UConn Holds Off Pitt 30-28

On 4th and 1 at his own 19 yard line with 2:50 remaining in the game and his UConn Huskies holding on to a two point lead over the Pittsburgh Panthers, head coach Randy Edsall decided that he was going to go for the first down and look to seal the win for the Huskies. Now if you were like me, you were wondering what the heck Edsall was thinking at that point.

He did say after the game that he was going for the win and had the utmost confidence in the offensive line and Jordan Todman to get the job done. Well they rewarded Edsall with a first down as the Huskies held on for a 30-28 win over the Big East-leading Panthers in front of 35,391 at Rentschler Field and nationally televised audience on ESPN.

The Huskies improve to 5-4 (2-2 Big East) while the Panthers fall to 5-4 (3-1).

Things got off to a bad start for the Huskies as quarterback Zach Frazer threw a pick on the first play from scrimmage. It set up the Panthers in UConn territory and they quickly went ahead 7-0 on a Dion Lewis four yard scamper.

Frazer was able to rebound from the poor start though as helped engineer an 11 play, 83 yard drive down the field that culminated with his 36 yard pass to Kashif Moore to tie the game up at 7-all.

For the better part of the first half, it was a defensive struggle as the only scoring that came after Moore’s touchdown was a Dave Teggart field goal.

The UConn defense got things going in the third quarter as Twyon Martin and Jesse Joseph had back-to-back sacks to force a punt. The Huskies came out and handed the ball to their horse in Todman, who had 36 yards to get the ball in field goal range for Teggart who nailed it. They were also buoyed by a 15-yard horse collar call on Greg Romeus who returned to action for the Panthers.

After the field goal, the Panthers took over the game. They scored two touchdowns on consecutive drives and at that point, it looked as though the Huskies would become the Panthers fourth straight victim.

Enter Nick Williams.

Williams, who already returned one kickoff for a touchdown, returned another one 95 yards and woke the Rentschler Field crowd back up after they had been deflated by the Pitt touchdowns. It also inspired the defense as they forced the Panthers into three three-and-outs to start the fourth quarter.

UConn would get out in front again as they rode Todman down the field and then the right foot of Teggart who got the Huskies out front 23-21. On the ensuing kickoff, Anthony Sherman layed a big hit on Ray Graham forcing the fumble that Robbie Frey recovered giving the Huskies the ball at the Pitt 21.

A rush by Todman for seven yards was followed a 14 yard touchdown pass by Frazer to put the Huskies out front for good at 30-21. The Panthers would score late on a Tito Sunseri touchdown pass to Jon Baldwin but that would be it for the night.

A great win for the Huskies tonight along with some gutsy play calling by Edsall. Never in my life would I have ever thought he’d go for it on his own 19 yard line but he clearly wanted to win the game.

The Huskies will need to win at least one of their final three games to become bowl eligible. They still have to face a much improved Syracuse team as well as the Cincinnati Bearcats and South Florida Bulls. Only the Cincinnati game is at home where the Huskies are now a perfect 5-0 on the season. It’ll be tough but with two straight big wins, this team can clearly go bowling again.

Scoring:

1st quarter

PITT – 12:59 – Dion Lewis 4 Yd Run (Dan Hutchins Kick) – Pitt 7 UConn 0

CON – 7:36 – Kashif Moore 36 Yd Pass From Zach Frazer (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 7 Pitt 7

2nd quarter

CON – 13:37 – Dave Teggart 46 Yd Field Goal – UConn 10 Pitt 7

3rd quarter

CON – 10:48 – Dave Teggart 39 Yd Field Goal – UConn 13 Pitt 7

PITT – 5:27 – Dion Lewis 1 Yd Run (Dan Hutchins Kick)  – Pitt 14 UConn 13

PITT – 00:13 – Ray Graham 5 Yd Run (Dan Hutchins Kick) – Pitt 21 UConn 13

CON – 00:00 – Nick Williams 95 Yd Kickoff Return (Dave Teggart Kick) – Pitt 21 UConn 20

4th quarter

CON – 7:27 – Dave Teggart 25 Yd Field Goal – UConn 23 Pitt 21

CON – 6:19 – Isiah Moore 14 Yd Pass From Zach Frazer (Dave Teggart Kick) – UConn 30 Pitt 21

PITT – 4:35 – Jon Baldwin 20 Yd Pass From Tino Sunseri (Dan Hutchins Kick) – UConn 30 Pitt 28

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Offensive Players of the Game:

Jordan Todman and the UConn offensive line. It if it weren’t for the great play up front by the offensive line, Todman wouldn’t have been able to rush for a career-high 222 yards on 37 carries. By the way, he was the first 100 yard rusher against the Panthers this season.

