Jim Mora has to go back to the drawing board after UConn’s blowout loss at Georgia State. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
More Questions Than Answers After Week 2
The Story: UConn went to Atlanta looking for its first win against Georgia State. The Huskies came back to Storrs searching for much more after a humbling 35-14 loss on Saturday night.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: This is the first disappointing game in the Jim Mora era. UConn, off a credible performance against NC State in its opener, was sloppy, slow and at times uncompetitive in a loss to Georgia State as the Huskies broke down in all three phases of the game against the Panthers.
• The UConn run game, a supposed strength, gained only 50 yards on 31 carries (1.6 yards per carry). The Huskies’ longest run was 10 yards, and it was on the final play of the game. There were no holes to run through and too many penalties (five of eight total) from an offensive unit that should be better that it has showed.
• The defense continues to struggle with the quarterback draw as Georgia State’s Darren Grainger rushed for 142 yards on 12 carries, including a shocking 65-yard TD to open the scoring. Marcus Carroll added over 100 yards and 3 TDs rushing as the Panthers built a 28-0 lead in second half.
• Special teams? Not good either. Joe McFadden missed his only field goal attempt, and with the Huskies trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, Brett Buckman‘s muffed punt turned the ball over at midfield, leading to another Georgia State touchdown. The Huskies never recovered from these miscues.
• UConn was scoreless until the fourth quarter when Ta’Quan Roberson, in for the injured/ineffective Joe Fagnano, found Kevens Clercius for a touchdown.
QB CONTROVERSY? Fagnano injured his shoulder in the first half, and that was the official reason given for the change at quarterback. But he had been largely ineffective, misfiring on four of his last five passes and finishing 4 of 9 passing for 60 yards overall.
• Roberson, who replaced Fagnano near the end of the first half, led two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, but by that point the Huskies were already down 28-0. He ended up completing 19 of 30 passes for 216 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
• What will the Huskies do for Week 3 when they host FIU? We don’t know. Mora dismissed Roberson’s stats, saying the defense was soft late by design, but it is also obvious that Fagnano’s six quarters as a starter have produced only one sustained drive, the first one of the season against NC State.
• The play calling did appear to draw Mora’s ire as offensive coordinator Nick Charlton did not challenge the Georgia State secondary, which gave up more than 400 passing yards to Rhode Island, until the game was already out of reach.
WHAT DID MORA SAY? “It’s just inconceivable to me that this happened to us, but it did. And we’re an 0-2 football team that just got beat soundly by what I think is a good Georgia State team and we have to do a lot of soul-searching. Because right now we’re not very good. To run the ball 31 times for 50 yards and turn the ball over the way we did is not very good. And you know what? It all starts with this guy that’s talking right now. Everyone in (the locker room) has to look at themselves hard, and it starts with me. So that’s what we’ll do.”
NEXT UP: UConn (0-2) hosts Florida International (2-1) this Saturday at Pratt & Whitney Stadium. Early line is UConn minus-10.
— John Silver
📰 MORNING READS
• Dan Hurley knows that all eyes will be on the national champion UConn Huskies, so why not make it a TV show?
• The UConn men’s ice hockey team was given a lot of respect from Hockey East writers, who picked the Huskies to finish fourth in the conference in their preseason poll.
• No. 7 Syracuse shut out UConn field hockey with a 3-0 victory.
• The men’s soccer team lost a wild game to Yale on Friday night, 2-1 in Storrs. Yale’s Eric Lagos scored twice in a three-minute span in the second half, and the Huskies chased the deficit the entire second half.
