Offense Lets Huskies Down in 24-20 Loss To The Cyclones

Sure the UConn Huskies scored 20 points in their 24-20 loss to the Iowa State Cyclones so yes the headline may be a little misleading. Just give me a moment to explain myself and you’ll understand what I mean.

When your defense gets three interceptions of the first four passes and you come away with three points, it’s not a good thing. The Huskies offense could have put this game away early but they didn’t.

After the first interception by Dwayne Gratz, one of three UConn QB’s, Johnny McEntee gave the ball right back on the first snap when he threw an interception. Both teams failed to score on their ensuing possessions (ISU punted, UConn kicker Dave Teggart missed a 41 yard field goal).

Byron Jones got the ball back for the Huskies with another interception of Steele Jantz. The Huskies started at the Cyclones 34 yard line only to get no yardage on the first downs. They had to settle for a field goal and a 10-0 lead.

Two plays after the kickoff, Jory Johnson had the third interception of Jantz which he returned to the Iowa State 28. The Huskies once again failed to capitalize as the drive stalled out at the Iowa State 16 and once again Teggart missed the field goal, this time from 43 yards.

Say the Huskies score touchdowns on all three turnovers, they’re up 28-0. At the very least, they should have at least been up 16-0.

And while the strength of the team may be the defense, it’s also the defense that is allowing big plays that come back to haunt them.

After the Huskies stuffed the Cyclones for a loss of nine yards on two running plays, Jantz hit one of his receivers for a 48 yard gain. A nine yard run followed up a 26 yard run and the Cyclones were in the red zone trailing 10-7.

They were burned in the third quarter on a little trickeration from Iowa State and they fell behind. The Huskies did grab the lead in the 4th quarter only to have the Cyclones come back down the field and score.

The defense can’t help the team win ball games when they give up the big plays especially when the offense can’t capitalize on turnovers created by the defense. It also doesn’t help when you have some turnovers of your own (the McEntee interception, D.J. Shoemate fumble).

Until head coach Paul Pasqualoni decides on a quarterback, the offense is going to continue to look inept. They have absolutely no rhythm out there because of the three-man rotation. To me, this hurts the offensive line because each one of three is different.

After watching the game tonight, the best bet to me is to put Scott McCummings at the helm of the offense. He’s the only QB of the three to pass for a touchdown in a game. Having one QB at all times would be the best thing going forward.

With two games against MAC teams coming up, there’s still hope for the Huskies to turn around the season. If not, I wouldn’t be making any plans for a bowl game because honestly, if the offense doesn’t start to shape up, they’ll be lucky if they got to three wins this season.

Scoring:

1st quarter

CON – 10:25 – Scott McCummings 10 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick)

CON – 01:59 – Dave Teggart 52 Yard Field Goal

2nd quarter

ISU – 11:03 – James White 26 Yd Run (Zach Guyer Kick)

3rd quarter

ISU – 11:18 – Darius Reynolds 40 Yd Pass From Josh Lenz (Zach Guyer Kick)

CON – 09:37 – Dave Teggart 50 Yd Field Goal

ISU – 06:44 – Zach Guyer 36 Yd Field Goal

4th quarter

CON – 12:51 – Kashif Moore 39 Yd Pass From Scott McCummings (Dave Teggart Kick)

ISU – 09:08 – Darius Reynolds 20 Yd Pass From Steele Jantz (Zach Guyer Kick)

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Offensive Player of the Game:

Darius Reynolds of Iowa State had a huge game as he had four catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Game:

Jory Johnson had a huge game defensively for the Huskies as he finished with 10 tackles (three solo, seven assisted) and an interception.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

When the Huskies only scored three points off of the three Iowa State turnovers, the momentum quickly swung in Iowa State’s favor.

The second turning point came on fourth and 2 at the Iowa State 38 late in the fourth quarter. The Huskies couldn’t get the play in and were forced to call a timeout. Johnny McEntee then gave the ball to the Cyclones when his pass went incomplete. The Huskies could only stop the clock twice instead of three times and only had 40 seconds to go the length of the field. Obviously you can tell from the final score they didn’t make it. Had they had that timeout, they may have had a better chance of scoring.

