Huskies Lose Heartbreaker to Utah State

Saturday, September 30

East Hartford, Conn.

12:00 PM

University of Connecticut

0-5 , 0-0

Utah State

2-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Utah St.

UConn

Photo by: Clarus Multimedia Group

9/30/2023 4:56:00 PM | Football

Box Score

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – UConn r-junior Jelani Stafford (Brownsville, Pa.) plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 40 seconds remaining, but Utah State's Ike Larson came up with a block on the game-tying extra point attempt to deliver the Aggies a 34-33 win in front of 21,227 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentscher Field Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies (0-5) had their best offensive outing of the season, totaling 473 yards of offense with 218 coming on the ground and 255 through the air. UConn built a 17-0 lead late in to the first half and were dominating with 254 total yards to 22 for Utah State while holding the ball for 24:06. The Huskies looked headed to the locker room pitching a shutout, but the Aggies had other ideas, striking for a 63-yard score on a McCae Hillstead to Colby Bowman pitch-and-catch up the middle of the field to make it 17-7 at the break.

The Aggies (2-3) touchdown right before the half ignited their offense who scored on six-straight drives into the fourth quarter. Hillstead was forced to leave the game on the first possession of the second half and back-up quarterback senior Cooper Legas came in and finished 11-of-13 for 204 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way to a win. Junior wideout Jalen Royals, who had two catches for seven yards in the first half, was Legas go-to man in the second half as the duo hooked-up five times for 176 yards and three scores. He finished with seven catches on seven targets for 185 yards and touchdowns.

Royals caught his first touchdown to on the first drive of the third quarter, pulling the Aggies within 17-14. After a Utah State field goal tied the game at 17-17 at 6:56, Royal hauled in a 71-yard pass from Legas to give the Aggies their first lead of the day, 24-17, with 3:52 left in the third.

The Huskies tied the game at 24-24 on grad student Geordon Porter (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) first touchdown catch at UConn, capping an eight play, 88-yard drive at 14:17 of the fourth. Legas to Royals struck again on the next drive, hooking-up on a 52-yard score to put Utah back in front, 31-24. The two teams traded field goals on their next possessions and the Husky defense held late to get the ball back with 2:41 left, down 34-27.

R-Junior quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson (Orange, N.J.) put together a nine-play drive to drive the Huskies down to the Utah State one-yard line, hitting r-junior Cam Ross (Newark, Del.) three times including a 35-yard strike to open the drive. A 25-yard pass up the left sideline to grad student Brett Buckman (Park Ridge, N.J.) set up a first and goal at the two-yard line. After getting denied on first down, the Huskies went back to Stafford who barreled in for his second score of the day to pull the game withing 34-33. UConn elected to kick the extra point for the tie but Larsen broke through off the right end and denied the Huskies overtime by blocking the Joe McFadden (Grapevine, Texas) attempt.

Roberson would finish the day 22-of-32 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Ross caught seven passes for 70 yards while tight end Nick Harris (Marriottsville, Md.) caught his first career touchdown. Leading the UConn running game was sophomores Victor Rosa (Bristol, Conn.) with 92 yards on 15 carries and Cam Edwards (Norwalk, Conn.) who totaled a career-high 73 yards on 13 touches. Stafford carried the ball five times for 11 yards and two scores in short yardage, while also catching his first career pass for 10 yards.

On defense, UConn's Jackson Mitchell (Ridgefield, Conn.) made a season-high 15 tackles in the loss and grabbed an interception. R-junior Chris Shearin (Suffolk, Va.) also had his first interception of the season. The Huskies turned both turnovers into touchdowns.

Up Next:

The Huskies will head out on the road and head to Houston, Texas next Saturday, October 7 for a first-ever meeting with the Rice Owls. The game will be carried on ESPN+ with a kick-off scheduled for 5 pm EST.