House Broken
I-Jax, TDL both play, show struggles in rare UConn home loss ---- five UConn turnovers lead to two key Tennessee TD's in 28-19 final
Desmond Love's late-game pick six (one of two for Tennessee's stout defense) would lock up the game for the Vols. They forced five turnovers in all.
Marty English proved his worth on Saturday, September 7 coaching his first game at Tennessee against his old employer. The former Husky DC snuck out of Storrs with a 28-19 win on a day in which his team played significantly cleaner than his counterparts, who were clearly missing coach Bob Diaco, who was at home for the second straight week due to NCAA violations (he'll be back next week against Ohio State).
Though not known for his offensive prowess, Diaco surely will provide a jolt into this UConn offense, which badly needs it after another tumultuous offensive performance. Once again, both
Tanner Dean-Lowry and
Isaac Jackson both saw snaps under center, I-Jax coming in after the first series before leaving before halftime with a concussion, meaning that we still aren't sure of who has the moxie to become the full-time UConn starting QB.
However, while Jackson didn't show much of anything, it was perhaps TDL who asserted himself as the guy, firing 3 TD passes to keep UConn in the game through the third quarter. However, he also threw 3 INT's and gave away a costly fumble late.
But even so, it's saying something that the Huskies were able to rally the troops after falling behind 7-0 after a possession when I-Jax marched UConn all the way down to the Volunteer 25 when he made a bad throw into double coverage that was picked off by
James McNair and returned all the way to the house.
Trading three and outs with I-Jax in the game, Tennessee expanded their lead to 14 late in the second quarter on a
Nathan Sharp 15 yard TD run.
UConn finally got the life back in them after I-Jax left the game, as TDL hit, in succession,
Royce Archie for a gain of 19,
Rashad Harris for a gain of 38 more, and then Archie again for a 22 yard touchdown, putting UConn on the board and sending the game to a 14-7 halftime score.
Rashad Harris (making a diving TD grab, left) had a pair of TD's while West Virginia transfer Royce Archie grabbed another.
Star Vol QB
Slade Courtney and Tennessee struck together a long drive of their own, constructing a nine-play, 83 yard drive that culminated in a four yard
Greg Ray TD catch to stretch the lead back to 14.
TDL would then respond with back-to-back TD drives, both ending in grabs by Harris that would have tied the game had
Mike Miller's PAT not gone right and UConn failed to convert the 2-point try after the second TD. Instead of a 21-21 game, we had to settle for 21-19.
That would prove costly as the game progressed deeper into the fourth quarter and TDL needed a TD more and more urgently. As a result, the UConn offense had to press more and more.
This would end up ruining a fantastic drive late. Redshirt freshman tailback
Luke Williamson, who had a phenomenal first start with 117 yards on 23 carries, helped gain 24 yards on a drive midway through the fourth. TDL scrambled for 12 and hit Harris for a big 28 yard gain as UConn marched inside the Tennessee 10 yard line.
After a throw away, a perhaps panicked TDL fired his second INT of the day in the end zone, overthrowing his target in senior
Rodney Reid. This time
Jason Culp was the recipient for Tennessee.
However, Tennessee couldn't help themselves out either. After a
J.D. Motley first down, Courtney failed to keep the Vols' next drive moving, and UConn got a second chance to usurp the lead of the contest with about four minutes remaining.
Williamson picked up a first down to bring the Huskies near midfield, but TDL, attempting to avoid trouble on a scramble two plays later, got the ball knocked loose by a host of Tennessee defenders. Culp was able to scoop up the fumble, emphatically sliding in and scooping with one hand to recover for the Vols.
Tanner Dean-Lowry's fumble (recovered by Jason Culp of Tennessee) was one of his four late-game turnovers.
Still, Tennessee couldn't get their offense moving, watching
Mike Stokes nearly pick off a Courtney pass in the end zone and a 51 yard
Dustin Amos field goal try go off the right upright and out. UConn yet again had a chance to close with 1:34 to play.
Alas, UConn couldn't score for the third consecutive drive, and after moving to midfield once again,
J'Shawn Williams sacked TDL and brought the pressure that forced TDL to fire an errant deep ball that was picked off by
Desmond Love and returned 54 yards for the game-sealing score. Another pity INT to
James Randall ended the game, and UConn dropped their second game out of their last four at home, after putting together a three-year long streak at the Property.
Another tough loss, but the positive is we get Coach Diaco back next week, as well as talented junior DE
Sam Rourke, both finishing suspensions for recruiting infractions. While neither can completely solve our QB issue, one can at least hope we can straighten it out moving forward.
Ohio State in the 'Shoe next weekend. I dare you to root against us.
| Tennessee Volunteers at Connecticut Huskies |
| Sep 7, 2019 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Tennessee Volunteers (1-0) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| #22 Connecticut Huskies (1-1) | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 19 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| TENN | CONN |
| Total Offense | 296 | 407 |
| Rushing Yards | 124 | 124 |
| Passing Yards | 172 | 283 |
| First Downs | 14 | 20 |
| Punt Return Yards | 13 | 31 |
| Kick Return Yards | 41 | 68 |
| Total Yards | 350 | 506 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 5 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 2-8 | 6-12 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 2-0 (50%) | 3-0 (60%) |
| Penalties | 1-5 | 0-0 |
| Posession Time | 15:20 | 16:40 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | TENN | CONN |
| 5:33 | (TENN) McNair returned INT 75 (Amos kick) | 7 | 0 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | TENN | CONN |
| 1:55 | (TENN) Sharp 15 run (Amos kick) | 14 | 0 |
| 0:15 | (CONN) Dean-Lowry 22 pass Archie (Miller kick) | 14 | 7 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | TENN | CONN |
| 5:10 | (TENN) Courtney 4 pass Ray (Amos kick) | 21 | 7 |
| 3:20 | (CONN) Dean-Lowry 5 pass Harris (PAT no good) | 21 | 13 |
| 0:13 | (CONN) Dean-Lowry 11 pass Harris (2-pt failed) | 21 | 19 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | TENN | CONN |
| 0:57 | (TENN) Love returned INT 54 (Amos kick) | 28 | 19 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Slade Courtney | 13-16 | 172 | 1 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Nathan Sharp | 21 | 123 | 5.8 | 1 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | J.D. Motley | 3 | 79 | 26.3 | 0 | | Synquez Martindale | 3 | 58 | 19.3 | 0 | | Kenton Huston | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK (TFL) | SACK | INT | TD | | James McNair | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | Bosley Cornrath | 7 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | J'Shawn Williams | 5 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Tanner Dean-Lowry | 9-17 | 154 | 3 | 3 | | Isaac Jackson | 12-17 | 129 | 0 | 1 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Luke Williamson | 23 | 117 | 5.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Rashad Harris | 7 | 123 | 17.5 | 2 | | Royce Archie | 7 | 89 | 12.7 | 1 | | Jeff Matthews | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK (TFL) | SACK | INT | TD | | Marcus Bradford | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Tashawn Coleman | 6 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Sammie Leonard | 6 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Tennessee did just enough on offense to pick up the W in a tough Property crowd.