Huskies Fall To SMU

By Bob Phillips

UConn running back Zavier Scott breaks loose at mid-field for the
Huskies against SMU. The Mustangs prevailed, 62-50, as the Huskies'
downward spiral continued. (Photo by Bill Harper)

EAST HARTFORD—UConn’s long day’s journey into night continued on Saturday as Southern
Methodist came to town—and promptly proceeded to run the Huskies out of it—to the tune of 62-50.

"We tried to make it a shootout and outscore 'em if we could, but we weren't able to do that," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. [Translation: UConn’s defense is as effective as a slow-moving dump truck on the Autobahn.]

As has been the case most of the season, this game didn’t start out that badly for the Huskies. While the Mustangs scored the game’s first 10 points, the Huskies cut the SMU lead to 10-7 on a 30-yard run by senior quarterback David Pindell with 2:46 remaining in the first period. Game on, right? Well, no, actually.

SMU stormed down the field on the Mustangs’ next possession, reaching paydirt five-yard run by Ke’on Freeman, capping a five-play, 76-yard drive to end the quarter with the Mustangs holding a 17-7 advantage. SMU then outscored Connecticut 14-7, taking a 17 point lead, 31-10, into the locker room at intermission. The Mustangs scored on their first five possessions.

“That's kind of been the story of the year for us,” said Edsall. "I thought the first half, physically, we had it handed to us defensively. Then I thought we at least picked it up a little bit physically, but then we missed some assignments"

Indeed, the Connecticut offense rallied to score 40 points in the second half. But the defense was hard-pressed to make any stops. In the end, the Huskies simply could not dig themselves out of the first-half hole they dug for themselves.

“When we had a chance to make a tackle, we just didn't make it,” said Edsall. “Those are all the things we have to work on.

There were some plusses to take away from this game—especially on the offense. For instance, the Huskies amassed 580 yards of total offense, including 365 on the ground. Pindell (181 yards rushing) has eclipsed rushing 100 yards on six occasions this season, including each of the Huskies last four games. The senior signal caller also threw for 215 yards, including four touchdowns. The 6-0, 195-lb., senior from Columbia, Md., became the first signal caller in Husky history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (he has 1,118). That also makes him the first Connecticut player to break the 1,000-yard rushing barrier since Lyle McCombs ran for 1,151 yards in 2011. And sophomore tailback Kevin Mensah ran the ball 28 times for 184 yards and one TD.

But there were precious few positives on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage. The Mustangs gained 594 yards of total offense—that’s nearly six football fields—including 315 yards rushing under the direction of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, who coached the UConn offense last season. The Mustangs’ Ke'Mon Freeman and Xavier Jones each ran for more than 100 yards and combined for five touchdowns, and QB Ben Hicks threw for 276 yards and one touchdown for SMU, which improved to 5-5 overall (4-2 in conference play), and is at .500 for the first time this season.

With the loss, Connecticut, which has made a major argument for being one of—if not the worst—team in BSC this season, falls to 1-9 (0-6 in The American, which will never be mistaken for the Big 10). The Huskies’ only win this season came against URI, an FCS team (which is exactly where the Huskies should be playing).

One huge positive was the return of linebacker Eli Thomas, who walked on the field prior to the game to take part in the ceremonial coin toss. The 6-1 redshirt sophomore from Elmira, NY, suffered a stroke last month.

"He surprised us last night at the team dinner," Pindell said. "Nobody knew he was going to be there, and everybody was all surprised and happy for him."

UConn now travels to Greenville, NC, where they will take on the 2-7 (0-6) East Carolina Pirates. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.

—with staff reports