[thesportsguru11]

A STAR IS BORN

Redshirt freshman Byers explodes for 136 yards and score when Williamson goes down hurt; Huskies smoke Nebraska 41-13 to book Natty date with Oregon in The Meadowlands

Redshirt freshman tailback J.P. Byers came off the injury list a few weeks ago. He ran for 136 yards as the top tailback after Luke Williamson went down hurt and contributed heavily in the 41-13 blowout.

Quote: Originally Posted by J.P. Byers

I was just feeling it. All game long. Our man went down, and I couldn’t let my play be the reason this team ends its season early. The torn pec.. It hurt to be out for most of the year, but I made up for lost time today.

So often in sports, it is the obscure and the strange who write the stories of legends. Not the star player but the backup, the special teamer, the sixth string wide receiver. When UConn’s star tailback Luke Williamson went down with a lower back injury right before halftime, it was the redshirt freshman J.P. Byers who stepped in and shone. With a dizzying array of jukes, spin moves and bursts of acceleration to go with 136 yards and a touchdown, the Oklahoma native played a key role as UConn punched their ticket to New Jersey for a National Title on January 11.

A four star recruit in the class of 2019, Byers has missed most of his redshirt freshman season after suffering a torn pectoral in mid-September. Byers spent 11 weeks recuperating. He was active against Houston and Oklahoma State in the last couple weeks, but was limited and did not receive any carries.

Quote: Originally Posted by J.P. Byers

I'm grateful for Coach Diaco to give me the opportunity to show I'm healthy again.

In what was expected to be a close game when examined on paper, this year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl was dominated by UConn virtually from start to finish. Despite not accounting for a touchdown all night long, Isaac Jackson was efficient at QB (15 of 18 passing) and committed no turnovers.

On the other side, meanwhile, Nebraska had trouble all game getting their offense going. A gutsy performance from the UConn defense kept Heisman winning running back Andy Merriman to just 93 yards on 19 carries, while forcing the Huskers to play from behind and pass the ball more with Isaac Zazzarion and, briefly, Austin Douglas. Nebraska's normally solid receiving group was only led with a 42 yard performance from Wyatt Osterlund.

Nebraska tacked on the first three points early in the first quarter off the right foot of Brian Tollspen, but UConn countered immediately after with a 98 yard kick return TD from the senior speedster Jeff McNeal to permanently shift momentum.

After a Nebraska three and out, Williamson completed an efficient drive with a 3 yard TD plunge to make the game 14-3, and also break Josh Marriner’s single season touchdown record in the process. Nebraska wouldn’t get any closer. The gap continued to widen into the second quarter after UConn countered a second Tollspen field goal with another Williamson touchdown.

(LEFT) Luke Williamson recorded two TD's before leaving with a lower back injury -- he did, however, break Josh Marriner's single season rushing touchdown record. (RIGHT) Jeff McNeal's 98 yard TD return early in the going gave UConn a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

At this point, Nebraska had lost Zazzarion for a couple drives as he nursed a tweaked ankle, and after the second Williamson TD the Huskers saw their star backup Douglas break the thumb on his throwing hand, rendering him out for the game.

Zazzarion returned with success at the start of the second half, capitalizing off a UConn holding penalty that negated a Byers first down. UConn punted, and Zazzarion ran in a 16 yard QB keeper to draw the score to 24-13.

(LEFT) Defensive back Claude Fontenot makes a fantastic pass deflection while guarding Kevin Lacey. (CENTER) Wyatt Osterlund makes a diving catch in the first quarter. (RIGHT) Isaac Zazzarion tried hard to get Nebraska back into the game, but to little avail.

Again, however, UConn turned on the jets, just as they have many other times all year long. Tyler McCray's second field goal made the game 27-13, and three plays later UConn put in the dagger. Emerging star corner Sam Barnett beautifully jumped a comeback route intended for Freddie Borrick, and the redshirt sophomore ran the interception all the way back to the house. With a 34-13 lead and the defense having gained all momentum, UConn had effectively locked up the victory before the fourth quarter.

Byers continued his sensational running by tacking on another athletic 23 yard run and then a one yard touchdown plunge, shortly thereafter to give UConn 40 points against one of the top defenses in the nation. UConn ran out the clock in the final minutes of the fourth to seal up the victory.

Sam Barnett recorded a pick six in the third quarter to slam the door on Nebraska.

