The UConn Huskies (4-3) defeated the UMass Minutemen (4-4), 35-16, to win their fourth straight over the Minutemen.
Quarterback Kalieb Osborne completed 14 of 19 (73.7%) passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Cyncir Bowers led the way on the ground with 132 rushing yards, while Osborne added 81 yards and both scored touchdowns. JD Willoughby had 65 yards and a touchdown to lead the Husky receivers.
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Defensively, the Huskies held UMass to just 53 rushing yards. The visitors entered the game averaging 160.1 rushing yards per contest. The defense got a pair of sacks but no turnovers, holding the Minutemen scoreless for nine straight possessions after allowing a field goal on the opening drive.
“We really challenged them to throw the ball,” head coach Jason Candle said. “When you’re able to compress the pocket and do a good job of not allowing an athletic quarterback to escape his dominant hand, it really takes an unselfish approach by the defensive front.”
UMass QB William “Pop” Watson III started his first game after missing the last two, completing 22 of 38 (57.9%) passes for 205 yards and a touchdown that came when the score was 28-3 in the third quarter.
On that first drive, Watson nailed wide-open wideout Drew Alsup over the middle for 23 yards. A trick-play pass to Watson brought them to the 18-yard line before a pass to tight end Max Dowling at the 5-yard line. UConn’s defense will be held at the goal-line to keep them out of the end zone.
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Connecticut began its first drive with a false start. However, Ky Wilson made a pass interference that sent them to midfield. Then, Shamar Porter caught an 11-yard pass and Bowers blocked a defender to get to the 38-yard marker. Osborne connected with Porter again for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, seven consecutive three-and-outs occurred by both teams. Until the two-minute warning, the Huskies once entered enemy territory. They gained good field position after a punt, at their own 45. After a couple of Bowers runs got them to the 20-yard line, Osborne threw an over-the-shoulder pass to Willoughby for a touchdown, making it 14-3.
With a minute and a half before halftime, the defense forced another three-and-out, giving the ball back with just over a minute left.
On the first play, Bowers burst up the middle, danced around several defenders, and then bolted for a 70-yard call to the house. Down 7-3 before a two-minute timeout, the score was 21-3 at halftime after Bowers’ second 70-plus-yard TD of the year.
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On UMass’ second offensive possession of the third quarter, Porter intercepted Edward Phillipson’s punt and recovered it in the endzone. Midway through the third quarter, UConn led 28-3. The Huskies’ last blocked punt for a touchdown was in 2012 against UMass.
“I always saw a ready blocker and a guy who was able to make contested catches,” Candle said of Porter. “With Javon [Brown] out, he had to step up and continue to do a tremendous job as the primary X receiver.”
With five and a half minutes left in the third quarter, from the 24-yard line, Jack O’Connor missed a field goal. The Minutemen took over and receiver Joseph Griffin Jr. dropped a 41-yard pass down the sideline. Watson capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Curtis Kimmons IV to make it 28-9 after a missed conversion.
Osborne’s rushing TD capped off a drive where the Huskies gained yardage in chunks, making it 35-9 before another garbage time TD from the minutemen got us to the final score.
Next, the Huskies will travel to face the Air Force Falcons on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 3 pm The game will be televised on Mountain West Plus.