Not an ideal opener
UConn handed first shutout loss since 2016 season
UConn was completely overwhelmed in its return to college football Saturday afternoon, losing 45-0 to Fresno State on the road at Bulldog Stadium.
The Huskies were shut out for the first time since a 30-0 loss at Boston College on Nov. 19, 2016.
UConn, which opted out of last season and hadn’t played since Nov. 2019, allowed 538 yards and gained just 156 in its first game as an independent after seven years as a member of the American Athletic Conference.
The floodgates opened after quarterback Jack Zergiotis was strip-sacked by Arron Mosby late in the first quarter, leading to a 31-yard fumble return by Mosby and a 7-0 Fresno State lead. Jake Haener threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter for Fresno, one to Jalen
Cropper for 86 yards, making it 28-0.
It was 31-0 after a Cesar Silva field goal as the first half expired.
UConn, now 6-31 overall and 2-16 on the road since Randy Edsall’s 2017 return, plays its home opener against Holy Cross Saturday, Sept. 4, at Rentschler Field.
Zergiotis, who won the starting job over Steven Krajewski, completed 12 of 24 passes for 61 yards. Krajewski took over midway through the fourth quarter.
In the first quarter, Zergiotis overthrew a wideopen Cam Ross, who had gotten behind the Fresno State defense — on a play that was ultimately called by due to a holding penalty, anyway. Zergiotis later overthrew Nate Carter, who would have easily scored a touchdown to pull UConn with 14-7.
On Fresno’s first play of the ensuing drive, Haener connected with Ronnie Rivers for a 61-yard touchdown, making it 21-0.
The CBS Sports Network broadcast noted at the on-field temperature at the time of kickoff was 117 degrees and later reported it was over 120. Several players on both teams were sidelined with muscle
cramps in the second half.
Haener, who exited with a leg cramp in the third quarter, was 20 of 26 for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
The Huskies are 6-30 the past three years. They were 2-10 in 2019, closing out that season — and time as a member of the American Athletic Conference — with a 49-17 loss at Temple. The program’s last victory was 56-35 at UMass Oct. 26, 2019.
UConn’s last winning season was 2010, when it finished 8-5 with a loss to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The Huskies last bowl appearance was a loss to Marshall in the 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl.