STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- North Carolina State and Connecticut will enter their game Saturday having faced vastly different levels of competition in their season openers.

The matchup will be a big step up for the Huskies (1-0), who gave up just 59 yards and three first downs last week in a 37-0 rout of Massachusetts, a team that was playing its first game as a FBS program. NC State (0-1), meanwhile, is coming off a disappointing 35-21 loss to Tennessee, and UConn players understand that most people consider this game a step down in competition for the Wolfpack.

UConn linebacker Jory Johnson said this game will go a long way toward defining the Huskies' season.

The programs have met just once before, in 2003, when Philip Rivers led NC State to a 31-24 victory. But Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien and UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni are facing each other for the ninth time, dating back to when O'Brien coached Boston College and Pasqualoni led Syracuse. Pasqualoni's teams won five of those games.

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