The Cardiac Kids
Aided by six-sack Gene Jackson, late defensive score and Isaac Jackson-led TD drives, UConn fends off Smith, #12 Illini in OT ----- RB McNeal leaves with long-term elbow injury
Trailing late in the fourth having just failed to convert a fourth down six yards away from a tie game, Sammie Leonard (left) was able to sack Shawn Smith and pop the ball free. Marcus Bradford (center, right) was able to scoop and score to get UConn back in the game.
No matter what you think about UConn, you can't deny this: These guys have a knack for playing in peril.
While Donald Brown was the star of the day as his #34 was hung gracefully next to the Property scoreboard at halftime, the heroes ended up being two unlikely protagonists.
It was backup QB
Isaac Jackson (and backup coach Bill Cubit) who orchestrated a TD drive to tie the game with six seconds left in regulation and a pair of touchdown drives in two overtime sessions, allowing UConn to complete a rally and hold off the 12th ranked Illinois Fighting Illini in East Hartford on a day where many questions remained unanswered for the shorthanded Huskies.
While UConn was able to ride a big play from star defender
Marcus Bradford and a few stray backups on offense to rally home, the Huskies' starting offense proved to be just as much of a jumbled mess as projected. Even more so when the projected work horse of the running back stable, junior
Jeff McNeal, exited the game left in the fourth quarter with a serious elbow injury -- one that's projected to keep him out for most of the season.
Sophomore quarterback
Tanner Dean-Lowry got the start and struggled all day, having lots of troubles with accuracy (completing less than 40% of his 27 throws) and turnovers (three INT's). It didn't help that he had to play from behind most of the game, as Illinois got the ball first and swiftly moved down the field, culminating in a
Shawn Smith 26 yard TD pass to
Cedric Stover to put the Illini up 7-0 just a minute and change into the game.
Even with TDL's shaky start, UConn was thoroughly outplayed on both ends early on, as they were outgained 206-16 by Smith and the Illini before the Huskies' first scoring drive. However, by that point Illinois had ran the lead to 14-0, as Smith fired a second TD pass, this time to
Cedric Christopher from 23 yards out.
Redshirt freshman
Carlton Parker assisted TDL by giving him a short field, returning the ensuing Illini kickoff to the Illinois 46. McNeal, while in the game, looked strong, as his 28 yard run around a heavy Illini blitz took UConn to the 1 yard line before local prospect
Luke Williamson cleaned up for UConn's first points of the season.
Despite a
Mike Miller missed field goal from 43 yards out to start the second quarter, the Husky D started to dig in, getting a fantastic diving INT in the end zone from
Jake Crowder to prevent Illinois from stretching the lead further for a while.
However, TDL never settled in. He responded by throwing an interception back to
Zach Pennington just four plays later, squashing the momentum of a promising drive. And unfortunately for TDL, the next two drives before the half also ended in INT's, relegating UConn to just seven points in the first half. Meanwhile, Smith threw his third TD pass of the first half, the second to Stover, on a 25 yard TD where Stover slipped behind coverage of
Derek Robinson to send the game to 21-7 at the half.
Jake Crowder lays out for a fantastic INT in the second quarter.
UConn was able to pull the deficit back within a touchdown after TDL hit
Rodney Reid from nine yards out. While a
Gene Jackson sack -- at that point his fourth of the day (
he'd finish with six, a new school record) -- helped UConn hold the Illini, TDL would be forced to leave the game soon thereafter with an MCL sprain after getting hit hard on UConn's next drive, leaving UConn backup QB Isaac Jackson to fend for himself.
Luckily, they got some help. Freshman kicker
J.P. Quinn missed a pair of field goals right in the third. Tailback
Erik Jones was still able to break a few big runs (He'd end with 140 yards), but wasn't fed the ball nearly enough for his success and skill levels; he only received 14 carries.
McNeal left the game early in the fourth with the aforementioned elbow injury while UConn faced a 21-14 deficit, but the more mobile QB Isaac Jackson still led a great drive, scrambling for 31 yards in total and getting timely carries from the redshirt frosh Williamson. However, the drive fizzled and a fourth down pass to Williamson fell incomplete, leaving the Illini in great position with just under two minutes to play.
After a 25 yard pass to
Nate Simmons though, coach Tim Beckman's decision to not run his impact tailback Jones started to pay negative dividends.
Sammie Leonard got to Smith and sacked him on the next play, knocking the ball free while Illini linemen sprawled on the ground. In the midst of the carnage, it was All-American inside 'backer
Marcus Bradford who scooped the ball up and ran it in from 31 yards out for the tying score.
However, the job was far from done for either side. Using two quick passes of 20 and 14 to
Aaron Thompson to ignite the drive, Smith found Stover for a 42 yard TD to put the Illini back up 28-21, leaving roughly a minute left for I-Jax and UConn.
