University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Force Five Turnovers To Keep Bowl Hopes Alive
11/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (November 26, 2005) – Freshman Lou Allen (Salem, Conn.) rushed for a career-high 101 yards and a touchdown and the Connecticut defense forced five turnovers as the Huskies defeated South Florida, 15-10, keeping UConn’s bowl hopes alive before a crowd of 40,000 at Rentschler Field.
The Huskies record improves to 5-5, 2-4 in BIG EAST play. UConn needs to defeat Louisville next Saturday to earn bowl eligibility. South Florida, which missed out on an opportunity to win the conference title and the league’s Bowl Championship Series bid with the loss, slips to 6-4, 4-2 in the conference.
The Huskies defense made many big plays throughout the contest, the biggest of which came with 6:02 to play and the Huskies ahead 15-10. After a 37-yard punt return by the Bulls’ Amarri Jackson gave South Florida a first-and-goal from the eight, UConn forced a fourth-and-goal from the six and snuffed an attempted flea-flicker, when linebacker Dan Davis (Plainfield, N.J.) sacked Courtney Denson, who was attempting to throw to quarterback Pat Julmiste. UConn got the ball back and got one first down before punting the ball back to the Bulls. On South Florida’s first play, sophomore safety Tyvon Branch (Cicero, N.Y.) intercepted Julmiste in the end zone with 2:37 to play to salt away the victory for the Huskies.
The victory was keyed by a ball-hawking UConn defense that allowed just 251 total yards, including just 83 yards on 40 attempts, to a team that came into the contest averaging 229 yards of rushing offense per game. Linebacker Danny Lansanah (Harrisburg, Pa.) was all over the field for the Huskies, registering 12 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. Linebacker Taurien Sowell (Bridgeport, Conn.), returning to the lineup after missing three games with an injury, had 11 tackles. The Huskies had three interceptions and recovered two South Florida fumbles.
The Huskies broke from the gate quickly, when on their third play from scrimmage, Allen burst through the line on a third-and-one and rambled 60 yards for a touchdown. It was both Allen’s longest run of his career, and the longest run by a Husky this season. The teams traded punts until late in the first quarter, UConn forced the Bulls into a third-and-22 from their own five, and after a high snap from center, Deon McPhee (New Haven, Conn.) sacked Julmiste in the end zone for a safety.
The Bulls got on the board when Julmiste connected with S.J. Green on a 31-yard touchdown with 6:10 to play before intermission. But the good news quickly ended for South Florida as Darius Butler (Tamarac, Fla.) returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. It was UConn’s first kickoff return for a score this year, and it gave the Huskies a 15-7 lead. South Florida’s Kyle Bronson hit a 42-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to complete the scoring.
The Huskies’ finished with 160 yards rushing on 41 attempts led by Allen’s heroics. Quarterback Matt Bonislawski (Natrona Heights, Pa.) threw for 81 yards on eight of 26 passing, but recorded a huge first down, when on a third-and-seven in the game’s final minutes and the Huskies trying to run out the clock, rambled 16 yards on a bootleg to secure the win for the Huskies.
UConn will play its 2005 regular season finale next Saturday, when Louisville makes its first visit to Rentschler Field. The game will be shown in primetime national television as ESPN airs the game at 7:45 p.m..
(Left): A trio of former UConn quarterbacks were honored during the game with Director of Athletics Jeff Hathaway: Dan Orlovsky, now with the Detroit Lions; Matt DeGennaro and Shane Stafford. (Right): ABC's Terry Bowden and Dr. Jerry Punch called the game for ABC Sports.
