Wait.....We lost? At home?
Iowa State rides run game, two defensive TD's to stunning UConn upset, end Rent win streak
Friends, all good things must come to an end I suppose.
3 years and something-teen wins later, UConn has finally tasted the spoils of defeat at the place dubbed the Property by now UConn super assistant head coach Bob Trebell and DrGravyBoat.
At the hands of.....Iowa State?
Yes, the 2-6 Cyclones came in to Hartford and played exactly a game style that Coach Diaco would be proud of. Rely on a cheesy run game and score with the defense. Fact of the matter is, ISU found all the holes, played penalty-free and did everything correctly in their 36-31 upset, and their formula was flawless.
Step 1: Take advantage of the other team's mistakes...early and often
Tanner Dean-Lowry made what would turn out to be two massive mistakes early in the first quarter. On UConn's second drive from scrimmage, TDL was closing in on the end zone when a rare speed option was called for.
TDL attempted to flip to
Ron Johnson, but
Mike Hillsworth tipped it away, scooped up the loose ball and ran it back for the score, 7-0 ISU.
On the very next drive, UConn was at midfield when a TDL wheel route pass to
Arkeel Newsome was picked off by
Paul Everett, who shook 'Keel's tackle and went the distance. 14-0 ISU on a pair of defensive scores.
Step 2: Hold your opponent to field goals in the red zone
A long drive was ended for UConn on an incompletion when ISU got pressure on TDL and forced a throw away.
Mike Miller kicked a field goal for UConn's first points, 14-3.
Step 3: Every opponent's score has an equal and similar rebuttal
ISU settled for a
Ben Gibson FG on their next drive to push the lead back to 14. However, UConn's mega-utility equivalent of Superman
Jeff McNeal returned the next Gibson/Iowa State field goal attempt for a TD. Starting right, McNeal cut left when he came remotely close to an ISU lineman, and used his speed to burn everyone else and walk home from 103 yards out.
You don't typically try to return a missed kick with 5 minutes left in the quarter, but Bob Diaco is absolutely crazy. And it worked. 17-10 ISU.
But back to the Iowa State forumla for victory:
Step 4: Score before the end of the half, especially if you deferred
Darius Lee-Campbell orchestrated an 11 play drive that ended seconds before the half in a 3 yard TD plunge on a midline read. Of course, you can't finish if you didn't start: DLC started that drive with a 30 yard run in which he broke 5 tackles.
Regardless, Iowa State had a 24-10 halftime lead. Scary considering 27 of those points came from defense or special teams.
After the half, UConn pulled within 7 after Iowa State attempted and failed a 4th down. TDL hit
Jon Haden on a 9 yard out route to the right, and UConn was right back in it at the end of the third.
Alas.......(Sound Alarm).....back to the Iowa State gameplan:
Step 5: Score in the 4th Quarter
DLC hit tailback
Mike Warren on a screen for a 28 yard ISU gainer, which DLC followed up with runs of 7, 9, 14 and a Warren 15 yard punisher for the TD to swell the lead back to 13. (Gibson missed the PAT).
And just like that, Haden got UConn right back in the game, bringing back the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for the TD, a pure speed play to the left. 30-24 Iowa State. But I can't be too happy about this. Partially because I know how this game ends. But mostly this...
Step 6: Cheese with screens and scrambles, finish
DLC knew with 4 minutes left or so that a nice TD would place his Cyclones in good shape. After hitting Warren on a 16 yard screen, DLC found
Scotty Schaffner for 19, and
Jovan Callahan followed with runs of 5 and 10. After a
Sam Rourke sack, DLC scrambled for a big gain down to the UConn 5. Sending a big blitz, Diaco couldn't quite get to DLC, as he just managed to find
Rickey Young for a 1 yard score, 36-24.
TDL had fully recovered from his mistakes and was playing well late, immediately scoring (a
Jeff Matthews 36 yard TD catch over the top) and allowing the UConn defense to get back on the field.
Being a Bob Diaco defense, they have to get the stop in clutch situations. They have for 4 1/2 years. What can go wrong? What can go wrong?
