University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Football Honors Its All-Americans
10/22/2023 4:22:00 PM | Football
By PHIL CHARDIS
Special to uconnhuskies.com
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – It was a different time for UConn football.
There was no Rentschler Field in East Hartford, just Memorial Stadium in Storrs. There was no FBS and FCS, just Division I-A and I-AA. There was no independent schedule, just the Yankee Conference.
Yet, despite the lack of national attention, some of the finest football players in UConn history were part of the Husky teams of the 1970s and 1980s. Thanks to Andy Baylock, the former longtime UConn football assistant coach and head baseball coach who is now the director of UConn Football Alumni/Community Affairs, those players remain a part of the UConn football family.
Saturday marked UConn's 2023 Homecoming Game and it was also a chance for Baylock to honor the UConn football All-Americans of the 1980s. Baylock brought 11 of them to Rentschler Field to be honored with an on-field introduction during the first quarter and the chance to enjoy the game and being back together.
Alphabetically, it was Pat Anglim, Glenn Antrum, Nate Cotton, Scott Daniels, Reggie Eccleston, David Franks, Fred Gracon (representing his deceased brother Dave Gracon), Keith Hugger, Mike Jansen, Ken Miller and Ken Sweitzer on hand. Â
"UConn has that pull on people," said Sweitzer, who was an All-Yankee Conference pick at three positions, quarterback, wide receiver and punter. "There's not a lot of other stuff to do in Storrs, Connecticut, so we developed friendships and we still get together and talk to each other and we try to get to at least one game together every year."
UConn's 1980 team, under head coach Walt Nadzak, arguably had the finest collection of receivers in the program's history with wideouts Eccleston and Hugger and tight end Miller, All-Americans all, as well as quarterback Sweitzer. And all were in attendance Saturday.
"We were very fortunate and by that, I mean I was very fortunate," Sweitzer said. "Because I would run around and if I didn't get the ball to them right on time, they just had a knack of finding a place to get open. And I just had a knack of running around a little bit and not get tackled. Really, a lot of those receptions were just on broken patterns. It was a lot of fun."
"The '80 team was the best team I was on here," Hugger said. "That team was just filled with a bunch of good football players. We had a real good group of guys and we all played off each other and nobody got jealous when one guy had a good game and another guy had a great game, it was all for the team."
The 1980 receivers took their cue from Eccleston, the smooth wide receiver from New London, who was the senior member of the group.
"Reggie was a gazelle out there, just perfect," Sweitzer said. "He ran beautiful patterns and he caught everything. Reggie is just such a great human being and he was a great leader on the field as well. In 1980, he was our senior in the backfield and of the receiving corps. He was just such a great example for us all."
"I learned so much from Reggie," Hugger added. "He just glided down the field."
Eccleston, who became the first single-season 1,000-yard receiver (1,081) in UConn history in 1980 and set a school record with nine receiving touchdowns, was proud to be part of that group. With his New London roots and Sweitzer a product of Hand High in Madison, the in-state connection was real.
"To have that Connecticut connection, to come to the university after growing up in the area, I don't think it could have been any better than that," Eccleston said. "It was fabulous to have that. It might have been I-AA football, but it was still extremely competitive and you played with and against a lot of guys who were pro caliber players. To go against guys every day in practice who you knew were going to get a shot somewhere, and you were hoping you get a shot somewhere, you can't get any better than that.
"And to be part of it like that and then to watch the guys that came after me just continue to work their craft and get better, it was so rewarding and heartwarming to me. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to do it."
The 1980 Huskies went 7-3, just the third UConn team at the time to notch seven or more wins. Two of the wins hold a special place in UConn history.
The Huskies went to Fitton Field at Holy Cross with the burden of a 13-game winless streak at the venue since 1916, and looked like they were headed for another loss, trailing 17-10 with 1:18 to go and on their own 30 with no timeouts remaining. A driving rainstorm and a 35-mph wind in their faces made the task even more difficult.
But Sweitzer engineered a masterful drive, which included two fourth-down completions to Eccleston, and put the Huskies on the Holy Cross 4-yard line with 0:04 left. On the final play, Sweitzer found Miller with a pass in the end zone to bring the Huskies within 17-16. Rather than be satisfied with a tie, however, Nadzak went for a two-point conversion and let Sweitzer improvise. The UConn quarterback shook free and hit Hugger in the end zone, securing a thrilling 18-17 victory.
The other memorable win was the season finale, a 56-30 shootout against Rhode Island, in many ways, the Reggie Eccleston Show with 229 receiving yards and four touchdowns, a single-game UConn record.
"That game was the capper to it all," Eccleston said. "My dad and I would talk a lot as I tried to become a better player and I always wanted my last catches at every level to really mean something. It started in high school – my last reception was a touchdown and my last catch was an interception that sealed the game. Then to come here, my last college catch was the best of them all – it was a touchdown, a one-handed grab. I always mess with Sweitzer, I say 'That's the first time you ever hit me in stride.' I was in my element out there and it was so much fun."
And so much fun to relive, over 40 years later.
