EAST HARTFORD – After multiple high-powered offensive performances at home to start the season, the UConn football team relied on its defense to win Saturday’s game against Temple, 29-20, in walk-off fashion.
Facing 4th-and-goal from the UConn 1-yard line, down three points with three seconds left on the game clock, Temple went for the win. The Owls tried running the ball up the middle, but Huskies safety Durante Jones forced the ball out and Jordan Wright took it 96 yards the other direction to seal UConn’s fourth win at Rentschler Field this season.
A highly entertaining, yet sloppy, win improved UConn’s record to 4-2 on the season before an announced crowd of 28,921.
Quarterback Joe Fagnano, starting in place of the injured Nick Evers, finished an inconsistent day 24-for-41 passing with 272 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. TJ Sheffield stepped up as the Huskies’ top receiver after Skyler Bell appeared to have suffered an ankle injury, and caught nine passes for 141 yards and a score.
Temple quarterback Forest Brock, who hadn’t played since he suffered a wrist injury in Week Two against Navy, was 18-for-31 with 136 yards and an interception. The Owls finished the game with 270 total yards to UConn’s 371, and ran for 134 while UConn’s rushing attack managed just 99 yards on the ground.
The Huskies came out aggressive on offense with Fagnano finding different receivers to move the Huskies down the field through the air. Facing a 4th-and-2 at the Temple 23-yard line, the Huskies went for it and Cam Edwards was stuffed at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
Hurt by a holding penalty, UConn had to punt on its next drive but forced a fumble on the return and settled for a 43-yard field goal from Chris Freeman.
While UConn’s defense dominated, forcing Temple to punt on all six of its first half drives, the Owls’ punt return unit saw a reversal of fortune.
Connor Stutz, punting from the UConn end zone on the Huskies’ second drive of the second quarter, had his kick blocked and recovered in the end zone by Temple’s John Adams for a touchdown, which put the Owls up 7-3.
Fagnano and the UConn offense continued to struggle while the Huskies’ rushing attack, which entered the game ranked 11th in the nation, averaged only 2.2 yards per carry in the first half. But the Huskies were helped by a pair of Temple penalties on the ensuing drive and were able to answer with another field goal. The defense got off the field with another three-and-out, their fourth of the half, and UConn’s offense had another chance to get ahead before the break.
Starting at their own 32-yard line with 1:25 left on the clock, Fagnano and his receivers used the sideline to move the ball back down the field. UConn settled for a field goal at the end of the 13-play drive just before the half, and went into the break ahead, 9-7.
It continued to be a good day for placekickers as Temple’s Maddux Trujillo, who had already made a 64-yard field goal this season, nailed one from 60 yards on the Owls’ first possession of the second half. That was the longest field goal ever made at Rentschler Field.
UConn gave the ball right back as Fagnano’s 3rd down pass deflected off his receiver, into the arms of Temple defensive back Jaylen Lewis, but the Huskies’ defense held for another field goal attempt, which Trujillo missed wide right from 32 yards out.
The Huskies’ offensive struggles, relatively foreign to Rentschler Field before Saturday, continued when Fagnano tried to run and fumbled, giving the ball to the Owls inside UConn’s 15-yard line. But the Huskies’ defense bailed out the offense again, holding Temple to a 42-yard field goal to keep it a one-score game at 13-9.
Fagnano completed a 17-yard pass to Brett Buckman to begin the next drive and then tossed it to Sheffield in the flat, where the Purdue transfer broke a pair of tackles and used a block from receiver Jasaiah Gathings to clear a 58-yard path to the endzone. That touchdown, the first offensive TD of the game for either team, put UConn up three entering the fourth quarter.
The teams traded interceptions after that, with UConn safety Malik Dixon-Williams catching a pass from Temple’s Forest Brock, and Temple’s Elijah Deravil catching one from Fagnano.
The Owls took advantage, using a 22-yard rush from Terrez Worthy to set up a rushing touchdown from eight yards out for Brock, which put Temple ahead, 20-16 with just under 10 minutes to go. Punts on both sides gave the Huskies a chance to answer.
Facing 3rd-and-10 on the UConn 30, Fagnano evaded a pass rusher, rolled out and found Buckman wide open for a 32-yard gain and some momentum. Fagnano ran for 10 yards as the Huskies got into the red zone and Durell Robinson handled the rest, punching it in to go ahead 23-20 with 3:46 remaining.
Temple’s offense drove in chunk plays and converted a 4th-and-1 at the UConn 10-yard line rather than tying the game with a field goal. On 1st-and-goal from the nine, the Owls took four plays and went for the win on 4th-and-1 but fumbled the ball to give UConn the win.
UConn will have a week off before returning to Rentschler Field for Wake Forest, an ACC opponent, at Noon on Oct. 19. That game will be the fourth of the Huskies’ six-game homestand.
