The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Inside ⏩ Sports:
Huskies return home, lose to FCS Holy Cross,
EAST HARTFORD — It was more of the same, a reminder that as much as UConn football claims it’s now in position to win, the results tell a different story.
A story of ineptitude and futility.
The latest and possibly most humiliating chapter, a 38-28 loss to FCS product Holy Cross, came Saturday before an announced crowd of 18,782 in the Huskies’ long-awaited return to Rentschler Field.
“Obviously what we’re doing is not working,” linebacker Jackson Mitchell said. “We came out with the same result.”
It was the Huskies’ first loss to an FCS team since 2013 (Towson) and just the fourth home opener they’ve dropped since Rentschler Field opened.
And with that, UConn is now 0-2 and staring at another lost season.
“I’m disappointed,” coach Randy Edsall said. “I thought we’d be able to do a little more than we’re doing.”
Edsall chided his team’s self-inflicted mistakes and lack of attention to detail. UConn committed four turnovers, three of them interceptions by sophomore Jack Zergiotis, the costliest of which was a tipped
screen pass that defensive lineman Jason Modack returned 33 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.
“I just wasn’t as good as I should’ve been. That’s it,” said Zergiotis, who also threw three touchdowns but completed just 17 of 41 attempts for 174 yards.
Afterward, Edsall didn’t commit to Zergiotis remaining the starter next Saturday when Purdue visits.
“He did some good things and then he did some things that were not so good,” Edsall said. “What we’ll do as a staff is evaluate every position. If we feel there is a situation that we can be better with different personnel, we will do that for next week.”
The Huskies’ muchmaligned defense had many problems of its own, as big plays remained a bugaboo. Holy Cross gained 363 yards, 76 of which came on a scramble by quarterback Matthew Sluka midway through the fourth quarter. Tyler Purdy capped the scoring one play later with a 14-yard run.
“We’ve got to execute,” Edsall said. “We had a couple missed tackles on that. We’ve got to get our head around on the deep balls. It’s just these fundamental technique things that we
just have to keep working at and keep drilling, which we do drill in practice. We’ve got to get keep doing it, and the guys have to have confidence that they can make those plays.”
Edsall, asked if he’s worried about his team’s confidence, said the Huskies aren’t good enough to overcome self-inflicted mistakes.
“The way you create confidence is by going out and doing the things you’re supposed to do every play” he said. “This game, because it is a team game, you’ve got to have all 11 doing it. Most especially, we have to have all 11 in all three phases.”
Edsall, now just 6-32 since he returned to Storrs in 2017, took some ownership for the team’s struggles as well, saying he “needs to do more.”
The afternoon began inauspiciously when Holy Cross took the opening drive 77 yards on nine plays, capping it with a 6-yard touchdown run by Sluka. UConn, however, responded later in the quarter as Zergiotis connected with Keelan Marion for a 50-yard score — the Huskies’ first points in 644 days and one of two touchdown catches for Marion.
Zergiotis also punched in a 1-yard run with 2:22 remaining in the quarter after linebacker Omar Fortt had recovered a fumble inside the Holy Cross 5. With that, the Huskies went ahead for the first time, 14-7.
But it didn’t last. The lead, and whatever optimism it produced, proved fleeting.
A 30-yard field goal by Derek Ng in the waning seconds of the first half put Holy Cross up 24-21. The Huskies’ only points after halftime came on an 8-yard touchdown by tight end Jayce Medlock in the third.
“I think everybody’s angry,” Mitchell said. “This is a game we should’ve won. We had chances to win, and we let it slip away. Yeah, we’re angry.”
And so, they’re going to do really all that they can do — regroup.
“We’ve got to go back and watch film tomorrow and switch it up, change some stuff up and figure it out,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got 10 games left. It’s not 12 games anymore, it’s 10 games. We’ve got to make the most of these 10 games.”
Adding injury to insult: Edsall revealed that sophomore receiver Cam Ross broke his foot and is “probably” out for the season. Ross had a team-high 60 catches for 723 yards and four touchdowns in 2019.