Defensive Player of the Game:

Lawrence Wilson led the Huskies with 11 tackles, five solo and also had one sack for a loss of six yards.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

When it looked like Pittsburgh was in control of the game after two straight touchdowns, Nick Williams took a kickoff  back 95 yards for a touchdown to get the Rentschler Field crowd back into the game. It also cut Pitt’s lead to 21-20.

On 4th and 1 at his own 19 with 2:50 remaining in the game, Randy Edsall called timeout. The Huskies offense came back out off the timeout and they actually went for it. It worked out for them as Jordan Todman was able to get four yards and a first down.

Offensive Notes:

Zach Frazer wasn’t exactly spectacular again but he did throw two touchdown passes. He was 9-of-20 for 100 yards and also threw an interception. Jordan Todman had 37 carries for a career-high 222 yards. Kashif Moore had two catches for 46 yards and a touchdown. Isiah Moore had two catches for 29 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive Notes:

Lawrence Wilson had 11 tackles, five of them of the solo variety and also had a sack for loss of six yards. Sio Moore had nine tackles. Jerome Junior had eight tackles and also had an interception. Blidi Wreh-Wilson had seven tackles as did Dwayne Gratz, who also added an interception as well. Tywon Martin and Jesse Joseph each had three tackles and a sack.

Special Teams Notes:

Dave Teggart was perfect on his extra point attempts. He also made all three of his field goals (46, 39, 26). Cole Wagner had five punts for 136 yards and had two downed inside of the 20. Nick Williams returned his second kickoff of the season for a touchdown, this one was for 95 yards. Anthony Sherman forced a fumble that was recovered by Robbie Frey.

Injuries:

UConn QB Zach Frazer suffered an arm injury but was able to return to the game.

UConn DE Trevardo Williams was injured twice during the game.

Officials:

Referee: Thomas Tomczyk; Umpire: Ronald Kumiega; Linesman: Kavin McGrath; Line judge: Jim Casey; Back judge: Paul Vargo; Field judge: Rick Santilli; Side judge: B. Vasconcells; Scorer: Andrew Prince.

The officials definitely made a bad call on Nick Williams when they said that he signaled for fair catch before grabbing the ball and running on a punt in the 4th quarter. In watching the replay from different angles, you could clearly see that he never signaled for the fair catch.

Although the fans disagreed, the replay booth made the right call on Jon Baldwin’s touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. On the replay, you could clearly see dirt come up from where his right foot dragged along the ground before going out of bounds.

Game Notes:

Pittsburgh Panthers @ UConn Huskies 11.11.10 box score

Here are some quotes from UConn head coach Randy Edsall and Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt.

Big East Games and Results:

Saturday, November 13

South Florida
Louisville, 12:00 p.m.

Cincinnati
West Virginia, 12:00 p.m.

Syracuse
Rutgers, 3:30 p.m.

Things to Work On:

• This isn’t something the team needs to work on, it’s the fans. Not selling out the Rent for this game is just a piss poor job by the fans. Yes I know the times are tough and even though they won, the fans need to show the support for the team by filling up the stadium. If you want to be known as a big-time football program, you need to fill the stadium for every game. No excuses!!
• Tackling, tackling, tackling. Too many times during the game, I saw a lot of UConn guys not wrapping up the Pitt player and trying to get the ball out. Wrap him up on the legs and bring him down.
• Zach Frazer still needs some work on his passing and decision making. On the first play from scrimmage in the game,  Frazer threw an interception when he either should have tried to throw the ball away or just take the sack.

Up Next:

The Huskies will head to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY to take on the Syracuse Orange next Saturday (11/20) at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

Photo credits (in order of photo): Hartford Courant (15), Hartford Courant (9), AP Photo, Hartford Courant (10),