While preparing earlier this week to play Army, UConn coach Bob Diaco made one thing perfectly clear to his football team.

"Just so everybody knows, we're not going to out-tough the United States Army," Diaco said.

There's nothing typical about today's game (3:30 p.m., CBS-SN) in the Bronx.

The Huskies (2-6) are playing for the first time at Yankee Stadium against an Army team that runs a tricky triple-option attack.

The coaching staff started to prepare for the unique challenge weeks ago, selecting a scout team to try to simulate Army's game plan.

Diaco knows a thing or two about playing a military academy. As a Notre Dame assistant, he faced Army, Navy and Air Force. He said he's had some success and some moments of "a lot pain and misery."

"This whole offense for every player on the defense is an incredible challenge," Diaco said. "When you get these guys on your schedule, it's like everybody is a freshman. … You have to prepare for this offense. There's not a whole lot of room for other conversations. It's so complex and it happens so fast and there's so many moving parts."

The Huskies are energized from last week's 37-29 upset of Central Florida that broke a five-game losing streak. It was a good sign that they put the celebration in proper perspective.

Now they take a break from American Athletic Conference play and shoot for their first two-game winning streak since last season.

To accomplish another step forward, UConn will need to slow down a potent running game that averages 294.8 yards per game, ranking fifth in the country. The Huskies have done fairly well in that defensive category this season, allowing 91.1 yards per game. Only two opposing running backs have gone over the 100 yard mark.

The Black Knights (2-6) rely on a variety of ball carriers, including 239-pound senior fullback Larry Dixon (696 yards, five touchdowns) and senior quarterback Angel Santiago (576 yards, six TDs). Three others have piled up at least 215 yards. In comparison, UConn's top rusher, Max DeLorenzo, has just 194 yards.

So it's no secret what Army wants to do. It's just up to the Huskies to form a defensive roadblock. But they can't ignore the passing game.

"They run the ball, they run it great and very proficiently," Diaco said. "They have talented runners and it's an unbelievable system to try and defend. It's an absolute nightmare, a complete and utter nightmare."

"The passes are typically point-producers or set up scores, because it is always about a bust on defense."

UConn's offense can do its part by controlling time of possession and taking advantage of scoring opportunities.

In recent weeks, the Huskies have started to orchestrate some long drives, including a key 13-play, 79-yard scoring march last week.

"Time of possession is big, but we're going to play our game," quarterback Chandler Whitmer said. "We can slow it down and we can speed it up. Whatever we've got to do to be successful and put more points on the board, then it won't really matter how much time of possession is."

Army certainly isn't invincible. Defensively, the Black Knights are vulnerable, giving up 34.2 points per game. They lost at Yale, 49-43 in overtime, on Sept. 27.

"They've been a team that's gotten better all year," Army coach Jeff Monken said of UConn. "They're a team a lot like ours, they have struggled and they've had their share of troubles and haven't been getting the results that they want. They're battling to find a way to win and they've been in some games that could have certainly gone their way and didn't.

"They're a lot better football team than their record indicates."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe