The last time Paul Pasqualoni coached a game at the Carrier Dome, it was 2004 and his Syracuse Orange team walked off the field with a 38-31 double overtime win over the Pittsburgh Panthers. His return in 2012 as head coach of the UConn Huskies did not go as well as he had hoped.
A dominant Syracuse defense as well a quick tempo offense shredded apart the Huskies on both sides of the ball as they went on to a 40-10 win in front of 36,715 and nationally televised audience at the Carrier Dome on Friday night.
The Huskies fall to 3-5 (0-3 Big East) while the Orange improve to 3-4 (2-1).
This was the worst performance we’ve seen by a UConn team in Pasqualoni’s 1½ years at the helm. Yes this was even worse than last year with Johnny McEntee at quarterback.
The offensive line was pitiful, horrible, terrible and any other adjective that goes with those three. They are lucky that Chandler Whitmer is still in one piece after the pounding he took.
Last year, Syracuse was decimated by UConn’s wildcat and running offense. There was none of that on Friday night.
They held the Huskies to -6 rushing yards. They couldn’t get anything going as Syracuse had great run blitzes set up. It also seemed that they blitzed on every down whether the Huskies were running or passing. Despite probably being black and blue after all the hits he absorbed, Whitmer did throw for 290 yards.
And the defense, despite UConn’s poor record, had been the rock of this team. I’ve been saying all along there was going to come a time when the defense would finally break.
That came on Friday night as they allowed 502 yards of total offense (251 yards running, 251 yards passing). They allowed their third straight 100 yard rusher. This time around it was Jerome Smith who galloped for 137 yards.
After the offense had made 13-10 in the 2nd quarter and it looked like UConn had a fighting chance in the game despite the beating the Syracuse defense was putting on Whitmer and the offense, the Huskies D allowed the Orange to go 77 yards down the field in seven plays to make it 20-10.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Orange got the ball to start the half and took it 75 yards in five plays to make it 27-10. UConn went 3-and-out on its next possession and the Orange got three more points to ensure the Huskies would be blown out.
I’m not even sure I can put any of the blame on the defense. The play calling, as it has been lately, was terrible.
The Wildcat hasn’t really worked all season long and with UConn in the red zone in the first quarter, they went to it and Scott McCummings was stuffed. It forced UConn into a third down which they didn’t convert and they had to settle for a field goal.
The biggest problem though on Friday night was the offensive line. It was like the Syracuse defense was going up against the blocking dummies because they were constantly getting by UConn’s line and either pounding Whitmer or stopping the rushing attack of Lyle McCombs who made his return to the lineup after missing last week’s game with a sore left hand.
If you had been planning before the season to see the Huskies play in a bowl game, I’d cancel those plans.
They need to win three of their final four games just to become bowl-eligible. And with two of those games coming against Louisville and Cincinnati, both nationally ranked teams, that’s just not happening folks.
To me, it’s time for a change at either head coach or offensive coordinator. Something needs to happen quickly.
After what we watched against the Orange, do you really want to go to Rentschler Field and watch them play?
I know I don’t.
Scoring:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| UConn Huskies | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Syracuse Orange | 6 | 14 | 17 | 3 | 40 |
1st quarter
SYR – 10:46 – Ross Krautman 22 Yd Field Goal
SYR – 08:02 – Ross Krautman 33 Yd Field Goal
CON – 01:05 – Chad Christen 23 Yd Field Goal
2nd quarter
SYR – 08:37 – Adonis Ameen-Moore 1 Yd Run (Ross Krautman Kick)
CON – 03:39 – Ryan Griffin 32 Yd Pass From Chandler Whitmer (Chad Christen Kick)
SYR – 01:19 – Beckett Wales 3 Yd Pass From Ryan Nassib (Ross Krautman Kick)
3rd quarter
SYR – 13:12 – Prince-Tyson Gulley 4 Yd Run (Ross Krautman Kick)
SYR – 07:21 – Ross Krautman 42 Yd Field Goal
SYR – 02:00 – Alec Lemon 11 Yd Pass From Ryan Nassib (Ross Krautman Kick)
4th quarter
SYR – 12:08 – Ross Krautman 47 Yd Field Goal
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Offensive Player of the Game:
Syracuse WR Alec Lemon had eight catches for 166 yards and one touchdown. One of his catches that went for 68 yards also set up a Syracuse score.
Defensive Player of the Game:
Despite the fact, they allowed 296 passing yards, I’m giving this to the entire Syracuse defense who held UConn’s running attack to -6 yards and took them out of any semblance of offense.
Turning Point(s) of the Game:
After cutting Syracuse’s lead to 13-10, the Orange went down the field and scored to make it 20-10. They would end up scoring 27 unanswered points to end the game.
Offensive Notes:
Chandler Whitmer was 23-of-41 for 296 yards and one touchdown. He did throw one interception and also fumbled once when he was leveled by a Syracuse blitz. Lyle McCombs had 12 rushes for 16 yards. Scott McCummings had one rush for -4 yards. Ryan Griffin caught six balls for 72 yards and a touchdown. Geremy Davis had four catches for 79 yards while Michael Smith had four catches for 61 yards.
