University of Connecticut Athletics
Player of the Game: Junior RB Kevin Mensah
8/30/2019 12:59:00 PM | Football
Mensah Carried the Ball 36 Times for 144 Yards
The UConn football team defeated Wagner 24-21 on Thursday in its season opener at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. With an offense that was very run-centric, it is no surprise that the player of the game was running back Kevin Mensah.
Mensah carried the ball a career-high 36 times for 144 yards and a touchdown. He attributed his success and the success of the team in the first game to not dwelling on any single play.
"This year we're more free," he said. "We thought about a lot of things last year. You know if someone messed up, we would think about it a lot. But this year we're onto the next play. Like I fumbled this game and I was like onto the next play because that's just what we do."
With two of the Huskies' top receivers out, Head Coach Randy Edsall said that they had to establish the running game. Mensah was more than fine with that.
"Bring it on," he said with a smile. "We've been working all summer and all winter. We're excited."
Edsall complimented Mensah's performance and said it was a product of all the work he did in the offseason.
"He made some really tough great runs," Edsall said. "It's a good thing for him. The time and effort he put in to make himself bigger, faster, stronger paid off to get that workload."
Surprised when he heard the number of carries he finished with, the junior from Worcester, Mass. said he really doesn't pay much mind to his personal workload.
"I just try to help this team," Mensah said. "I try to do my part. As long as I can do my part and they can do their part then I'm fine. I can get one carry. I can get however many other carries, but I'm just trying to do my part so we can win as a team."
Even with his exceptional statline in his season debut, Mensah was quick to spread the credit to the rest of the team.
"As an offense, we've been working so hard," he said. "Even though I did my job, the o-line did their job, the wide receivers did their job, Art [Thompkins] did his job. We all did our job together, and I think that's how we won this game."
Mensah said that staying focused on improving is going to be the biggest key for him to be able to carry this success throughout the rest of the season.
With the run game working so effectively in the opener, expect to see some more outstanding performances from Mensah this season.
