(12)
30 --- 2-0
(8)
24 --- 3-1 (1-0)
A Hard Day’s Knight
Jordan Brown implodes on national stage, UConn can’t stop Knights ground game as CAC Turley, UCF score upset in hostile Hartford
Defensive tackle Damien Bryndale celebrates after one of UCF’s many defensive stops on the evening.
Houston (LEFT) and Holt (RIGHT) torched UConn on the ground en route to the upset.
It’s an accomplishment to come out of the Loudest House in the East alive. It’s a completely different accomplishment to come out with a win over the occupants.
First year head coach
Connor Turley (user:
convict38) became the first CAC member to defeat UConn as his #12 UCF Knights rode a stellar run offense (254 yards in total) and a snarling secondary (six turnovers), to a 30-24 victory on Saturday night. In what will be called an upset by many, the Knights reclaim the Civil ConFLiCT trophy, tying the head-to-head series at three apiece.
With a very poor game all the way around, UConn’s national title defense took a big hit as they fall to 3-1 on the young season. Entering a bye week, they are now faced with many looming and unexpected questions with the ACC slate ahead. Their red-hot offense was stopped cold as
Jordan Brown threw five interceptions, the run game was shaky, and UConn never led in the contest. From the beginning to the end, it was all UCF, a rarity on UConn’s nearly unwinnable Rentschler Field.
Despite throwing an interception on their first drive, the first of many UConn mistakes helped the Knights get the ball back and take control from the beginning.
J.P. Byers ran for a first down, but the gain was negated by a
Jylan Sowell holding call, and then
Patrick Miller came back with a sack on the third down retry to force a punt. The Knights then sprinted out to a 14-0 lead after star QB
Aaron Houston connected with
A.J. McDonald on a fourth-and-goal, then ran in a touchdown on an option read from two yards out on the next drive.
UConn was able to get on the board with an
Anthony Ricciardi field goal and then pulled back within striking distance with freshman
Linzell Tyson’s triple option team in the game. On the option, Tyson handed off to fellow freshman
Ashanti Swift, who proceeded to rip off a 59 yard touchdown run, capped with a tremendous block in space from
Korey Davis-Love. Swift ran untouched to pull UConn within 14-10.
The triple option team had the most success - Swift ripped off a long touchdown and Tyson nearly did the same.
That would be the high point for the UConn offense, however. Jordan Brown, after a sensational opening three games that generated Heisman buzz, flamed out in an epic way on Saturday. He turned the ball over six times in total, drastically stalling a UConn offense that had looked invincible at times in previous weeks. With two prime chances to score late in the second quarter, Brown turned the ball over both times - on a fumble forced and recovered by all-AAC lineman
Mike Walden, and then an interception by safety
Alex Skinner, an ill-advised decision as the pass was fired deep into double coverage and tipped around before being intercepted. Instead, UCF tacked on a field goal before the half, making a 17-10 score in favor of the visitors.
Mike Walden (#8) not only sacked Jordan Brown and forced the fumble, but stuck a paw on the football to recover as well.
The second half followed the same script as the first. Many chances for UConn, but no reward for their efforts. UConn’s only offensive score was with Tyson’s option team in - Tyson broke off a 50 yard run to enter the red zone before Byers cleaned up for a short touchdown. UConn put together only one score over seven drives in the second half.
Despite the poor offensive effort, though, the defense stepped up and made stops to keep the game close.
Adam Holt broke in the only offensive touchdown for UCF in the second half, and down ten late in the fourth quarter,
Kent Newton intercepted Houston for a second time, running it back for a touchdown the other way to draw the game to 27-24. UCF once again couldn’t score on the ensuing possession, meaning that UConn had a chance to take the lead late with lots of momentum.
However, their efforts would fall short as
Chamarkelle Byrom couldn’t hang on to a fourth down pass from Brown, and then after holding the Knights to a
Chris Garcia field goal, Brown added to his golden sombrero by throwing interception number five, simply trying to force the issue with a deep pass to Byrom. With all of their timeouts exhausted,
Maurice Rice’s robbery sealed up the road upset for UCF.
A montage of misery for UConn. The Knights picked off Jordan Brown five times - here by Alex Skinner (LEFT, CENTER), and Bryan Phillips (RIGHT). Maurice Rice and Keith Salas also recorded interceptions.
An elated Coach Turley was mostly humble in an on-field interview after the game. Speaking about his gameplan, the Texan noted "we run a lot of principles that Oregon and Chip Kelly innovated; spread option type stuff that works well for Aaron [Houston]. I know UConn has struggled defending that style of offense in the past so I knew we had a great shot. Credit to them for a great game, and our guys for playing tough and making them uncomfortable. Great game and can't wait to beat them again next time!" It should be worth noting that the two teams will play again at some point in the next two years, this time in Orlando.
Brown was very quiet in his post-game interview, clearly shouldering the blame for the loss. He failed to pass for a touchdown, and only passed 18 times due to his ineffective play. Byers failed to run for 100 yards again. Star receivers Byrom and
Lonte' Speier combined for just one catch.
