University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Battles Back To Beat Ohio
9/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 21, 2002
|
STORRS, CT (Sept. 21) - The University of Connecticut scored 31 unanswered points in the final 19:40 of the contest to post a 37-19 win over Ohio on Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 15,901 at Memorial Stadium. Connecticut improves to 2-2 on the season while Ohio drops to 0-4.
UConn trailed 19-6 in the final five minutes of the third quarter but registered four touchdowns and a field goal in the remainder of the game for the win. Sophomore quarterback Dan Orlovsky threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman wide receiver Jason Williams with 4:40 left to go in the third to make it 19-13 Ohio. UConn took the lead for good with 14:05 left in the four as Orlovsky’s one-yard rush completed an eight play-45 yard drive.
The Huskies then came right back as freshman running back Terry Caulley rushed for a four-yard TD with 11:23 left, the first of his career, and UConn led by a 27-19 count. A 47-yard field goal by Marc Hickok with 3:32 left to go and a 27-yard TD run by Caulley with 1:36 left to play sealed the victory.
Calley led UConn with 117 yards of rushing on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns. It was the second-straight 100-yard game for Caulley and became the first UConn runner to record back-to-back 100 yard rushing games since Barry Chandler in 1998.
Orlovsky was 15 of 29 in the air for 224 yards with one interception and a touchdown. He threw an interception at the end of the first half to break a streak of 77-straight attempts without an interception.
Sophomore Matt Cutaia had three receptions for 80 yards while redshirt freshman Jason Williams and sophomore Wes Timko also made three reception each.
Ohio led 13-6 at halftime and scored their first two touchdowns on rushes by Chad Brinker – one on a two-yard run to make it 7-0 with 5:22 left in the first quarter and another on a 54-yard run with 13:40 left to go in the second quarter.
Hickok connected on field goals of 27 and 32 yard for the six UConn points of the first half. His three field goals of the game were a career high.
POST GAME NOTES:
**UConn’s 37-point total was the most since a 38-35 win at Akron on October 21, 2000, a span of 18 games. It marks the sixth time under head coach Randy Edsall that UConn has passed the 30-point mark.
**UConn’s 24-point fourth quarter is the most since the school's quarterly records start in 1961. UConn previous had scored 21 against Boston University during a 52-10 win on Nov. 7, 1975.
**Freshman Terry Caulley recorded his first career rushing TD, redshirt freshman Jason Williams had his first career TD catch and junior Ezra Carey had his first career interception.
**Caulley recorded his second straight 100-yard effort, the first Husky to record back-to-back 100-yard games since Barry Chandler did it to start the 1998 season against Colgate (124 on 9/9/98) and Maine (120 on 9/19/98).
**Senior Marc Hickok’s three field goals were a single-game career-high.
**Sophomore QB Dan Orlovsky’s interception to end the first half ended a streak of 77 straight passes without an interception.
**The attendance for today’s game was 15,901, the tenth highest total in Memorial Stadium history.
TOP TEN CROWDS AT MEMORIAL STADIUM
16,751 9/7/02 vs. Georgia Tech 31-14 loss
16,632 9/9/00 vs. Colgate 37-7 win
16,585 10/28/00 vs. South Florida 21-13 loss
16,549 9/23/00 vs. Northeastern 35-27 loss
16,517 9/22/01 vs. Buffalo 37-20 loss
16,464 11/14/70 vs. Rhode Island 33-12 win
16,041 10/27/01 vs. Ball State 10-5 loss
15,982 10/31/81 vs. UMass 29-24 loss
15,906 9/18/76 vs. Navy 21-3 loss
15,901 9/21/02 vs. Ohio 37-19 win
**Ohio’s Chad Brinker notched his 8th career 100-yard game and passed the 2,000-yard mark for his career. His two rush TD’s give him 20 in his career, tied for fifth in Ohio history.
**Ohio’s 19 points were the most they have scored since 24 vs. Miami of Ohio in 2001, a nine-game stretch.
**Bop White’s interception of Orlovsky was the 15th of his career and he is the MAC active career leader.
UCONN QUOTES
Head Coach Randy Edsall:
On Getting a Late Start
"I don’t think the that they were overconfident playing this team, maybe it was me telling them they had to get off to a fast start, I don’t know if they were pressured because I was worried about Ohio’s offense being able to control the ball on us and we had to take advantage of every offensive possesion. In the second half we came out and took advantage of our opportunities."
On This Win as it Effects The Team Later
"This win isn’t any bigger than any win, the one thing that I’ve learned in this profession is that wins are hard to come by, when you win a game, you enjoy it, every win is special and all of them are very sweet. I don’t know if this one is any more special than last week’s or any we’ll get the rest of the year. I think it gives us confidence, however, to know that we were down and able to come back, but I wouldn’t say that this win is better."
On the Defense
"It’s a great credit to the players and the defensive staff, they all believe in each other and they know that their job is to keep people out of the end zone and by doing that today, that was one of the big differences in the game today, making them kick field goals, there’s a lot of pride and leadership from the guys here that have been through a lot and want to step up and take advantage of their roles."
On The Conversion to I-A
"When we came into this league we wanted to make sure that we came out and played as hard as we could every week and I think we’re doing that and I think our kids believe in each other and what we’re doing. When you can get a group of 100 young men together who believe in what they’re doing, a lot of good things can happen. We’re not yet where I want to be or where the kids want to be but I think we’re making improvements and if we can consistently improve from week to week all throughout the year, I think we’ll be respected playing in this league. I told the guys ‘the way good teams become great teams is by playing with consistency’ and that’s what I want from this team. Our goal is to keep getting better every week that we play."
Junior Safety Chris Meyer:
On How the Defense Picked Up The Offense
"I think the offense came out better than the defense today, but the defense did pick up. I think the offense was picking up the defense and when we started going three and out, that’s when things picked up for us."
On What The Team Was Thinking Being Down
"Coach kept telling us to keep our heads up and not get down on ourselves. He kept stressing the player’s responsibility in the game and that everything will take care of itself"
Freshman Running Back Terry Caulley:
On the Team’s Offensive Turnaround Late in the Game
"We knew that we had to play better than the defense. We had to come out and produce because our defense was producing and we needed to pick it up and do our part."
On His First Touchdown
"I was excited, and I don’t really celebrate much. My parents were in the stands so I had to be modest."
On His Small Stature
"It’s sometimes an advantage because I can get lost in a pile and then just emerge and I think that’s what happened today."
