UCONN ROUTED
Central Florida scores early, often in rout of Huskies in Florida.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The full story of UConn’s game against No. 22 UCF on Saturday night was told in the first 136 seconds.
Running back Kevin Mensah rushed twice for no gain. Quarterback Jack Zergiotis delivered an interception right to a Knights defender. UConn’s defense allowed a 25-yard play and committed a facemask penalty. And, just over two minutes in, UCF scored the first touchdown in what would become a 56-21 loss.
UConn (1-3, 0-1 in conference play) was a heavy underdog Saturday against a ranked team on the road and thoroughly looked the part. The Huskies committed four turnovers. They allowed 610 yards. They missed two field goals. They trailed by four touchdowns at the end of the first quarter and six by halftime.
The loss was UConn’s 19th consecutive against FBS teams, its 12th consecutive against conference opponents and its 11th consecutive on the road.
A strong showing in the second half, after UCF had pulled many of its starters, took only some sting out of the blowout.
“This is part of this growing process that we have to go through,” Edsall said. “People might not want to hear that, but I saw guys play hard for 60 minutes. I didn’t see anybody quit out there.”
Zergiotis, who announced himself three weeks ago in a promising debut against Illinois, didn’t survive the first quarter. Following an interception, a fumble and a three-and-out, he was replaced by Steven Krajewski, who promptly threw a pick-six on his first pass.
UConn will return to the field next Saturday against South Florida at After finding a rhythm in the second half, Krajewski finished with 22 completions on 33 attempts, with 273 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to the interception and a second-quarter fumble.
Krajewski was responsible for all three of UConn’s scores: A 16-yard touchdown pass to freshman Cam Ross (the quarterback’s first career touchdown and the Huskies’ first passing score of the
season), a 12-yarder to graduate transfer Ardell Brown and a 15-yarder to freshman Matt Drayton.
Mensah, who had struggled in UConn’s previous two games, broke out for 123 rushing yards on 23 carries.
“I’ve still got to get better,” Mensah said. “I’ve still got to work on my reads. Maybe a little bit of conditioning, in that hot weather. I’m going to work on a lot of things this week and hopefully contribute and help this team win, because I really care about this team.”
Seven UConn players had at least one catch Saturday, led by Ross, who had six grabs for 91 yards. Entering Saturday, the Huskies’ defense had largely avoided the big plays that plagued the unit last year. Against UCF, however, the long gains were back. The Knights (4-1, 1-0) had three first-half plays go for at least 70 yards, two of which resulted in scores.
“That’s our technique and fundamentals,” said safety Tyler Coyle, who led UConn with nine tackles. “Some people weren’t doing their job. We’ll clean it up next week.”
UCF collected touchdowns on five of its first seven drives, as starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel piled up 281 yards on 11-of-16 passing. After he exited at halftime, back-up Darriel Mack went 7-of-9 for 74 yards and a touchdown, plus 35 yards rushing.
Edsall noted that UConn has faced a tough slate of opponents this month, with two Big Ten teams followed by UCF, which has not lost a conference game (or a home game) since 2016.
“When you’re going against guys like that, you can’t make a mistake,” Edsall said. “You make a mistake, and it’s 60 or 70 yards. And that’s what happened.”
UConn failed to force a turnover Saturday for the first time since the season opener. The Huskies generated two sacks on the night: one via defensive end Kevon Jones in the first quarter and another from linebacker Omar Fortt in the fourth.
UConn will return to the field next Saturday against South Florida at Rentschler Field. That game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. but might be moved to the afternoon given concerns about the EEE virus, athletic director David Benedict said.