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Trailing 30-10 heading into the second half, the Huskies began the comeback. UConn scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter as running back Jordan Todman scored a touchdown on a 46-yard run and senior cornerback Robert McClain had an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown. After another Cincinnati score, the Huskies were down 37-24 at the start of the fourth quarter, but two more Todman touchdowns put the Huskies within two at 40-38. UConn went for two, but quarterback Zach Frazer was sacked. Still down two, the Huskies forced the Bearcats into a fourth down with around two minutes to go in the game. Instead of kicking a short field goal Cincinnati elected to go for it. Cincinnati running back Isaiah Pead broke free from the UConn defense to run in a 14-yard score putting Cincy back up by nine with just 1:52 remaining in the game. However the Huskies weren’t done yet, as they drove down the field and scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Frazer to reciever Marcus Easley with 13 seconds to go. The Huskies tried an onside kick, which was recovered by Cincy, ending the game.
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The Huskies showed once again that they can compete with anyone on their schedule, even the top-5 rated Cincinnati Bearcats. The heart and effort shown by the Huskies was something special, however they couldn’t get over the hump once again to get the victory. The Huskies pulled off several big plays that took the game down to the closing minutes, just like all of theirs this season. UConn’s five losses have come by a combined 15 points.
“It never gets easier to take,” Todman said. “We’re going to have to deal with it. It’s been a tough, tough year. We have to learn to finish.”
Courtesy of the Hartford Courant
Frazer, who made just his third start of the season after taking over for the injured Cody Endres, played efficiently. He threw no interceptions and completed 19 of 32 for 261 yards and a touchdown.
UConn, now 4-5 on the year, and 1-4 in the Big East, has the week off. They return to the field November 21st, when they travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Coach Randy Edsall and his entire staff have to be proud of the way the team fought till the end. After the last three weeks, which included three heartbreaking losses and the loss of Jasper Howard, the Huskies are still looking for their first victory since the tragedy.
“I’ll tell you, this team showed grit, determination,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “You can use any adjective you want but we just came up short. I’m running out of things to tell them after games like this.”
“People see that exposure is tremendous. Again, this is another one of those situations where people thought with this program we’d never be on TV, but here we are going against Oklahoma-Nebraska and Arizona State-USC, and the lead team is broadcasting our game. I think it’s good for the conference,” said Edsall.