Warren found a hole up the middle, ran for 10, DLC scrambled for 10 more and Warren converted a huge 3rd and 10 with an 11 yard plunge (ISU manhandled the UConn front that drive) to seal the game. Looks like everything went wrong.
What can I say other than that Iowa State had a brilliant gameplan. Feed your stars, score on defense, make key stops, and have a QB who I can abbreviate to DLC. Obviously the streak would come to an end at some point, but to 2-6 Iowa State?
Anyhow, we have some more pressing matters at hand. We can't get a run game going, our defense looked mortal, and TDL accounted for three turnovers that doomed UConn from the get go. Not only that, the team's confidence is probably shot heading into a TCU showdown and our Playoff hopes are pretty much over. We'll fall behind a gaggle of 2-loss teams and likely have a worse resume than everyone ahead of us.
Obviously seeing a win streak end sucks. But as Bill Belichick famously said, "We're on to Cincinnati." In our case, on to TCU. Fort Worth next folks, see ya there.
'Twas a good three years....
| Iowa State Cyclones at Connecticut Huskies |
| Nov 3, 2018 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Iowa State Cyclones (3-6, 2-3) | 17 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 36 |
| #7 Connecticut Huskies (8-2, 4-2) | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| ISU | CONN |
| Total Offense | 459 | 304 |
| Rushing Yards | 284 | 113 |
| Passing Yards | 175 | 191 |
| First Downs | 24 | 13 |
| Punt Return Yards | 0 | 21 |
| Kick Return Yards | 81 | 219 |
| Total Yards | 540 | 544 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 3 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 9-15 (60%) | 3-7 (42%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 4-3-0 (75%) | 3-1-1 (66%) |
| Penalties | 0-0 | 1-5 |
| Posession Time | 19:04 | 12:56 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | ISU | CONN |
| 4:59 | (ISU) Hillsworth returned fumble 75 yds (Gibson kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 3:55 | (ISU) Everett returned INT 46 yds (Gibson kick) | 14 | 0 |
| 1:54 | (CONN) Miller 31 FG | 14 | 3 |
| :06 | (ISU) Gibson 45 FG | 17 | 3 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | ISU | CONN |
| 5:04 | (CONN) McNeal missed kick return 103 yds (Miller kick) | 17 | 10 |
| :28 | (ISU) Lee-Campbell 4 run (Gibson kick) | 24 | 10 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | ISU | CONN |
| :39 | (CONN) Dean-Lowry 9 pass Haden (Miller kick) | 24 | 17 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | ISU | CONN |
| 7:23 | (ISU) Warren 15 run (missed kick) | 30 | 17 |
| 4:42 | (CONN) Haden returned kickoff 94 yds (Miller kick) | 30 | 24 |
| 3:58 | (ISU) Lee-Campbell 1 pass Young (Convo no good) | 36 | 24 |
| 3:36 | (CONN) Dean-Lowry 36 pass Matthews (Miller kick) | 36 | 31 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Darius Lee-Campbell | 20-28 | 175 | 1 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Mike Warren | 23 | 134 | 5.8 | 1 | | Darius Lee-Campbell | 21 | 139 | 6.6 | 1 | | Jovan Callahan | 3 | 11 | 3.6 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Mike Warren | 8 | 86 | 10.7 | 0 | | Scotty Schaffner | 6 | 36 | 6.0 | 0 | | Adam Trohoe | 3 | 42 | 14.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Kevin Goodleberg | 6 (2 TFL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Mike Hillsworth | 4 (2 TFL) | 1 | 0 | 1 | | Paul Everett | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Tanner Dean-Lowry | 10-17 | 191 | 2 | 2 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Ron Johnson | 14 | 83 | 5.9 | 0 | | Arkeel Newsome | 5 | 22 | 4.4 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Jon Haden | 4 | 109 | 27.2 | 1 | | Jeff Matthews | 2 | 52 | 26.0 | 1 | | Arkeel Newsome | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Vontae Diggs | 10 (3 TFL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Sam Rourke | 7 (3 TFL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | T.J. Newell | 5 (2 TFL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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