University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
1-4 , 0-2
Cincinnati
5-0 , 1-0
Huskies Lose 49-7 to Cincinnati
9/29/2018 8:33:00 PM | Football
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. --- If nothing else, the UConn football team Huskies got a harsh lesson Saturday about how the smallest of errors can turn into the biggest of problems.
The Huskies were going toe-to-toe with undefeated Cincinnati Saturday afternoon, scoring first, then giving up two TDs, but driving for the tying touchdown in what had the makings of a game-long scoring battle.
With the ball on the Cincinnati 21, however, UConn quarterback David Pindell found tight end Aaron McLean in the end zone, but the big receiver's foot barely touched the sideline and the pass was ruled incomplete. Two plays later, UConn missed a field goal attempt and instead of tying the Bearcats, or at least closing the gap, still found itself trailing 14-7 with 1:01 remaining in the half.
But the momentum margin was a whole lot wider.
Cincinnati (5-0) used the final 1:01 to tack on another score, then blanked the Huskies 28-0 in the second half to hang a 49-7 American Athletic Conference loss on UConn (1-4) at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field.
"If we could have gotten that touchdown, it would have helped us," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "But we didn't, and we missed the field goal and that hurt us a little bit. But we let them go down and score and we lost some of the aggressiveness there. We got punched in the mouth and we didn't respond and that's on me."
McLean, who had four catches for 97 yards, was a big target for the Huskies until Cincinnati made adjustments to close him down. Still, he thought he had scored the tying TD just before the half.
"I thought I did," he said. "I just didn't get up high enough. Looking back on it, I just didn't jump high enough. That hurt us, but either way, we can't let that bring us down like it did today and affect us for the rest of the game. We have to keep our heads up and keep playing."
The UConn offense couldn't have started the game on a better note. It took Pindell just five plays to drive the team 75 yards – including a 41-yard pass to McLean – before he hit Kyle Buss in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Cincinnati retaliated with a 1-yard TD run by quarterback Desmond Ridder and started the second quarter with a 2-yard TD plunge by Michael Warren for the 14-7 lead.
The two teams battled evenly throughout the second quarter, until UConn began its drive with 4:12 remaining in the half and looked to be headed for a 14-14 deadlock. But the barely-missed TD and the missed field goal clearly changed the momentum.
The rest of the contest belonged to the Bearcats, who finished the game with 659 total yards – 320 on the ground and 345 in the air. UConn had 266 yards, as it equaled its lowest-scoring output of the season.
"The missed field goal kind of killed us because it seemed like a lot of us got down," Pindell said. "Then we let them have the touchdown down the middle. It's something we have to fix."
UConn safety Tyler Cole was surprised at how quickly the game went from close to a lopsided score.
"That was just horrible how the momentum of the game just shifted," Cole said. "When we missed the field goal, the whole energy of our team deflated. Last week, I thought we took a couple of steps forward. This week, five steps back. This was embarrassing."
UConn knew the Bearcats had a physical team and thought they had prepared for it.
"Obviously, we got physically handed today and didn't do the things we needed to do," Edsall said. "We could get off people and couldn't move people. We got blown off the ball. I think we lost confidence in ourselves and didn't believe in themselves enough to go play."
The game was UConn's last at Rentschler Field for nearly a month. The Huskies continue their AAC schedule Saturday at Memphis, then will have a bye week before traveling to Tampa to meet USF on Oct. 20. UConn returns to the Rent on Oct. 27 for a Homecoming date against UMass.
Team Stats
CIN 0, UCONN 7
UCONN - BUSS, Kyle 5 yd pass from PINDELL, David (TARBUTT, Michae kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:54
CIN 7, UCONN 7
CIN - RIDDER, Desmond 1 yd run (SMITH, Cole kick), 11 plays, 74 yards, TOP 5:38
CIN 14, UCONN 7
CIN - WARREN, Michael 2 yd run (SMITH, Cole kick), 14 plays, 88 yards, TOP 5:15
CIN 21, UCONN 7
CIN - MEDARIS, Rashad 15 yd pass from RIDDER, Desmond (SMITH, Cole kick) 6 plays, 79 yards, TOP 0:38
CIN 28, UCONN 7
CIN - DEGUARA, Josiah 38 yd pass from RIDDER, Desmond (SMITH, Cole kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:33
CIN 35, UCONN 7
CIN - WARREN, Michael 14 yd run (SMITH, Cole kick), 8 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:33
CIN 42, UCONN 7
CIN - THOMAS, Tavion 1 yd run (SMITH, Cole kick), 12 plays, 62 yards, TOP 6:02
CIN 49, UCONN 7
CIN - MOORE, Hayden 11 yd run (SMITH, Cole kick), 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:37
