive Line/Tight Ends: Oji Fagan

Wide Receivers: Shane Waldron

Running Backs: Michael Jenkins

Defensive Line: Ted Daisher

Assistant Defensive Line: Tony Sparano Jr.

Linebackers: Frank Hauser

Secondary/Corners: Jerry Holmes

Secondary/Safeties: Doug Mandigo

Special Teams Coordinator: Kevin O'Dea



United Football League Stories from October 5, 2010


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