Teggart Kicks UConn Into BCS Bowl Game

The 2010 UConn Huskies football season began with a lot of promise only to fall into the possibility of it all falling apart. But over the past five games, they played like the team with all of the preseason hype and because of that, they are now heading to a BCS bowl for the first time in the program’s short FBS history.

It took a 52 yard field goal from Dave Teggart with 17 seconds to go in the game to give the Huskies a 19-16 win over the South Florida Bulls in front of 41,809 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL and a nationally televised audience on ESPN2. With the win, the Huskies win a share of the Big East title with the Pittsburgh Panthers and West Virginia Mountaineers but get the BCS berth by virtue of beating both of those teams.

With 1:16 to go in the game, the Bulls tied it at 16-16 with a 22 yard field goal by Maikon Bonani. Robbie Frey took the ensuing kickoff back 39 yards to give the Huskies the ball at their own 40 yard line with just over a minute to play.

On first down, Zach Frazer couldn’t hit Robbie Frey on a screen play and then on second down, he hit Kashif Moore for 18 yards to get them down to the USF 42. Frazer followed that with a seven yard pass to Michael Smith to get it down to the USF 35. Frazer rushed for no gain on second down and couldn’t connect with Moore on third down to set up Teggart’s game-winner from 52 yards.

UConn finishes the 2010 regular season at 8-4 (5-2 Big East) while South Florida ends at 7-5 (3-4).

It defintely wasn’t the offense that won this game for the Huskies, it was the play of their defense.

Offensively they weren’t able to get much done as they didn’t even score an offensive touchdown. The lone touchdown came on a 55 yard interception return by Lawrence Wilson in the second quarter right after Frazer had been picked off with UConn in field goal range.

We’ve seen Jordan Todman break off big runs all season long but he never really was able to do that on Saturday night. He was able to get yards at certain points but for the most part, the USF defense did a good job of shutting him down. Plus with Frazer not at his best again (13-of-29, 112 yards, one interception), the defense plus the play on special teams stepped up to help the Huskies win.

The teams exchanged field goals in the first quarter and Wilson’s interception return for a touchdown was the only score of the second. They traded field goals again in the third quarter and Teggart put the Huskies out front 16-6 with 13:39 to go in the game.

With UConn up 16-6 with 9:22 to go in the game, USF forced a Jordan Todman fumble that the Bulls recovered at the UConn 30. Two plays later, the Bulls were in the end zone and picked up a ton of momentum. The Bulls defense was strong after that and helped keep the Huskies out of the end zone until Teggart’s game-winner.

This is by far the greatest moment in UConn football history. A BCS Bowl, are you kidding me? Pinch yourself folks because this is for real. Not too shabby for a team that began the transition to Division I football in 2001 and began play in the Big East in 2004 after the Virginia Tech Hokies bolted for the ACC.

This BCS berth should help the Huskies as far as recruiting goes because now besides having some of the best practice facilities in all of college football, they can now say come to UConn and play in a BCS bowl game.

I’m proud of this team for being able to fight through all of the distractions and ultimately reach their goal.

There’s going to be a lot of talk over the next four weeks how UConn doesn’t deserve to be in a BCS bowl. All I can say is that they went out and won the Big East which gets an automatic bid. If you got a problem with that, then lobby for a playoff. Until then, the Huskies DESERVE to be there.

Scoring:

1st quarter

USF – 10:17 – Maikon Bonani 42 Yd Field Goal – USF 3 CON 0

CON – 6:04 – Dave Teggart 40 Yd Field Goal – CON 3 USF 3

2nd quarter

CON – 1:11 – Lawrence Wilson 55 Yd Interception Return (Dave Teggart Kick) – CON 10 USF 3

3rd quarter

CON – 7:30 – Dave Teggart 22 Yd Field Goal – CON 13 USF 3

USF – 2:49 – Maikon Bonani 38 Yd Field Goal – CON 13 USF 6

4th quarter

CON – 13:39 – Dave Teggart 50 Yd Field Goal – CON 16 USF 6

USF – 8:38 – Dontavia Bogan 28 Yd Pass From Bobby Eveld (Maikon Bonani Kick) – CON 16 USF 13

USF – 1:16 – Maikon Bonani 22 Yd Field Goal – CON 16 USF 16

CON – 00:17 – Dave Teggart 52 Yd Field Goal – CON 19 USF 16

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Offensive Player of the Game:

Dave Teggart was the man for the Huskies. His 52 yard field goal with 17 seconds left got the Huskies into the BCS for the first time in their brief FBS history. He made four field goals in all (40, 22, 50, 52) and made his only field goal attempt of the night.

