UConn’s Mistakes Help Temple to 36-10 Win

“We are taking turns with young guys doing bonehead things, which they will eventually stop doing.”

Bob Diaco’s UConn Huskies team once again shot themselves in the foot with big mistakes that would cost his team the game, yet again.

The Temple Owls defense outscored UConn by themselves as the Owls went on to 36-10 win over the Huskies in front of 27,755 on Saturday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT

UConn falls to 1-4 (0-2 American) while Temple improves to 3-1 (1-0 American).

That boneheaded play Diaco was talking about happened at the start of the third quarter.

Temple muffed the opening kickoff and Junior Lee, UConn’s special teams god, recovered the fumble for an apparent touchdown. But unfortunately, Vontae Diggs was called offside and the kick had to be redone.

Six plays later, Owls QB P.J. Walker hit Jalen Fitzpatrick for a 42 yard touchdown pass. From what could have a 10-7 UConn lead went to a 14-3 Temple lead in a matter of minutes.

It didn’t help that for the fifth straight game the Huskies offense gave up the first points of the game.

Chandler Whitmer had led UConn down the field, eating up over eight minutes on the clock. Then as Whitmer was looking for Deshon Foxx down the field, he was hit as he threw the ball and it was picked off by Tavon Young who returned it 93 yards for a touchdown.

Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. No matter how hard the Huskies practice to eliminate them, they still continue to make them.

Pre-snap penalties, turnovers, big plays allowed on defense, missed handoff. Not executing in the red zone.

Things that cause losing.

And if they don’t get corrected soon, it’s going to be loss after loss until they’re fixed.

“We are disappointed but not crushed,” said Diaco. “The players understand what we are going to. We have a bye-week so we are going to practice a bunch and get better.”

“So we are resolute and our spirit is not cracked. The team and coaches are upset but we also know, big picture, where we are going.”

Scoring:

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Temple Owls	7	0	23	6	36
UConn Huskies	0	3	7	0	10

1st quarter

TEM – 6:23 – Tavon Young 93 Yd Interception Return (Austin Jones Kick)

2nd quarter

CON – 0:11 – Bobby Puyol 30 Yd Field Goal

3rd quarter

TEM – 12:28 – Jalen Fitzpatrick 42 Yd pass from P.J. Walker (Austin Jones Kick)

TEM – 8:28 – P.J. Walker 1 Yd Run (Austin Jones Kick)

TEM – 7:34 – Praise Martin-Oguike 11 Yd Fumble Return (Austin Jones Kick)

CON – 5:16 – Arkeel Newsome 74 Yd pass from Chandler Whitmer (Bobby Puyol Kick)

TEM – 1:09 – Team Safety

4th quarter

TEM – 13:01 – Austin Jones 47 Yd Field Goal

TEM – 7:57 – Austin Jones 34 Yd Field Goal

Offensive Players of the Game:

Temple QB P.J. Walker was 20-of-29 for 231 yards and a touchdown pass. He also had a rushing touchdown as well.

Defensive Player of the Game:

The entire Temple defense. They outscored UConn by themselves 16-10. They had a pick-six, a fumble return for a touchdown and a safety.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

Trailing just 7-3 at the start of the third quarter, Bobby Puyol’s kickoff was muffed by Temple near the goal line. It was recovered by Wilbert Lee for an apparent touchdown. Unfortunately, true freshman LB Vontae Diggs was called offside nullifying the touchdown. After that, it took Temple just six plays to find the end zone, completely changing the tone of the game.

Offensive Notes:

Chandler Whitmer was 12-of-23 for 163 yards and touchdown. He also had an interception returned for a touchdown, a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and was sacked in the end zone for a safety. He was sacked a total of three times. Tim Boyle was 1-of-4 for seven yards and threw an interception. Deshon Foxx played QB and WR. He was 1-of-1 for four yards and had three rushes for 31 yards. Max DeLorenzo led Huskies with 55 rushing yards. Ron Johnson had 37 rushing yards late in the game while Arkeel Newsome had 30 yards rushing, two catches for a 77 yards, including a 74 yard touchdown reception. Geremy Davis had eight catches for 80 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Marquise Vann led the Huskies with nine tackles. Andrew Adams had seven tackles. Kenton Adeyemi, Cole Ormsby and Julian Campenni all had sacks.

Special Teams Notes:

With Justin Wain nursing a lower leg injury, Bobby Puyol handled all of the kicking duties. He was 1-of-2 on field goals as he hit from 30 yards while missing from 45 yards. He averaged 35 yards on six punts with two downed inside the 20. Ellis Marder had a fumble recovery on a muffed punt by Temple. Vontae Diggs had a huge offside penalty on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Game Notes:

Temple Owls @ UConn Huskies 9/27/14 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Bob Diaco and Temple head coach Matt Rhule.

Here are the postgame notes courtesy of UConn Athletic Communications:

• Geremy Davis’ third-quarter reception moved him into seventh all-time in UConn history, passing Carl Bond (1995-1998), who had 175 receptions. Davis now has 146 receptions in his career. Davis also extended his streak to 31 games with a reception.
• Bobby Puyol punted for the first time in his career in today’s game. Puyol punted five times for 180 yards, averaging 36 yards per kick.
• Ellis Marder recovered his first fumble of his career punt on a muffed punt in the second-quarter.
• Bobby Puyol’s 45-yard miss in the second-quarter was his first miss of the season.
• Max DeLorenzo’s 55 yards were the most for a UConn running back in a single game this year.
• Kenton Adeyemi recorded his first sack of his career in the second-Quarter.
• For the second time this season, the UConn defense gave up zero points in first half.
• Arkeel Newsome’s 74-yard touchdown catch was the first touchdown of his career. The catch was also his longest of his career.
• Julian Campenni’s fourth-Quarter sack was his first of the season.
• Ron Johnson set career highs in carries (8) and rushing yards (37).
• Newsome also set career highs in carries (7) and rushing yards (30)
• Deshon Foxx played quarterback for the first time in his career in the fourth^–Quarter. He set career highs in rushing with 30 yards, highlighted by a career long rush of 26 yards.

Injuries:

Obi Melifonwu suffered an upper body injury and was in street clothes for the second half with his arm in a sling.

Ellis Marder suffered a lower leg injury and did not return.

AAC Games and Results:

Saturday, September 13

TCU 56
SMU 0

South Florida 10
(19) Wisconsin 27

Tulane 6
Rutgers 31

Cincinnati 29
(22) The Ohio State 50

Memphis 3
10 Mississippi 24

Texas State 37
Tulsa 34, 3 OT

Things to Work On:

• Continue to eliminate the things that cause losing
• Figure out how to best utilize Deshon Foxx at quarterback since they were very effective moving ball when he was in.

Up Next:

UConn is off next week. They return to action on October 11 when they head to New Orleans for a matchup with the Tulane Green Wave.

photo credit: ian bethune – sox & dawgs