UCONN SKID CONTINUES
Huskies come up just short in bid to end AAC losing streak
Interception in final second seals UConn’s 18th straight AAC loss.
Of all the tough defeats that make up UConn’s 18-game losing streak against American Athletic Conference opponents, few have been as close, as dramatic or ultimately as difficult to swallow as Saturday’s.
Facing East Carolina at Rentschler Field, the Huskies had the ball in the red zone down a single touchdown in the final minute. But quarterback Jack Zergiotis tossed an interception on fourth down with one second to play, sending UConn (2-9, 0-7 in conference play) to a heartbreaking 31-24 loss.
“That was a tough one to take,” coach Randy Edsall said. “I’m proud of our kids, they fought to the very end, gave themselves an opportunity to try to win the game. We just came up a little bit short.”
In a season of blowout defeats, Saturday’s narrow loss (in a game in which the Huskies were twotouchdown underdogs) was at least competitive until the final seconds.
“I think all of us left it all out there on the field, and that’s all anybody can ask for,” receiver Cam Ross said. “I saw a different side of these guys today. I always tell them control the controlables. We didn’t get the win, but I think everybody did their part.”
The Huskies had a chance to win Saturday because of Zergiotis, who completed 21 of 37 passes for 418 yards and three touchdowns. With the Huskies down one score early in the fourth quarter, Zergiotis found Ross for a 94-yard catch-and-run, the second longest touchdown pass in program history.
Two drives later, with his team again down seven points, Zergiotis completed pass after pass, finding Matt Drayton for a 31-yard gain, Donovan Williams for a difficult 23-yard grab along the sideline and Ross for a 6-yard conversion on a do-or-die fourthdown.
Though Zergiotis turned over the ball three times, including on that final drive, he also tallied the third most passing yards in a game in UConn history.
“He competed,” Edsall said. “He made some plays that weren’t so good and never got down on himself and just kept battling.”
Ross finished with eight catches for 169 yards and two long scores, while fellow freshman Drayton added three catches for 99 yards.
Running back Kevin Mensah carried 20 times for 75 yards, leaving him seven short of 1,000 on the season.
UConn had a chance to take a lead with about seven minutes left to play following an interception by cornerback Keyshawn Paul, but kicker Clay Harris missed a 50-yard field goal on fourth-and-8. After the game, Edsall defended his choice to attempt the kick instead of trying for the first down.
“It was right on the edge, and I had confidence in Clay that he could make it. He’s made them in practice all week long,” Edsall said. “If we were fourth-and-2 it might have been a different story, but fourth-and-9, I thought that was the best opportunity. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and that one just didn’t quite work out.”
Following the miss, East Carolina’s Holton Ahlers marched the Pirates 68 yards, culminating in a go-ahead touchdown rush.
Edsall said if UConn had scored on its final possession, the Huskies would have gone for a 2-point conversion and the win instead of sending the game to overtime.
Redshirt freshman Steven Krajewski got a brief chance at quarterback in the second quarter, handing off five times on his first possession and completing one of two passes for 15 yards on his second (and final) one. Edsall said the plan entering the game was to let Krajewski, who returned this week from a clavicle injury that kept him out nearly two months, play during the first half to see how he looked.
The Huskies’ defense had onand-off success against an explosive East Carolina offense, which gained 374 yards passing but only 135 yards rushing and scored barely half as many points as it did in a narrow loss to No. 21 SMU last weekend.
“In the last two weeks, they’ve put up [105] points, over 1,000 yards throwing, 10 touchdowns. And I thought our guys competed,” Edsall said. “We battled, we stopped them at times, we got a pick there at the end by [Paul].”
East Carolina quarterback Holton Ahlers finished 34-of-50 for 374 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Receiver Tyler Snead led the Pirates with 14 catches for 110 yards.
Freshman linebacker Jackson Mitchell led UConn with 15 tackles, while safety Diamond Harrell collected his second interception of the season and Paul notched the first pick of his career.
Edsall said UConn lost several players to injury Saturday including cornerbacks Myles Bell (ACL, surgery next week), Tahj Herring-Wilson (head) and Jeremy Lucien (head); safties Tyler Coyle (shoulder) and Harrell (clavicle); running back Art Thompkins (knee) and linebacker Terrance Ganyi (ankle).
UConn took a lead early Saturday, via a 40-yard touchdown pass from Zergiotis to Ross on the team’s first offensive play from scrimmage. But the Huskies’ offense stalled from there, as East Carolina notched 17 straight points.
The Huskies blew a strong chance to score late in the second quarter, when a Zergiotis interception in the red zone ended a promising drive and sent his team to the break down by 10.
UConn scored quickly in the second half, as Zergiotis found Drayton for a 47-yard gain and tight end Jay Rose for a 20-yard touchdown. East Carolina responded with a touchdown, before the Huskies scored 10 straight points to tie the score in the fourth.
Ahlers’ two-yard rush with 3:28 to play ultimately proved decisive.
Announced attendance Saturday was 12,084.
UConn will conclude its season next Saturday, with a 3:30 p.m. game at Temple.