The UConn Huskies came into tonight’s game against the North Carolina Tar Heels riding the momentum of last week’s big win in Louisville. The same could be said for the Tar Heels coming in off of a big win over the Miami Hurricanes. So something had to give tonight.
Well what gave was the UConn special teams early on as North Carolina took advantage of 2 blocked punts and rolled to a 38-12 win over the Huskies in front of 59,500 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC. The loss for the Huskies drops them to 5-1 while the Tar Heels improve to 4-1.
Statisically speaking, this game was dominated by UConn but as you can tell by the final score of the game, the Tar Heels dominated the scoreboard.
Things looked good for the Huskies early on as they rolled down the field but the UNC defense held strong and forced the Huskies to kick a field goal. UConn’s defense held strong on UNC’s first possession holding them to a field goal.
Then Bruce Carter took over. His first blocked punt gave the Tar Heels ideal field position and they got a touchdown from Ryan Houston. Carter blocked another punt in the end zone that was recovered in the end zone and the Tar Heels never looked back from there.
It was a rough night for Zach Frazer and the UConn Huskies.
The only time Zach Frazer ever looked good was on the first drive. He looked like he did in the Louisville game but then North Carolina’s defense really tightened up. Donald Brown may have rushed for 161 yards tonight but most of them came in the 2nd half when the game had already been decided. Frazer ended up 24-of-44 for 210 yards but the key stat was his 3 interceptions. One of them was returned for a touchdown and another set up a UNC touchdown.
The UNC defense did a great job of shutting down Brown as they really made it hard for him to find the holes. Their defense was definitely quick and I’m sure they were faster than Randy Edsall and the Huskies thought they were.
The Huskies did a great job of keeping Tar Heels superstar Brandon Tate in check as they kicked away from him and held him to 17 yards receiving and 1 rushing yard. He had 1 kickoff return for 20 yards and 1 punt return for 8 yards.
Obviously this disappointing loss for the Huskies will knock them out of the Top 25 in both polls this week and in my opinion, the bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for Edsall’s Huskies.
Scoring:
| UConn Huskies | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels |
10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
1st quarter
CON – Tony Ciaravino 26-yard field goal – UConn 3 North Carolina 0
UNC – Casey Barth 31-yard field goal – UConn 3 North Carolina 3
UNC – Ryan Houston 1-yard run (Barth PAT) – North Carolina 10 UConn 3
2nd quarter
Matt Merletti recovers the blocked punt in the end zone for the Tar Heels
UNC – Matt Merletti recovers blocked punt in end zone (Barth PAT) – North Carolina 17 UConn 3
3rd quarter
CON – Ciaravino 31-yard field goal – North Carolina 17 UConn 6
UNC – Shaun Draughn 39-yard run (Barth PAT) – North Carolina 24 UConn 6
UNC – Marvin Austin 23-yard interception return (Barth PAT) – North Carolina 31 UConn 6
4th quarter
UNC – Cameron Sexton 14-yard pass to Hakeem Nicks (Barth PAT) – North Carolina 38 UConn 6
CON – Donald Brown 1-yard run (2 pt attempt no good) – North Carolina 38 UConn 12
Offensive Player of the Game:
It’s hard for me to pick Donald Brown because of the final score tonight and the fact that 93 of his yards came in the 4th quarter with the game out of reach, so I’m going with UNC tailback Shaun Draughn as the offensive player of the game. He had 19 rushes for a career-high 109 yards and 1 touchdown.
Defensive Player of the Game:
UNC’s Bruce Carter had 7 tackles and 3 blocked punts including one that was recovered for a touchdown. Two of his tackles went for 8 yards in losses total. He also was credited with one pass breakup.
Turning Point(s) of the Game:
1. The two blocked punts were huge for the Tar Heels as it really took the wind out of the sails of the Huskies.
2. The interception thrown by Zach Frazer late in the 1st half as the Huskies were rolling down the field. Had they scored, there would have been very little time left and they were set to receive the opening kickoff in the 2nd half.
