University of Connecticut Athletics
Football Drops Home Finale to Cincinnati 26-23
11/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (November 25, 2006) - Senior Kevin Lovell kicked a 29-yard field goal – his fourth of the game – to lead the University of Cincinnati to a 26-23 football victory over the University of Connecticut on Senior Day at Rentschler Field before a crowd of 37,515.
Connecticut drops to 4-7 overall on the season and 1-5 in BIG EAST play while the Bearcats finish the regular season at 7-5 and 4-3 and are bowl eligible.
UConn concludes its 2006 season next Saturday at No. 8-ranked Louisville. That game will be at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN as announced Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies led 23-16 with 8:14 left to play after senior quarterback Matt Bonislawki (Natrona Heights, Pa.) connected on a 45-yard touchdown pass play to freshman wide receiver Brad Kanuch (Johnstown, Pa.). The Huskies missed the extra point to keep the UConn lead at seven.
Cincinnati tied the game at 23-23 on a five play-47 yard drive as quarterback Nick Davilla connected on a nine-yard pass to Dominick Goodman. The longest play of the drive came on the first play for scrimmage as Davila completed a 27-yard pass to Derrick Stewart to put the ball at the UConn 20.
After the Bearcats tied the game, Husky redshirt freshman Andre Dixon (New Brunswick, N.J.) retuned the kickoff to the UConn 40, but the Huskies could only move the ball seven yards and was forced to punt.
Cincinnati took over first and ten from their own 28 and Davilla threw a 50-yard completion to Stewart to put the ball on the UConn 22. Cincinnati then ran four rushing plays to set up Lovell’s game-winning field goal.
Connecticut got the ball back with one second left and the game ended on a long pass attempt by Bonislawski.
Davila was 14 of 25 in the air for the Bearcats for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Dustin Grutza started the game for Cincinnati, but left with an injury.
Stewart led Cincinnati with nine receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown, while Goodman had five receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Redshirt freshman Donald Brown II (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.) led UConn in rushing with 80 yards on 18 carries while Bonislawski was 13 of 24 for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
Kanuch had three receptions for 98 yard for the Huskies while sophomore tight end Steve Brouse (Selingsgrove, Pa.) and senior Terry Caulley (Lusby, Md.) each had three receptions.
UConn led 10-7 at halftime, but Cincinnati opened the second half with an eight play-84 yard drive that was finished by a three-yard third and goal pass to Stewart from Davila. Stewart also had a big 32-yard reception in that drive that put the ball at the UConn 22.
The Huskies took the lead back at 17-10 with 4:58 left in third quarter as Bonislawki hooked up on an eight-yard pass to sophomore Anthony Barksdale (Farmingdale, N.Y.) to finish a six play-77 yard drive. Kanuch had a key 25-yard reception in the drive that put the ball at the Cincy 30.
Lovell cut the UConn lead to 17-13 with a 28-yard field goal with 1:59 left in the third quarter. The Husky defense did a good job limited Cincy to a field goal on that drive as the Bearcats had a first and ten from the UConn 15. Lovell then cut the UConn lead to one, 17-16, with 9:12 left in the game on a 42-yard field goal that ended a 10 play-52 yard drive.
Connecticut opened the game with the only scoring of the first quarter on a six play-69 yard touchdown drive as Brown rushed for 14 yards for a TD. Brown opened the game with a 35-yard rush and had a total of 66 yards in the drive. The touchdown marked the third game in a row that the Huskies scored on its opening drive.
Cincinnati cut the UConn lead to 7-3 on a 25-yard field goal by Lovell. The Bearcats took possession of the ball on the UConn 10 on that drive.
The Huskies scored the only other points of the first half to take a 10-7 halftime lead on 44-yard field goal by Nuzie with 5:43 left. The field goal capped a 10 play-27 yard drive that was set up by a Danny Lansanah (Harrisburg, Pa.) interception of a Grutza pass.
Game Notes
- UConn is 11-5 in November over the past 5 seasons as a Division I-A school
- Today marked the first time UConn has lost at home in the month of November during the D-1 A era
- UConn is 0-3 against Cincinnati all-time.
- The Huskies have never faced Cincinnati at home
- Prior to the game at Pittsburgh on Nov. 12, 2005, UConn has won all 11 of their last games beginning at noon
- This marks the third game in a row that UConn has scored on an opening drive; it is the first time this has occurred in three consecutive games since Sept. 10 - Oct. 1, 2005 (Liberty, Georgia Tech, and Army) was the last consecutive scores on opening possession
- UConn’s first quarter touchdown is the first time this season Cincinnati has allowed scoring on an opening drive
- Today marked the first time UConn has led at the half since playing Army Oct. 14, 2006
- Danny Lansanah’s interception marks his third of the season and fifth in his career, previous to this season he only had two interceptions
- Donald Thomas made his first career start today
- Anthony Barksdale scored his first career touchdown
- Matt Bonislawski threw his longest career pass of 45 yards
- Brad Kanuch had his longest career catch of 45 yards
Post-Game Quotes
University of Connecticut
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Head Coach
On the game:
“It was disappointing that we couldn’t finish the game today on the right note. Offensively we did some good things; we weren’t able to capitalize on some things. Defensively we gave up too many plays, big plays. What happened on special teams, I can’t explain it. It’s just one of those things where we played hard, fought to the very end, but Cincinnati made more plays than we did and that cost us to lose by three points.”
