The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
UConn holds on to pick up first win of season
Defense makes stand in final minute as Huskies edge Rams for first win
EAST HARTFORD — David Pindell’s recordchallenging afternoon was over as he stood on the sideline at Rentschler Field. All the senior quarterback could do was cross his fingers and hope that his spectacular effort was going to be enough to lead his UConn football team to its first win of the season.
Watching Rhode Island inch dangerously close to tallying the tying touchdown, Pindell couldn’t stop the memories from his final game at Lackawanna College two years ago from popping into his head.
While Pindell was on the losing side of things in the Valley of the Sun Bowl in 2016, suffering a double-overtime loss, his former Lackawanna teammate Eli Thomas authored a different end-
ing as his sack on the final play of the game allowed the Huskies to hold on for a 56-49 win before an announced crowd of 20,691.
“It came down to the last 5-10 seconds and here we made a play,” Pindell said. “You have to trust your teammates and trust the defense for somebody to make a play.”
Game-changing defensive plays have been few and far between for the Huskies so far this season, but with sophomore Kevin Mensah’s 22-yard touchdown run putting UConn ahead by seven points with 57 seconds left to play, it was time for the UConn defense to allow the Huskies to set a program record for most points allowed in a winning effort.
Rhode Island quarterback JaJuan Lawson hooked up with Aaron Parker for 22 yards on a 4th-and-15 play and Lawson’s 12-yard connection to Isaiah Coulter put the Rams on the UConn 16 with 11 seconds to play. Thomas nearly got a sack and the ended the game by bringing down Lawson.
“I had to make sure I got mine,” Thomas said. “The
offense did a really good job, the defense has to step up and we did at the end, that is all that matters. We knew if we got a big stop in the end, the game will be over an that is what we did.”
After being overwhelmed by powerhouse UCF and Boise State teams in the first two games of the season, UConn figured to have an easier time with URI. However, giving up more than 300 yards of offense and four touchdowns in the first half was not exactly part of the script heading into the game.
Pindell ran for one touchdown and threw for four more to allow the Huskies to take a 14-point lead at halftime. When Thomas jarred the ball free from Ahkema Evans on the second-half kickoff, the Huskies had a chance to make it a three-score game. However. Heron Maurisseau dropped the ball on a reverse. There was another costly turnover later in the half allowing URI to remain within striking range.
“I like these guys because they are doing the things we are asking them to do,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “Is it always pretty? No, but they are doing the things we are asking them to do in the game.” UConn quarterback David Pindell, left, pulls away from Rhode Island defensive lineman Keith Wells, top, and linebacker Justin Hogan on Saturday.
Pindell threw for 308 yards and ran for 137 more as he accounted for six touchdowns. His 435 yards of total offense is third in program history and he fell one passing TD shy of the program record. A total of 300 of those yards came in the first half as UConn’s 42 points were the most in a first half since a 2010 game against Texas Southern. The difference was that the Huskies didn’t allow their first points in that 62-3 win until early in the fourth quarter.
Oneil Robinson, who started at safety in place of an injured Omar Fortt,
recorded the Huskies’ first takeaway of the season when he intercepted Lawson late in the first half. UConn would eventually scored on a 5-yard pass from Pindell to Mayala to open up a two-score lead with 12:06 left in the half.
Pindell opened the scoring with a 17-yard run and also had TD passes of 74 yards to Heron Maurisseau, 13 to Mayala and 19 to Aaron McLean. Kevin Mensah also had an 11-yard scoring run as UConn scored touchdowns on every first-half possession.
Other than Robinson’s interception and when URI
took a knee in the closing seconds of the half, URI also scored on every series. Lawson also accounted for six touchdowns in the game when he threw for 351 yards and ran for 85 more.
UConn lost two of its most experienced defensive players to injury in the first half as starting cornerback Tahj Herring-Wilson and safety Marshe’ Terry were taken to the locker room. Edsall said both of them suffered ankle injuries and he is not certain whether they will be forced to miss the upcoming game at Syracuse.
With the way the defense, which started five true freshmen, against the Rams there was little choice but for Edsall to go for it four times on fourth down. UConn was 4 for 4 on fourth down leading to four of the eight touchdowns scored by the Huskies.
“I felt like this was going to be a game when I couldn’t sit there and settle for field goals,” Edsall said. “With the people I had up front and David, we had enough things we can do to get first downs.”
Mensah led UConn with 144 rushing yards, Kevon Jones had 21⁄2 tackles for loss while Tyler Coyle led the team with 1-2 Huskies with nine tackles. UConn 56, Rhode Island 49 james.fuller @hearstmediact.com; @NHRJimFuller