Syracuse will forever hold a prominent place in Randy Edsall's mental scrapbook.

Page after page has fond memories.

It's his alma mater and where he played college football.

It's where his coaching career began and he first experienced success as an assistant coach.

It's where he met his wife, Eileen, a member of the Orange basketball and volleyball teams. Their daughter, Alexi, was born there.

"I have great memories of there," Edsall said earlier this week. "There's some real good stories and then there's some that you don't even want to tell."

Edsall didn't spend much time reminiscing this week. He's been immersed in preparing his UConn Huskies (1-2) to play against undefeated Syracuse (3-0) in a hostile and loud Carrier Dome on Saturday (4 p.m., ESPNews).

"I've been through it before," Edsall said of returning to Syracuse. "I've done that. It probably will be the last time I ever coach in the Carrier Dome."

Perhaps if his football life played out differently, Edsall might have been walking the Syracuse sidelines as head coach instead of at UConn.

A reserve quarterback during his Syracuse playing days, Edsall graduated in 1980 and became a graduate assistant on Dick MacPherson's staff. He went on to coach running backs for three seasons, then tight ends and defensive backs before leaving for an assistant's job at Boston College.

Edsall is grateful that his college coach, Frank Maloney, gave him a scholarship and then an opportunity to enter the coaching profession. Along the way, he worked with influential coaching figures like George O'Leary, Tom Coughlin and Nick Saban, who served as an assistant for one season (1977) when Edsall played.

"I've been fortunate," Edsall said. "I played there for four and coached there for 11 (years). I have nothing but great memories. A lot of my teammates are going to be there this weekend to honor Joe Morris, which, to me, is long overdue. I don't know if I've ever seen a running back like him.

"... It will good to see guys like Joe and some of the other guys, ... My roommate I know is going to be back there. But when you go and kick it off, you worry about just playing the game. I just want to be able to do everything I can to help this team and help these kids get a win."

Tough time for Edsall's homecoming.

The Huskies are experiencing some severe growing pains. They struggled to beat FCS foe Rhode Island last week.

They're massive underdogs on Saturday against a team that thrashed Florida State a week ago, 30-7.

The noise level is a concern for the Huskies, who poorly handled their first road trip at Boise State on Sept. 8. They committed six false start penalties — all in the first half — and never recovered, losing 62-7.

Edsall pumped in crowd noise during indoor practice earlier this week.

"That situation with the noise, we're definitely going to handle it right this time," running back Kevin Mensah said. "We're just going to be more focused on the calls and more focused on the snap count."

Syracuse, a former Big East rival, has piled up the points this season, averaging 49 per-game in wins over Western Michigan, Wagner and Florida State.

Senior quarterback Eric Dungey, who left last week's game with blurry vision, will be ready to play. He's two-way trouble, leading an Orange ground game that averages 257 yards with a team-best 299 rushing yards overall and passing for 477 yards and seven touchdowns. He threw for 400 yards in the last meeting in the series, a 31-24 win in 2016 in East Hartford.

"They're a very fast tempo team," Edsall said. "They mix up their personnel groupings. They want to run the football, first and foremost. They have two quarterbacks that can hurt you with the run-pass option. So you have to be very disciplined."

Discipline on defense isn't a strength for the young Huskies.

UConn ranks last in FBS in total defense (673.3 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (55.7 points).

Perhaps the best that the Huskies can hope for is to be competitive for as long as possible. It will be interesting to see if UConn senior quarterback David Pindell, who accounted for six touchdowns last week, can be effective against Syracuse and put together some sustained scoring drives.

The offense has scored only three touchdowns against two FBS foes this season.

g.keefe@theday.com