Huskies Lose Heartbreaker to Wake Forest 23-20

UConn was riding high after a thrilling last-second victory over Temple in their last outing at Rentschler Field. Husky fans were in for another thrilling ending on a perfect fall Saturday in East Hartford, this time, however, the Huskies did not come away with the victory, falling to Wake Forest 23-20. 

It was a rough start for each team’s offense, going three-and-out a couple times, before Nick Evers threw an interception. The Husky defense held, forcing another punt, which was downed at the Husky 3. A Christopher Fortin false start pushed them back further, and the Huskies had to punt after Cam Edwards was just short on the 3^rd and long. Wake would move the ball a bit, before settling for a 33 yard FG, to open the scoring at 3-0. Evers opened the drive with a couple passes to Jasaiah Gathings, pushing the Huskies into Wake territory. Victor Rosa finally came back from injury to get a carry, but fumbled (forward, luckily), and UConn settled for a Chris Freeman 33 yard FG, and the first quarter came to a close, tied at 3-3. 

To open the 2^nd, Wake QB Hank Bachmeier hit Horatio Mays for a long pass down to the UConn 5, a 41 yard pass, and Demond Claiborne punched it in the very next play for the game’s first TD, giving Wake a 10-3 lead. After a nice throw over the middle to Skyler Bell, the drive stalled, and on 3^rd and long, a bad snap forced Evers to just fall on the ball, and Connor Stutz was out to punt again. The Wake slow mesh was causing all sorts of the problems on the ensuing drive, getting down to the UConn 14, but the drive would stall, and Matthew Dennis hit a 31 yard FG, giving Wake a 13-3 lead with about six minutes to go in the half. UConn drove down into Wake territory, helped by a late hit out of bounds on Cam Edwards. Evers missed a wide open Rosa, but Freeman would hit a 53 yard FG to cut the lead to 7 at 13-6. Wake was driving late, and it looked like they’d tack on to their lead, but Cam Chadwick intercepted the Bachmeier pass in the end zone, and the Huskies went into the half trailing by seven. 

Halftime Stats:

Wake would get the ball to start the second half, and Bachmeier picked up where he left off in the first, hitting Taylor Morin for a big gain down the left sideline as he took a hit from Jelani Stafford for 33 yards, and a late Rante Jones hit gave the Demon Deacons the ball at the UConn 17 after less than a minute. Wake would punch it in on 3^rd and goal to extend the lead to 20-6. An unsportsmanlike penalty on Claiborne after his TD forced Wake to kickoff from their own 20, allowing Mel Brown to return the kick to the 50, giving UConn excellent field position on a must-score drive. Evers hit Gathings three times on the drive, including a 20 yard TD pass to cut the lead back to seven with 7:33 to go in the third. The defense held, forcing a punt, giving UConn the ball at their own 25. Huskies couldn’t take advantage, promptly going three-and-out. Wake moved again, but this time, the 42 yard FG attempt was blocked by Dal’Mont Gourdine and the Huskies were back in business, but again, went three-and-out. 

Bachmeier continued to gash the UConn secondary, hitting his favorite target, Morin, again deep in UConn territory. On 3^rd and goal from the 6, Jayden McDonald came up huge with a sack with a loss of 12, and Dennis hit the 36 yarder, giving Wake the 23-13 lead. The Huskies would end up punting on a 4^th and inches, and the boo birds were out at Rentschler Field. The defense would come up with a stop at midfield with 6:33 remaining, with UConn still trailing by ten. On 4^th and 3 from their own 30, Evers hit Brett Buckman near the 50, extending the drive. After another Buckman grab, Evers hit TE Louis Hansen in the back corner of the end zone, and UConn trailed 23-20 with just 2:27 left in the game. The defense came up with a three-and-out, and UConn started deep in their own territory after a booming Ivan Mora punt. A pass to TJ Sheffield got UConn to their own 40 before the two minute timeout. On 4^th and 3 from their own 48, Brady Wayburn was called for a false start, and on 4^th and 8, Evers’ pass to Gathings fell incomplete, despite a lot of contact, and that ended it, a disappointing ending. 

Final Stats: