Emotional Huskies bounce back
Defense rebounds and leads UConn to road win against Temple in Philly
Philadelphia — Before UConn relied on its competitive heart to secure a desperately-needed victory on Saturday, coach Randy Edsall poured out his heart to the Huskies.
Edsall got emotional talking about what he said to his team on Friday night. Tears welled up in his eyes during his postgame remarks following a gritty 28-24 win against Temple in an American Athletic Conference game before 29,849 at Lincoln Financial Field.
His message: Play every play as hard as you can. And do it for 60 minutes.
"He was really fired up," quarterback Bryant Shirreffs said. "I think that definitely had an affect on how we played today."
The Huskies (2-4, 1-3) responded with their most inspired effort of the season, winning for the first time since the season opener against Holy Cross.
"I'm passionate about what I do," Edsall said, beginning to break up. "And I'm passionate about kids and helping them to achieve to a level that they don't think they can get to. And when you maybe don't feel like you're getting through to them, you just wonder what you've got to do, because I know they had it in them.
"I just made some statements from that heart, that's what I did. They listened and they took it to heart and went out and got a win."
The Huskies never trailed after taking a 14-7 lead in the second quarter and led for the first time at half all season. Shirreffs threw for a career-high tying three touchdowns — all from six yards out — and added a
huge 49-yard run late in the fourth quarter to kill some clock.
"When coach demands something, you know it's coming from the heart and we all see that," linebacker Junior Joseph said. "We had to get it done for the coaching staff and for us. It was time to step up and we did that today."
The Huskies snapped nine-game road and eight-game conference losing streaks. And they needed their much-maligned defense to bail out a sputtering offense to pull it off.
Clinging to a four-point lead in the fourth quarter, UConn came up with two huge stops on fourth down — one on the Husky 24 and the other on the Husky 42 in the closing seconds.
Earlier in the quarter, Temple came away with just a 21-yard field goal after setting up first and goal from the UConn 3.
"Our defense stepped up and made a bunch of stops and we hadn't seen that," Edsall said.
The defense also contributed its first touchdown of the season, as redshirt freshman Tyler Coyle returned an interception 34 yards to hand his team a 28-14 lead about midway through the third quarter.
The inspired defensive effort came on the heels of allowing a school-record 70 points in a humbling loss to Memphis.
"To the very last second, we gave it all we got," said Joseph, who had a team-high 11 tackles and a sack. "It was definitely about pride. Last week was probably the most embarrassing moment I've ever had in my life. We just made a statement all week in practice that that's never going to happen again."
The Huskies made their share of mistakes. Two turnovers — a Shirreffs interception and wide receiver Tyraiq Beals' fumble — both led to Owl touchdowns. UConn managed just 244 yards of total offense and allowed 473 yards.
But the momentum-turning plays favored the Huskies. None was more important than Coyle's third-quarter interception.
At the time, Temple (3-4, 1-3) appeared to be gaining ground. After quarterback Logan Marchi, who attended St. Paul in Bristol, connected with Isaiah Wright on a 9-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 21-14, the Owls forced the Huskies to punt without recording a first down to get the ball back.
Coyle made a smart read and stepped in front of the receiver near the sideline, bolting 34 yards for a touchdown. It was UConn's first interception return for a score since Jamar Summers accomplished the feat in 2015 against Tulane.
"I definitely felt that was a momentum shift," Coyle said. "I just had to make a play for the team."
The Huskies had vital contributions from a number of players. Two hours before the game, Edsall learned that Summers, the lone veteran in the secondary, was sick and couldn't play. Freshman Jordan Swann stepped in and played well, forcing a fumble.
The emotional victory gives the Huskies to build on moving forward.
"I don't know what it did for my heart, but it was fun to see those kids being able to celebrate in the locker room like that and to see the smiles on their faces," Edsall said. "That's really what it's all about. Credit to those young men. They were challenged this week during the week and they were challenged last week. They went out and really did what I asked them to do."
News and notes
Redshirt freshman Quayvon Skanes caught his first career touchdown pass to open the scoring for UConn. Fellow receiver Hergy Mayala and tailback Arkeel Newsome also had 6-yard TD catches . ... UConn redshirt sophomore Michael Tarbutt missed a 36-yard field goal attempt with about a minute left in the game. g.keefe@theday.com