On the final possession:
“We were trying to make a play and kick a field goal. That’s all we needed to win. We were just trying to put ourselves in position to do that. Hopefully we could make a play and kick a field goal. That’s all we were trying to do so we could win.”
Does today’s game sum up the way the season was played?
”I would say so. We were very close. We need to get guys that can make more plays and be more consistent. I thought we executed very well and we didn’t turn the ball over at all. We’re close, but we’re just not quite where we need to be, but I think we’ll be there very, very soon.”
Is the team disappointed?
”Yes, they’re disappointed. When you play hard like this and you have it in your reach to get, then you don’t make the plays that you need to and it slips away it is disappointing. When you work hard at something and put a lot into it, it makes it that much more difficult to handle. When you work hard for something and you don’t get it you should be disappointed.”
WR Brad
On first Touchdown of career:
“It’s really great to finally get in the end zone, but it’s bittersweet. It’s good to finally get in there, but it’s tough that we lost the game. We didn’t send the seniors off in the right way.”
Have you felt more comfortable in the last couple of weeks?
“I’ve been getting a lot more comfortable with running the right routes, using pressure stats, weaving at the top of my routes, and at blocking. I think I did a decent job of blocking today and that has been one of my weaknesses all year.”
LB Danny
How tough is this los coming off the last home win against Pittsburgh when you had the momentum at home on your side?
“I think it just came down to making plays. We practiced hard and did everything we could to try to win this game. It just came down to big plays, fundamentals, and techniques. We were playing great football the whole game and it came down to a game of inches. That’s what this game is all about”
On next week against Louisville:
“We have to come back, practice, watch film, and come out to play. That’s all we can do.”
QB Matt
What was your view of the drive when you went three and out?
“I think we got a little confident when we went up seven. We thought it was going to be eight, but the missed extra point. If we could hold the ball move to kill the clock and move it a little to finish the drive off, we would have been fine.”
On going for it on 4th and 3:
“You have to punt it in that situation. If we don’t make it, they’re at midfield with a couple of time outs. They just needed a field goal so you have to punt it.”
University of Cincinnati
Head Coach Mark Dantonio | Offensive Coordinator Don Treadwell | Derrick Stewart
On the game
"I though Connecticut came in very well prepared and ready to play. I thought they did a great job on the third down against us and look at the third down conversions: they went 5-for-13. They had numerous scrambles by Bonislawski. I thought he made plays, great plays. Great game plan by coach Edsall including a lot of things not seen in the film. I give them a lot of credit. On our side of the deal, we challenged our players to play with a lot of heart and character today. We wanted to finish, that was the theme going throughout the week, to finish strong. We felt that there was a big difference between a 6-6 team and a 7-5 team. We put it on to each other to play one play at a time and play the best we could play. I thought we had great focus and energy on the sideline throughout the entire game. Derrick Stewart made some great plays. Nick Davila came in after Dustin Grutza was injured and did a tremendous job and ran the ball effectively with a few big runs that helped us. Kevin Lovell went 4-for-4 and got it done. There was pressure at the end. It was a great team win and I am very proud of them."
On quarterback Dustin Grutza
"He was hit, injured, and he could have come back but he pulled something in his back so we felt as a coaching staff that Nick gave us the best chance of mobility and that since he had played so well last week we felt we could go with him to see what would happen."
On UConn’s passing game
"I thought they did a great job mixing things up. They hit a couple of big ones and the big corner rout and the motion. I count scramble yards as pass yards and he scrambled for a lot of yards. Tack those on there, he got out of trouble and made yards. They were right there, leading the game at the end with about three minutes to go. We had to score ten points in the last three minutes or so."
On Derrick Stewart’s last catch
"He’s an impact player for us. It’s his first year playing for us. He sat out last year and of course he’s Willie Davenport, the gold metal winner, grandson. He plays with a great deal of confidence. He had that punt return that was called back to the ten. But he gets it done. He’s a great young man. We have a group with a lot of character and a lot of love."
Have you thought about what this means in terms of a bowl game?
"I know we’ll be going to one. That’s all I know. I don’t know where but I heard West Virginia lost so that might kick us out one but it’ll put us in a bowl. We played the toughest schedule in America. We lost to the #1 team and we played five teams in the top 10 and beat one. You have to give UConn a lot of credit. We certainly did not come into this game taking anything for granted. We came in focused on the task at hand. Coach Edsall had his team ready to play and they did a great job. Very good coaching."
Offensive Coordinator Don Treadwell
On UConn’s defense
"UConn played a heavy amount of man coverage. That’s what you have to do. You have to isolate individuals."
Did you change anything at half time?
"We have a lot of respect for the UConn defense. They did a great job. They came out early and actually played a soft man where we had anticipated a lot of more press. It took us a little while to get into our rhythm because they were off and not pressing us. But by the second half you could see them crowding the line a little more, and matching up one on one against Stewart."
On the quarterback change
"Dustin got dinged just a little bit and that started the change. Once Nick went in and got his feet on the ground we stayed with him but I’m sure Dustin was able to come back in if we had needed him to. We didn’t change the playing with the quarterback because we had practiced all week anticipating man coverage and I think they stayed true to the form during the game."
RB Derrick Stewart
Did you think you would score?
"My momentum took me out of bounds but I was trying to score."
On Cincinnati’s struggles last week
"In the huddle, I told the guys that we have to find a way to make big plays. I think the offensive line did that and the team did that."
Did UConn’s defense frustrate you at all?
"No."