Having already helped UConn to a win against Kansas State last year, it'd be foolish to say having him in the game in that situation is a bad thing. In fact, with just 75 seconds remaining I-Jax drove UConn 82 yards, throwing 5-7, converting a pair of crucial third downs before hitting
Kevin Lacey off-balance for the equalizer, sending the game to OT.
Kevin Lacey (left) and Rodney Reid (right) both had important TD grabs to help UConn to the W.
In the extra frame, UConn received the ball first and scored in precisely three plays, Jackson running for 15 and Williamson for 9 before pounding in the go-ahead score for UConn's first lead of the day, 35-28. Illinois matched with a TD pass from Smith (his fifth) to Simmons in one play to send the contest to a second round of overtime.
The most crucial play in the game came when Illinois had to settle for a Quinn field goal after an
Eric Eanon drop that would have moved the chains on 3rd and 10 (he had a shared team high six catches). That would prove costly, as UConn converted the winning TD two plays later, I-Jax finding an open Reid on an out route to the left side from 24 yards to send UConn out on top on Donald Brown Day.
With that, friends, welcome to another season of UConn football. Where the misfits rule and outcasts and reserves shine. On a wild day, it was Illinois headman Beckman who had the best words after the game:
Of course, UConn (and yours truly) have an uphill climb to fix a leaky offense, one that had a mane break with McNeal's injury. Stay tuned for news on the QB race into next week, and who we'll be replacing McNeal with. Tennessee and new headman Marty English -- defensive coordinator on UConn's 2017 national title team -- will travel to the Property next week to face the Diaco-less Huskies, we'll see you then.
| Illinois Fighting Illini at Connecticut Huskies |
| Aug 31, 2019 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | OT | SCORE |
| #12 Illinois Fighting Illini (0-1) | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
| Connecticut Huskies (1-0) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 41 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| ILL | CONN |
| Total Offense | 521 | 466 |
| Rushing Yards | 101 | 215 |
| Passing Yards | 420 | 251 |
| First Downs | 20 | 26 |
| Punt Return Yards | 17 | 80 |
| Kick Return Yards | 66 | 94 |
| Total Yards | 604 | 640 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 3 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 4-12 (33%) | 7-14 (50%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 3-1-0 (33%0 | 5-4-0 (80%) |
| Penalties | 1 - 10 | 1 - 15 |
| Posession Time | 14:02 | 18:01 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | ILL | CONN |
| 6:48 | (ILL) Smith 26 pass Stover (Quinn kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 4:27 | (ILL) Smith 23 pass Christopher (Quinn kick) | 14 | 0 |
| 1:32 | (CONN) Williamson 1 run (Miller kick) | 14 | 7 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | ILL | CONN |
| 1:22 | (ILL) Smith 25 pass Stover (Quinn kick) | 21 | 7 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | ILL | CONN |
| 3:28 | (CONN) Dean-Lowry 9 pass Reid (Miller kick) | 21 | 14 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | ILL | CONN |
| 1:53 | (CONN) Bradford returned fumble 31 yards (Miller kick) | 21 | 21 |
| 1:18 | (ILL) Smith 42 pass Stover (Quinn kick) | 28 | 21 |
| :06 | (CONN) Jackson 4 pass Lacey (Miller kick) | 28 | 28 |
| OVERTIME SCORING | ILL | CONN |
| (CONN) Williamson 1 run (Miller kick) | 28 | 35 |
| (ILL) Smith 25 pass Simmons (Quinn kick) | 35 | 35 |
| (ILL) Quinn 42 FG | 38 | 35 |
| (CONN) Jackson 24 pass Reid | 38 | 41 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Shawn Smith | 26-38 | 420 | 5 | 1 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Erik Jones | 14 | 140 | 9.9 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Cedric Stover | 6 | 146 | 24.3 | 3 | | Eric Eanon | 6 | 71 | 11.8 | 0 | | Nate Simmons | 4 | 79 | 19.7 | 1 | | Aaron Thompson | 4 | 52 | 13.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Kelshawn Burch | 10 (TFL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | | Zach Pennington | 9 (TFL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Marcus Lawson | 5 (TFL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Isaac Jackson | 8-14 | 99 | 2 | 0 | | Tanner Dean-Lowry | 10-27 | 152 | 1 | 3 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Jeff McNeal | 21 | 97 | 4.6 | 0 | | Luke Willamson | 10 | 37 | 3.7 | 2 | | Isaac Jackson | 8 | 67 | 8.3 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Rodney Reid | 7 | 99 | 14.1 | 2 | | Royce Archie | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 | | Kevin Lacey | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | John Cox | 10 (3 TFL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Gene Jackson | 8 (8 TFL) | 6 | 0 | 0 | | Marcus Bradford | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Jake Crowder | 5 (TFL) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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Not to be outdone was the Illini WR combo of Stover (left) and Simmons (right), who combined for 10 grabs, over 220 yards and 4 TD's.