University of Connecticut Athletics
A Day of Firsts for Huskies in Loss to USF
10/7/2019 8:56:00 AM | Football
In UConn's 48-22 on Saturday, multiple Huskies had memorable days by recording their firsts in some notable stat categories.
In the second quarter, redshirt freshman receiver Elijah Jeffreys took a screen pass from Mike Beaudry 25 yards for a touchdown to cut the USF lead to 14-7. It was Jeffreys's first career catch and touchdown.
"It felt pretty good actually for it to be my first catch," Jeffreys said. "For me to be able to take it for a touchdown was pretty good. It felt good."
On that play, Jeffreys got some great blocking downfield by his teammates. He said he was surprised by how much room he had when he caught the ball.
"It looked too good to be real at first," Jeffreys said. "So I just kept running to where there was green grass and it happened to be a touchdown."
Jeffreys would add one more reception, so he finished the day with his first two career receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown.
Jeffreys's touchdown also happened to be Beaudry's first career touchdown pass at the Division I level.
"It felt good, man," Beaudry said. "It was a cool thing. Elijah made a heck of a play. He was a beast out there running with the ball. I mean I didn't do much work, he did all of it, but it's still cool to get it."
Beaudry, a graduate transfer from Division II West Florida, started the season opener against Wagner but didn't have to throw much due to the dominant run game. He sustained an injury in that game which kept him out until this week. He had a solid game, completing 18 of his 29 passes for 209 yards and his first D-I touchdown. Head coach Randy Edsall said Beaudry just needs to be more consistent.
After Beaudry lost a fumble setting USF up in field goal range at the end of the first half up 27-14, the Huskies needed a big play. They got one from Abiola Olaniyan, a redshirt sophomore defensive back playing the first snaps of his career.
On what Olaniyan said was his sixth career snap, USF quarterback Jordan McCloud attempted a pass down the middle of the field, but it was tipped by linebacker D.J. Morgan and caught by Olaniyan for his first career interception.
"It was great," Olaniyan said. "I got the first start of my career and just happened to get that interception. The guys did a great job. D.J. got the tipped ball, and I just happened to be in the right spot but it felt great."
Olaniyan said that he knew going into the week that he was going to play more than usual and he has been working towards this throughout his three years in the program.
Despite the tough loss, there were some special moments in the game for members of the Huskies. Because as the old saying goes, you never forget your first.
