This was a tale of two halves for both the UConn Huskies and No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers. In the first half, both defenses dominated the game. In the second half, UConn’s “bend but don’t break” defense allowed a big play by LeSean McCoy while Pitt’s defense allowed a big run by Donald Brown. But in the end, it was either Pittsburgh’s defense or UConn’s inept quarterbacks (depends on how you want to look at it) that was the difference in the game.
Setup by some good field position by their defense in the 2nd half, Pittsburgh scored 24 third quarter points to put the game out of reach as they went on to beat UConn 34-10 in front of 39,535 on Senior Day at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.
UConn finishes up the season at 7-5 (3-4 Big East) and could end up in the Motor City Bowl although their destination won’t be known until tomorrow night most likely. On the other side, Pittsburgh finishes the season with their first 9-win season since 1982 at 9-3 (5-2 Big East) and most likely will represent the Big East Conference at the Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX.
So just how bad were UConn’s quarterbacks today? Really, really just awful. Before Tyler Lorenzen was pulled in the 4th quarter, he was 4-of-21 for 4 yards and 2 interceptions. His replacement, Zach Frazer, did complete 3 passes. Unfortunately, they were all to members of the Pittsburgh defense. Lorenzen did return to the game after Frazer’s third interception in as many drives to finish the game 6-of-27 for 80 yards and 2 interceptions. Frazer was 0-for-4 for no yards and 3 INTs.
To Lorenzen’s credit, some of the balls he threw should have been caught but there were some poorly thrown balls and some times where he should have held on to the ball or thrown it away. With Lorenzen graduation, Frazer’s play today doesn’t give us too much confidence. Expect a heated battle between Frazer and Cody Endres during spring ball.
The big matchup between the two stud running backs was won by Brown who finished with 34 carries for 189 yards and 1 touchdown. McCoy ended up with 24 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. There’s a chance both them could be playing in the NFL next year. Brown also finishes as the FCS leading rusher with 1,822 yards while McCoy’s 21 touchdowns on the season leaves him 1 short of Tony Dorsett’s Pittsburgh record of 22 in one season.
Here’s what Randy Edsall had to say about Brown after the game:
Donald Brown is just amazing. You don’t like to talk about an individual’s performance after a loss but I think it is necessary to talk about his individual performance this year. It has been phenomenal what he did this year, he had more than 180 yards; he had 200 yards but with the losses 180. The leading rusher in the country to be at UConn and no one ever thought that would happen so that says a lot for him
It’s a tough way for the 19 seniors to go out as they’ve always given their all throughout their time spent on the campus in Storrs. They should not be hanging their heads because they’ve helped build a good football program at UConn. They may be a step away but they’ll get their sooner rather than later.
Scoring:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Pittsburgh Panthers |
0 | 3 | 24 | 7 | 34 |
| UConn Huskies | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
1st quarter
NONE
2nd quarter
PIT – Conor Lee 21 yard field goal – Pitt 3 UConn 0
CON – Dave Teggart 45 yard field goal – UConn 3 Pitt 3
3rd quarter
PIT – LeSean McCoy 47 yard run (Lee PAT) – Pitt 10 UConn 3
PIT – Lee 21 yard field goal – Pitt 13 UConn 3
CON – Donald Brown 57 yard run (Teggart PAT) – Pitt 13 UConn 10
PIT – Bill Stull 61 yard pass to Derek Kinder (Lee PAT) – Pitt 20 UConn 10
PIT – Stull 28 yard pass to Nate Byham (Lee PAT) – Pitt 27 UConn 10
4th quarter
PIT – Greg Williams 20 yard interception return (Lee PAT) – Pitt 34 UConn 10
Offensive Player of the Game:
Well for one thing, it won’t be Tyler Lorenzen or Zach Frazer. I’m going to be a homer here (because I can) and give Donald Brown the offensive player of the game as he had 34 rushes for 189 yards and a touchdown.
Defensive Players of the Game:
The Pittsburgh defense. Despite allowing the 189 yards by Brown, they made life difficult for him at times and also for Tyler Lorenzen. Plus they were able to pick off the UConn quarterbacks 5 times.
