Mensah and Thompkins Pace UConn to Season-Opening Victory

Thursday, August 29

East Hartford, Conn.

7 p.m.

University of Connecticut

1-0

Wagner College

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Wagner

UConn

Photo by: Stephen Slade

Mensah and Thompkins Pace UConn to Season-Opening Victory

8/29/2019 11:39:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: By Phil Chardis

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EAST HARTFOTRD, Conn. – Does the 2019 UConn football team have its own version of Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside?

It's only one game into the 2019 season, so it might be a little early to steal the famous nicknames of the spectacular Army running back tandem of the 1940s, Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard.

But if Thursday night's season opener against Wagner is any indication, UConn junior Kevin Mensah and grad student Art Thompkins could be on their way. The duo rushed for a combined 243 yards and each scored a touchdown as the Huskies posted a 24-21 victory at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field.

Mensah, the powerful Mr. Inside of the partnership, bulled his way to 144 yards on 36 carries for the Huskies, while Thompkins, the elusive Mr. Outside, zigged and zagged his way to 91 yards on 17 totes.

"Thirty-six carries for 144 and didn't lose a yard – that's a good day's work," UConn coach Randy Edsall said about Mensah's effort. "He made some tough, great runs. The time and effort he put in to make himself bigger, faster, and stronger paid off. And Art had 17 carries for 91 – that's what we said we had to do. We had to run the football because we were limited with a couple of receivers down."

For Mensah, it was the sixth time in his UConn career that he has rushed for more than 100 yards. He couldn't be more pleased to have a partner.

"Art brings a great factor to the offense – the defense has to key on two people," Mensah said. "I'm really happy that he's here. It takes some pressure off my shoulders and I hope it takes pressure off his shoulders too. "Art is a swifty, so I'm trying to take his moves, especially his lateral speed."

Thompkins returns the compliment.

"Kevin is really a great player," he said. "He's selfless person, and that's why things are going the way they are. Whoever is in there, we just want to get the job done. We can do some of the same things, but we can do different things, too. But it started up front … hat's off to those guys."

Meanwhile, UConn quarterback Mike Beaudry produced a solid effort in his Huskies' debut, hitting 14 of 21 passes for 158 yards, with one interception. The transfer from the University of West Florida also added a touchdown run of his own.

"Mike did some things well, but he was a little inconsistent," Edsall said. "He made some good throws, but missed some opportunities for big plays."

He missed one opportunity that turned into an interception return for a Wagner touchdown.

"My first touchdown pass was to the other team," Beaudry said with a half-smile. "Seriously, I thought my game was not bad, but there's plenty of stuff to work on."

The Huskies dominated the numbers, putting up 392 yards of total offense to Wagner's 185, but couldn't dominate the scoreboard.

"We squandered a lot of opportunities by self-inflicted wounds," Edsall said. "We can't do that against the teams we have coming up."

Beaudry scored the first UConn TD of the season with a two-yard run in the first quarter, and the Huskies stretched the lead to 10-0 by halftime on a 30-yard field goal by Clayton Harris.

Wagner's interception return by Myron Morris closed the gap to 10-7, but UConn answered right back with a drive that ended with Mensah's TD.

When Wagner scored again to slice the lead to 17-14, UConn again answered on its next possession with a drive that climaxed with Thompkins' score. Wagner's final TD with 3:36 remaining brought the Seahawks within 24-21, but UConn kept possession the rest of the way to secure the victory.

The Huskies return to action on Sept. 7, playing host to Illinois of the Big 10.

"It's a big step up for us," Edsall said. "But hopefully, we'll be at full strength. Tonight, this team really needed a win and we played hard for 60 minutes. There's an old adage in football that you improve the most between Game One and Game Two."