Offensive Notes:
1st qtr – 1st & 10 – CON 28 – Zach Frazer completes first pass of game for 3 yards to Darius Butler
2nd & 7 – CON 31 – Donald Brown rushes 8 yards for a first down
1st & 10 – CON 39 – Frazer completes pass to Brown for a loss of 4 yards
3rd & 13 – CON 36 – Frazer hits D.J. Hernandez for 15 yards and a first down
1st & 10 – UNC 49 – Frazer hits Brad Kanuch for 10 yards and a first down
2nd & 5 – UNC 34 – Brown rushes for 6 yards and a first down
2nd & 10 – UNC 28 – Brown rushes for 12 yards and a first down
2nd & 6 – UNC 12 – Brown stopped for a loss of 1 yard
3rd & 7 – UNC 13 – Frazer hits Michael Smith for a 4-yard gain
Ciaravino’s 26 yard field goal attempt is good.
UConn scoring drive – 14 plays 63 yards – TOP: 6:17
3rd & 9 CON 30 – Frazer’s pass intercepted by Mark Paschal at CON 38 and returned 23 yards
2nd qtr – 2nd & 5 CON 31- Brown stopped for a 7 yard loss
3rd & 1 CON 12 – Brown rushes 2 yards for a first down
1st & 10 CON 14 – Jordan Todman stopped for 1 yard loss
3rd & 4 CON 20 – Frazer hits Brown for 18 yards. Play called back due to offensive pass interference on Butler
3rd & 19 CON 5 – Brown rushes for 18 yards. UConn called for holding and penalty is accepted
3rd & 21 CON 3 – Brown only gets 2 yards back
1st & 10 CON 27 – Frazer hits Kashif Moore for 9 yards
2nd & 1 CON 36 – Brown rushes for 7 yards and a first down
1st & 10 CON 43 – UConn called for holding
3rd & 20 CON 33 – Frazer hits Hernandez for 18 yards
4th & 2 UNC 49 – UConn lines up to go for it but takes delay of game penalty instead
3rd & 8 CON 41 – Frazer hits Hernandez for 23 yards and a first down
Donald Brown had 161 yards and a touchdown on the night.
3rd & 2 UNC 28 – Brown rushes for 10 yards and a first down
1st & 10 UNC 18 – North Carolina called for unnecessary roughness penalty on a defenseless receiver (Hernandez)
1st & 10 UNC 9 – Frazer’s pass to Moore goes through his hands and is picked off by Trimane Goddard and returned to UNC 38
3rd qtr – 1st & 10 CON 18 – Brown rushes for 9 yards
2nd & 1 CON 27 – UConn called for a false start
3rd & 6 CON 22 – Frazer hits Smith for 11 yards and a first down
3rd & 10 CON 33 – Frazer hits Hernandez for 23 yards and a first down, North Carolina called for late hit penalty
1st & 10 UNC 28 – Frazer hits Anthony Sherman for 12 yards and a first down
Ciaravino’s 31 yard field is good
UConn scoring drive – 11 plays 68 yards – TOP: 4:54
1st & 10 CON 16 – Frazer hits Moore for 14 yards
2nd & 4 CON 30 – Brown rushes for 6 yards and a first down
1st & 10 CON 36 – Frazer is about to get sacked and makes ill advised pass that is intercepted by Marvin Austin and returned for a touchdown
2nd & 10 CON 23 – Frazer completes pass to Brown for a 10 yard loss
4th qtr – 3rd & 2 CON 24 – Brown rushes for 7 yards and a first down
1st & 10 CON 31 – Brown rushes for 40 yards
4th & 7 UNC 26 – Frazer’s pass to Todman falls incomplete. UNC called for roughing the passer
1st & 10 UNC 13 – Brown rushes for 9 yards
2nd & 1 UNC 4 – Brown rushes for 3 yards and a 1st down
1st & goal UNC 1 – Brown rushes 1 yard for a touchdown
UConn scoring drive – 11 plays 84 yards – TOP: 5:34
3rd & 2 CON 28 – Frazer hits Moore for 11 yards and a first down
2nd & 10 CON 39 – Frazer hits Ellis Gaulden for 16 yards
1st & 10 UNC 45 – Frazer hits Brown for 9 yards
2nd & 1 UNC 36 – Frazer hits Hernandez for 13 yards
1st & 10 UNC 23 – Will Beatty called for holding
1st & 20 UNC 33 – Frazer hits Moore for 11 yards. Play is called back as Beatty is called for holding
Defensive Notes:
1st qtr – 2nd & 10 UNC 33 – Lawrence Wilson stops Greg Little for no gain.
1st & 10 UNC 37 – Scott Lutrus stops Shaun Draughn after a 1-yard gain
3rd & 3 UNC 44 – Cameron Sexton hits Brandon Tate for a 17 yards. UConn’s Greg Robinson called for 15-yard face mask penalty.
