STORRS, Conn. (AP) _ Nine years ago, Hofstra spoiled Randy Edsall's debut as Connecticut's coach, blowing out the Huskies 56-17 in the last meeting between the two schools.

``Yeah, that wasn't a very good night, that's for sure,'' Edsall said this week. ``That was a long night. But that was nine years ago, almost 10 years ago now, and a lot has changed since that.''

UConn and Hofstra will meet again Thursday in the season opener for both teams, and this time the Huskies are the big favorites.

While Hofstra remains a good Football Championship Subdivision team, UConn has moved into college football's big time. The Huskies are coming off their second bowl appearance and a Big East co-championship.

``I'm very pleased at where the program is at,'' said Edsall, who is 50-55 at UConn.

Connecticut returns 19 starters from the team that went 9-4 a year ago, including quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, the first QB to return as a starter for the Huskies since Dan Orlovsky graduated to the NFL in 2004. Lorenzen threw for over 2,300 yards and 13 touchdowns and had just six interceptions in 2007. He also ran for 328 yards.

He said the team is eager to get back on the field after dropping its last two games, a 66-21 blowout loss at West Virginia and a 24-10 defeat at the hands of Wake Forest in the Meineke Bowl. Despite its co-championship, the Huskies were picked to finish sixth this year in the Big East's preseason media poll.

``Maybe a few more people expect we can do some stuff that they didn't believe we could do last year,'' Lorenzen said. ``But there's still the majority out there that doesn't believe we can. I think we still believe we can, and expect to do great things.''

UConn is expected to be without last year's leading rusher, Andre Dixon (828 yards), who sprained an ankle in practice this week. That will leave the bulk of the rushing duties Thursday to starter Donald Brown, who ran for 821 yards a year ago. Redshirt freshman Robbie Frey, whose athleticism turned heads in camp, is also expected to play.

Lorenzen said he's looking forward to seeing how his revamped receiving corps responds to game action. Speedster Kashif Moore, a redshirt freshman, and Ellis Gaulden, a fifth-year senior who is coming off a series of injuries, will start outside, with converted quarterback D.J. Hernandez, another senior, in the slot. 

They will face a Hofstra defense that includes seven new starters. The Pride graduated 14 starters from a team that went 7-4 in 2007.

UConn's secondary should get a test from Hofstra's passing attack, led by senior quarterback Bryan Savage, who threw for 2,668 yards a year ago. He will be throwing to a group of experienced receivers led by team co-captain Ottis Lewis, a three-year starter from Norwalk, Conn., who averaged over 17 yards per catch a year ago.

Connecticut has won its last five home openers and is 6-0 against FCS teams since 2002. The Huskies were 7-0 at home last season.

Hofstra coach Dave Cohen said he hasn't talked to his players about their roles as underdogs, or the chance they have to upset a Big East champion.

``I don't talk about UConn, I don't talk about other schools _ Appalachian State, Michigan,'' Cohen said. ``I'm way more concerned that every day we improve.''

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)