PUYOL’S FIELD GOAL CATAPULTS UCONN TO 34-21 VICTORY OVER MAINE

Photos courtesy Stephen Slade/UConn Athletics

 

East Hartford, Conn.—UConn kicker Bobby Puyol was perfect on the evening, and that’s a good thing because perfection is what was required. Puyol, a fifth-year senior from North Palm Beach, Fla., booted the winning field goal—a 37-yarder with 11 seconds left in the game—as well as three extra points to lead the Huskies to a surprisingly difficult 24-21 victory over Maine before 29,277 fans at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Thursday night. The game was streamed live on ESPN3.

Ron Johnson scores his second rushing TD.

Maine scored first when QB Dan Collins hit wideout Josh Mack with a 20-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left in the first quarter. Pat Leonard sent the extra point through the uprights to give the Black Bears a 7-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Junior tailback Ron Johnson tied it up for UConn by capping a five-play 57-yard drive by punching the ball over from the one scored a TD with 6:55 to go in the half to finish a five-play, 57-yard drive, with 6:55 remaining in the first half. Puyol booted the point-after and the game was knotted at 7-7 as the teams headed into the locker room at intermission.

A 21-yard jaunt into the end zone by Johnson and the ensuing point-after by Puyol gave the Huskies their first lead of the contest, 14-7, with 3:30 remaining in the third period. But the Black Bears struck back when Collins lofted a 40-yard scoring pass to Jaleel Reed with one second left in the third. Leonard’s kick knotted the score at 14-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

UConn quarterback Bryant Shirreffs scampers out of the pocket.

The Black Bears once again took the lead when Maine cornerback Najee Goode recovered a fumble by UConn QB Bryant Shirreffs and rambled 74-yards into the end zone to stake Maine to a 21-14 lead with 9:56 remaining in regulation. But UConn scored the final 10 points in the contest—a two-yard run by junior tailback Arkeel Newsome of Ansonia, capping a six play-54 yard drive to tie the game at 21-21, and Puyol’s game-winning field goal. In between, the Huskies’ senior captain Mikal Myers blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt by Leonard.

“I wanted to kick it,” said Puyol. “I felt good from around 55 yards, but we wanted to get closer. Bryant and the offense did a great job of getting the ball in position for us and it was great to see.”

Junior linebacker Vontae Diggs led UConn with nine tackles, two of them for losses. Shirreffs accounted for 162 yards in the air, completing 16 of 23 passes, while rushing for 95 yards. Johnson racked up 65 yards on the ground, including two touchdowns, while senior wideout Noel Thomas, Jr. of Norwalk finished the game with nine receptions for 70 yards.

Bobby Puyol boots game-winning field goal.

With the win, UConn improves to 40-31-3 all-time vs. Maine. The Huskies are 11-4 in season openers since moving to the FBS (formerly known as D1) in 2002, and are 11-3 in season openers played at The Rent.

“Credit Maine and coach [Joe] Harasymiak,” said UConn head coach Bob Diaco in his postgame comments. “Maine is a hard-nosed bunch just like their coach. They play great defense and have for a time and that has bled into the team.”

Diaco then praised his own team’s effort.

“Tonight was a good hard-fought game, which was a lot of fun,” he continued. “A very exciting game that hopefully everyone was entertained by. We are going to have a bunch of fourth quarter fights down the stretch. The difference between 2015 and 2016 was we didn’t finish those games successfully in the past and we did tonight. I’m pleased with the intestinal fortitude and grit of the team and their ability to execute down the stretch and put enough plays together to win the game.”

The Huskies start American Athletic Conference play next Saturday, Sept. 10, when they travel to Annapolis, Md., to challenge Navy. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.