Confident Roberson seizing opportunity at QB
STORRS — Ta'Quan Roberson has played the last two games for the UConn football team like the 23-year-old that he is, not a quarterback who has made five starts since graduating from high school.
After scoring only 52 points in their first four games, the Huskies have put 71 on the board in their last two with their seasonhigh coming on Oct. 7, a 38-31 victory at Rice that got them in the winner's circle for the first time.
“My confidence has risen from getting the reps and playing in (five) games in a row,” Roberson said on Tuesday. “I believe the game has slowed down for me with a few games under my belt and constantly repeating the plays and doing them in the game.”
Roberson and UConn's offense will try to continue to make their points Saturday when they entertain former Big East and American Athletic Conference rival South Florida at Rentschler Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
The Huskies, who scored 33 points in a onepoint loss to Utah State prior to going to Rice, have hit the 30-point plateau in back-to-back games since doing it against Buffalo (45) and Vanderbilt (52) Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 of 2010. The last time they did it three times in a row was a year later versus Cincinnati (45), Notre Dame (30), and Syracuse (56) Nov. 7, 21, and 28 of 2009.
Roberson has been the key. Against Utah State he overcame an early interception to finish 23-for-32 passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the first time a UConn quarterback had completed 70% of his passes for more than 250 yards since Bryant Shirreffs on Oct. 21, 2017 when he was 23-for-29 passing for 372 yards and a touchdown in a 20-14 win over Tulsa. Roberson was even better against Rice going 15-for-19 in the air for 215 yards and two scores.
“It starts with the way he practices,” UConn
coach Jim Mora said. “He practices with an intent to get better. He's connecting more with his receivers. He understands the offense better because he's played in games. There's a level of growth that happens in games that doesn't necessarily happen in practice. The competition brings the best out of you.
“His growth has been great. Looking at his yards and his completion percentage is impressive. He'll continue to grow because he's not satisfied. You don't see any satisfaction in the way he is presenting himself to us and his teammates. It's more hunger. That's a good thing.”
Roberson began his college career at Penn State and played in six games off the bench in three seasons before transferring to UConn. He earned the starting job for the Huskies a year ago but tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on the second possession of the opener at Utah State and was lost for the year.
He was beaten out by Maine transfer Joseph Fagnano for the starting spot in summer camp but got the call when Fagnano suffered a season-ending right shoulder injury in the second quarter at Georgia State on Sept. 9. He has taken every snap since.
“One of the reasons he has made these giant strides is his consistency in his preparation and approach has not wavered,” Mora said. “It didn't waver in the first week or so after the disappointment of Joe being the starter. After all Ta'Quan did to get back he kept fighting, fighting, fighting, but he's the same guy he's always been. Even with his success he's after more.”
Roberson — a 5-foot-11, 205-pound redshirt junior from Orange, New Jersey — had some good moments in the losses to Georgia State, Florida International, and Duke before turning the corner a bit against Utah State.
For the season, he is completing 60.3 percent of his passes for 970 yards and seven touchdowns. He's thrown two interceptions in 141 attempts.
“I don't think that he's doing anything extraordinary,” UConn wide receiver Cam Ross said. “He's doing the job we all know that he can do. We have full confidence he can lead the team and we're all behind him.”
Of course, Roberson hasn't done it all by himself.
The defense for UConn (1-5) has forced six turnovers in the last two games and the offense turned five of them into touchdowns. His wide receivers have been able to get some separation and they're holding on to the ball. The running game, led by sophomore Victor Rosa of Bristol — who went over the 1,000-yard plateau for his career at Rice — and Cam Edwards of Norwalk has been effective.
Maybe most important, All-American Christian Haynes and the offensive line have protected Roberson and allowed UConn to establish balance on offense.
“As I always say, playing behind those five guys ... I don't know how you can't be confident and how you can't be relaxed when it comes to me or comes to Cam, Jalen (Mitchell), or Vic running the ball,” Roberson said. “Those guys are going to open up holes and block their tails off.
“The key on offense is not show or tip the defense to what we're doing. So the balance of run and pass has been really good.”
Roberson spent the Huskies' bye week getting some rest, watching extra film, and watching some games on Saturday. One of those games was USF's 5614 loss to Florida Atlantic on the Bulls' homecoming day.
It marked the second straight game that USF (3-3) has allowed 56 points to an opponent having done it in a loss to Alabama-Birmingham on Oct. 7. Its defensive coordinator is Todd Orlando, who spent 12 seasons (1999-2010) on Randy Edsall's UConn staff, the last six as defensive coordinator.
But the Bulls did hold No. 11 Alabama to 17 points on Sept. 16 with the help of a weather delay due to heavy rain in the Tampa area.
It being the fall of 2023 in New England, there is rain in the forecast for Saturday.