UConn skids on
South Florida reached the end zone on a fourth-quarter fake field goal on the way to a 48-22 victory over UConn on Saturday. The Huskies fall to 1-4 on the season with their 20th consecutive loss against FBS-level opponents.
EAST HARTFORD — UConn’s fate had already been sealed early in the fourth quarter Saturday as South Florida lined up for a 37-yard field goal.
Still, it may have stung more than a little when the Bulls’ holder flipped the ball to kicker Spencer Shrader, who outran the Huskies’ defense to the end zone for a fake-field goal touchdown. The play ended any prayer of a UConn comeback and punctuated an eventual 48-22 South Florida win.
With the loss, the Huskies fell to 1-4 on the season and 0-2 in American Athletic Conference play. UConn has now dropped 20 consecutive games against FBSlevel opponents.
“We had so many self-inflicted wounds,” coach Randy Edsall said. “We had opportunities to make plays, both offensively, defensively and on special teams. And sometimes where [mistakes] starts piling up, you get frustrated and start doing things you shouldn’t do.”
South Florida, which had previously lost nine straight FBS games, improved to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Bulls found particular success rushing the ball on the UConn defense, with 313 yards on the ground, including 148 from running back Jordan Cronkrite.
“We didn’t fit it up correctly, and we didn’t tackle nearly well enough,” Edsall said. “We weren’t exact enough, and we didn’t perform at a good enough level against the athleticism and speed that we went against today.”
The Bulls didn’t do anything fancy, UConn safety Diamond Harrell said. The Huskies just couldn’t bring them down.
“When they were running the ball, they literally ran down the middle, and then also the quarterback scrambled,” said Harrell, who had eight tackles and an interception. “We’ve just go to execute the play. Come up, make the play, wrap up. Tackling’s a big deal for us now.”
UConn quarterback Mike Beaudry, back in the starting role after three games on the sideline, completed 18 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown, on a screen pass to redshirt freshman Elijah Jeffreys. He did not throw an interception but did lose a fumble just before halftime.
Running back Kevin Mensah rushed for 70 yards and two touchdowns. With his second score, a 4-yard rush late in the fourth quarter, he became the ninth player in school history to rush for 2,000 career yards.
Cam Ross led UConn receivers with seven catches for 68 yards.
Though t h e Hu s k i e s gained 293 yards on offense, they struggled at times to string together first downs. On three separate drives, UConn stalled in opposing t e r r i t o r y, w i t h Luke Magliozzi forced to punt from the South Florida 43-, 40- and 37-yard lines.
“We had such good field position, and a lot of times we just couldn’t capitalize on it,” Beaudry said. “A lot of times it seemed like we stalled out just outside of field-goal range. If someone just makes one more play then we get a first down and then we’re in scoring territory.”
UConn’s defense made a few big stops, including two interceptions, but struggled to contain South Florida quarterback Jordan McCloud. Starting in place of Blake Barnett (out with a high ankle sprain), the redshirt freshman threw for 157 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 62 yards and another score. On several occasions, UConn appeared to have the Bulls stopped before McCloud scrambled for a first down.
“How many times did we have the quarterback in a situation and we couldn’t make a play?” Edsall said. “Kids tried, but there’s a point in case where their athlete was better than ours.”
UConn trailed by multiple touchdowns for most of the afternoon. After punts from both teams to start the game, the Bulls reached the end zone on four straight possessions beginning midway through the second quarter. UConn, meanwhile, scored twice in the first half — once on Jeffreys’ catch-and-run and once on an 18-yard burst from Mensah.
South Florida nearly scored again just before halftime after Beaudry’s fumble deep in Huskies territory, but a tipped pass from McCloud was picked off by UConn’s Abiola Olaniyan, a sophomore defensive back who had played only on special teams before Saturday.
South Florida added its fifth touchdown early in the third quarter, on a pass from McCloud to Bryce Miller, who had two scores on the day. Later, a 50-yard interception return from Harrell set up UConn deep in opposing territory, but Beaudry overshot a receiver on fourth down.
After the Bulls’ fake field goal, Mensah’s touchdown provided UConn’s final score. South Florida tacked on one more touchdown on its ensuing drive.
Edsall said Bulls coach Charlie Strong tried to apologize after the game for his team’s gratuitous late-game touchdowns but Edsall told him there was no need.
“I said, ‘Charlie, I’ve got no problem with that.’” Edsall said. “I talk about playing every play like it’s the last play you’re every going to play, and you’ve got to do that.”
The announced crowd at Rentschler Field was 18,038, with about 11,000 fans actually in attendance, per a UConn spokesman.
The Huskies will return to the field next weekend when they face Tulane (4-1, 1-0 in AAC play) in New Orleans.