Five takeaways from loss to South Florida

Here are some thoughts on UConn’s 38-30 loss to South Florida:

Signs of growth: UConn coach Randy Edsall and defensive coordinator Billy Crocker have said on more than one occasion that they can see improvement in a defense loaded with freshmen and sophomore contributors. It was hard to see tangible signs of the unit’s maturity with UConn ranking last nationally in points and yards allowed. That changed Saturday. UConn’s defense posted its first scoreless quarter of the 2018 season. The Huskies allowed one play longer than 20 yards in the first half and had interceptions on South Florida’s first two offensive possessions. The wheels came off in the third quarter but that performance in the first half is something the Huskies can build on.

Hit the ground running: David Pindell set a UConn record for quarterbacks with his 197 rushing yards, the highest total for any Husky since Jordan Todman’s 222 yards against Pittsburgh in 2010. Kevin Mensah added 124 yards as the Huskies ran for 322 yards, the highest total in nearly a decade. Edsall thought the offensive line was more physical and mentioned Ryan Crozier, Cam DeGeorge and Matt Peart as standouts.

Interesting night at the office: Senior receiver Hergy Mayala became the 20th UConn player with 100 career receptions as he accounted for half of the Huskies’ 10 catches. Mayala also moved into top 25 in career receiving yards, but he also lost his footing when it appeared as if he would walk into the end zone after one of his receptions. He was also called for being offside when UConn recovered an onsides kick late in the fourth quarter. That mistake that pretty much ended the Huskies’ hope of forcing overtime as USF fell on the second onsides kick attempt and ran out the clock. The news was concerning about backup quarterback Marvin Washington as well. Edsall made the decision not to bring the Florida native to the USF game because he believes Washington did not live up to the standards he has for his players. Washington will have a chance this week to earn back the No. 2 QB spot.

Getting his kicks: One of the few consistent bright spots for UConn this season has been the performance of punter Luke Magliozzi. He not only averaged more than 40 yards per punt for the fourth game in a row, something last done at UConn by Cole Wagner in 2012, but his net average of 48.2 yards is the best mark at UConn since Adam Coles’ lone punt in a 2003 game against Wake Forest went for 53 yards with a return of minus 5 yards.

Catching a break?: Saturday’s game marked the sixth time in the first seven games that UConn’s opponent didn’t have a loss coming into the game. Could there be a light at the end of the tunnel? Well, UConn’s next four opponents have a combined 8-21 record. With the Huskies likely gaining confidence from pushing nationally ranked USF from wire to wire, perhaps UConn will register a win against an FBS team for the first time since Oct. 21, 2017.