Defense Dominates Boston College
The Story: The football team had its most memorable win in over a decade on Saturday, beating longtime nemesis Boston College 13-3 before more than 25,000 fans at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: It was UConn’s first win in 15 tries over Boston College (1-12-2), which was in its second visit to East Hartford. The first came two decades ago in 2003, the stadium’s first year.
• The defense dominated by forcing five turnovers to give UConn its first win over a Power 5 opponent since it beat Virginia in 2016. BC wasn’t even close to the best team the Huskies played this year. But, let’s be honest, if there is one game that fans wanted to win, it was Saturday’s.
DEFENSIVE GEM: It was a defensive masterpiece from Jim Mora and company. They held Boston College, which put up 35 points in a win over Louisville, to only three points and forced three turnovers on defense and two on special teams.
• BC rolled up 335 yards but only 76 on the ground. UConn had five sacks.
A STAR AT LINEBACKER: Junior linebacker Jackson Mitchell was stellar for the Huskies. He’s already one of the nation’s top tacklers and had 12 tackles on Saturday with one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and an interception.
• The best part about it? Mitchell made no bones about how Boston College recruited him and then ghosted him after his 40 time wasn’t fast enough. Let that burn BC.
PRYCE IS RIGHT: In our opinion, redshirt freshman defensive end Pryce Yates was the best defensive player on Saturday. He moved all over the field and made life miserable for Boston College as he was credited with six tackles, including 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss, and he was pressuring and around the ball the entire game.
• Junior defensive end Eric Watts also had a sack and finished with 2.5 tackles for loss.
TURNER DOES JUST ENOUGH: Freshman quarterback Zion Turner continues to play conservatively and competently. He found freshman tight end Justin Joly for a 62-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game and continues to not turn the ball over.
• Turner went 11-for-19 for 174 yards and ran 10 times for 32 yards (actually 48 yards, but he lost 16 due to a pair of sacks). Most importantly, he had no turnovers.
• The Huskies gained only 280 yards, including the 62 on that one play, but never trailed. They were not going to have their offense be the reason the Eagles got back in the game.
• The big reason for the offensive struggles? Penalties. UConn had a ridiculous eight false starts and finished with 10 penalties for 60 yards. We have no idea how you can have eight false starts in a game, but when only 16 points are scored in modern college football, things like that are a big reason why.
WHAT DID MORA SAY? “These players have been through a lot. Through it all, they’ve just never wavered. And I can tell you that with an absolute straight face without even a hint of trying to embellish, it’s just the way they’re built. I felt that when I first got here and I felt that even more today. I’m not a guy that likes to say that anyone deserves anything. I think we work to earn things, but I’m gonna tell you this, they worked to earn it and they deserve it. And it’s a step in the right direction.”
BOWL PROSPECTS? The Huskies are 4-5 heading into their final three games and need two wins for bowl eligibility. If they get three wins, they are nearly assured a bowl bid somewhere as all 7-5 at-large teams get a bid before a 6-6 team can be picked.
• We haven’t wanted to say the word, but heck, it’s a thing now. Still, the Huskies will need a couple of things to go their way before getting a bowl bid.
• Win two of their final three and hope that there are not enough 7-5 teams and there are unfilled bowl slots for the Huskies to slot into one. Their best bet for a win is against UMass at home on Friday as they will then finish up at home against No. 23 Liberty (7-1) and then head to Army (3-5) in the season finale.
• Or, they can run the table and finish 7-5. Once again, there will have to be a number of unfilled bowl slots outstanding since the Huskies do not have a tie-in, but there is a good chance there will be spots.
• At-large spots occur when conferences don’t have enough eligible teams to fill their bowl tie-ins.
IS MORA COACH OF THE YEAR? OK. This award is going to go to Tennessee’s Josh Heupel because the Volunteers beat Alabama and might make the College Football Playoff. But, if we are looking at the award qualifications, such as beating expectations and winning despite setbacks, is there anyone who deserves it more than Mora?
• The Huskies were a laughingstock for the last five years and Mora, in less than one season, has them on the verge of bowl eligibility. The Huskies picked up their first FBS win, first Power 5 win, their first road win and a ton of other firsts in several years in just his first nine games.
• Not impressed? He has done it by losing his starting quarterback, his top three running backs and his top four wide receivers entering the season.
• Still not impressed? Mora’s house is, indeed, haunted.
