From Chumps to Champs
Shirreffs has game for the ages while senior laden UConn defense picks off Harris 5 times, Marriner goes 2K style as UConn wins first national title
Yes, for those of you longtime followers of my work (ksw..) you may remember this is the same title I used in my very first ‘chise project last spring when I won the national title in season 2. But it equally fits here.
Not only was it a festive day if you were a UConn fan, but a historic one.
A football laughing stock for over a hundred years, UConn has finally delivered on the biggest of stages. In a football game. And they are bringing home a crystal ball and trophy. Not for basketball.
Because after 125 years, the University of Connecticut finally has a football team.
Who knew?
Much like every game this season, UConn gave us a heart attack early and needed some time to get the defense to dig in. As a result, the start of the game wasn’t all that pretty.
Treon Harris showed why he won the Heisman on the first drive for the Flahida Gaytahs, firing a pass down the left sideline to
Alvin Bailey, who broke two tackles and rumbled to around UConn’s 25. Bailey was in on the next reception as well, a 12 yard gain down to the 14. And on the third play, Harris hit
C.J. Worton on an out in the left corner of the end zone, and just like that, Florida had a 7-0 lead. As I had feared.
UConn worked to a 3rd and 5 on their first drive before
Bryant Shirreffs hit the man seeking all vengeance,
Josh Marriner, on a wheel route up the right sideline. He got a block from
Damon Mitchell, and Marriner scooted for 42 yards, all the way up to the Florida 32.
After an 8 yard catch from
Jon Haden, Marriner was held for a 3rd consecutive no gain, and
Mike Miller was called on to kick the field goal, which went right down the middle. 7-3 Florida with 3:51 left in the first.
Florida went nowhere on their next drive though. After
Quintin Harrell stepped in front of a Harris pass,
Vontae Diggs snuffed out a screen pass to tailback
Adam Lane Jr., setting up a 3rd and 14. With pressure bearing down on Harris from
Sam Rourke, Harris fired a bomb toward Worton and Bailey about 50 yards downfield.
Unfortunately for Florida, UConn had a trio of safeties in on the pass, and freshman
Ross Sinclair, the tallest of the bunch at 6’5, lept and nabbed the pass at its apex, which was overthrown anyway.
Marriner was dropped for a 4 yard loss on the first play courtesy of
Daniel McMillian (he had only 1 yard on 6 carries at that point), but Shirreffs got it back with a 7 yard pass to Mitchell on 2nd and long. Setting up a 3rd and 7, UConn went to a bunch set, a favorite of Coach Diaco, but the pass to
Thomas Lucas was broken up by
Quincy Wilson and UConn had to punt.
Lane Jr. ran for 5, then broke a host of UConn tackles en route to another first down. Harris carried himself on a read option for an 11 yard gain and first down, but Harris made his first mistake of the game. Lofting a pass to the right toward
ArDarius Stewart,
Jamar Summers, who initially got beat on the route, came flying in from behind as Stewart had to adjust to the ball to make the play. Summers leapt and made a great INT to give UConn the ball and momentum. In the process, Summers also broke the UConn career INT record. CONGRATS!
With the newfound confidence, Marriner gained 8 yards, then picked up 5 more for the first. UConn showed their mettle, too, converting a 3rd and 6 with a 21 yard reception from
Jeff McNeal. However, a holding call on
Arkeel Newsome, the smallest dude on the team, made it 1st and 20. Marriner came out of the backfield to try to get the ball moving again. Marriner fumbled, though.
Fortunately,
Brian Thompson fell on it, and UConn could keep moving. On the next 3rd and 4 from the UF 28, Shirreffs fired out of a clean pocket to tight end
Tommy Myers on a fly route that was completely unaccounted for. Myers scampered the rest of the way for the go-ahead TD, and UConn was up 10-7 early in the 2nd. The safety near Myers went to guard a wideout and
Matt Rolin blitzed. All too easy.
Harris was sacked by Harrell on 1st down, but Lane picked up 11. Harris found Bailey for 13 to move the chains, but his next pass fell incomplete. On 2nd, Harris danced around the pocket like a chicken with his head cut off, but once again it was Summers who swooped in and victimized Harris again. This time, Summers broke the single season INT record for UConn. Not only that, but it was UCahhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnn Football! (Sorry...I need to channel that somehow).
