Weeks 10-15 in Review, 2019 season
I want to get moving onto next season and I don’t want to do regular season recaps without the pictures that are now deleted. Nevertheless, I want to bring some resolution as to how the season ended, so I’ll pick it up here and I’ll try to get back to normal posts for the bowl season/Around the NCAA.
I left us at about Week 10; we had four games left to play and a real shot at the Big 12 in UConn’s second season as conference members.
Week 10: Kansas State
However, we most recently got blown out by 1-5 Kansas on the road. Much work remained to salvage the UConn season, despite being 5-3. We had lots of problems on offense, especially with an injured tailback in Jeff McNeal, tight end in Royce Archie and our starting QB down for the remainder of the regular season in true sophomore Tanner Dean-Lowry.
Fortunately, K-State was only 3-4.. And coming to Rentschler Field, (a.k.a. The Property), surely a daunting task considering we’ve only lost there twice since 2015. With starting QB Tanner Dean-Lowry hurt, left-handed grad student (and former walk-on) Jarrett Rivero would get the start and played well (10-18, 121 and a TD, with 170 more yards and another score on the ground). Nevertheless, the game was close, and UConn escaped against another mediocre Big 12 opponent with a
21-16 win to get bowl eligible and regain the lead in the Big 12 East. Of note: Tim Duchane had a career high 10 tackles while Gene Jackson inched closer to a season sack record with two more.
Week 11: Iowa State
Next up for the Huskies was a revenge game in Ames against Iowa State - the same squad that knocked UConn out of the playoff chase late in 2018. In a festive day for UConn, the offense clicked on all cylinders as
UConn won 41-23, punctuated by the first career TD catch from reserve fullback Jonathan Goff late in the game. Rivero threw for 4 TD’s, but 3 INT’s at the same time. Jeff McNeal, back from injury, posted 2 catches but both went for TD’s and a total of 125 yards. Sam Rourke had 5 TFL’s, while John Cox and Derek Robinson both recorded INT’s. Sammie Leonard added two sacks.
Week 13: TCU
Following a bye, UConn built a two game lead in the East division. With a win on senior day against TCU, UConn would punch their tickets to Dallas and they
took care of business with a another defensive gem, a
21-10 decision behind Luke Williamson’s three TD runs. Stars on defense today included Sammie Leonard (6 tackles, 4 TFLs, a sack and INT) and John Cox (9 tackles and 2 TFLs) while Jake Crowder added an INT. Rivero played very well in the 3-game win streak, but his injury prone nature did him in during his first big break. Rivero, after a scramble in the second quarter, would leave the game feeling discomfort in his back. The result? A season-ending injury. With TDL still out, UConn was left with one QB on the active roster: Redshirt sophomore Isaac Jackson.
Week 14: Houston
Jackson would lead UConn into Houston for their annual rivalry game and
won handily 31-7 with a stellar defensive showing. Jackson threw 16 of 26 for 249 yards and 2 TD’s, adding one more on the ground. T.J. Newell had a career day, posting a career high 4 sacks in his last outing at The Property. The Houston win marked the sixth consecutive head-to-head victory for UConn (Diaco’s record against the Cougs is 6-0), but more importantly left UConn with some momentum headed into the Big 12 title game. Despite being only 9-3 and with only one healthy quarterback, UConn had a real shot in Jerruh World. Their opponents? 10-2 and 19th ranked Oklahoma State, whom UConn had lost to in overtime earlier in the season. UConn was ready for revenge.