Offensive Notes:

Johnny McEntee was 13-of-30 for 188 yards with one interception. Michael Nebrich was 1-of-3 for four yards. Scott McCummings was 1-of-3 for 39 yards and one touchdown pass. He also rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown. After two straight 100 yard games, Lyle McCombs came back to earth with 46 yards on 18 carries. Isiah Moore had a huge game receiving with eight catches for 143 yards. Kashif Moore caught three balls for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive Notes:

Jory Johnson led the Huskies with 10 tackles and had an interception. Blidi Wreh-Wilson added nine tackles while Dwayne Gratz and Yawin Smallwood had eight. Gratz also chipped in with an interception. Kendall Reyes had six tackles and one sack with Harris Agbor adding five tackles and a sack. Byron Jones had two tackles and an interception.

Special Teams Notes:

Cole Wagner had six punts in which he averaged 40.2 yards. Not one of his punts were downed inside of the 20. Dave Teggart was 2-for-4 on field goals. He missed from 41 yards and 43 yards while hitting from 52 yards and 50 yards. One of Chad Christen’s kickoffs went out of bounds. This is a big no-no. Nick Williams had two punt returns in which he got -3 yards. He returned five kickoffs for 117 yards with a long of 37.

Injuries:

There were no injuries for UConn during the game that I saw.

Officials:

Officials: Referee: Tom Walker; Umpire: John Mascarello; Linesman: Chad Green; Line judge: David Oliver; Back judge: Brad Van Vark; Field judge: Scott Gaines; Side judge: Mike Contreraz;

Game Notes:

Iowa State Cyclones @ UConn Huskies 9-17-11 box score

Here are some quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and his players as well as quotes from Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads and his players.

Here are the starters for UConn:

OFFENSE
WR 6 Moore, Kashif
TE 89 Delahunt, John
LT 71 Ryan, Mike
LG 72 Bennett, Jimmy
C 57 Petrus, Moe
RG 63 Masters, Adam
RT 77 Friend, Kevin
QB 18 McEntee, Johnny
TB 24 Shoemate, D.J.
FB 39 Hinkley, Mark
WR 83 Moore, Isiah

DEFENSE
DE 48 WILLIAMS, Trev.
DT 4 MARTIN, Tywon
DT 99 Reyes, Kendall
DE 98 JENNINGS, Teddy
SLB 3 Moore, Sio
MLB 33 SMALLWOOD, Yaw.
WLB 28 Johnson, Jory
CB 7 Gratz, Dwayne
S 15 Junior, Jerome
WLB 46 Vann, Marquise
CB 5 WREH-WILSON, B.

The rest of the game notes in this section are courtesy of UConn’s Football sports information department:

• The defeat drops the Huskies to 1-2 overall
• QB Scott McCummings capped off the first Husky drive with a 10-yard TD run (first career rushing TD)
• UConn intercepted three of the first four Iowa State’s pass attempts
• CB Dwayne Gratz intercepted the first ISU play from scrimmage
• DT Kendall Reyes stopped ISU second drive with a third down sack
• DB Byron Jones recorded his 2nd INT of the season in the first quarter
• LB Jory Johnson notched the third INT for the Huskies in the first quarter (2nd this season)
• The Husky defense held ISU to 0 first downs and just 4 total yards in the first quarter
• K Dave Teggart missed his first FG attempt at Rentschler Field since September 25, 2010 vs. Buffalo
• Teggart missed multiple FG attempts for the first time since September 18, 2010 at Temple
• Teggart nailed two 50+ yard FGs including tying a career high on a 52-yarder
• QB Johnny McEntee connected on a career-long 41-yard strike to WR Isiah Moore
• McEntee recorded career highs in completions (13), attempts (30) and yards (188)
• Isiah Moore hauled in career highs with 8 catches and 143 yards (his first career 100-yard game)
• Moore’s 100+ receiving yard performance was the first for a Husky since September 25, 2010 (Michael Smith)
• The Huskies did not commit a penalty until the 12:14 mark of the fourth quarter
• RB D.J. Shoemate started in his first appearance of the season

Big East Games and Results:

Saturday, September 17

#18 West Virginia
Maryland, 12 p.m.

Pittsburgh
Iowa, 12 p.m.

Akron
Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m.

Florida A&M
#20 South Florida, 7 p.m.

Louisville
Kentucky, 7 p.m.

Syracuse
USC, 8 p.m.

Things to Work On:

• Pick a damn quarterback already.
• Find a way to take advantage of the turnovers created
• Get D.J. Shoemate some stick’em or something so he can hold on to the dang ball.
• Defense needs to work on their assignments so they stop allowing the big plays.
• Open back up the placekicking competition to put a little pressure back on Dave Teggart.

Up Next:

The Huskies head to northwest New York for a matchup with the Buffalo Bulls at 6 p.m. next Saturday night.

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Photo credits: Stephen Dunn – Hartford Courant (No. 13), AP Photo