Huskies Fall to Pirates, 31-21
The Huskies put in a valiant effort tonight in Greenville, NC, but fell short to East Carolina and their powerful, up-tempo passing attack, 31-21.
The story was the awakening of the UConn offense, led by Chandler Whitmer, who threw for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“We did some good things, made it competitive, but losing still sucks,” Whitmer said following the game. “I don’t care what environment you’re in, who you’re playing, you still don’t want to lose. We did some good things, we just didn’t do enough in the end to finish it off. We just need to be able to make plays at the end to finish off the game and get a good road win, but we got better and we are just going to continue to work.”
Without pass protection, Whitmer would not have been able to make the throws he did and that is a testament to the offensive line.
“That’s the effort we all put in the past week and a half, game planning and working really hard on our technique,” offensive lineman Gus Cruz noted after the loss. “The game plan was great, credit to the coaches for putting us in the right positions. We know we can move on from this and it will open up a number of other things for us to do so we can give Chandler some extra time.”
Junior WR Geremy Davis went out with an undisclosed injury and that enabled Thomas Lucas and Noel Thomas to step right in and produce. Lucas had two catches for 80 yards, while Thomas caught 3 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.
The play of the night may have been a third quarter run by RB Ron Johnson that went for twenty-two (22). Whitmer came from behind the play to take on a linebacker, eliminate him from the play and enable Johnson to gain an extra 17 yards, on what would have been a five yard gain. The play energized his teammates, something that was still there following the loss.
“Whatever it takes, these guys fight for me, I just do my job, whether it’s throwing the ball or getting blocks in those situations. Obviously I want to be smart, but I’m putting it out there to fight for these guys and they fight for me. We love each other, it’s been a great fight tonight, but we just didn’t come out on top.”
Cruz on Whitmer’s block:
The Huskies return to action on Saturday, November 1st when they host UCF at Rentschler Field. Time is TBA, but the unveiling of the Jasper Howard statue, will take place.
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