University of Connecticut running back Donald Brown set a career-high with four touchdowns and 146 rushing yards, helping the Huskies defeat the Pride, 35-3, in the season opener for both teams at Rentschler Field Thursday night.

Junior quarterback Cory Christopher (Miami, Fla) made his first career appearance for the Pride, kicking off the 68th season of Hofstra football by going 17-28 for 130 yards and two interceptions. Christopher was named the starter by Head Coach Dave Cohen about 15 minutes before kickoff, replacing Bryan Savage (Springfield, PA) after the starting QB was held out because of back spasms.

It was the Pride's first season-opening loss in five years. Christopher, who was the 2006 Conference Offensive Player of the Year for Nassau Community College before transferring, completed at least one pass to nine different receivers (including offensive lineman David Spanich on a tipped pass). Connecticut sacked Christopher seven times.

The contest marked just the third time the Pride played a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly I-A. Hofstra lost two games at Marshall-in 2003 and 2006-while also posting victories against current FBS schools Buffalo and South Florida in 1999 when both schools were in transition from I-AA.

Hofstra came out strong and temporarily quieted the near-sellout crowd of 37,583, forcing the Huskies to go three-and-out on its opening possession. Following a 47-yard punt, Connecticut's Robbie Frey recovered Anthony Nelson's fumble recovery at the Hofstra 1-yard line. Brown capitalized on the turnover one play later, bullying his way into the end zone for a touchdown run to open a 7-0 lead two minutes into the first quarter.

Christopher recorded his first career completion for the Pride, delivering a third-down strike to Aaron Weaver (Freeport, NY) picked up the first down. But Scott Lutrus' interception stalled the drive, giving possession back to the Huskies midway through the first. Brown added his second touchdown of the quarter, capping a seven-play drive with another 1-yard touchdown run to forge a 14-point edge with 4:47 remaining.

Brown nearly added his third touchdown of the quarter before a holding penalty negated another scoring rush. The junior tailback still tallied 86 yards on 14 carries in the opening 15 minutes.

The Pride almost got on the board in the second quarter, engineering a 15-play drive that teetered out after two sacks. UConn still held Hofstra off the scoreboard and surged to a 28-0 halftime lead thanks to Brown's third and fourth rushing touchdowns of the half, including a 19-yard scamper 12 minutes into the second and a two-yard rush into the end zone with 41 seconds remaining in the half.

Ray McDonough (Los Angeles, CA) helped put some life back into Hofstra in the second half, picking off Tyler Lorenzen's pass at the Huskies' 2-yard line before returning it 54 yards. Christopher completed first-down passes to Weaver and Nelson (Wellington, Fla.) on back-to-back plays while also scrambling for another 12 yards; setting up place-kicker Brian Hanly's (Wyckoff, NJ) 29-yard field goal to put Hofstra on the scoreboard nearly 10 minutes into the third quarter.

Graduate student Anthony Vernaglia (Anaheim Hills, CA) made a master's-worthy play in the third quarter, picking off Lorenzen's downfield attempt and returned it 16 yards. Vernaglia recorded his first pick of his career. The linebacker never had an interception in his three seasons at Notre Dame.

Nick Altomare (Fairfax, VA) also generated the first pick of his career. The fourth-year veteran moved from safety to cornerback during training camp and saved at least six points when he corralled a pass in the Connecticut end zone on the second quarter's first play. Altomare registered five tackles.

Frey's two-yard touchdown run 3:33 into the final quarter capped the scoring as Connecticut improved to 3-2 in the all-time series against the Pride.

Freshman Chris Edmond (Freeport, NY) collected a team-high nine tackles. McDonough added eight tackles; the same total as freshman Gregory Melendez (Brooklyn, NY). Senior receiver Ottis Lewis (Norwalk, CT) led all Pride receivers with 32 yards on three receptions.

Hofstra will next be in action Sept. 13 when it hosts the University at Albany in the home opener. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at James M. Shuart Stadium.

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