The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Huskies escape with win over Tulsa
Joseph’s final pass breakup clinches victory
EAST HARTFORD — The final questions had been fired in the direction of UConn senior linebacker Vontae Diggs, but he had one more message to deliver to the media before heading off to join his teammates on the team bus.
Diggs wasn’t on the field for the final harrowing play with visiting Tulsa on the verge of stealing away a victory that UConn seemingly earlier had in an unbreakable grip. However, after seeing fellow linebacker Junior Joseph knock away the final pass and helping his exhausted and ailing teammate off the field, he poked his head into the group of reporters.
“This man right here won us the game, thank you, Junior,” Diggs said after UConn’s 20-14 victory before a crowd of 24,814 at Rentschler Field on Saturday.
How it got to the point of Joseph needing to knock the ball out of the hands of Tulsa receiver Keenen Johnson is a story of its own, something that could be an episode of the theater of the absurd.
UConn (3-4, 2-3 in the American Athletic Conference) capped its first drive of the fourth quarter with a 28-yard field goal by Michael Tarbutt to take a comfortable 20-0 lead.
Luke Skipper, who had thrown for 84 yards in the first three quarters, completed passes for 9, 20 and 35 yards, setting up Shamari Brooks’ 8-yard scoring run to make it a 13-point game with 7:09 left to play.
Tulsa, which hadn’t forced a three-and-out the entire game, kept the Huskies from picking up a first down on consecutive possessions. Brooks capped the next drive with a 1-yard TD run. The Hurricane, down to one timeout, chose to attempt the onside kick, which was recovered by UConn freshman receiver Mason Donaldson. When Tulsa eventually got the ball back, it needed 88 yards for the winning touchdown but was left with no timeouts and 51 seconds to play.
A pass interference penalty followed by a 50-yard reception by Johnson put the ball at the UConn 9 with only 1 second remaining. The first-down reception meant the clock stopped temporarily, but it appeared unlikely that the entire Tulsa offense could get down the field, get set and snap the ball before the
time ran out. But that’s exactly what happened. Skipper then bought some time by scrambling and spotted Johnson with inside position on UConn cornerback Jamar Summers. His pass got to Johnson, but Joseph alertly dropped back a couple of extra steps and knocked the ball out of Johnson’s hands.
“It’s about reading your keys and looking at your guy; whenever quarterbacks scramble you latch on to your man, that’s what I did,” Joseph said. “He just threw it up, and just watching on film and understanding the route concepts, putting myself in a better position.”
Joseph, who left the game for a bit earlier in the second half due to back issues, had to be helped toward the locker room by Diggs.
When the game ended, UConn coach Randy Edsall raced toward the officials, irate that Tulsa got the final play off. He declined to comment about the officiating.
“I’ve been fined once in my career and with the state budget and everything else we don’t have the money to pay a fine, so please don’t ask me (about the officials),” Edsall said.
The American Athletic Conference released a statement saying “It is certainly reasonable that the offense can be lined up and can snap the ball once it is ready for play.”
UConn had six sacks, its most since a 2012 game against Maryland which was also coached by Edsall. Seniors Cole Ormsby and Foley Fatukasi had two each, marking the first time UConn had two players with two sacks since Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood accomplished the feat in the aforementioned Maryland game.
“I don’t know what to say. Everybody’s just feeding off everybody; defense is feeding off offense, the offense is feeding off the defense, the defensive players are feeding off of each other,” said Fatukasi, who had nine tackles to tie freshman safety Brayden Brown for the team lead.
UConn running back Arkeel Newsome had a 51-yard reception to set up Tarbutt’s first field goal to provide all the scoring in the first half. It was the first time since a Nov. 24, 2012, game against Louisville that UConn held an opponent scoreless in the first half. It should be noted that in a 2015 game against Missouri, the only points in the first half came on a safety.
Newsome moved into second place on UConn’s career list for all-purpose yards on the play but was knocked out of the game with an apparent upperbody injury. Nate Hopkins’ 1-yard scoring run and Hergy Mayala caught an 80-yard touchdown pass on a flea-flicker to give the Huskies the 17-0 lead in the third quarter.
Mayala finished with 131 yards on four receptions while Bryant Shirreffs was 23 for 29 for 372 yards.
Brooks ran for 154 yards while Cooper Edmiston had 17 tackles for Tulsa (2-5, 1-3).