Southern Methodist @ Connecticut preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 16, 2013 ) Connecticut 21, Southern Methodist 38

SMU has one last chance to earn a win this season and it might be its best opportunity. The last-place Mustangs will take on the team directly above them in the American Athletic Conference standings when they visit Connecticut on Saturday. SMU came close in a 14-13 loss to South Florida on Nov. 15 but has dropped its last two games by a combined 88-16 against UCF and Houston.

The Huskies have been just as bad in the last two weeks, falling to Cincinnati and Memphis by a combined 82-10, but are hoping to pull out a win on senior day. “We do focus in our process as we always have, but there is that extra little heartbeat for the seniors,” UConn coach Bod Diaco told reporters. “The team wants to be sure that these guys end their careers at home on a day of celebration. Everybody is working appropriately towards that goal.” The Mustangs just met their new coach when Chad Morris was introduced Monday.

TV: 12 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: UConn -11.5

ABOUT SMU (0-11, 0-7 AAC): June Jones left the program two weeks into the season and the Mustangs have continued to fall further onto hard times while averaging 9.6 points and surrendering 43.3. The offense is something Morris, who spent the last four years as the offensive coordinator at Clemson, plans to turn around quickly with an up-tempo attack. "You're going to see an exciting brand of football,” Morris told reporters and supporters at his introduction. “We're going to be one of the biggest turnarounds in college football before this is over with. But it's going to take a lot of work.”

ABOUT CONNECTICUT (2-9, 1-6): The Huskies have lost three in a row since picking up their only AAC win against UCF on Nov. 1 and Diaco managed to find some positives in the 41-10 loss at Memphis last week. “There were some really strong performances,” Diaco said. “…I thought (freshman running back) Ron Johnson played well, ran the ball hard.” Johnson is one of the reasons for optimism in the program and rushed for a season-high 67 yards against Memphis.

EXTRA POINTS

1. SMU QB Matt Davis completed 45.2 percent of his passes in the last two games.

2. Huskies S Andrew Adams recorded a career-high 13 tackles last week and has 93 on the season.

3. The Mustangs have taken both previous meetings, including 38-21 last season.

PREDICTION: UConn 14, SMU 10