Marriner was wrapped up again (only 19 yards on 12 carries at this point), but Shirreffs bailed out Josh and hit Mitchell over the middle for a big 20 yard gain (Shirreffs: 8-9, 149 yards, TD at this point. Not bad).
On the ensuing 2nd and 6, Shirreffs went play action and raced out to the right. Firing off balance, Shirreffs found 2nd tight end
Alec Bloom, who stopped on a dime, got himself turned around and rumbled inside the 10 to set up 1st and goal. Marriner gained 6 to the 3, then finished with the 3 yard TD to break Walt Trojanowski’s season TD record, and give UConn a 17-7 lead with the half approaching.
Chris Thompson picked up a 1st on a receiver screen, then Harris scrambled for a 9 yard gain after showing the Heisman pose to
Vontae Diggs. Harris picked up another 14 on a read option (where is UConn’s run D?!?!?!?), but UF lost their momentum when
Moral Stephens dropped a pass. Harris found Worton as a pair of UConn defenders hit each other, and UF was a few yards away from getting back in the game at this point.
Worton again made the catch following an off balance throw from Treon to pull within 3 with 3:05 left in the half.
From here, though, it was all UConn. Shirreffs was the main catalyst, making two plays that will forever define his UConn legacy.
On UConn’s first play of the ensuing drive, Shirreffs, backed against his own 10 yard line, made a Russell Wilson-esque, champion caliber play, shaking off two sacks, then firing a laser while on one foot to Haden, who just got a foot in bounds to move UConn shy of their own 40. (10-11, 192, TD. Wow.)
While Shirreffs was wrapped up for a sack on the very next play thanks to Rolin, the Shirreffs-Myers connection was still working beautifully. Nearly stumbling on the wet playing field (it was raining all game), he collected himself quickly and fired another dart to Myers while getting drilled. Myers beat the contain of
Duke Dawson for another long first down, and UConn was cooking with 2 minutes to go.
Shirreffs fired again, this time to
Rashad Harris, who raced past Dawson again for a 28 yard gain. (Shirreffs: 12-13, 253 yards, TD. 1 ¾ quarters). He had accounted for about 95% of UConn’s offense. At this point.
Marriner danced around for 6, then cleaned up from 3 yards out to push the lead back to 10 with 1:31 in the half. Florida never stood a prayer after. A Lane screen was snuffed out by Rourke, and Harris was sacked by
Cam Stapleton on 3rd and 6, and that was how we went into the half.
Following a rousing 4 yard loss for Marriner (
Dedrick Wright) and an incomplete pass, Shirreffs had the ball slip, and as a result fired to a checkdown in Damon Mitchell. However, Rolin was right there, and UF had the ball in great field position.
But after another near-INT for Summers, UF saw Bailey go down hurt (wouldn’t return) after being hit hard on a triple option, then set up for 3rd and 11. With a clean pocket, Harris looked for Worton again on the same out route that they scored the first TD with. This time, it was Sinclair again who read the pass perfectly, stepped in front and stole points from Florida for the 2nd time today (4 INT’s from Harris). UCahhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnn Football!
Marriner ran for 11, then ran for a pair of 7’s to kick off the UConn drive in style. With that….
*SOUND ALARM*
We have Josh Marriner on red record alert. At that point, Marriner was 33 yards away from joining Donald Brown in legacy. 2K!
Shirreffs still had Myers for a 19 yard gain, and Marriner ran for 6. (27 yards away), and 5 (22).
Shirreffs again hit Myers for 18, and
Ron Johnson rumbled for 9. But Marriner demanded the ball, and got it, scampering for 10 (12 yards away), but UConn was held at the goalline and had to kick a field goal. Still, it was 27-14 UConn.
After a Pass Interference call on Summers, Harris went looking to Worton in the flats again. But this time, it was the big senior linebacker Harrell who stepped in front and picked off Harris for the 5th time, setting up UConn at the Florida 35. Harrell, for the record, has I believe 4 INT’s this year. Not bad for someone who was a DE at this time last year.