Defensive Player of the Game:

Kendall Reyes once again wreaked havoc up front on the defensive line. He was able to consistently get pressure on USF true freshman QB Bobby Eveld. He finished the game with six tackles including one for a loss.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

• With UConn up 16-6 with 9:22 to go in the game, USF forced a Jordan Todman fumble that the Bulls recovered at the UConn 30. Two plays later, the Bulls were in the end zone and picked up a ton of momentum.
• After USF tied the game up with 1:16 to go on a Maikon Bonani field goal, Robbie Frey gave the Huskies great field position with a 39 yard return that led to Dave Teggart’s eventual game-winning field goal.

Offensive Notes:

Another so-so night for Zach Frazer as he was 13-of-29 for 112 yards and he threw one interception. Jordan Todman had 33 carries for 93 yards. Michael Smith caught six balls for 58 yards while Ryan Griffin had three catches for 21 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Sio Moore led the Huskies with 10 solo tackles. Harris Agbor, Kendall Reyes and Scott Lutrus all had six tackles. Lutrus also added an interception. Lawrence Wilson had five tackles and one interception that he returned for UConn’s only touchdown of the game. Shamar Stephen also had five tackles while Blidi Wreh-Wilson had four tackles and interception.

Special Teams Notes:

While Dave Teggart was the offensive special teams MVP of the game, Cole Wagner was outstanding with his punts. He averaged 53.2 yards on six punts with a long of 63 yards. He had two punts inside the 20 yard line and had two touchbacks. Teggart made his only extra point try and was 4-of-4 on field goals (40, 22, 50, 52) with the 52 yarder being the one that got the Huskies into the BCS.

Injuries:

No new injuries to report. Scott Lutrus did play with a cast on his right hand.

Officials:

Referee: Jerry McGinn; Umpire: Richard Feeney; Linesman: Matthew Fitzger; Line judge: Ralph Newell; Back judge: James Downey; Field judge: Glenn Crowther; Side judge: Ben Vasconcells;

Game Notes:

UConn Huskies @ South Florida Bulls 12.4.10 box score

This is the second time the Huskies have won a share of the Big East title. They tied with West Virginia in 2007 but the Mountaineers got the BCS bid based on their 66-21 win over UConn. They shared it with the Mountaineers and the Panthers this year.

The four losses by the Huskies ties for the most by a BCS team.

If UConn doesn’t jump into the top 25 on Sunday, they would be just the third team to be unranked and playing in a BCS game. Stanford in 2000 and Purdue in 2001 are the others. Both of those teams lost in the Rose Bowl.

The Huskies wore all white for the game.

This was just the second road win on the season for the Huskies. They were 6-0 at home, 2-4 on the road.

Lawrence Wilson now has five career interceptions, three of which he has returned for touchdowns.

Big East Games and Results:

Saturday, December 4

Rutgers 14
#24 West Virginia 35

Pittsburgh 28
Cincinnati 10

Things to work on:

• Get healthy. Hopefully the wait until their BCS game will allow Mike Ryan and Twyon Martin to get healthy. Plus I’m sure the four weeks in between games will allow the right hand of Scott Lutrus to heal. Plus I’m sure the whole team could use some time to heal from the season.
• Don’t listen to the media. For the next four weeks, the Huskies are going to hear how they don’t belong in the BCS with four losses. Look folks, they didn’t make the system. They went out and won the Big East title which gave them the bid.
• Come up with a game plan to stop either the Oklahoma Sooners or Virginia Tech Hokies, their likely opponents in the Fiesta Bowl or Orange Bowl.

Up Next:

The Huskies have to until the BCS Selection tomorrow night at 8:15 p.m. to find out whether they’ll be going to the Fiesta Bowl or the Orange Bowl.

Photo credit: Hartford Courant (No. 12), AP Photo, Hartford Courant (No. 16), Hartford Courant (No. 11)