As conference play is under way in AAC basketball, a familiar opponent in UCF visited UConn on Thursday for their only matchup of the season.
In football terms, Husky fans remember the Knights as the only team UConn defeated in conference play last year.
Let’s think happy thoughts today and take a look back at the homecoming victory for the Huskies, with a little Twitter commentary as well.
The UConn win marked the Knights’ first AAC loss after winning 11 straight dating back to last year. The game also featured a diversion from the usual pro-style offense UConn is used to running.
First Quarter:
You can’t describe the 2014 season without mentioning the rough starts early in games for the Huskies. After a UConn 3-and-out and holding UCF on fourth down, Chandler Whitmer fumbled the ball inside their own 20-yard line and it ultimately led to points on the board for UCF.
Playing from behind was something UConn had gotten used to early in the year.
The good news? The early fumble was the only turnover of the game allowed by UConn.
Whitmer was having a tough game passing the ball and Diaco even turned to Tim Boyle for a drive but to no success. After a missed field goal by UCF and three consecutive punts, the first quarter ended with UCF up by a touchdown.
Second Quarter:
With nothing working between Chandler Whitmer and Tim Boyle early, the Huskies went with a wildcat formation to open up their drive on their 32-yard line.
Deshon Foxx did the rest.
DESHON FOXX! HOUSE! Direct snap goes 68 yards for the #UConn score. XP ties this one up at 7-7. #BleedBlue #RiseUp
— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) November 1, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsFoxx took the direct snap and ran 68-yards down the field for a touchdown. The read option fooled the defense and it was off to the races for Foxx.
UCF would retaliate with a touchdown of their own and it was William Stanback’s second score of the day.
With the UCF defense looking to defend a newfound rushing attack by Foxx, Whitmer was able to get better looks in the pocket and connected with four different receivers before he found Noel Thomas for a 38-yard score. The defense was on their heels and the accuracy of Whitmer’s throw will probably be overshadowed by the cornerback out of position on the play.
The Knights would also turn the ball over twice in the quarter and both interceptions would land in the hands of Andrew Adams. The second pick would set up a field goal with just seconds remaining in the half and give the Huskies a 17-14 lead.
UConn kept momentum going into the second half after scoring 17 points in the quarter. More points were put up in this quarter alone than five of UConn’s other games.
If you’re looking for a halftime update more familiar to you, UConn trails UCF by -3 points. — Russell Steinberg (@Russ_Steinberg) November 1, 2014
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Third Quarter:
As well as UConn was defending the pass, specifically holding Breshard Perriman to only two receptions, it was J.J. Worton who burned the secondary and caught his longest touchdown pass of his career. The 73-yard score put the Knights up by four, but only temporarily.
The UConn offense responded with a lengthy drive of their own and knocked more than five minutes off the clock as they went 79 yards, ending with a fourth-and-goal run by Ron Johnson.
UCF would come out aggressive and down by three, but Justin Holman would toss his third interception of the day and it would end up in the hands of linebacker Jefferson Ashiru.
Ashiru would only play one more game in a UConn uniform due to a mix of personal reasons, but his interception was crucial as it gave the Huskies the best field advantage it had all day.
Whitmer would find Noel Thomas for his second touchdown of the day as the UConn’s lead built to 10.
Noel Thomas TOUCHDOWN his second of the day, slips a tackle, 22 yards #UConn
— Desmond Conner (@desmondconner) November 1, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThomas, who will be a junior next season, showed promises of being the next top receiver with Foxx and Geremy Davis gone from the team now. He finished the year with four touchdown grabs, two of them coming in this game.
Fourth Quarter:
After holding UCF to a three-and-out, UConn would start the fourth quarter with a six-play drive that ended in Ron Johnson scoring again (the first two touchdowns of his career came within a 7-minute game time span). Bobby Puyol’s extra point attempt was blocked, but spirits were high with a 37-21 lead.
Now down by two scores, UCF ditched the heavy dosage of running it came in with and tried to beat the Huskies through the air. Just two plays later, Andrew Adams had his third interception of the game.
The hat trick for Andrew Adams with his third INT for #UConn. Adams said “I hope we pay them back” after last year’s UCF blowout loss — Jim Fuller (@NHRJimFuller) November 1, 2014
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Unlike his second pick, Adams’ defensive play didn’t lead to points on the board for UConn, but it sparked belief in the team that a victory was possible.
Now UCF started to panic. The fourth quarter didn’t feature a single rushing play for the Knights and their gameplan now was strictly vertical. For comparison, Stanback rushed a season-high 28 times against UConn and none came in the final 15 minutes of play.
It’s safe to say that the Knights predicted they would just run away with this game before it even started.
The all-out aerial attack would finally work out for UCF as Holman connected with Perriman, and more importantly, a successful two-point conversion with five minutes left.
Down by eight, UConn took two and half minutes off the clock before they were forced to punt it away. It would be up to the defense to earn the W.
Holman came out firing and a pass to the UConn 20-yard line would be called back after an offensive pass interference call. With just under a minute left on fourth down, Holman’s intended pass for Josh Reese was broken up by Obi Melifonwu and just like that the losing streak was over.
The last-place Huskies defeated the first-place Knights and the AAC was back up for grabs with many teams still in the hunt for the conference title. Sadly, UConn wasn’t one of them, but a consolation prize was to be included in domino effect of college football parity.
@NoEscalators @USFCollin Ohio state lost to Virgina tech who lost to ECU who lost to UCF who lost to UCONN!
— Go Knights (@ienjoysport) January 13, 2015
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That was fun, until SMU got involved at the very end to make the domino effect funny, but quite sad too.
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