Huskies Outlast Rice 17-10

Rice was coming into East Hartford without its starting QB in EJ Warner, looking at a 2-5 start to the season. UConn was coming off a rough offensive performance against Wake Forest last week and was looking to rebound. It wasn’t pretty for much of the game, but the Huskies hung on for a 17-10 victory in front of 23,711 fans at Rentschler Field.

The Huskies received the opening kick and promptly went three-and-out. Devillier’s first pass was broken up by Jayden McDonald, who then pressured Devillier on 3^rd and long, giving the ball back to the Huskies at their own 15. A couple close 3^rd down conversions and a late hit got the Huskies into Owl territory, but the drive stalled and they were again forced to punt. Rice went three-and-out, including a failed “tush push.” A sack and fumble on 3^rd and long for Evers gave the Owls the ball at the UConn 25, and had to settle for a 23 yard FG, opening the scoring with a 3-0 lead with 2:35 to go in the first quarter. A pass interference call then an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty a few plays later got the Huskies moving into Rice territory, and the first came to a close with UConn at the Owl 35. Evers struggled to get going on the first few drives, throwing for just 8 yards on 2-9 passing, and the fumble. 

Chris Freeman came out to try the 53 yard FG, but just missed, and the Huskies remained scoreless. A fifth penalty by the Owls, a delay of game, pushed the Owls back, and another pressure by Gourdine and Yates forced yet another three-and-out. Evers finally looked comfortable, hitting TJ Sheffield for a 26 yard gain up the sideline, but then made a bad read on the next play, and was intercepted by Owl safety Gabriel Taylor. UConn’s defense held, but a Rice punt was downed at the 1. Nothing worked on that drive for the Huskies, and they punted right back. A holding call on the return helped back up the Owls a bit, but UConn gave it right back with a roughing the passer on McDonald. Rice would have to punt, but UConn would do nothing with the drive. Outside of the pass play to Sheffield, they didn’t get any yards in the 2^nd. UConn 

Halftime Stats:

Rice received the kickoff to start the second half, and it looked an awful lot like the first half, with Jelani Stafford batting down a pass, and the Owls punting. Evers came out throwing, hitting Skyler Bell for a first down, then Mel Brown spinning out of two tackles to get another first. The drive stalled at the 50, and Stutz shanked the punt, giving the Owls the ball at their own 25. After forcing another punt, Durell Robinson broke off a 68 yard TD run on the first play of the drive, and UConn had their first lead at 7-3 with 7:02 remaining. A bizarre Louis Hansen personal foul penalty, driving an Owl out of bounds similar to Michael Oher’s famous scene in “The Blind Side” put a damper on the drive and the ball was back to Rice with 4:46 left in the 3^rd. A Rice muffed punt put the Owls at their own 6, but the Owls gave themselves some room with a quick first down to the 23, as the 3^rd quarter came to end with UConn hanging on to a 7-3 lead. 

A big catch up the sidelines to Hansen had 15 added on by way of targeting, which may have been payback for the unsportsmanlike conduct earlier, but the Huskies were into Rice territory. Evers hit Bell down the sideline for 34 yards, making the catch amidst a bunch of contact, then Cam Edwards punched it in from 4 yards out to give UConn a 14-3 lead. A big kick return to their own 45 gave Rice good field position, but found themselves in a familiar position, 3^rd and long. A short pass to the 50 was well short of the 1^st down marker, but with time winding down, the Owls tried for it on 4^th and 5, and Devillier was sacked by Pryce Yates, and UConn took over in plus territory. The Huskies couldn’t get six, but they did manage a Freeman 30 yard FG while taking nearly five minutes off the clock.

It wasn’t over, as Rice returned the kickoff for a 100 yard TD, and all of a sudden it was a one score game at 17-10 with 3:28 remaining. Robinson broke off another big run, a gain of 27, and the Huskies were facing a 3^rd and 6 at the Rice 40 with 1:12 remaining, and the Owls stuffed the run, but. with no timeouts left, they needed 91 yards and only :22 seconds on the clock after the punt. Yates sacked Devillier on the first play, followed by an incompletion jarred loose by Tui Faumuina-Brown. With just :02 to play at their own 3, the Owls completed a pass and attempted a lateral, but the ball fell to the turf, and that was it. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t good even, but there can be no complaining over a Husky win after the past decade-plus. 

Final Stats: