It was a disastrous fourth quarter for the UConn Huskies as the No. 19/19 North Carolina Tar Heels scored twelve unanswered points to beat UConn 12-10 in front of 38,087 at Rentschler Field on Saturday afternoon.
With the score tied 10-10 and 1:32 remaining on the clock, UConn’s Dan Ryan was called for holding in the end zone. The result of the play was a safety that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good. The Huskies then went for the onside kick and recovered as Alex Molina snatched the ball out of the air to give the Huskies another life.
UConn took over on their own 31 and Cody Endres hit Brad Kanuch for 13-yard gain. The next play went for six yards as Endres hit Isiah Moore to put the ball at the 50. After two incompletions by Endres, Randy Edsall called time out. By doing this, North Carolina was also able to set up their defense and they brought the heat as Quenton Coples sacked Endres to finish off the game.
For the first two and half quarters, this game was a defensive struggle as neither offense could really get anything going on the ground or in the air. The only scoring in the first half came on a Dave Teggart 47 yard field goal for UConn.
The Huskies got things going in the third quarter as they were able to drive down the field and get a Jordan Todman touchdown. After that though, it was a different story. The Huskies lost Zach Frazer to a knee injury and the offense never got into sync.
Plus the UConn defense, playing without captain Scott Lutrus, was strong for the first three quarters. Then they completely disappeared in the fourth. North Carolina was able to string a few big plays together and drive down the field to get a field goal and a touchdown.
After two games, I’m still not sold on this offense. Like a fine wine, the offense needs time to gel as a unit. Now with the injury to Frazer, it could be more frustration for the Huskies on the offensive side of the ball. This new no-huddle offense was supposed to bring balance but with 35 running plays and 26 passing plays, it’s not there yet. They only finished with 196 yards of total offense, 124 of that through the air.
UConn falls to 1-1 on the season while the Tar Heels improve to 2-0.
Scoring:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| UConn Huskies | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
1st quarter
No scoring
2nd quarter
CON – Dave Teggart 47 yard field goal – UConn 3 UNC 0
3rd quarter
CON – Jordan Todman 4 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 10 UNC 0
4th quarter
UNC – Casey Barth 22 yard field goal – UConn 10 UNC 3
UNC – Zack Pianalto 2 Yd Pass From T.J. Yates (Casey Barth Kick) – UConn 10 UNC 10
UNC – Penalty On Dan Ryan In End Zone – UNC 12 UConn 10
Offensive Player of the Game:
Jordan Todman had 66 yards rushing on 18 carries and one touchdown.
Defensive Players of the Game:
This one is a tough call as there are four Huskies deserving of the honor, Lawrence Wilson, Greg Lloyd, Jr., Jesse Joseph and Lindsey Witten. Because of that, I’m going with co-players of the game in Wilson and Witten. Wilson had eleven tackles, two of them for losses and a sack. Witten had another three sacks and seven tackles in all.
Turning Point(s) of the Game:
1. Losing Zach Frazer to a knee injury in the third quarter changed the game for UConn offensively. After he left, the Huskies never really got into any type of flow.
2. Dan Ryan’s holding penalty in the end zone late in the 4th quarter gave the Tar Heels a 12-10 lead. After UConn recovered the onsides kick, Cody Endres was sacked on 4th and 4 in UNC territory.
Offensive Notes:
Jordan Todman led the team in rushing 66 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Zach Frazer was 11-19 for 124 yards with an interception. Cody Endres was 3-7 for 30 yards. Brad Kanuch led the team in receiving with four catches for 59 yards.
1st qtr – 1/10 CON 43, Jordan Todman rushes for 16 yards and a first down
2/6 UNC 37, Kashif Moore rushes for 8 yards and then fumbles on the tackle that was recovered by UNC.
2nd qtr- 2/9 CON 38, Zach Frazer hits Ryan Griffin for 13 yards and a first down
1/10 UNC 49, Frazer hits Dwayne Difton for 9 yards
2/1 UNC 40, Andre Dixon rushes for 9 yards and a first down
3/6 UNC 27, Frazer’s pass goes through hands of Brad Kanuch and is picked off.
2/5 CON 21, Todman rushes for nine yards and a first down
1/10 CON 30, Moore rushes f or nine yards
1/10 UNC 48, Todman rushes for nine yards
2/10 UNC 37, Dixon rushes for eight yards
4/3 UNC 30, Dave Teggart hits 47 yard field goal
UConn scoring drive – 11 plays, 40 yards, TOP 03:29
3rd qtr – 1/10 CON 20, Frazer hits Kanuch for 39 yards and a first down
1/10 UNC 26, Cody Endres hits Isiah Moore for 11 yards and a first down
1st/goal UNC 4, Todman rushes four yards for touchdown
UConn scoring drive, 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 01:19
4th qtr – 3/22 CON 8, Endres hits Todman for 16 yard gain. Play called back as Dan Ryan was called for holding in end zone to give North Carolina a safety.
1/10 CON 31, Endres hits Kanuch for 13 yard gain and a first down
1/10 CON 45, Endres hits Isiah Moore 6 yards.
4/4 50 yd line, Endres sacked by Quinton Coples for six yard loss.
Defensive Notes:
Lawrence Wilson had 11 tackles to lead the Huskies and added a sack. Greg Lloyd had nine tackles and a sack. Jesse Joseph had eight tackles and a sack while Lindsey Witten had seven tackles and three sacks.
1st qtr – 1/10 UNC 23, T.J. Yates stopped for no gain by Greg Lloyd and Jesse Joseph
1/10 UNC 20, Shaun Draugn stopped for two yard loss by Lindsey Witten and Kendall Reyes
3/3 CON 43 , Robert McClain intercepts a Yates pass and returns it four yards.
1/10 CON 45, Witten sacks Yates for a five yard loss
2nd qtr, 1/10 CON 48, Witten sacks Yates for six yard loss
3/14 UNC 48, Lloyd sacks Yates for five yard loss
1/10 UNC 38, Joseph sacks Yates for eight yard loss and forces fumble which was recovered by UNC.
3rd qtr – 3/3 UNC 44, Witten sacks Yates for three yard loss
1/10 UNC 20, Wilson stops Yates to Greg Little pass for a five yard loss
3/4 UNC 16, Wilson sacks Yates for two yard loss and forces fumble recovered by UNC
3/5 UNC 26, Twyon Martin intercepts Yates pass at UNC’s 26 yard line
4th qtr, 1/10 CON 21, Jerome Junior and Lloyd stop A.J. Blue for no gain
2/3 CON 4, Jasper Howard and Joseph stop Little for one yard loss
4/4 CON 5, Casey Barth hits 22 yard field goal for UNC
North Carolina scoring drive, 13 plays, 78 yards, TOP 04:59
3rd/goal, CON 2, Yates hits Zack Pianalto for 2 yard touchdown pass
North Carolina scoring drive, 13 plays, 76 yards, TOP 06:36
Special Teams Notes:
2nd qtr – 4/4 CON 33, Bruce Carter called for running into Desi Cullen, penalty gives UConn a first down
4th qtr – Dave Teggart’s onside kick was recovered by Alex Molina
Injuries:
UConn tight end Ryan Griffin left the game with an apparent back injury in the 2nd quarter.
UConn defensive end Twyon Martin left the game with an undisclosed injury.
UConn quarterback Zach Frazer left the game with a knee injury.
North Carolina tight end Zack Pianalto left the game with a knee/ankle injury that he got while celebrating his touchdown.
Officials:
Referee: Jack Childress; Umpire: Mark Pellis; Linesman: Tyrone Davis; Line judge: Jim Corpora; Back judge: Barry Hendon; Field judge: Mike Cullin; Side judge: Rich Misner; Scorer: Andrew Prince
Game Notes:
North Carolina Tar Heels @ UConn Huskies 9.12.09 box score
Today’s loss to North Carolina was the first ever loss in a home opener for the Huskies since they moved to Rentschler Field in 2003. UConn is now 6-1 all-time in home openers.
UConn held North Carolina scoreless for the first three quarters of the game. The last time that it held a team scoreless for the first three quarters of a game was vs. Syracuse on Nov. 17, 2007.
Robert McClain recorded his first interception of the season and the 11th of his career with 7:36 left in the first quarter.
Twyon Martin recorded his first career interception with 2:14 left in the third quarter to set up the Huskies only touchdown of the game.
Dave Teggart 47-yard field goal that gave the Huskies a 3-0 lead heading into halftime tied his career-long. It was UConn’s longest field goal since Oct. 25, 2008 vs. Cincinnati when Teggart set his career-long.
The safety recorded in the fourth quarter was only the fourth safety against the Huskies since they moved to the FBS in 2002 and the last since Oct. 15, 2008 when Donald Brown was tackled in the endzone at Rutgers.
The last time the Huskies recorded a successful onside kick was at Cincinnati on Oct. 15, 2005.
Lindsey Witten has now recorded six sacks in the first two games this season.
Big East Games and Results:
Syracuse 7
Penn State 28
Pittsburgh 54
Buffalo 27
Howard
Rutgers, 3:30 PM
East Carolina
West Virginia, 3:30 PM
South East Missouri State
Cincinnati, 7:30 PM
South Florida
Western Kentucky, 7:30 PM
Things to Work On:
- If Frazer is going to be out for the long-term, the Huskies need to continue to develop the offense with the strengths of Endres. They’ve committed to the offense so there’s no turning back now.
- The receivers need to learn how to catch the ball. Frazer’s thrown four interceptions this season, all of them have gone off the hands of receivers.
- While they’ve been strong defensively, they need to work on covering the quick screen passes. Also, they need to tighten up on third and longs. At least twice they gave up long passes that allowed the Tar Heels to get a first down.
- Need to continue to work on the punt formation. Even though Desi Cullen didn’t have any blocked, he was knocked down once and almost had two other punts blocked in the shield formation. The formation was supposed to prevent that. Obviously, it’s not working.
Up Next:
The Huskies head to Waco, TX for a matchup with the Baylor Bears next Saturday, September 19th. The game will start at 5:00 p.m. EDT and there is no television.
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