UConn Crushed by Boise State

By Bob Phillips

No. 19/20 ran roughshod over UConn, delivering a 62-7 defeat to the
Huskies on Saturday night.

BOISE, Idaho – For the second straight week, the University of Connecticut Huskies were paired against a Top 25 team, and for the second straight week, the Huskies had their butts handed to them. Last week, UConn was trounced by No. 21 UCF, 56-7, at Pratt & Whitney Field at Rentschler Field. Last night—seemingly in the middle of the night—it was No. 19/20 Boise State’s turn to lay the pain on the Huskies, as the No. 19/20 Broncos crushed Connecticut, 62-7, before 34,515 fans at Albertsons Stadium.

How bad was this one? Try these on for size:

• Boise State scored on its first possession (albeit a field goal) and led 24-0 after the first period.

• By intermission, the Broncos’ lead had grown to 41-0.

• The Boise State offense reached paydirt five times in the first half, during which the Broncos accumulated 514 offensive yards. The Huskies were scoreless, and had gained just 78 yards.

In retrospect, maybe not such a good idea.

Boise’s dominance continued into the second half, as the Broncos outscored the Huskies 21-7 after intermission. For the game, Boise State generated 818 yards of total offense—a school record--, compared to 193 by the Huskies. The game was televised nationally by ESPNU, but the vast majority of sets most certainly had been turned off by them—certainly those outside of Idaho.

It don’t get much worse than that, folks. In fact, it was the Huskies’ worse loss since they dropped a 66-10 decision to Middle Tennessee State—the year Connecticut began its transition from FCS (formerly known as Division 1-A) to FBS.

"I think Boise State is a little better and a little bit ahead of Central Florida right now," UConn head coach Randy Edsall told the Idaho Statesman, smarting from two overwhelming losses to start the season. "Defensively, I think Boise State is outstanding."

The Huskies’ lone score came on their second drive of the second half—a seven-play, 93-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Pindell to Aaron McLean. After the Huskies’ paltry 1-for-8 on third down in the first half, Pindell linked up with Tyler Davis to move the chains and Kevin Mensah set up the Huskies in the red zone with a 55-yard scamper.

For the game, Mensah finished with 82 rushing yards on 10 carries. Defensive back Tyler Coyle registered a career-high 14 tackles—an unsurprising statistic given the Broncos total offensive dominance.

The Huskies now head home for a match-up vs. the University of Rhode Island Rams on Saturday at P&W. Rhody, former rivals of Connecticut in the old Yankee Conference, is an FCS team playing in the Colonial Athletic Association (the former Atlantic-10). Indeed, the Huskies would be well advised to consider downgrading to FCS status and applying for entrance into the CAA for a wide variety of reasons including natural rivalries (with URI, Villanova, Maine and New Hampshire in particular), as well as overall competitive balance.

Kickoff is slated for 12:07 p.m., and the game will be televised on SNY.

—with staff reports