(11)
17 --- 3-2 (1-1)
(10)
38 --- 5-1 (3-0)
The Kids Are Alright
Up 31-3 at halftime, UConn blows out Pitt to wrap up homestand, move to 5-1
You could argue that everything fell UConn’s way in the rainy Property; sophomore Tory Greening makes a circus interception for the second straight week.
After a loss three weeks ago and a narrow victory last week, the third time was the charm for UConn against ranked opponents.
Jumping out to a 24-0 lead and a 31-3 halftime advantage, UConn cruised to victory over eleventh-ranked Pitt by a final of 38-17 at Rentschler Field and The Property. The game wraps up a four game homestand, and the third consecutive game for UConn against a top-15 opponent.
Pacing UConn in the winning effort was sophomore quarterback
Jordan Brown, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while completing 23 of his 28 passes. He threw both of his touchdowns in the first quarter, a 14 yard pass to
Alex Paige and a 13 yard pass to
Lonte’ Speier. With a quick 14-0 lead, that would be almost all of the offensive cushion UConn needed.
UConn forced Pitt to the air, playing to the strength of their defense. While Pitt quarterback
Jacob Daughtry is certainly a solid quarterback, by no means is he Tom Brady and naturally made some mistakes as Pitt’s offensive deficiencies were magnified playing from behind. As such,
Kent Newton helped pad the lead by returning a Daughtry interception for a short touchdown to put UConn up 21-0 early in the going.
Senior Kent Newton is starting to look more like a #1 corner each week - he added another pick six on Saturday for his fourth robbery of the season.
Brown added a rushing touchdown to complete the trifecta in the first half, and coupled with a 37 yard
Anthony Ricciardi field goal, UConn built a 31-3 halftime lead that signaled the end of the game early on. Pitt tacked on two touchdowns on a Daughtry run and a pass to redshirt freshman
Quennell Bell, but
Marcus Rodgers helped put the game away with an electrifying, zig-zagging 60 yard punt return touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
While the UConn offense was unspectacular, they were extremely efficient in the win, tallying only one turnover while also gaining 100 yards on the ground in addition to Brown’s day through the air. Today’s game marked the first 100-yard output for star tailback
J.P. Byers this season, a sight for sore eyes after a very slow start to 2022. The contest was also nice to demonstrate that UConn is capable of scoring in a variety of ways, as evidenced by the defensive and special teams scores we saw.
Furthermore, there are a lot of positives to take away from UConn’s defensive performance. Daughtry was just above 50% through the air on 54 attempts, but UConn forced four turnovers. In addition to Newton’s pick six,
Tory Greening recorded another toe-tapping sideline interception and
Aaron Brook added another, making two straight games with interceptions for both.
Running back
Jontre Welles and tight end
Hakim Stiller were the main receiving targets for Pitt. Welles had ten catches, primarily on screen plays, gaining 90 yards, while Stiller caught eight balls for 79 yards. Welles caught more balls than he had rushing attempts, a ten to six split, as Pitt’s playing from behind forced the Panthers to shift their focus to the air on offense.
The Pitt offense found their bearings, but much too late. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Quennell Bell (LEFT) looks to have a bright future.
One of the main concerns UConn was hoping to address entering the game was the play of the offensive line, poor to say the least. Though Pitt’s defense was on the field for over two-thirds of the game, the results were not encouraging.
Randy McMaster was easily Pitt’s player of the game, recording nine tackles, seven for loss, along with three sacks. Senior nose tackle
Wade Paolera added two sacks while linebacker
Liam Hornsleth recorded the lone interception of Jordan Brown.
McMaster played primarily on the side of temporary right tackle starter
Nate Dotson, while Paolera did his damage against senior center
Lawron Leak and sophomore guard
Korey Davis-Love, who has noticeably struggled in pass coverage lately.
“We’ve still got some work to do”, noted head coach
Stephen Belichick, and while there is always work to be done, an impressive win over a top-15 team is certainly a step in the right direction to the end goal of repeating as national champions.