Coach
Stephen Belichick, his usual placid self, stated that “we need to play better”, a truth considering that UConn was nearly run out of their own building. They had no answer on the ground for Houston, 128 yards on 33 carries, and Holt, 126 yards on 18 carries. Unheralded defenders such as
Keith Salas and
Bryan Phillips (a sack and interception apiece) imposed their will. Their offensive line was exposed as well thanks UCF’s heavy pressure. The Knights’ defensive front tallied six turnovers on five interceptions and a fumble as well as six sacks. It took about a year and a half, but someone finally figured out how to beat UConn - interestingly enough, it was one of our own CAC members.
“We’re looking to Virginia Tech, but we have a bye to straighten things out first”, commented Belichick. The beauty of college football is that a week can change everything. For his sake, to avoid another game like the atrocity UConn fans endured on Saturday, he better get things straight. Otherwise, if the offense continues to limp along and the line gets abused as it was tonight, UConn could be in for a long stretch of ACC games.
Kent Newton deserves a game ball for his efforts with two picks and a touchdown, but ultimately couldn’t do enough. | UCF Knights at Connecticut Huskies |
| Sep 17, 2022 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| #12 UCF Knights (2-0) | 7 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 30 |
| #8 Connecticut Huskies (3-1, 1-0) | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| UCF | CONN |
| Total Offense | 397 | 332 |
| Rushing Yards | 254 | 180 |
| Passing Yards | 143 | 152 |
| First Downs | 19 | 13 |
| Punt Return Yards | 0 | 16 |
| Kick Return Yards | 0 | 115 |
| Total Yards | 397 | 463 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 6 |
| 3rd Down Conversion | 4-15 (26%) | 3-9 (33%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 2-2 | 0-1 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 4-3-1 (100%) | 2-1-1 (100%) |
| Penalties | 0-0 | 1-10 |
| Possession Time | 20:53 | 15:07 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | UCF | CONN |
| 3:31 | (UCF) McDonald 1 pass Houston (Garcia kick) | 7 | 0 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | UCF | CONN |
| 8:57 | (UCF) Houston 2 run (Garcia kick) | 14 | 0 |
| 7:08 | (CONN) Ricciardi 30 FG | 14 | 3 |
| 5:53 | (CONN) Swift 59 run (Ricciardi kick) | 14 | 10 |
| :00 | (UCF) Garcia 28 FG | 17 | 10 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | UCF | CONN |
| 5:41 | (UCF) Garcia 39 FG | 20 | 10 |
| 4:33 | (CONN) Byers 4 run (Ricciardi kick) | 20 | 17 |
| :09 | (UCF) Holt 5 run (Garcia kick) | 27 | 17 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | UCF | CONN |
| 5:08 | (CONN) Newton 42 returned interception (Ricciardi kick) | 27 | 24 |
| 1:03 | (UCF) Garcia 37 FG | 30 | 24 |
| UCF Knights | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Aaron Houston | 14-23 | 143 | 1 | 2 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Aaron Houston | 33 | 128 | 3.8 | 1 | | Adam Holt | 18 | 126 | 7.0 | 1 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | A.J. McDonald | 5 | 26 | 5.2 | 1 | | Scottie Thomas | 3 | 57 | 19.0 | 0 | | Jared Edwards | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Mike Walden | 6 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Keith Salas | 6 (3) | 2 | 1 | 0 | | Maurice Rice | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Patrick Miller | 2 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | | Alex Skinner | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | | Bryan Phillips | 1 (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Chris Garcia | 3-4 | 3-3 | 12 | 40 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Jordan Brown | 10-18 | 152 | 0 | 5 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | J.P. Byers | 20 | 74 | 3.7 | 1 | | Linzell Tyson | 4 | 73 | 18.2 | 0 | | Ashanti Swift | 2 | 64 | 32.0 | 1 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Devin Brown | 4 | 90 | 22.5 | 0 | | Alex Paige | 4 | 27 | 6.7 | 0 | | Chamarkelle Byrom | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Mike Hill | 9 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Tony Rush | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Tory Greening | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | James Mandrell | 6 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Kiel Hughes | 5 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Kent Newton | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Anthony Ricciardi | 1-1 | 3-3 | 6 | 30 |
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Next Week: BYE (Next Game: October 1 vs. Virginia Tech)
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Great to be back, Mike, thanks for the kind words. I enjoyed playing this game despite the loss and hopefully I can get back to playing sort of regularly again, at least for a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.
It's still a small sample size, but there certainly is a lot to like from WMU so far. Don't forget you've got a veteran, experienced quarterback in Travis Kelly as well, so getting the run game going early in the season opens up your offense. Poor defense has plagued other CAC members in the past, so hopefully everything lines up for you guys and you can have a good season. I really want to see more of you guys moving up soon so I can play you guys (and lose, in all likelihood
).