OUR TAKE: UConn beat Boston College in football. Two decades ago, that might have had us dancing in the streets. Now? UConn is trying to scrape its carcass off the road and the Eagles are having their worst season in quite some time. The hatred between the two schools is over. All the key players in the ACC realignment move are gone, and while distance hasn’t made the heart grow fonder, we are of the opinion that neither program is in a better place than it was in 2003. For that, we can’t gloat.
• Who are we kidding? The No. 10-ranked men’s hockey team beat BC 5-1 on Thursday. Then on Saturday, the football team beat BC 13-3. Happy Halloween, Huskies fans!
UP NEXT: The Huskies will host rival UMass on Friday night. UMass is 1-7 under first-year coach and Daily favorite Don Brown. All we know is losing to UMass after a win over Boston College would be a bitter pill to swallow.
Hurley: I Must Get Huskies to a Title
The Story: Even though the men’s basketball team has made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances under Dan Hurley, the coach knows entering his fifth season that the Huskies have a higher standard and that a win must come soon.
SIGNS OF PROGRESS: Hurley led the Huskies to the Big Dance in each of the last two seasons, ending a woeful four-year drought without a tournament appearance that hadn’t happened since the late 1980s.
• Hurley is quick to acknowledge that he knows making the NCAA Tournament isn’t the expectation. Winning a game — in fact, a few games — is the standard that has been set in Storrs, especially because the Huskies haven’t reached the second weekend since they won it all in 2014.
• It’s not as if Hurley is unfamiliar with the NCAA Tournament. He made two trips in six seasons at Rhode Island, including a second-round appearance in 2016-17 and 2017-18 before he bolted ‘cross state lines.
• UConn was a No. 7 seed in 2021, when it lost in the first round to No. 10 seed Maryland, and then was a No. 5 seed last year but lost its opener to No. 12 seed New Mexico State. The first one hurt; the second one was excruciating.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN THIS YEAR? The Huskies enter the season with eight new players, and that’s probably going to be more commonplace as college athletics continue down the path they’re on. Four players are transfers and four are freshmen, with two of those freshmen coming from overseas.
• There’s already a target on Hurley’s back in that the Huskies were projected to finish fourth in the Big East this season. That’s not a particularly noteworthy finish, but it would be fairly impressive given how much uncertainty the Huskies have as November nears.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “We had a type of season [in 2021-22] that earned us a [No.] 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which was the best seed we’ve had here in a long time. Two things can be true: I think we had a successful year until that point, [and] I’ve got to find a way to get the program over the hump, to go from contending to a championship team in our league. And I’ve got to go from a team that’s having a really strong, successful regular season to getting on a run in March. But that’s not something I spend a lot of time thinking about, man. I think about recruiting at a high level. I think about today’s practice. I think about my confidence and what I’ve been able to do as a coach the last several years.”
WHAT DID DAVE BENEDICT SAY? “Look, we’re in a really, really competitive league. But at the same time, [the staff has] built a really deep roster, so you want to see that next step taken. And I think we’re positioned to do that.”
Morning Reads
• Jim Calhoun‘s legacy will carry on at Saint Joseph. The Division III school in West Hartford, which he coached until he retired (again) about a year ago, will be known as James A. Calhoun Gymnasium. A renaming ceremony will happen Thursday. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
• The men’s soccer team played St. John’s to a 0-0 draw on the road on Saturday despite taking 10 shots, including four on goal. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Jasmine Davis had 17 kills as the women’s volleyball defeated Villanova in four sets on Saturday to earn its seventh consecutive win, which is its longest winning streak since 2006. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Coryn Tormala and Jada Habisch each scored for the women’s hockey team in a 2-0 home win over Maine on Saturday to salvage a weekend split after a 1-0 loss the night before. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The No. 6-seeded women’s soccer team’s season ended yesterday afternoon when it lost to No. 3 seed St. John’s on penalties in the Big East quarterfinals. The Huskies finished 8-6-4 in coach Margaret Rodriguez‘s fifth season. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Despite his ongoing troubles, James Bouknight had his third-year contract option picked up by the Hornets. Bouknight has played in Charlotte’s first six games and is averaging 5.7 points in 17.2 minutes per game. (NBA.com)
• The Blue Jays’ George Springer underwent surgery to remove a bone chip in his right elbow but is expected to recover in time for the start of spring training. Springer had plenty of discomfort in the elbow this season. (TSN.ca)
Top photo: Jackson Mitchell celebrates during the Huskies’ win over BC. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
