University of Connecticut Athletics
Defense Shines Despite Injuries in Loss to Houston
10/20/2019 11:46:00 AM | Football
In UConn's hard-fought 24-17 loss to Houston Saturday, the defense played its best game against an FBS opponent this season, allowing just 24 points and 284 total yards, both season lows.
In fact, the 24 points is the lowest a UConn defense has allowed against an FBS foe since UMass scored just 22 in last year's Homecoming game. The 284 yards allowed to an FBS team was the fewest in four seasons. In a 7-3 win over Tulane in 2015, the Huskies allowed 140 yards, but since then, there hasn't been a better defensive performance in terms of yards.
This performance is even more impressive when you take into account that half the starters on defense didn't play for the majority of the game. D.J. Morgan, Ryan Gilmartin, and Tahj Herring-Wilson didn't dress for the game and Diamond Harrell and Tyler Coyle left with early injuries. Head coach Randy Edsall said he was impressed with how the other guys stepped in to fill those spots.
"I thought they did a good job," Edsall said. "I thought those kids played hard, and if we can get that kind of effort, continue to grow and get better at it and get stronger, we've got a chance. They were flying around."
All three levels of the defense seemed to click in a way we haven't seen this year. The secondary, minus a couple of big plays, provided solid coverage all game. Oneil Robbinson saw his most playing time so far this season with Coyle out, and he played really well, breaking up a pass and even getting into the backfield to help with a tackle for loss.
The linebackers were a huge part of the Huskies' success. Omar Fortt led the team with 11 tackles and also had half a sack. Jackson Mitchell, in his first career start, seemed to be involved on nearly every play and finished with 10 tackles of his own.
Finally, the defensive line did a great job getting pressure on the Houston quarterback all game. Defensive end Kevon Jones led that attack with five tackles, two for a loss and one sack. Jones said he thought this was the best intensity the defense brought since Illinois.
"Everybody just played hard and executed their assignments," Jones said. "So I just felt that gave us an advantage to actually go out and make plays and get stops."
Overall, the Huskies finished with three sacks and five tackles for loss. Jones said that the emphasis of this week was trying to get more pressure on the quarterback than they had in the past few games.
The Huskies were especially solid on third down, holding the Cougars to just 3-of-11 in those situations, but all three came on the final drive. For most of the game, Houston wasn't able to convert on any third down opportunities.
The UConn defense got Houston's offense off the field quickly on multiple occasions, forcing them to punt six times. As a result, UConn was able to dominate the time of possession by 12 minutes, which really gave them a chance to win. That fact was not lost on the offensive players.
"The defense held it down for us man," receiver Cam Ross said. "They did a phenomenal job. Hats off to the defense, they played their butts off."
For a group of players consisting of mostly freshmen and sophomores, the UConn defense really held its own on Saturday, which gave the team a good chance of winning. Ultimately though, the offense missed a couple of opportunities and the Huskies dropped their closest game all season. Still, Edsall was proud of the way his guys competed.
"I'm proud of our kids because they battled their tails off and they competed for 60 minutes," Edsall said. "I love them to death and they battled their tails off. They're doing everything they can to try to be better and to try to win. That's what I like."