Quote: Originally Posted by Coach Bob Diaco

I'm proud of our guys.. more than they could ever know. J.P. is an incredible kid.. coming back from injury that cost him most of the season, and to do this is just incredible. I don't know what's going on with Luke, how serious it is, if he's going to be out for a while.. we'll see. I'm confident if we have to run with J.P. next week though. Obviously there's always room for improvement, but we blew out another good team. Coach [Scott] Frost has a great group of kids. We just got the best of them this time.

With the win, UConn now runs their record to 13-1 in the 2020 season and the Huskies will square off against 13-1 Oregon for the National Title. Both sides are playing for their second National Title. The Ducks defeated Georgia Tech by one point in the early game of the playoff semis. The National Title Game will take place on January 11 at MetLife Stadium in The Meadowlands, New Jersey.

Nebraska Cornhuskers at Connecticut Huskies
Jan 1, 2021	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#3 Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-3)	3	3	7	0	13
#2 Connecticut Huskies (13-1)	14	10	10	7	41

Team Stats Comparison
	NEB	CONN
Total Offense	299	392
Rushing Yards	186	221
Passing Yards	113	171
First Downs	17	25
Punt Return Yards	6	33
Kick Return Yards	19	159
Total Yards	324	584
Turnovers	1	0
3rd Down Conversion	3-11 (27%)	6-11 (54%)
4th Down Conversion	0-1	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-1-1 (66%)	6-3-2 (83%)
Penalties	0-0	1-15
Possession Time	14:04	21:56

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
6:13	(NEB) Tollspen 39 FG	3	0
6:00	(CONN) McNeal 98 kick return (McCray kick)	3	7
3:45	(CONN) Williamson 3 run (McCray kick)	3	14
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
8:41	(NEB) Tollspen 28 FG	6	14
5:01	(CONN) Williamson 6 run (McCray kick)	6	21
:00	(CONN) McCray 24 FG	6	24
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
5:14	(NEB) Zazzarion 16 run (Tollspen kick)	13	24
3:12	(CONN) McCray 26 FG	13	27
2:31	(CONN) Barnett 41 interception return (McCray kick)	13	34
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		NEB	CONN
4:13	(CONN) Byers 1 run (McCray kick)	13	41

Nebraska Cornhuskers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Isaac Zazzarion 9-12 107 0 1 Austin Douglas 2-2 6 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Andy Merriman 19 93 4.8 0 Isaac Zazzarion 17 86 5.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Freddie Borrick 3 35 11.6 0 LeShawn Rucker 3 23 7.6 0 Wyatt Osterlund 2 42 21.0 0 DEFENSE TACK (TFL) SACK INT TD LaKendrick Moreau 10 (2) 2 0 0 Terrance Porter 9 (2) 0 0 0 Dallas DeRoach 4 (2) 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Brian Tollspen 2-2 1-1 7 39

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Isaac Jackson 15-18 153 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD J.P. Byers 20 136 6.8 1 Luke Williamson 14 74 5.2 2 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Royce Archie 5 66 13.2 0 Kevin Lacey 3 29 9.6 0 Derrick Ferwerda 2 22 11.0 0 Rashad Harris 2 14 7.0 0 DEFENSE TACK (TFL) SACK INT TD John Cox 13 (2) 0 0 0 Ross Sinclair 8 0 0 0 Sammie Leonard 5 (1) 1 0 0 Sam Barnett 5 0 1 1 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Tyler McCray 2-2 5-5 11 26

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Quote: Originally Posted by ThatBritishGuy

Oregon vs Georgia Tech was a game and a half, just the type of game it should be at that stage of the season! And onto Nebraska, what a mouth-watering game for UConn! On paper they might just edge it but will be a true test of their highly ranked D. Very interesting matchup between the Hesiman winner and the runner up, let's hope Williamson can have the edge and get one over on Merriman.

Well, Williamson sort of got one up on Merriman!

I was surprised at how one-sided the game turned out. I guess Nebraska may not have been as good as we thought they were but they did run their star less because of the game situation.. down by a lot, need quick scores. We played one of our better games of the season.

Oregon/GA Tech was a fantastic game, I was scared watching it at points hahahaha.. Oregon was running some option stuff and Tech of course runs a ground-heavy, triple option style of offense. Oregon is definitely going to be a tough opponent in the Natty.. check out their roster in a couple of posts and you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for dropping in!