Huskies Humiliated in 70-31 Loss to Memphis

OPINION by Bob Phillips

Photos by Bill Harper

Memphis tight end Sean Dykes breaks loose for a touchdown. It was the
first of 10 Tiger touchdowns Friday night.

EAST HARTFORD – To call Friday night’s UConn-Memphis football game a “tough one” for the Huskies is like calling the Empire State Building “tall.” Or like calling George Carlin “funny.” Or like calling This Is Us “OK.”Or like calling Trump ... You get it.

When the announced crowd of 19,230 filtered through the turnstiles, little did they realize they were about to witness history. Yes, history. Negative history. A totally inept Connecticut defense allowed 10 Memphis touchdowns—You heard that right, 10 touchdowns (eight through the air, two on the ground)—and the Tigers obliterated the Huskies 70-31—on Friday night.

Now, in most games, a 31-point offensive output should keep you in the contest, right? Well, under normal circumstances, that’s true. This putrid defense, however. How bad is the Husky non-D? Besides the aforementioned 70 points—the most allowed in the history of the program—this supposed “defense” allowed 711 total yards to Memphis. How many total yards is that? Well, think of the Tigers starting on their own goal line, then marching all the way to the UConn goal line. And back again. And again. Seven times (with 11 extra yards to spare).

That goes beyond putrid. Indeed, this reporter can find no words to describe just how bad the UConn defense is. In fact, the Huskies actually led 14-7 after the first period. That meant that Connecticut was steamrolled 63-24 over the last three quarters.

The Tigers celebrate their first score. It would happen many, many times
as Memphis scored more points against UConn than any team ever had.

This game was no freak of nature. Last week the Huskies gave up seven touchdowns and 498 total yards to SMU in Dallas. The week before that, it was 596 yards and five touchdowns allowed to East Carolina at The Rent. None of these teams will ever be mistaken for Alabama. Or Clemson. Or Oklahoma. Or Penn State. There is no reason to think that the Connecticut defense will be able to stop Temple next week in Philadelphia. Hell, there’s no reason to believe they could stop a top high school team from a football-centric state like Texas or Florida. Indeed, the Huskies’ sole victory came against FSC Holy Cross in the first game of the season—a victory that required late charge for a come-from-behind effort over a veritable D2 team.

“We decided to come in here and install a defense that we think is going to be good for us as we put this program together,” said head coach Randy Edsall, attempting to defend his team’s hellacious defensive performances this season. “The defense that we inherited is not built for this defense. If you look, we don't really have enough linemen to even play a four-man front. If people want to question, it is not the scheme it is we have to get players in that can play the scheme that we want to play because of the teams we are going to have to play year in and year out and. Right now, it’s difficult. We don't have the personnel to play this, we do not have the personnel to play a 4-3. This is a big job we have undertaken to make better, fair and simple, and it isn't going to happen overnight; it just isn't.”

Translation: This defense sucks and it’s not going to get any better. Certainly not this season.

I mean, seriously, Coach. The 4-3 means four linemen and three linebackers (left-right-middle). It’s a basic defense, one we played in high school. In theory, four down linemen should be able to apply more pressure to the quarterback. If the 4-3 doesn't work, try the 3-4. Or some other defensive scheme. Any other defensive scheme.

Here’s the bottom line: This team does not have the defensive talent to compete at this level. Period.

With all the focus on the Husky D (or lack thereof), it's easy to forget that
the offense actually had a pretty good game against Memphis.

“This is the rock bottom, the absolute rock bottom,” senior linebacker Vontae Diggs said. “I have never in my life had a team put 70 points on me. It’s embarrassment. We have to work harder, we have to grind harder, we have to player smarter. We have to do what we have to do to make sure this never, ever, in the history of UConn football, this will ever, ever, ever happen again. This is an embarrassment. This is not what we want for ourselves, this is not what the people want... no one deserves this.”

To make matters worse, this travesty occurred not only before a mostly empty stadium, but also live and in living color to a national audience on ESPN.

“Just thinking about that makes me sick to my stomach,” Diggs continued. “[Memphis is] a good football team. They took advantage of every opportunity they got, and I commend them and applaud them, but I am very embarrassed. I can’t stress that word enough. It is just an embarrassment.

And this—meaning a virtual D2 football program—is precisely the reason UConn has not been, nor ever will be, considered for, never mind invited to join, a power five conference. Just one man’s opinion, but you can pretty much take it to the bank. Don't you think it's high time that Connecticut faces reality, scale its football program down to 1A, join the Atlantic 10, and then join the Big East in basketball? Then again, that makes too much sense...