Todman missed the first two games of his freshman season with a shoulder injury , and made his debut with 81 yards rushing and a touchdown in a UConn victory over Virginia . He would spend the rest of the year as the backup to All-American running back , Donald Brown , and would finish the year with 296 rushing yards and three touchdowns . After Brown left for the NFL , Todman was promoted to starting running back for his sophomore season . Before the season began , he was named to the Doak Walker Award watch list . Despite splitting carries with Andre Dixon , Todman lead the Huskies with 1,188 rushing yards . He gained over 100 yards in a game five times , including running for 162 yards with 4 touchdowns in a 47 – 45 loss to Cincinnati . In addition to his running back duties , Todman was also the primary kick returner . In the Huskies victory over Notre Dame , he returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown . After the season , he was named second team All-Big East . With Dixon 's graduation at the end of the 2009 season , Todman entered his junior season as the team 's primary running back . Just as the previous year , he was once again named to the Doak Walker Award watch list . During the regular season , Todman ran for over 100 yards in 9 of the 11 games he played ( he missed the Huskies game against Buffalo with an elbow injury ) . He set a career-high when he ran for 222 yards during a nationally televised game on ESPN against Pittsburgh , on the same day it was announced that he was not named a semi-finalist for the Doak Walker Award . At the end of the regular season , he had 1,574 rushing yards on 302 carriers and 14 rushing touchdowns . Connecticut finished in a three-way tie for the Big East Conference with West Virginia and Pittsburgh , but Connecticut won the tie-breakers and played the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl . After the season , Todman was the unanimous selection as Big East Conference 's Offensive Player of the Year
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Jordan Todman