1st & goal CON 10 – Draughn stopped by Darius Butler for no gain
3rd & goal CON 10 – Sexton sacked by Cody Brown and fumbles which was recovered by UNC
UNC scoring drive – 9 plays 60 yards – TOP: 4:17
2nd & 4 CON 9 – Draughn rushes for 8 yards and Butler forces a fumble that was recovered by UNC
UNC scoring drive – 3 plays 15 yards – TOP: 1:21
1st & 10 UNC 48 – Wilson and Dana Deleston stop Draughn for no gain
1st & 10 CON 19 – Brown tips a Sexton pass that falls incomplete
3rd & 7 CON 16 – Jasper Howard picks off a Sexton pass at the UConn 3
3rd qtr – 1st & 10 UNC 42 – Greg Lloyd stops Draughn for no gain
2nd & 10 UNC 42 – Robert Vaughn stops Tate for no gain
2nd & 9 CON 39 – UConn defense lets Draughn go untouched for a 39 yard touchdown run
UNC scoring drive – 3 plays 57 yards – TOP: 1:06
1st & 10 CON 29 – Draughn runs for 4 yards. Lloyd called for 15-yard facemask penalty
2nd & goal CON 6 – Aarson Bagsby stops Tate for a 7-yard loss
4th qtr – UNC scoring drive – 7 plays 39 yards – TOP: 3:05
2nd & 7 UNC 25 – Julius Williams sacks Sexton for 12 yard loss
Special Teams Notes:
2nd qtr – Despite the punt being tipped, Desi Cullen gets it off for a 47 yard punt
Bruce Carter had a great night blocking 3 UConn punts.
UNC’s Bruce Carter blocks Cullen’s punt and UNC takes over at UConn 19
Carter blocks Cullen’s punt again and UNC recovers for a touchdown
Cullen gets off 54 yard punt that goes into end zone for a touchback
4th qtr – UNC’s Casey Barth misses 31-yard field goal attempt
Injuries:
2nd quarter – UNC’s Brandon Tate injured his ankle but returned to the game.
3rd quarter – UNC’s Calvin Darity was shaken up and walked off under his own power.
Officials:
The officials called a fair game and didn’t really didn’t play a factor.
Game Notes:
UConn defensive lineman Kendall Reyes didn’t make the trip to Chapel Hill.
Tyler Lorenzen did make the trip for the Huskies as Randy Edsall wants him to be around help out Zach Frazer as much as possible.
Two banks of lights went out in the 3rd quarter and the game was delayed for 22 minutes.
For the 8th straight season, UConn’s first loss of the season has come at the hands of a current ACC member. 2 of them came against Boston College when they were in the Big East.
The win for the Tar Heels was their first over a non-conference ranked opponent since 1997. They had also lost 9 straight games to ranked opponents.
The Huskies are now 2-3 as a ranked team.
This was the first game of the season that Brown (63 yards) didn’t rush for a 100 yards in the first half. He finished with 161 yards and now has 1,067 yards on the season. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in all 6 games this season. Brown now has 12 rushing touchdowns on the season. He also now second in UConn history with 2,784 yards rushing. He is also the 10th person in UConn history to rush for a 1,000 yards in a season.
UConn dominated the clock as they held the ball for 36:23. They also won the battle of the yardage as they had 378 total yards to UNC’s 263.
D.J. Hernandez caught 7 balls for 103 yards. Both of those totals are career-highs.
Jasper Howard has his first career interception.
North Carolina’s 1-yard TD run in the first quarter by Ryan Houston marked the first rushing touchdown surrendered by the UConn defense in the opening quarter this season.
Big East Games and Results:
10/2 – Pittsburgh 26 (10) South Florida 21
10/3 – Cincinnati 33 Marshall 10
10/4 – West Virginia 24 Rutgers 17
Things to Work On:
1. After almost having their first punt blocked, the UConn punt unit allowed two straight blocked punts. This is not going to fly and needs to be desperately improved as the team gets going in Big East play.
2. I know Zach Frazer is young and only in his second game but he still needs to work on his reads and someone needs to tell him that if he’s getting sacked not to throw the ball. Hopefully this game and two weeks to prepare for the next game will get him back to the level he’s capable of playing at.
3. The Huskies need to work on their tackling as there’s no reason someone should go through the line untouched for 40 yards into the end zone.
Up Next:
The UConn Huskies are off next week and will return to action on October 18th when they travel to Piscataway, NJ to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