CONNECTICUT TEAM NOTES
w Today’s gametime temperature was 33 degrees. It is UConn’s coldest home game since a 30-degree game against UMass on Nov. 18, 1995 at Memorial Stadium. UConn is 5-1 since 1994 in games that were played below 40 degrees, including a 4-0 mark as a Division I-A program and a 3-0 mark at Rentschler Field.
w The Huskies have never lost consecutive games at Rentschler Field and stand at 15-3 all-time here…The Huskies have not lost at home in November since 2001 (38-31 vs. Utah State, Nov. 10, 2001).
w Rentschler Field was sold out tonight for the 11th consecutive game and for the 13th time in UConn’s 18 games at the facility.
w UConn scored on its opening drive today. After scoring on its first drive in each of its first four games, UConn had not done it in any of its last five games since. UConn is 3-1 this year when scoring on its opening drive and 2-4 when it does not.
w UConn’s safety was its first of the year. UConn’s last safety came on Nov. 20, 2004 when Shawn Mayne tackled Buffalo quarterback P.J. Piskorik in the end zone. It was the third in Rentschler Field history, joining Mayne’s and one recorded by Rutgers on Oct. 22, 2005 when an errant shotgun snap went out of the end zone.
w For the eighth consecutive game, UConn started a different defensive lineup.
CONNECTICUT INDIVIDUAL NOTES
w Lou Allen’s new career rushing high is now 101 yards. His previous career high was 98 yards set against Liberty on Sept. 10. His 21 carries is also a new career high. Allen’s 60-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was UConn’s longest of the year and the Huskies’ longest rush overall since Cornell Brockington had a 61-yard scamper against Temple on Oct. 23, 2004.
w James Hargrave’s interception is the second of his career and his first of the season.
w Darius Butler’s kickoff return for a touchdown was UConn’s first of the year and the first of Butler’s career. UConn’s last kickoff return for a touchdown came when Larry Taylor returned the opening kickoff of the Oct. 23, 2004 Temple game 97 yards to pay dirt.
w Darius Butler’s interception was his fourth of the year.
w Tyvon Branch’s interception was his second of the season and the second of his career. Both of his interceptions have come at Rentschler Field, as he returned his first career interception for 15 yards against Rutgers on Oct. 22.
POST GAME QUOTES
Connecticut Head Coach Randy Edsall
Opening Statement:
“I was very proud of the team for the way that they competed all game long. It wasn’t always pretty out there. There are times we’ve played pretty and haven’t come out on the right side of the ledger in terms of wins. I think this was really a gutsy performance by this football team and most especially by our defense and the way that they hung in there in a lot of situations. Offensively, we did enough to get a win. There are things we need to work on, but I am tickled pink for those guys because they have put a lot into it. There have been a lot of things that have gone on this season with injuries. This week I thought I saw a determined team in practice in preparation. A lot of people thought they (the team) were dead. They have them up for dead, but you know what, they are not dead. I am proud of them, and I couldn’t be happier for them. This win tonight tells you something about the character of those young men. You talk about a character builder and why you do what you do, and when those kids went out there and hung together it was something special tonight. That is a good football team that we played. We scored on offense, defense and special teams. We made mistakes on offense, defense and special teams. Ultimately, we won as a team.”
Was this the team’s best effort all season?
“I would say so from the standpoint of taking a look at the yards and all the situations they were in, the plays that we ended up making during the game. That might have been our best effort because of all the different situations and the plays we had to make. We made the plays. The one thing is these kids spent some extra time on their own this week, and that made the difference. I think they played with more confidence tonight because they understood what was going on out there and what they were going to be hit with out on the field.”
On Cornell Brockington starting at running back:
“We were not sure if Terry Caulley could play today. He was sick. I had planned to go with Brockington as the starter this week because of Terry’s knee. Terry was just going to be the third down back, and Brock was going to be the starter. Lou Allen was going to be the short yardage and goal line guy. When we found out about Terry said he could go and that he would give us all he had. It was huge at the end.”
On holding South Florida running back Andre Hall:
“He had 21 caries for 93 yards, and he was averaging 120. He is a good back. We didn’t give him credit because we didn’t tackle him as well as I thought we should have on some plays. On a lot of plays we did tackle him very well. When you can hold a team to 66 plays for 251 yards on a team that was rushing the ball the way they were and you hold them to 40 caries on 83 yards that is a tremendous job.”
On Lou Allen:
“He has gotten a lot better. You have to give him credit. He couldn’t carry the ball with his right hand, but he went out there and played. He carried the ball in his left hand the whole time. I kept saying to him during the week if I put you in can I trust calling your number. A year ago I don’t know if I would have gotten the kind of response from him that I got this time. He told me that you can count on me. I kept asking him day after day about it. He just has got more confidence because he has had success on the field. He is a young man that, I think, if he continues to work hard and, if we block a little bit better up front, that he can be a big factor for us in what we want to do rushing the football at UConn.”