Pitt falls to 3-2 with their loss, while UConn improves to 5-1, 3-0 in ACC play. The Huskies sit second in the conference right now, just behind Notre Dame, whom the Huskies play in November at The Property. UConn travels to Syracuse next week to take on the Orange, always a dangerous matchup with head coach Bryan Cook and the triple option. The Orange upset #18 Washington State (CAC HC Kaelyn Willingham - kswgrad2012) today and now sit at 4-2.
Both quarterbacks were under pressure all day. Jordan Brown (LEFT) was sacked many times once again, including thrice by junior end Randy McMaster. Here, Wade Paolera gets to the sophomore. Jacob Daughtry (RIGHT) goes down for Pitt courtesy of sophomore end Kiel Hughes. | Pittsburgh Panthers at Connecticut Huskies |
| Oct 8, 2022 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| #11 Pittsburgh Panthers (3-2, 1-1) | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| #10 Connecticut Huskies (5-1, 3-0) | 14 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 38 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| PITT | CONN |
| Total Offense | 327 | 337 |
| Rushing Yards | 6 | 100 |
| Passing Yards | 321 | 237 |
| First Downs | 18 | 21 |
| Punt Return Yards | 39 | 117 |
| Kick Return Yards | 21 | 58 |
| Total Yards | 387 | 512 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 1 |
| 3rd Down Conversion | 4-13 (30%) | 8-18 (44%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 4-2-1 (75%) | 5-3-1 (80%) |
| Penalties | 1-15 | 1-15 |
| Possession Time | 10:50 | 25:10 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | PITT | CONN |
| 7:46 | (CONN) Paige 14 pass from J. Brown (Ricciardi kick) | 0 | 7 |
| 4:56 | (CONN) Speier 13 pass from J. Brown (Ricciardi kick) | 0 | 14 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | PITT | CONN |
| 6:14 | (CONN) Newton 18 returned interception (Ricciardi kick) | 0 | 21 |
| 2:43 | (CONN) Ricciardi 36 FG | 0 | 24 |
| 2:13 | (PITT) Graham 36 FG | 3 | 24 |
| :05 | (CONN) J. Brown 5 run (Ricciardi kick) | 3 | 31 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | PITT | CONN |
| 1:03 | (PITT) Daughtry 5 run (Graham kick) | 10 | 31 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | PITT | CONN |
| 8:12 | (CONN) Rodgers 60 returned punt (Ricciardi kick) | 10 | 38 |
| 4:48 | (PITT) Bell 18 pass from Daughtry (Graham kick) | 17 | 38 |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Jacob Daughtry | 29-54 | 321 | 1 | 3 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Jacob Daughtry | 8 | -6 | -0.7 | 1 | | Jontre Welles | 6 | 12 | 2.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Jontre Welles | 10 | 90 | 9.0 | 0 | | Hakim Stiller | 8 | 79 | 9.8 | 0 | | Damarcus Summers | 4 | 53 | 13.2 | 0 | | Quennell Bell | 3 | 43 | 14.3 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Daquan Harrison | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Randy McMaster | 9 (7) | 3 | 0 | 0 | | Liam Hornsleth | 8 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Philip DeLuca | 6 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Wade Paolera | 5 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Liam Graham | 1-1 | 2-2 | 5 | 37 |
| | Connecticut Huskies | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Jordan Brown | 23-28 | 237 | 2 | 1 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | J.P. Byers | 28 | 109 | 3.8 | 0 | | Ashanti Swift | 5 | 28 | 7.0 | 0 | | Linzell Tyson | 5 | 8 | 1.6 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Devin Brown | 6 | 56 | 9.3 | 0 | | Lonte' Speier | 5 | 62 | 12.4 | 1 | | J.P. Byers | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 0 | | Alex Paige | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 1 | | Chamarkelle Byrom | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Sam Barnett | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Tory Greening | 5 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | | A.J. Paxston | 4 (3) | 2 | 0 | 0 | | Aaron Brook | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Kent Newton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Anthony Ricciardi | 1-3 | 5-5 | 8 | 37 |
|
Marcus Rodgers made defenders look silly en route to his 60-yard punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter - the first punt return TD in the nine seasons of this dynasty.
Next Week: (7) --- 5-1 (3-0) vs.
--- 4-2 (2-1)