Defensive Notes:
Yawin Smallwood and Ty-Meer Brown led all tacklers in the game with 10 tackles each. Two of Smallwood’s tackles went for total loss of six yards. Byron Jones had seven tackles while Sio Moore had five tackles and a pass breakup. Jory Johnson also had five tackles and one QB hit. The Huskies didn’t record a sack.
Special Teams Notes:
After missing four field goals last week, Chad Christen made his only attempt from 23 yards. He was also good on his only extra point attempt. Two of his three kickoffs went for touchbacks. Cole Wagner averaged 40.9 yards on eight punts with a long of 53 yards. Two of his punts were downed inside the 20. Nick Williams had two kickoff returns for 33 yards with a long of 21.
Injuries:
Adam Masters suffered an undisclosed injury and I’m not sure if he returned to the game. Yawin Smallwood suffered an undisclosed injury but returned to the game. Michael Smith had the wind knocked out of him late in the 4th quarter.
Officials:
Referee: Dennis Hennigan • Umpire: Michael Delaney • Linesman: Steve Matarante • Line judge: Kevin Cooley • Back judge: Gary Dancewicz • Field judge: Ben Vasconcells • Side judge: Justin Jordan
The replay booth made the right call when they initially ruled that Chandler Whitmer had fumbled in the 2nd quarter. After watching the replay, they ruled that his arm was indeed going forward. Of course there was no need for replay on the next play when the same thing happened.
Game Notes:
UConn Huskies @ Syracuse Orange 10.19.12 box score
Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone.
Here are the starters for UConn:
OFFENSE WR 6 Smith, Michael LT 72 Bennett, Jimmy LG 69 Greene, Steve C 50 Bullock, Tyler RG 63 Masters, Adam RT 77 Friend, Kevin TE 89 Delahunt, John WR 85 Davis, Geremy QB 10 Whitmer, Chandler. FB 47 Frank, Reuben TB 43 McCombs, Lyle DEFENSE DE 48 Williams, Trevardo DT 53 Wirth, Ryan DT 59 Stephen, Shamar DE 56 Pruitt, Angelo OLB 3 Moore, Sio ILB 33 Snallwood, Yawin ILB 28 Johnson, Jory CB 5 Wreh-Wilson, Blidi S 16 Jones, Byron S 15 Brown, Ty-Meer CB 7 Gratz, Dwayne
Here are the postgame notes from the UConn Football Sports Information Department:
- The contest marked the first for Connecticut head coach Paul Pasqualoni against Syracuse, a school he compiled a record of 107-59-1 with while being the head coach there for 14 seasons
- The loss drops the Huskies record to 6-3 all-time against Syracuse, after having won the past five meetings
- Redshirt sophomore running back Lyle McCombs made his first start in three games at tailback. He was the third different Husky to start at tailback in those three games (redshirt junior Martin Hyppolite and redshirt freshman Max DeLorenzo had the other starts)
- Redshirt sophomore quarterback Chandler Whitmer had his second straight solid first quarter throwing the ball. He was eight-for-12 for 69 yards after throwing for 158 yards in the initial 15 minutes last week against Temple. He finished the first half 14-for-23 passing for 193 yards and a touchdown and finished the game with 23 completions in 41 attempts with one interception and one touchdown for 296 yards.
- Whitmer connected with redshirt senior tight end Ryan Griffin for a 32-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter. Griffin now has 105 catches at Connecticut; second-most all-time for a tight end (Brian Kozlowski has the record with 159). It was his fourth touchdown reception of the season and the eighth of his career. He tied his career-high with six receptions
- Whitmer completed passes to eight different receivers in the contest
- Redshirt junior placekicker Chad Christen made a 23-yard field goal late in the first quarter, after missing all four attempts last week against Temple
- Senior wide receiver Michael Smith had four catches for 61 yards after snagging a season-high five passes last week for 54 yards
- The 20 points scored by Syracuse in each half were the most given up by Connecticut in a half this season
- The 68-yard pass reception by Syracuse’s Alec Lemon in the third quarter was the longest play from scrimmage against the Huskies this season
- With Jerome Smith’s 133 yards, he became the third consecutive Connecticut opponent to top the 100-yard mark rushing. The Huskies did not allow a 100-yard rusher all last season.
- The Huskies only managed minus-six yards rushing in the contest. That was the lowest for the Huskies since Connecticut moved up to the FBS level in 2002. The previous low was 12 yards against West Virginia in 2005. It was the third lowest rushing total by a FBS team this season
- The Huskies were led on the defensive side of the ball by redshirt sophomore safety Ty-Meer Brown and redshirt sophomore linebacker Yawin Smallwood, who each recorded 10 tackles
- Syracuse’s 251 rushing yards represented a season-high by a Connecticut opponent
Here’s a link to Syracuse’s post-game notes.
Big East Games and Results:
Saturday, October 19
(15) Rutgers
Temple, 12 p.m.
South Florida
(16) Louisville, 3:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh
Buffalo, 3:30 p.m.
(21) Cincinnati
Toledo, 7 p.m.
Things to Work On:
At this point, does it really matter.
Up Next:
The Huskies are off next weekend. They’ll return to action on Saturday, November 3rd when they travel to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL for a matchup with the South Florida Bulls.
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Photo credit: patrick raycraft – hartford courant (no. 3 in gallery), ap photo
