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| Freshman Quayvon Skanes celebrates after scoring his first collegiate touchdown to give UConn an early lead. |
PHILADELPHIA—The drought is over for the Huskies. The University of Connecticut football team, which opened the season with a seven-point victory over Holy Cross, a FCS (formerly called Division 1-AA) school, then dropped its next for games, finally broke its four-game losing streak when it rallied early, then hung on to defeat the Temple Owls, 28-24, before 29,849 fans at Lincoln Financial Stadium on Saturday. Senior quarterback Bryant Shirreffs threw for three touchdowns, while redshirt freshman defensive back Tyler Cole, a Windsor native, returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown. The win also ended an eight-game skid in American Athletic Conference play for Connecticut.
After
Temple running back David Hood capped a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive with
6:23 remaining in the first period to open the scoring, Connecticut stormed
back with two unanswered second period touchdowns—both six yard pass from
Shirreffs, the first to wideout Quayvon Skanes, a true freshman,
and the next to junior Hergy Mayala from Montreal.
Marshe Terry recovered a fumble that set up Shirreffs' 6-yard TD pass to Mayala to give Connecticut (2-4, 1-3 AAC) its first halftime of the season, 14-7. Freshman defensive back Jordan Swann made his first career start after senior Jamar Summers took ill on Saturday morning, and forced a fumble by Owl wideout Brodrick Yancy that set up the score.
Shirreffs, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 105 yards, hit Ansonia’s Arkeel Newsome on a short TD pass on the opening drive of the second half to give the Huskies a 21-7 lead. It was the first double digit lead for the Huskies since Oct. 22, 2016 vs. UCF.
The
Huskies defense forced two turnovers and stopped Temple on downs three times,
including the Owls' final drive, which ended in an incomplete Hail Mary pass
with seconds left.
Marshe Terry recovered a fumble that set up Shirreffs' 6-yard TD pass to Mayala to give Connecticut (2-4, 1-3 AAC) its first halftime of the season, 14-7. Freshman defensive back Jordan Swann made his first career start after senior Jamar Summers took ill on Saturday morning, and forced a fumble by Owl wideout Brodrick Yancy that set up the score.
Shirreffs, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 105 yards, hit Ansonia’s Arkeel Newsome on a short TD pass on the opening drive of the second half to give the Huskies a 21-7 lead. It was the first double digit lead for the Huskies since Oct. 22, 2016 vs. UCF.
With
the win, Connecticut improves to 2-4 overall, 1-3 in conference play. Temple
falls to 3-4 (1-3). The Huskies will now head back to Connecticut for their annual
Homecoming Game on Saturday vs. 2-5, 1-2 Tulsa. Kickoff at Pratt & Whitney
Stadium at Rentschler Field will be at noon, and the game will be televised
nationally on ESPNU.
Dog Bites
-
Arkeel Newsome earned a spot in the Husky record book with his 100th career reception, becoming the first UConn running back to accomplish the feat.
- Tyler Cole’s pick six was UConn's first interception returned for a TD since Jamar Summer did it at Tulane in 2015.
- That game was also the last road victory for the Huskies prior to Saturday. The win marked the end of nine-game road skid.
- Quayvon Skanes scored his first career touchdown to open to scoring for UConn.
—with staff
reports
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