Huskies Snatch Pirates’ Booty
With their season hitting a critical juncture, UConn delivered the goods in a Friday night duel against East Carolina. The Huskies came in losers of five of their last six contests including a blowout loss to Cincinnati a week ago. A win at home against a 4-4 East Carolina team was a must if the Huskies want any shot at a bowl, and perhaps more importantly, any shot at a successful season. We’ll get to that later on but let’s start with the game itself.
The Pirates struck first blood via a pick-6, and it seemed like the Huskies’ bark may have been worse than their bite. But UConn responded by turning things around in a big way, scoring the next 24 points en route to a convincing 31-13 victory. The UConn defense shut down East Carolina’s air attack, holding them to just 137 yards and coming up with four interceptions. Jamar Summers led the takeaway party with two picks, Obi Melifonwu nearly matched him but had to settle for one, and Marquise Vann’s left paw had an interception too. UConn now has 14 interceptions on the season as Diaco’s defensive backs are increasingly becoming ball-hawks. Each of the starting safeties has two interceptions this season, while starting cornerbacks Jamar Summers (5) and Jhavon Williams (3) have even more. The other two interceptions belong to linebackers Juniors Joseph and the aforementioned Marquise Vann. The running game of Ruffin McNeill’s squad proved more challenging for the Husky defense as the Pirates racked up 203 yards on the ground. The bright spot in the Huskies’ run defense was limiting dual-threat quarterback James Summers to just 18 yards on 12 carries. Pro-style quarterback Blake Kemp was able to make it into the UConn end zone on his only rushing attempt, but the Husky defense made up for it by intercepting him three times.
On offense, the Huskies were solid. Sherriffs had a rocky start with the interception and a few other passes that were a bit off target, but he picked his level up as the game went along. He finished 12/21 for 184 yards, with one pick and one touchdown. Top receiver Noel Thomas had five of the catches for 55 yards and sophomore TEs Myers and Bloom combined for 48 yards on four catches, but the young pups are starting to contribute as well. True freshman WR Aaron Mclean had an 11-yard reception while fellow true freshman WR Hergy Mayala’s lone catch went for 29 yards plus fifteen more after a targeting penalty on the ECU defense. Mayala did very well to hang on to the ball because he absorbed a huge blow from safety Travon Simmons who was ejected after a replay confirmed the helmet-to-helmet collision. The star of the game for UConn was undoubtedly sophomore RB Arkeel Newsome. The Ansonia, CT native produced 220 yards on offense including a 90-yard touchdown scamper and a 41-yard reception. Newsome also contributed 24 yards in the kick return game to lead UConn’s special teams. Kicker Bobby Puyol had a career-high 45 yard field goal and went 4/4 on PATs while Justin Wain averaged 40 yards on six punts.
With the win, UConn moves to 4-5 on the season and 2-3 in conference play. Their next game is at 2-5 Tulane, which has lost its last three in advance of tomorrow’s tussle with undefeated Memphis. If the Huskies can notch a win in the Big Easy, they will pull to .500 with two games left. Those two will be tough ones- home vs 7-0 Houston and on the road at 7-0 Temple- but each will provide UConn with a shot an at upset and bowl eligibility. To me, if the Huskies can beat Tulane next week, they will have had a successful season regardless of whether or not they pull off an upset in either of the last two games (unless they completely fall apart in both). While 6-6 would be great, there’s no doubt that 5-7 would be a significant step in the right direction for UConn football given where we have been since the end of the Edsall era. Did I just say “we” and not “they” in reference to UConn football? I sure did. Diaco has me believing. I’m on board. Are you?
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