UConn’s football loses to UMass, 27-13

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Despite leading for more than half of the game, UConn football’s quest for its first win of a decade will have to wait at least a week longer, and possibly much longer. The Huskies fell to longtime independent rival UMass 27-13 at McGuirk Field in Amherst, Mass., With the Minutemen claiming their first victory since 2019 and UConn falling to 0-7 this season.

Even though the Huskies had a lead at halftime and part of the third quarter, UMass dominated UConn for 60 minutes. The Minutemen outscored the Huskies in all major categories, nearly doubled UConn’s possession time, and beat them 20-3 in the final three quarters. UMass racked up over 400 yards of total offense, including 247 rushing yards, despite totaling over 400 rushing yards in his first five games this season.

As UConn entered halftime with a lead despite his best efforts not to, the Minutemen were the first to strike, as Ellis Merriweather scored the first of his two touchdowns of the day to go up. 7-0. The Huskies responded in practice that followed as quarterback Steven Krajewski hit Keelan Marion for a 34-yard touchdown less than a minute later to tie the game at seven. The Huskies had a 38 field goal. Joe McFadden’s yards with 1:56 left in the first to take a 10-7 lead.

The Huskies’ offense practically died out after that strong first quarter and nearly lost the lead just before half-time after a Krajewski threw an interception deep in UConn’s territory. But the defense held on, forcing a 26-yard field goal attempt that missed the wide left to preserve the Huskies’ lead.

In his first full game since replacing injured Tyler Phommachanh, Krajewski totaled 128 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. Without Phommachanh’s running ability, offense has reverted to the kind the Huskies raced earlier this season under Randy Edsall, with consistent runs down the middle and rarely attacking down. Even if all wasn’t so bad – running back Nate Carter rushed for 136 rushing yards in 20 carries despite missing a good chunk of the third quarter – the backsliding as the offense, and really all of it. ‘team, taken as a whole was incredibly disheartening.

UMass managed to level things early in the second half, setting up a 10-game practice that culminated with a 21-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10, the only game to score in the third quarter. During the entire third period, UConn failed to post a single yard pass, and their rushed offense took a hit with an injury to Carter. After UMass returned the ball on the downs with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, UConn executed five of his seven plays on the next drive, totaling 33 yards and ending with a 53-yard misfire from McFadden.

The Minutemen used their success on the court to wear down an already poor UConn defense, with UMass designated quarterback Merriweather and Zamar Wise combining for 235 yards and three scores on the day. After UMass kicked a 24-yard field goal to open the fourth and take a 13-10 lead, Merriweather scored his second score of the day after Krajewski threw another pick deep into his territory to go up 20- 10.

UConn showed some signs of life in the run that followed, descending 75 meters in less than three minutes, but was forced to settle for a field goal after Krajewski’s attempted pass on the third down failed. be overpowered by tight end Brandon Niemenski. Another McFadden field goal brought the score to 20-13, but Wise scored the last touchdown of the night with a one-yard run with five minutes remaining to cap a five-minute commute and secure the victory for the Minutemen.

It’s really hard to say it’s the worst of the season – after all, that same team lost 10 points to an FCS school less than a month ago – but losing to UMass, a horrendous schedule by all. settings which has seen much, much less success than UConn, that way it feels like it was worse. Yes, UConn was missing his interim head coach, an offensive lineman starting other key players (like Phommachanh) for this game, but the Huskies have remained the favorites due to their strong performances over the past two weeks and did not succeed in attack or defense. it was even a little encouraging.

When UConn hooked up with Wyoming and Vanderbilt, the team’s flaws remained evident, but it was a little easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This loss of UMass changes all that. And next week longtime rival Yale heads to Rentschler Field for the comeback, where the Bulldogs are 2-2 this season and have played Holy Cross closer than the Huskies, losing 20-17. three weeks ago. In terms of games left on the schedule since Lou Spanos took over, UMass could have been the Huskies’ best chance of victory. And now, with that demoralizing loss, a 0-12 season becomes an incredibly real possibility.

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