On the ensuing 3rd and 10, Shirreffs fired a perfect pass to Mitchell for a first, then Mitchell dove for a pass and caught another first down. Marriner went back a yard though (14 yards away), and 2 incomplete passes made UConn kick another field goal to take a 30-14 lead and go up by 3 possessions at the end of 3.
UF tight end Stephens took a triple option pitch at the outset of the next drive and rumbled for a first, and Harris followed that up with a long scramble to pull the Gators past the UConn 35. UF got inside the red zone, but Cam Stapleton got to Harris for a sack, and on 3rd and 5 from the 10,
Brandon Powell dropped a pass that would’ve been a touchdown. Regardless, UF had to go for it on 4th, and it was Rourke who plowed through the O-Line and forced an incompletion. UConn football. Er..excuse me. UCahhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnn Football!
With 4:48 left, UConn just needed to run as much clock as possible. Call the hero, it’s time to go to sea. Marriner spun around a Florida corner for 8 (6 yards left), then passed 2,000 yards on the season with a juke and a 12 yard first down. #SNUB. 2,006 yards for our hero. Marriner was far from done, though, knowing a career rushing record and season records were still at stake. He rumbled down the right sideline for 19, and UConn kept the ball moving, that is until Shirreffs threw another INT to Rolin near the end zone.
UF was able to move the ball to stay alive, mainly on the heels of Lane, who broke several tackles on a 2nd and 10 and pushed the Gators inside the UConn 40 with 2:45 left. But on a 2nd and 3, UConn’s defense made the biggest play of the game and cemented their legacy as maybe the greatest college D of all-time. Harris picked up a first on a scramble, but was knocked off-balance by
Luke Carrezola, who was then drilled by
Junior Joseph, and the ball popped free. Diggs was right on top of that, and UConn was able to ice the victory cake. What teamwork. What talent. What clutch skills!
With that, friends, we have hit the top of the mountain. Bob Diaco has pulled one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history, because of a relentless defense and a QB who played the best game of his life when it mattered most. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to have a 2,000 yard rusher either.
It was truly all about the seniors in this one, from Shirreffs to Marriner to Myers and Cam to Joseph and Summers. With so many gone, the dynasty turns from Marriner and Shirreffs to McNeal and D-Ham, and from Cam and Summers to guys like Rourke and Jake Crowder.
But enough of the future. Relish the victory, friends. We’ve hit the top. We’re not chumps anymore.
And we do have a football team, too.
| Florida Gators at Connecticut Huskies |
| Jan 12, 2018 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| #3 Florida Gators (13-2) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| #1 Connecticut Huskies (15-0) | 3 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | FLA | CONN |
| 6:39 | (FLA) Harris 14 pass Worton (Sanders kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 3:56 | (CONN) Miller 28 FG | 7 | 3 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | FLA | CONN |
| 6:33 | (CONN) Shirreffs 28 pass Myers (Miller kick) | 7 | 10 |
| 3:50 | (CONN) Marriner 3 run (Miller kick) | 7 | 17 |
| 3:04 | (FLA) Harris 14 pass Worton (Sanders kick) | 14 | 17 |
| 1:31 | (CONN) Marriner 3 run (Miller kick) | 14 | 24 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | FLA | CONN |
| 2:15 | (CONN) Miller 21 FG | 14 | 27 |
| :02 | (CONN) Miller 29 FG | 14 | 30 |
| Florida Gators | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Treon Harris | 17-33 | 189 | 2 | 5 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Treon Harris | 9 | 61 | 6.7 | 0 | | Adam Lane, Jr. | 6 | 50 | 8.3 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Alvin Bailey | 4 | 80 | 20.0 | 0 | | C.J. Worton | 3 | 58 | 19.3 | 2 | | Moral Stephens | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Duke Dawson | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Matt Rolin | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | Daniel McMillian | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Bryant Shirreffs | 17-26 | 325 | 1 | 2 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Josh Marriner | 36 | 128 | 3.5 | 2 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Tommy Myers | 4 | 98 | 24.5 | 1 | | Damon Mitchell | 4 | 52 | 13.0 | 0 | | Jon Haden/Thomas Lucas | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Vontae Diggs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Jamar Summers | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | | Cam Stapleton | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
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