In the eight months that have passed since the Huskies’ first Bowl Championship Series appearance against Oklahoma in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, much more than the usual transition of saying farewell to seniors and greeting freshmen has taken place.

Within hours of the final gun at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Jan. 2, head coach Randy Edsall announced he would leave UConn for Maryland. A dozen days later, former Syracuse coach and Dallas Cowboys assistant coach Paul Pasqualoni returned to Connecticut as the new head coach of the Huskies.

For some, the events of January may seem to have happened long ago. For others, it probably feels like yesterday. On Saturday afternoon at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, only the present will matter when the Huskies kick off a new football season against Fordham under Pasqualoni, a Connecticut native who made nine bowl appearances as a head coach and spent the past six years as an NFL assistant coach. With 62 Big East victories at Syracuse, he is the all-time winningest coach in the conference.

During his introduction as the Huskies’ 28th head football coach, Pasqualoni enthusiastically described how UConn would play aggressively both on offense and defense.

“We’ll throw the ball for explosive gains on first and second down, and on third down we want to be productive, which is a very big commitment,” he said. “We’re going to coach the turnover and taking care of the ball on defense. We’re going to work hard on the explosive play, which goes for 16 yards or more. We’re going to work on the red zone. The score is the most important statistic, but if you play the percentages we’re going to take care of those things.”

Throughout the spring practice season and during the recent pre-season, Pasqualoni discussed how many of the Huskies show great ability, but lack experience in some positions, saying: “This spring we learned a great deal about what we have. We’re still in the process of figuring out what we’re going to be able to do best.”

The Huskies return five starters on offense, including senior tackle Mike Ryan ’12 (CLAS) and senior center Moe Petrus ’12 (CLAS) – both on the watch list for the 2011 Rotary Lombardi Award –and junior tight end Ryan Griffin ’13 (CLAS) – on the watch list for the 2011 John Mackey Award. Nine starters return on defense, including senior defensive tackle Kendall Reyes ’12 (CLAS), also on the watch list for the Lombardi Award. Senior kicker Dave Teggart ’12 (ED), the Huskies’ all-time leader in field goals, was named to the watch list for the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award.

Most of the UConn starters and depth chart are set for both offense and defense, but two of the key positions on offense will not be decided until Saturday – quarterback and tailback.

With the recent transfer of redshirt sophomore Mike Box, the Huskies have three quarterbacks taking snaps in practice – redshirt junior Johnny McEntee ’13 (CLAS), redshirt freshman Scott McCummings ’15 (BUS), and freshman Mike Nebrich ’15 (CLAS).

Since the spring practice ended, Pasqualoni has said he wants to settle the Huskies’ quarterback situation as soon as possible, but as late as Monday’s media press conference, he would not name a starting quarterback for the opening game.

“What I would say is that we are going to have three quarterbacks ready to play in this game,” he said. “There are going to be three ready to play in this game. We have worked really hard to get three ready for this week and we will be ready to go with everything we have. At the end of the day, who you play is based on production, really not anything other than statistics. It’s the guy who can be the most productive, the guy who on paper has the measurables, it’s the guy who can get the job done and who can move the chains.”

Monday, reporters tried to press Nebrich on who would get the starting nod, but he indicated the quarterbacks are focusing on their work, saying: “We all kind of use each other to push each other. In the meeting room we are all joking around with [quarterbacks] coach [Joe] Moorehead. They don’t tell us anything. We have to go out every day and give everything we have. I honestly have no idea.”

Senior D.J. Shoemate ’12 (CLAS), a transfer from USC who played in all 13 games last year for the Huskies but had limited carries, redshirt senior Jonathan Jean-Louis ’12 (ED), and redshirt freshman Lyle McCombs ’15 (ED) will compete for the starting position at tailback.

“I think we have a chance to be pretty productive at the position,” Pasqualoni says. “It is usually a bit of a problem defensively, you are getting ready for one style of guy, then you put a different style of guy in. That is a good problem to have on offense.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the returning veterans are confident their experience and the playbook installed by new defensive coordinator Don Brown will establish the Huskies as one of the top defensive teams and help provide the offense with good opportunities to score.

“I would say there is more ability for us to make plays,” says redshirt linebacker Sio Moore ’12 (CLAS). “There is a more aggressive mindset with the linebackers, if it’s run fits or in the pass game. [Coach Brown] just has us in a very versatile position to make plays in every part of the field.”

Adds Reyes: “We have the potential to come out and get there as long as we do what we have to do. Hit the film and come out ready to play. It’s about us and how good we want to be. If we do everything the right way, we definitely have the potential to be a top-10 defense.”

Pasqualoni says the Huskies have made progress in working through the new offensive and defensive strategies developed by a coaching staff that is among the most experienced the nation – a combined 196 years of college coaching. The staff also has 42 years of head coaching experience, between Pasqualoni (Western Connecticut, Syracuse), Brown (Plymouth State, UMass, Northeastern), and offensive coordinator George DeLeone (Southern Connecticut).

“I think we made big strides on both sides of the ball and I think they have an understanding of the system now,” he says. “There is a lot of information that we are trying to give them, but we feel pretty good about it.”

Fordham, a member of the Patriot League, and UConn have played one previous game, a 1915 game won by the Rams 35-0. It will be the first game Fordham has played against an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team. Pasqualoni says the Rams mix up their defensive look with either an eight or nine-man front line and run a spread offense.

“The complexity of what they do from a defensive standpoint is really well thought out and it presents a ton of problems for you,” he says. “On the offensive side of the ball, they are in this spread offense system. You can tell that they are trying to play fast at times with a no huddle system. The scheme that they run creates a lot of conflict problems for the guys on defense. They make you play assignment, disciplined football as opposed to reckless, go out and get up the field defense. We have to be ready to play.”

The game against Fordham was originally scheduled for Thursday night but was postponed until noon on Saturday because the stadium is being used by the Connecticut National Guard as a commodities distribution center to towns and cities in the state that need essential supplies in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene. All tickets and parking passes for the originally scheduled date will be honored Saturday afternoon.

The UConn-Fordham game will be televised by ESPN3.com and WTIC 1080-AM.