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UConn’s football season ended quietly on Saturday in their final game as members of the American Athletic Conference. Like so many AAC games, it ended with the Huskies getting blown out, this time at the hands of the Temple Owls, 48-17.
Believe it or not, the Huskies actually scored the first 14 points in this game. A 24-yard pass to a streaking Heron Maurrisseau set up a 51-yard bomb to Ardell Brown had UConn on the board early as Jack Zergiotis got off to a hot start. Next came a workman-like 11-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Steven Krajewski subbing in to score a rushing touchdown.
Zergiotis had an efficient day overall, completing 24 of 35 passes for 250 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. The Huskies never got much going on the ground, but Kevin Mensah's 20 rushing yards were just enough to push him over 1,000 yards for the third-straight season.
UConn's defense played well in the first quarter too, forcing punts on three of the opening four Temple drives. The Owls went deep for their first touchdown, with Anthony Russo hitting a Branden Mack for a 63-yard score. By halftime, the Huskies had added on a 40-yard field goal and Temple got another touchdown drive to make it 17-14 going into the break.
Unfortunately, UConn wouldn’t score again and Temple... would.
In the third quarter, the UConn defense completely collapsed. Temple's first three drives of the second half ended in touchdowns, while UConn's first two ended with -5 total yards. By the time the Huskies knew what hit them, one of their drives ended in a touchdown as well — a pick six. Temple scored four touchdowns in the third quarter on its way to ending the contest with six unanswered touchdowns.
This hole was way too deep for a shell-shocked UConn offense to climb out of, and they gained one (1) first down during the rest of the game.
UConn finishes the 2019 season 2-10 in the third year of the second Randy Edsall era. The Huskies are 6-30 since Edsall took over in 2017. If he returns next year for a fourth season, it will be UConn’s first as an FBS Independent, with a newly completed schedule and some semblance of expectations. He’s gotten away with these past few seasons under the cover of “rebuilding” but next year needs to show more tangible signs of progress.