Cougars Stop Huskies

Redshirt senior running back Art Thompkins breaks loose for a solid gain.

Photos courtesy Stephen Slade

EAST HARTFORD—The University of Connecticut Huskies played their best game of the season—certainly their best effort vs. FBS competition—but came up just short when they dropped a 24-17 decision to the University of Houston before 19,760 fans at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Saturday. Still, the progress that UConn football coach Randy Edsall has been waiting to see on game days was evident. Although his team did not win, the coach saw plenty of opportunities slip away that could have made the difference for the Huskies. While that doesn't make the agony of defeat hurt any less, it does show that the Huskies are clearly moving in the right direction.

“The moral of the story is, when you get opportunities, you have to take advantage of those opportunities,” Edsall said. “We just didn't do that today. We gave ourselves a chance to win, but we just didn't do enough in terms of executing and trusting our fundamentals and our technique.”

It was a one-score game almost throughout – until Houston (3-4 overall, 1-2 American Conference) gained some separation with a touchdown with just 3:19 remaining to make the score 24-10. Even then, the Huskies rallied behind freshman quarterback Jack Zergiotis to drive down the field and score on a Zergiotis-to-Art Thompkins pass to again get within a touchdown with 1:40 to go.

An onside kick attempt didn't work, however, and the UConn defense – outstanding all day, allowing Houston just 284 yards in total offense and recording three sacks – couldn't prevent the Cougars from  earning a game-clinching first down.

Zergiotis, back in the starting role for UConn, had solid numbers – 27 of 44 for 270 yards and two touchdowns – and spread the ball around, finding eight different receivers, but was frustrated by overthrowing an open UConn receiver on at least five plays.

Wide-out Cameron Hairston, a redshirt sophomore. hauls one in.

"It's 1,000 percent frustrating," Zergiotis said. "I've got to get the ball to my guys and I couldn't do it today. I've got to get better. I'm always trying to drive it in there, but I've got to work on tilting my shoulder and letting them adjust to it. It's definitely encouraging to see that my guys can get open, I've just got to get the ball to them. I have to do my job."

Edsall understands the ups and downs of a freshman quarterback.

"He hasn't played a lot and we're trying to get him to understand that he throws the ball on a flat line and he's got to make the ball come down the chimney a little bit and put a little bit more air under it," he said. "Those are some of the things you get when you play a young kid. He made some really great throws out there, too. The more he plays, the better he'll get."

UConn took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter as Matt Drayton caught a TD pass, but Houston had a 10-7 edge at halftime. The Huskies tied it 10-10 on a Clayton Harris field goal in the third quarter, but the Cougars tallied twice to give themselves the cushion they needed to withstand UConn's late effort.

Still, if a couple of those offensive plays had clicked ….

"I think we played fairly well and still lost, that's the frustrating part," said Cam Ross, who had a career-high nine receptions for 75 yards. "We came so close, but that's what's hard. But I trust Jack to get the ball to me. He's got quite an arm on him and he's going to get right for sure. That's my roommate And we're talking every day about football. That's my brother. Our bond is very strong."

“Certainly not what we wanted near the end there, but the moral of the story is that when you get opportunities, you’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities,” said Huskies’ head coach Randy Edsall. “We just didn’t do that today. There were all three phases where we had the opportunity to make things happen and we didn’t. I’m proud of the guys’ effort. We gave ourselves a chance to win, but just didn’t do enough in terms of executing, and again, trusting our fundamentals and our technique.

“We battled for 60 minutes today and I am proud of the kids,” Edsall continued. “We always had that upbeat attitude. At least we gave ourselves a chance to win. It's still a work in progress.”

As for the quarterback situation, which has been in flux, Edsall said Zergiotis is his man.

“I thought [Zergiotis] was best for us going forward,” Edsall said. “We’re going to live with him and if we get Steven [Krajewski] back, we’ll see where we go from there. Mike [Beaudry] is the backup.”

Asked if this was the Huskies’ best defensive performance of the season, Caleb Thomas, a redshirt sophomore defensive lineman, said it was the team’s best effort since Illinois. The Huskies fell 31-23 in that one in early September. “We brought the same intensity out as we brought against Illinois that week,” he said. “That’s what gave us a chance to actually execute and be in the game.”

With the loss, the Huskies fall to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in American Athletic Conference play. So now it’s off to Amherst, Mass., where the Huskies will take on the 1-6 University of Massachusetts Minutemen in a non-conference clash. And while on paper this may be a match-up of two of the worst teams in FBS, it also should be a close game and one that the Huskies have a decent chance of winning. Kickoff at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the game will be televised on NESN and broadcast on the UConn Sports Network.

THE SKINNY

—Staff Reports

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