(5)
35 --- 9-2 (7-1)
6 --- 5-6 (5-3)
Another Day at the Office
UConn defense holds Deacs to just six points as Huskies cruise to sixth straight win behind another stellar rushing attack; UConn returns home next week controlling their own destiny to ACC Championship Game
J.P. Byers and Luke Williamson each recorded 100 yards rushing for the third consecutive week.
All I want for Christmas is a... national title? If that's so, I'm all in.
UConn has a lot to lose in the last handful of weeks in the 2021 regular season. After an improbable climb back near the apex of the AP and Playoff polls after two early season losses, UConn has suddenly found themselves in the catbird seat for a potential return to the College Football Playoff.
No stranger to pressure situations, coach Stephen Belichick ensured throughout practices this week that results would come if his troops stayed focused, and the veterans on the team obliged. With
Isaac Jackson,
Luke Williamson and
John Cox having returned to UConn with the sole purpose of winning a national title after coming oh-so-close last year, coach Belichick saw his players buy in and make sure everyone stayed focused, one step at a time.
Their preparation showed, as UConn put together another complete performance against the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Saturday night. Despite being mired in an early deficit after a pair of
Kenton Drotenn field goals, UConn took a 7-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter on a five yard
J.P. Byers touchdown run. The Huskies never looked back.
Isaac Jackson tossed two touchdown passes in the second frame, including the first to freshman fullback
Jayson Moss for his first career catch, and then UConn added in a touchdown each in the third and fourth quarters, a four yard run by Williamson and a third touchdown pass from Ice-Jax to
Chamarkelle Byrom from ten yards away.
Chamarkelle Byrom had another touchdown catch while freshman fullback Jayson Moss (RIGHT) caught his first career pass in style.
When the carnage was over, UConn had scored 35 points in the final three quarters and change, compared to Wake’s zero.
Once again, UConn put forth another tremendous effort on both ends of the ball. Starting on offense, UConn’s suddenly potent rushing attack generated 270 yards, and a third straight game of 100-plus yards for both Byers and Williamson. Byers led the way this time with 143 yards on 20 carries, while UConn’s all-time leading rusher Williamson added 118 on 22 carries; each had a touchdown run.
The success of the run game has taken the pressure off of Ice-Jax and the pass game lately. Jackson was good once again, completing 17 of his 22 passes for 193 yards and three scores, negated slightly by two interceptions by
Aaron Bauerstein and
Victor O’Brien on the good side of the 50. O’Brien paced the Wake defense with 10 tackles (five for loss).
Aaron Bauerstein (LEFT) and Vic O'Brien (RIGHT) led the Wake defense. O'Brien was Wake's top player on the day with 10 stops, a sack and the interception above.
Those interceptions ended up not mattering in the end, however, because of how well Josh Conklin’s D played, boosted as well by general incompetence from the Wake offense.
Cameron Ryan, by all accounts, played a fair game. He threw 49 passes and completed 30 for 215 yards. However, he dodged and tested danger early and often, and at one point was victimized by
Shavlion Wade …. any quarterback with common sense would avoid lobbing a throw anywhere near Shavlion Wade and his right sideline.
In any case, Wade recorded career interception number 22 and it was on from there.
Thomas Willis (nine tackles) once again led the defense from his inside slot while redshirt freshman
Jevon Sapp likely cemented his starting spot at left outside linebacker with another impressive outing including seven tackles. John Cox recorded three tackles for loss before exiting the game with an upper body injury in the third quarter and not returning. The Huskies were also able to shut down the Deacs’ top tailback
Altaerron Atkins - just 74 yards on 17 carries while consistently holding the powerful back in short yardage situations.
“Our front seven has played well all year and put in more good work today”, Belichick stated. “We preach discipline on defense.. Taking advantage of every mistake the other teams make and we capitalize. Stopping a big back [Atkins] is always nice because it shows that we won with physicality and more effort. I’m proud of our guys as always and I’m looking forward to heading back home for senior day to close out the regular season on a high note.”
UConn has now won their sixth straight since losing to Virginia Tech in October, moving them to 9-2 and 7-1 in ACC play. They will now sit as the only 1-loss team in ACC play following Virginia Tech’s loss to Georgia Tech. With a win against Louisville next Saturday, UConn will punch their ticket to the ACC Title Game in three weeks. Dave Clawson’s Wake Forest squad falls to 5-6 and need a win in their season finale against NC State to gain bowl eligibility.
Devin Brown made a spectacular toe-tapping touchdown grab in the second quarter.| Connecticut Huskies at Wake Forest Demon Deacons |
| Nov 20, 2021 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| #5 Connecticut Huskies (9-2, 7-1) | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-6, 5-3) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| CONN | WAKE |
| Total Offense | 468 | 289 |
| Rushing Yards | 270 | 74 |
| Passing Yards | 198 | 215 |
| First Downs | 24 | 14 |
| Punt Return Yards | 27 | 7 |
| Kick Return Yards | 71 | 57 |
| Total Yards | 566 | 353 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| 3rd Down Conversion | 6-13 (46%) | 5-16 (31%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 1-1 | 0-2 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 5-5-0 (100%) | 3-0-2 (66%) |
| Penalties | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Possession Time | 22:48 | 13:12 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | CONN | WAKE |
| 7:29 | (WAKE) Drotenn 33 FG | 0 | 3 |
| 3:00 | (WAKE) Drotenn 36 FG | 0 | 6 |
| :08 | (CONN) Byers 5 run (Ricciardi kick) | 7 | 6 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | CONN | WAKE |
| 2:03 | (CONN) Jackson 1 pass Moss (Ricciardi kick) | 14 | 6 |
| :28 | (CONN) Jackson 8 pass Brown (Ricciardi kick) | 21 | 6 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | CONN | WAKE |
| 1:00 | (CONN) Williamson 4 run (Ricciardi kick) | 28 | 6 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | CONN | WAKE |
| 7:27 | (CONN) Jackson 10 pass Byrom (Ricciardi kick) | 35 | 6 |
| Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Isaac Jackson | 17-22 | 193 | 3 | 2 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Luke Williamson | 22 | 118 | 5.3 | 1 | | J.P. Byers | 20 | 143 | 7.1 | 1 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Chamarkelle Byrom | 7 | 85 | 12.1 | 1 | | Lonte' Speier | 4 | 73 | 18.2 | 0 | | Ryne Thomas | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | | Devin Brown | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Thomas Willis | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Jevon Sapp | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | John Cox | 4 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Shavlion Wade | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Anthony Ricciardi | 0-1 | 5-5 | 5 | |
| | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Cameron Ryan | 30-49 | 215 | 0 | 1 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Altaerron Atkins | 14 | 74 | 4.3 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Abdul Lawrence | 8 | 117 | 14.6 | 0 | | Donovan Pangallo | 5 | 42 | 8.4 | 0 | | Jonathan Henry | 5 | 21 | 4.2 | 0 | | Clint Sinai | 4 | 27 | 6.7 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Alex Williams | 12 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Victor O'Brien | 10 (5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | | Jontell Narcess | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Daniel Ruffor | 5 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Kenton Drotenn | 2-2 | 0-0 | 6 | 36 |
|
Next Week: 
--- 5-6 (5-3) @
(5) --- 9-2 (7-1)
I hope you all are having a great holiday season so far and Merry Christmas to all!