On Matt Bonislawski:
“Matt Bonislawski is one tough kid. Matt Bonislawski played the whole second half hurt. I just hope that it’s not serious. All you had to do was watch him throw the ball. I think if you did watch him throw the ball you could tell he was not throwing the ball the way he is capable of throwing it. It wasn’t because of the weather. I think he wasn’t telling me. He is not telling anybody else. I think he hurt his shoulder again early or late in the second half. I almost made a change. Again, after he ran that ball I asked him if he could hand the ball off. He was in pain. He said he could hand the ball off. I thought we had to hand the ball off there. We will have to wait and see, but I know he’s hurt.”
Connecticut Senior Defensive Tackle Deon McPhee
"During the week we put a lot of time in the film room. We knew exactly what formations they would use so we were able to get a jump on everything."
"We wanted to come out with enthusiasm and get everyone going."
Connecticut Junior Quarterback Matt Bonislawski
"I told coach every time I roll out nobody is out there and that I could get the first down."
"The play I got sacked on – after that I was not able to pick my left arm up enough to make throws to the sideline. My throws over the middle were alright."
"It (my arm) feels worse than before. They took x-rays. It feels a little better now. I’ll find out tomorrow the results of the x-rays – probably sometime in the morning."
"Our defense was unbelievable. They kept up their intensity and made plays all day."
"We had a lot of confidence going into today."
Connecticut Freshman Fullback Lou Allen
"Everybody was enthusiastic. We knew we could win today. Everyone was real determined and real focused."
"I usually hold the ball in my right hand but I had a plastic brace on so I practiced holding the ball in my left."
"I’m just a running back."
"I think I can wear down opposing defenses as the game goes on."
"I’m about 230 lbs. right now – I’m comfortable running at this weight."
"I did not think that I was going to get that many carries."
Connecticut Freshman Cornerback Darius Butler
"The kickoff was planned to go to the right but I saw an opening in the middle so I cut over the middle. All I saw was the kicker – so I made a move on the kicker."
"That was huge. I felt like I needed to make a big play for the team. It felt great – especially on the sideline."
"Nobody in our circle counted us out."
South Florida Head Coach Jim Leavitt
About the fourth down call deep in UConn territory late in the game:
"I thought about the field goal and the reason why I didn’t do it was because I wanted two opportunities to win the ballgame and not one. I really felt like if we didn’t make it – which we didn’t - that our defense was playing really well and that we’d give our offense good field position. You can question it but it would’ve been a sharp angle [to kick the field goal]. I just really wanted to go for the touchdown. It was a play we’ve been working on in that situation quite a bit and Connecticut did a very good job in defending it. They did a good job in picking up our quarterback, who we were going to throw the ball to. We had plenty of time to throw the ball but they picked up Pat [out of the back field]. We wanted our defense to get the ball back and they did. I was more disappointed with the throwing the ball deep into end zone [that was intercepted by Tyvon Branch on the next set of downs] than that play."
On UConn’s two touchdowns:
On the opening run [and touchdown] they found a crease and hit it. We got it shored up for the rest of the game and that play didn’t work again. The draw play worked pretty good for them [tonight]. The kickoff return [for a touchdown] was very disappointing. Usually, our kickoff team does a pretty good job. We didn’t play very good football tonight. To be honest, as bad as we played tonight, to be in the game was probably amazing. We couldn’t have made more mistakes in one game.
South Florida Senior Running Back Andre Hall
On the early deficit and the cold weather:
"Any time you play football, you’re playing for a win. Obviously, we lost this one but we need to stay focused and keep on pursuing what we’ve set out for. I’m not going to make excuses for our defense but that one play [for the first touchdown] was missed but as you saw, we were still committed to win the game. [UConn] was a tough challenge for us. The weather wasn’t a factor. With the modern technology and equipment that can be used, I don’t think the weather affected any of our guys. I’m not going to make any excuses for that being a reason why we lost."
