A Fourth-Quarter Letdown

The Story: The football team was headed to its second straight win but had an 11-point fourth quarter lead disappear in stunning fashion in a back-breaking 24-21 loss to USF at Pratt & Whitney Stadium on Saturday.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies are better than last year. But last year, UConn found ways to win, while this year, they find ways to lose. UConn squandered that 11-point lead in the final 12 minutes.

• UConn’s defense, which played well for the first three quarters, fell apart in the fourth quarter. It gave up drives of 75 yards and 90 yards on consecutive possessions, the last ending on a 4-yard run from Nay’Quan Wright — who ran for 186 yards — to give USF the lead with 4:02 left.

• UConn fell to 1-6 with losses by one, three, seven and 10 points.

EDWARDS’ COMING OUT PARTY: The Huskies put up 368 yards with Cam Edwards, stepping in after Victor Rosa injured an ankle, putting together a star-turning performance.

• Edwards had 236 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns. He ran for 149 yards, an average of 6.8 yards per carry, and had five catches for 87 yards.

• He had a 30-yard catch, a great back-of-end zone touchdown catch and a 33-yard touchdown run. He made explosive plays all over the field.

TURNING POINT: UConn seemed to be in control when it was 21-17 until a simple inside handoff by Wright, who went for 47 yards. The Huskies continue to miss tackles and fail to execute in critical spots.

• UConn, then down 24-21, had a potential winning drive end when quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson ran for a first down but fumbled at the UConn 40.

WHAT DID JIM MORA SAY? "That was a gut-wrencher there, a gut grinder. When you play your ass off, when the players played as hard as they could play, when it came down to it, we didn’t do enough as a team to win, so, a very painful loss. That’s an incredible offense, No. 1, and we had done a really good job of containing them and in those last two [scoring] drives. … That includes coaches and players. We didn’t perform. We didn’t make tackles. We didn’t get in the right call and they made plays."

OUR TAKE: The Huskies are 1-6, but this isn’t like the 1-6 of yesteryear. UConn is competitive, but that makes the losses even more frustrating.

• UConn had a double-digit fourth quarter lead and many chances to put the game away.

• If the season started over, we are sure the Huskies’ record would be better than 1-6 at this point, but what does it matter? Bill Parcells once said, "You are your record," and that’s true.

• The Huskies aren’t very good right now and aren’t playing a complete game. The little things, such as dropped interceptions, dropped passes, costly turnovers and killer penalties at inopportune times, are beating them.

• Do the Huskies look better than they did a year ago? We would like to say yes, but then we look at the win-loss record and have a hard time saying anything positive.

UP NEXT: The Huskies go on the road to play rival Boston College at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill on Saturday afternoon.

— John Silver (john@uconndaily.com)

Morning Reads

• The men’s basketball team is loaded, ranked No. 6 and vying for another national championship. We know of one freshman in Stephon Castle, but keep your eye on another in Jayden Ross, who is making waves in practice.

• Is it Flagg Day yet? Soon. Cooper Flagg, the best high school prospect since LeBron James, wrapped up his visit to Duke this weekend. Where it stands is open to debate, but one thing we know is that Flagg belongs in Storrs.

• Need a heated discussion over your coffee? How about asking your colleagues about the most impactful women’s basketball players in UConn history.

• The men’s ice hockey team broke out of its two-week funk in a big way on Saturday by blasting Union 5-0. Tristan Fraser scored two goals for the Huskies, who put 69 shots on net. The Huskies (2-3-1) begin Hockey East play on Friday when they play at UMass-Lowell.

• The women’s soccer team ensured a top-three finish in the Big East with a 2-1 win at Providence yesterday afternoon. Cara Jordan scored her fifth goal in the opening half before Lucy Cappadona made it 2-0 early in the second half. The Huskies (8-3-5, 4-1-3 Big East) can secure a second-place finish and secure a bye in the Big East tournament with a win over Seton Hall on Thursday and a Xavier loss or tie. If UConn is the third-place team, it will host a quarterfinal on Sunday.

• No. 3 Duke shut out the field hockey team 2-0 yesterday in the Huskies’ final road game.

• The men’s soccer team secured a spot in the Big East tournament with a 2-0 win at Creighton on Saturday afternoon. Pierre Bateson scored his third goal in the fourth minute while Scott Testori added a strike later in the first half for UConn (8-6-1, 4-3-0 Big East).

• Megan Warrener made26 saves for the women’s hockey team in a 4-0 shutout of New Hampshire on Saturday.
Top photo: UConn defensive tackle Jelani Stafford celebrates scoring a touchdown against Utah State. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)