Mensah, Huskies hammer Minutemen

AMHERST, Mass. — Kevin Mensah ran for 164 yards and a careerhigh five touchdowns and UConn breezed to a 5635 victory over UMass on Saturday and ended their FBS losing streak at 22. Mensah sandwiched scoring runs of 17 and 2 yards around a 1yard TD plunge by UMass’ Bilal Ally to give the Huskies (26) a 147 lead after one quarter.

The Minutemen (17) pulled even 7 seconds into the second quarter on Andrew Brito’s 40yard scoring strike to Jermaine Johnson Jr., but UConn scored three touchdowns over a 7:26 span — Art Thompkins’ 25yard run, Mensah’s 5yard run and Jack Zergiotis’ 57yard scoring

strike to Cameron Ross — to go up 3514 with 5:41 left. Brito hit Samuel Emilus for a 14yard score with 64 seconds remaining to pull within 3521 at halftime.

Ally’s second TD from a yard out got the Minutemen to 3528 early in the third quarter, but Quayvon Skanes hit Jay Rose for a 15yard TD on his only pass of the game to push the UConn lead to 4228 heading into the final quarter. It was Rose’s first career TD catch.

Mensah put the game out of reach with TD runs of 14 and 3 yards. The last UConn player to rush for five TDs in a game was Wilbur Gilliard against James Madison in 1993.

Gilberto Torres capped the scoring with a 19yard TD run with 52 seconds left in the game.

Thompkins finished with 135 yards rushing on 13 carries as the Huskies piled up 326 yards on the ground. Zergiotis completed 18 of 27 passes for 198 yards with one interception. Freshman Cameron Ross had nine catches for a careerhigh 120 yards. He was the first Huskies receiver to top the 100yard mark this season.

Ally finished with 159 yards rushing and Brito completed 20 of 40 passes for 239 yards with an interception for UMass.

Jessica Hill / Associated Press UConn running back Kevin Mensah scores a touchdown as he is tackled by UMass linebacker Jarvis Miller on Saturday.

Jessica Hill / Associated Press UConn running back Kevin Mensah (34) celebrates his touchdown with with teammate Ryan Van Demark (74) during the first half on Saturday.

Jessica Hill / Associated Press UConn defensive back Oneil Robinson (17) intercepts a pass intended for UMass wide receiver Jermaine Johnson Jr. as defensive back Tyler Coyle (25) defends on Saturday.