Turning Point(s) of the Game:
With UConn trailing 13-10, the Panthers scored on their first play from scrimmage as Bill Stull hit Derek Kinder for a 61 yard touchdown. That took the wind out of the sails of UConn and the crowd and Pittsburgh never looked back from there.
Offensive Notes:
1st qtr – 1st/10 – CON 41 – Donald Brown runs for 11 yards and a 1st down
2nd/6 PIT 44 – Brown rushes for 11 yards and a 1st down.
4th/13 PIT 36 – Dave Teggart misses 53 yard field goal
1st/10 CON 17 – Jordan Todman rushes for 11 yards and a 1st down
1st/10 CON 15 – Brown rushes for 7 yards
2nd qtr – 2nd/3 CON 22 – Brown rushes for 4 yards and a 1st down
2nd/9 CON 27 – Tyler Lorenzen slips to lose 7 yards
2nd/6 CON 33 – Pittsburgh called for defensive holding to give UConn a 1st down
3rd/5 CON 47 – Brown rushes for 12 yards and a 1st down
3rd/4 PIT 35 – Todman rushes for 9 yards and a 1st down
3rd/6 PIT 22 – Todman stopped for a 6 yard loss
2nd/10 PIT 40 – Brown stopped for a 3 yard loss
3rd/13 PIT 43 – Lorenzen hits Brad Kanuch for a 41 yard completion. Play called back due to holding on Keith Gray
3rd qtr – 2nd/3 CON 39 – Brown rushes for 3 yards and a 1st down. Play nullified as UConn accepts 5 yard penalty for offsides on Pitt
1st/10 CON 44 – Pittsburgh called for pass interference for 15 yards
1st/10 CON 35 – Lorenzen hits Marcus Easley for 9 yards
2nd/1 CON 44 – Brown rushes for 2 yards and a 1st down
2nd/10 CON 46 – Brown stopped for 5 yard loss
3rd/15 CON 41- Lorenzen’s pass picked off by Greg Williams at UConn 47, returned back 41 yards to UConn 6
3rd/1 CON 38 – Brown rushes 5 yards for a 1st down
1st/10 CON 43 – Brown rushes 57 yards for a touchdown
3rd/9 CON 36 – Lorenzen’s pass picked off by Jovani Chappel at UConn 48, returned back 3 yards to UConn 45
1st/10 CON 12 – Brown stopped for a 2 yard loss
4th qtr – 2nd/10 CON 30 – Brown rushes for 7 yards
3rd/3 CON 37 – Brown rushes for a 30 yard gain
1st/10 PIT 33 – Brown rushes for 7 yards
2nd/3 PIT 26 – Brown stopped for no gain
3rd/3 PIT 26 – Lorenzen’s pass picked off at Pittsburgh 19. No return on the interception
2nd/6 PIT 15 – Brown stopped for a 1 yard loss
3rd/7 PIT 16 – Zach Frazer’s pass picked off by Aaron Berry at goal line. Returned 52 yards to UConn 48
2nd/6 CON 16 – Frazer’s pass picked off by Greg Williams at UConn 20, returned for a touchdown
2nd/6 CON 30 – Lorenzen hits D.J. Hernandez for 15 yards and a 1st down
1st/10 CON 45 – UConn called for a false start
1st/15 CON 40 – Lorenzen rushes for 8 yards
2nd/7 CON 48 – Lorenzen hits Marcus Easley for 43 yards and a 1st down
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Goal PIT 9 – Lorenzen throws four straight incompletions
Defensive Notes:
1st qtr – 2nd/9 PIT 30 – LeSean McCoy stopped by Aaron Bryant for no gain
3rd/9 PIT 30 – Bill Stull sacked by Lindsey Witten for 9 yard loss
1st/10 PIT 44 – Scott Lutrus stops McCoy for a 3 yard loss on a pass from Stull
2nd/13 PIT 41 – Stull slips and falls to lose 7 yards
2nd/6 PIT 23 – McCoy stopped by Twyon Martin for a 1 yard loss
2nd/5 CON 49 – Conredge Collins stopped by Cody Brown for 3 yard loss. Brown forces fumble recovered by Robert Vaughn at PIT 49.
