Strong 4th Quarter Leads Temple To 30-16 Win Over UConn

In a game that went back and forth on the scoreboard, it was the Temple Owls who finished on top as they used a strong fourth quarter on all sides of the ball to beat the UConn Huskies 30-16 in front of 18,702 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.

The win for the Owls makes them 3-0 on the season while the Huskies fall to 1-2.

Many out there including myself felt the Huskies should have been 2-1, 3-0 at most after the first three games but that’s far from the case. Who knows where they would be if they hadn’t played an FCS school last week.

For an offense that looked like a juggernaut last week, they were anything but that on Saturday afternoon in Philly.

The offense is definitely not as a good as everyone thought they might be this season. Zach Frazer struggled mightly in the passing game and there’s no receiver that wants the ball. A big difference from last year when Marcus Easley decided to step up and eventually parlay that work into an NFL contract.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no faulting the job that Jordan Todman did on Saturday. He ended up finishing with a career-high 192 yards rushing and had a touchdown.  The offensive line helped in that too.

The best the offense as a whole looked was in the 2-minute offense at the end of the first half as Frazer took them down the field 80 yards in just 1:21 to get a Dave Teggart field goal.

With Frazer and the receiving corps struggling, UConn decided to ride Todman like they did when Donald Brown was at UConn. But folks that’s not going to work when you know they are going to run the ball.

The play calling by Joe Moorhead was marginal at best. Most of the passing plays were screen plays or quick outs. You don’t see too many downfield passes and when you do, Frazer seems to miss his targets. What happened to the offense that finished the 2009 season?

Oh yeah, Easley is in the NFL.

This game changed for the worse in the 4th quarter when Temple’s Adrian Robinson stripped Todman of the ball and ran it back 25 yards for a touchdown. Then after they punted the ball back, Temple returned the punt close to UConn’s goal and punched it quickly to put the game away.

But what is concerning the most is the fact that it looked like UConn disappeared after the Todman strip. That happened in week 1 against Michigan and shouldn’t have happened again. A football game goes for 60 minutes and should be played from minute one to minute 60.

So yes while Frazer’s ineptness on Saturday didn’t help the Huskies, it was the lack of mental focus and toughness that ultimately did them in.

They’ll need to step it up this week in practice and rebound next week. Otherwise, it looks like we could be in for a long season of mediocre football.

Scoring:

1st quarter

CON – 7:02 – Dave Teggart 36 Yd Field Goal – UConn 3 Temple 0

2nd quarter

TEM – 12:24  – Bernard Pierce 27 Yd Pass From Chester Stewart (Brandon Mcmanus Kick) – Temple 7 UConn 3

CON – 0:02 – Dave Teggart 26 Yd Field Goal – Temple 7 UConn 6

3rd quarter

CON – 14:06 – Jordan Todman 59 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 13 Temple 7

TEM – 5:21 – Bernard Pierce 1 Yd Run (Brandon Mcmanus Kick) – Temple 14 UConn 13

CON – 0:51 – Dave Teggart 47 Yd Field Goal – UConn 16 Temple 14

4th quarter

TEM – 8:28 – Adrian Robinson Jr. 25 Yd Fumble Return (Two-Point Conversion Failed) – Temple 20 UConn 16

TEM – 5:54 – Bernard Pierce 2 Yd Run (Brandon Mcmanus Kick) – Temple 27 UConn 16

TEM – 0:26 – Brandon McManus 32 Yd Field Goal – Temple 30 UConn 16

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Offensive Players of the Game:

Temple running back Bernard Pierce carved up the Huskies defense for 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 27 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive Players of the Game:

Hartford native Elijah Joseph and Adrian Robinson take home the honors. Joseph finished the game with nine tackles, including eight of the solo varitey. Robinson had four tackles and forced two fumbles including the big one that he returned for a touchdown.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

• With 8:28 to go in the game, Jordan Todman ran the ball for six yards but was stripped by Adrian Robinson who returned it for a touchdown.
• Late in the game and down by two scores, the Huskies had the ball 4th and 2 at the Temple 21. Showing no confidence in his offense, UConn head coach Randy Edsall decided to kick the field goal that was missed by his kicker Dave Teggart.

Offensive Notes:

Zach Frazer was 16-of-30 for 150 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass but still hasn’t thrown an interception this season. Jordan Todman had 26 carries for 192 yards and a touchdown. Robbie Frey had ten carries for 47 yards. Michael Smith caught seven passes for 79 yards while Kashif Moore had three catches for 31 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Greg Lloyd led the Huskies with seven solo tackles. All-American candidate Lawrence Wilson had six solo tackles including a sack for a loss of nine yards. Kijuan Dabney had five tackles. Jesse Joseph and Trevardo Williams each had a sack.

Special Teams Notes:

Dave Teggart made three field goals but also missed two field goals. His misses were from 38 and 48 yards while his makes were from 36, 26 and 47 yards.

Mike Lang recovered a fumble on a Temple punt.

At a key point in the game, the Huskies special teams alllowed Delano Green to return a punt 42 yards that set up a Bernard Pierce touchdown.

Injuries:

UConn running back Jordan Todman suffered a hand injury but returned to the game.

UConn wide receiver Michael Smith was shaken up after a catch but also returned to the game

Officials:

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Game Notes:

UConn Huskies @ Temple Owls 9.18.10 box score

Big East Games and Results:

Thursday, September 16

Cincinnati 19
North Carolina State 30

Saturday, September 18

Maryland 17
West Virginia 31

Louisville 28
Oregon State 35

Maine 14
Syracuse 38

Things to Work On:

• Zach Frazer needs to work on his throwing motion, his reads, his touch and just about anything else a quarterback can fix.
• One of the receiving corps needs to decide if he wants to be the man.
• Mental toughness, mental toughness, mental toughness. UConn can simply not have one play change the course of the game. They need to persevere and keep fighting.
• Special teams needs to work on their coverages.
• Dave Teggart needs to work on his mechanics. Look I know he’s a good kicker but he can’t miss field goals at clutch times.

Up Next:

The Huskies return home to Rentschler Field next Saturday as they’ll host the Buffalo Bulls in a noon kickoff.

Photo credit: Hartford Courant