University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Crush Orange 26-7 in BIG EAST Opener
10/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
East Hartford, Conn. (Oct. 7, 2005) – Terry Caulley (Lusby, Md.) ran for two touchdowns and the Connecticut defense nearly recorded its fourth straight home shutout as the Huskies defeated Syracuse, 26-7, in Connecticut’s BIG EAST Conference opener before the ninth consecutive sellout of 40,000 at Rentschler Field.
UConn now stands at 4-1 overall and the Orange slip to 1-4, 0-2 in conference play.
The solid victory was tempered somewhat by an injury suffered by starting quarterback Matt Bonislawski (Natrona Heights, Pa.) near the end of the first quarter. He separated his shoulder while being tackled on a running play and was replaced by freshman signal caller D.J. Hernandez (Bristol, Conn.). His status for future games will be determined later. Hernandez did a solid job in relief duty, rushing for a team-high 86 yards on 15 carries, and scoring the first touchdown of his Connecticut career.
After failing to score on its first possession of a game for the first time this season, the Huskies marched 80 yards in 10 plays midway through the first quarter to take the lead on Caulley’s first touchdown of the contest. He scampered in from the four to finish the drive. Bonislawski had a key 30-yard run on the drive, and the Huskies benefited when a Bonislawski fumble that was recovered by the Orange was overturned under review. Matt Nuzie’s (Trumbull, Conn.) extra-point was blocked and the Huskies settled for a 6-0. Nuzie quickly redeemed himself early in the second quarter when he made the longest field goal in Rentschler Field history when he drilled a 50-yarder. With that field goal and his 35-yard success in the third quarter, Nuzie became the all-time field goal leader at Connecticut with 37. He also became the Huskies’ all-time leader in points with 213.
After Larry Taylor (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) returned a Syracuse punt 37 yards to the Orange 20, Caulley finished the ensuing drive with an eight-yard scoring dash. The touchdown gave Caulley his ninth multi-touchdown game in 20 career contests at Connecticut. On the next Syracuse possession, Dahna Deleston (East Hartford, Conn.) intercepted Joe Fields, which set up Hernandez’ touchdown giving the Huskies a 23-0 lead.
The Huskies were trying to register their third straight home shutout (and fourth in a row dating back to last season), but Nich Chestnut caught a 37-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Perry Paterson with 9:24 remaining. It was the first points allowed at Rentschler Field by Connecticut in 233 minutes, 27 seconds.
Caulley tied Hernandez for team rushing honors with 86 yards, while freshman fullback Lou Allen (Salem, Conn.) had 64 yards. The Huskies finished with 297 yards on 58 attempts, and they held the Orange to just 148 yards on the ground on 34 attempts. The Huskies also held Syracuse in check through the air, where they completed just 10 of 31 attempts for 125 yards. UConn intercepted Syracuse twice, with linebacker Danny Lansanah (Harrisburg, Pa.) snatching the second pick. Lansanah and Deleston led the Huskies with seven tackles each, while James Hargrave (Pleasantville, N.J.) had two sacks.
The Huskies will return to the gridiron on Saturday, October 15, when they travel to Cincinnati. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
UConn-Syracuse Game Notes
Team Notes:
- This is UConn’s 11th sellout in 16 games at Rentschler Field and the ninth in a row. The Huskies have sold out all four of their BIG EAST home games.
- The Huskies had not been scored upon at Rentschler Field for 233:27 until Syracuse scored at the 9:24 mark of the fourth quarter.
- UConn’s quarterbacks rushed for a combined 139 yards out of the team’s 297 rushing yards.
- Connecticut’s 45 passing yards was its lowest in total in Division I-A. The previous low was 67 yards on September 17, 2003.
- Connecticut recorded three turnovers against Syracuse. Last year the turnovers were 5-0 in Syracuse’s favor.
Individual Notes:
- Terry Caulley’s touchdown at the 3:00 mark of the first quarter was the 27th of his career. He is now in second place all-time on the career scoring list with 28.
- Matt Nuzie’s 50-yard field goal was the second longest of his career and the longest at Rentschler Field. His longest was 51 yards against Georgia Tech on November 13, 2004.
- Terry Caulley now has nine multiple TD games in 20 career games.
- Quarterback D.J. Hernandez had his first career touchdown, a one-yard run, at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.
- D.J. Hernandez had a career-high 86 rushing yards.
UConn Head Coach Randy Edsall Quotes
Thoughts on the game:
“The team played very hard. We did enough in the game to win it. Larry (Taylor) gave us field position. Our defense got turnovers.”
On injury to Matt Bonislawski:
“He got a crack in his collarbone. We will get to the doctors tomorrow and see what is going on.”
On D.J. Hernandez:
“He is still young and he is still learning, but as you saw, he gave you some things in terms of his feet and making quick things happen out there. I was very pleased with D.J. He is a competitor. He is a winner. One thing is that I have complete confidence in him and so do the rest of our players and coaches.
UConn Player Quotes
Freshman Quarterback D.J. Hernandez
On going into the game to replace injured starter Matt Bonislawski: “Coach always said be ready, you never know what could happen. It was a great team win. We prepared all week for this game and we got after it tonight.”
On the team’s plan heading into tonight’s game:
“We just went at it like any every other game plan. We thought that we could run the ball, we thought we could pass the ball, even on special teams. We stuck to the game plan and we got after it tonight.”
On what Bonislawski told him on the sidelines:
“The main thing going into this game – we didn’t want any turnovers. He kept stressing be smart, no turnovers and if you hold onto the ball we’ll win this game.”
On Bonislawski:
“He’s a team player. He’s hurting but he’s still there on the sideline cheering us all on like a team player should do.”
On his emotions on being in the game:
“I was just happy for the victory. I’ve been preparing like I’m the starter even though I’m the number two this whole time because you never know what can happen out there. I’m just glad we got the win tonight.”
Syracuse Quotes
Coach Greg Robinson:
I’m sick. I feel like we got beat . . . outplayed in every phase.
Joe (Fields) is a talented kid. Perry (Patterson) is our starting quarterback. We’re going to use Joe to the best of his abilities.
Every game is a must win in the Big East. It doesn’t mean we are out of it.
I give him (D.J. Hernandez) a lot of credit but I didn’t like our tackling.
Regarding the overturned fumble play that was ruled an incomplete forward pass: People felt even on our own sidelines that could have been a forward pass.
I really don’t know what I’m going to tell my offensive staff right now, and I’d rather say nothing than just a bunch of rhetoric.
I never could have imagined being 1-4. It sickens me really. We have to work hard to get better.
I didn’t feel like we played the same way in the third quarter. I would have liked to see us make a play and we didn’t – it snowballed.
Ryan LaCasse (DE #94):
That is probably one of the ugliest games I’ve ever been involved in.
I’m really in shock right now. It’s a really tough loss to take. You have to take your hats off to UConn. I think they played a really good game. We just didn’t get it done out there.
We knew the backs (UConn running backs) were good – that they have good moves and good speed. We knew they were going to be a challenge but we didn’t see this coming.