1st/10 PIT 34 – Stull’s pass picked off by Jasper Howard at UConn 21. Howard returned it 27 yards to his 48.
1st/10 PIT 16 – McCoy stopped by Howard for a 7 yard loss
3rd qtr – 1st/Goal CON 6 – McCoy stopped by Lutrus for a 1 yard loss
1st/10 PIT 39 – First play from scrimmage is a 61 yard touchdown pass from Stull to Derek Kinder
3rd/3 CON 38 – McCoy stopped by Julius Williams and Cody Brown for a 2 yard loss
1st/10 CON 28 – First play from scrimmage is 28 yard pass from Stull to Nate Byham
4th qtr – 3rd/7 PIT 22 – Stull fumbles at his 19, recovered by Lindsey Witten for UConn
1st/10 CON 48 – McCoy stopped for 1 yard loss by Robert McClain
2nd/11 CON 49 – McCoy stopped for 2 yard loss by Aaron Bryant
1st/10 PIT 20 – Shariff Harris stopped for no gain by Robert Vaughn
3rd/7 PIT 23 – Harris stopped for 1 yard loss by Bryant and Williams
Special Teams Notes:
1st qtr – Dave Teggart missed his first field goal of his career from 53 yards. UConn wasn’t paying attention and Aaron Berry was able bring it back 50 yards to his own 40
2nd qtr – Pittsburgh’s Michael Toerper blocks a Desi Cullen punt inside UConn’s 10 yard line
3rd qtr – Desi Cullen shanks a point for just 18 yards giving Pitt the ball at UConn 28
Injuries:
1st qtr – Pittsburgh’s Rickey Gary suffered an unknown injury and walked off the field under his own power.
4th qtr – UConn’s Ellis Gaulden was shaken up and walked off the field under his own power. He did return to the game.
Officials:
The officials missed Jasper Howard fielding a punt with his knee on the ground. Fortunately for them, the replay booth saw it and overturned the call on the field.
Not that it matters but when Tyler Lorenzen threw a ball in the 4th quarter, the officials ruled it a tipped ball as D.J. Hernandez was mugged on the play. Replays showed the ball was not tipped.
Game Notes:
Pittsburgh Panthers @ UConn Huskies 12.6.08 box score
David Teggart missed a 53 yard field goal in the first quarter, the first miss of his career. He converted his previous 11 attempts.
Donald Brown finished the regular season as the leading rusher in the FBS with 1,822 yards.
Donald Brown now has 32 rushing touchdowns in his career, surpassing Terry Caulley’s career total of 31 from 2002-06.
UConn allowed 24 points to Pittsburgh in the third quarter – the most allowed in any quarter since allowing 28 points to Miami (Fla.) in the second quarter on October 5, 2002. This also marked the most UConn has given up in any home game since giving up 24 to Buffalo in the fourth quarter on September 22, 2001.
UConn finished the day 4-of-14 on third down conversions while Pittsburgh was just 3-of-13.
UConn had 305 total yards to just 228 for Pittsburgh.
UConn held the ball for 32:28 while Pitt had it for 27:32.
The UConn quarterbacks have thrown just 4 touchdown passes and have thrown 17 interceptions on the season.
The Huskies did have 2 fumble recoveries in the game.
The Huskies committed just 3 penalties in the game for 20 yards.
Big East Games and Results:
12/4
Louisville 14
Rutgers 63
12/6
South Florida
West Virginia 8:00 PM, ESPN2
Cincinnati
Hawaii 11:30 PM, ESPN2
Things to Work On:
- The play of the quarterbacks. They were pitiful this afternoon.
- The play of the quarterbacks. They were brutal this afternoon.
- The play of the quarterbacks. They sucked ass this afternoon.
- UConn punt defense. They sucked also as they allowed yet another blocked punt.
Up Next:
The Huskies are off until a potential bowl game. All bowl game matchups will be announced tomorrow night but we could know UConn’s fate later today.
Let us know where you think UConn might end up by voting in the poll in the sidebar to the left.
