UConn football mauled by No. 20 Cincinnati

Traveling to Cincinnati for their 10th game of the season, the UConn Huskies experienced their worst loss of the season against Cincinnati Saturday, 48-3. The only comfort UConn fans have at this moment is that basketball season is upon us (Don’t check in on the hockey team right now). The Huskies’ record falls to 2-8.

Things started off bad and it never let up. With star defensive end Kevon Jones injured on the first drive, UConn barely got any pressure on Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ritter. The 2018 AAC rookie of the year completed 13 of 23 passing attempts for two touchdowns and 230 total yards.

Cincinnati’s running backs also looked fantastic, sprinting up and down the field all day. The Bearcats had 331 yards rushing, a season-high, and averaged 7.1 yards per carry.

UConn’s offense was terrible. Freshman quarterback Jack Zergiotis went an abysmal 4 of 14 passing for 35 yards. Kevin Mensah ran for a solid 115 yards on 4.8 yards per carry, the lone bright spot on that side of the ball. UConn didn’t convert a third down until the third quarter, after Zergiotis was pulled for grad transfer Mike Beaudry, and had only 13 first downs in the entire game as it amassed just 218 total yards.

The Huskies didn’t help themselves either by playing undisciplined football. They had nine penalties for 71 yards, and two players were ejected for targeting: Omar Fortt left the game in the first quarter after hit on a Cincy receiver across the middle and Dillon Harris was kicked out for the same offense in the second quarter, nearly taking Ritter’s head off on a sack.

UConn has a bye week to recover from this pounding before hosting East Carolina in their last home game of the year. The game will take place on Saturday, November 23rd with time and television info still yet to be determined.