With the obvious disclaimer that “moral victories” don’t show up in the win column, it’s hard not to come away from last Saturday’s loss to Illinois more optimistic than one may have went in.
The day started ominously enough, with media reports coming in shortly before game time that starting QB Mike Beaudry would be out with an injury and and that true freshman starter Jack Zergiotis would replace him. Combine that with a still-young UConn defense facing off against an Illinois team that hung 42 points on Week One opponent Akron, and this one seemed to have all the ingredients for a route.
However, fans left East Hartford on Saturday with something they haven’t felt in years: hope.
Coaching
Before jumping into a larger breakdown of the coaching effort from Saturday, I think it’s important to recognize that head coach Randy Edsall spent all afternoon on the sidelines leading his team just hours after learning his mother Barbara had passed away. He told no one — just went out and coached his team. Any of us who has ever lost anyone can sympathize with how difficult of a time Edsall must be going through right now and surely all of UConn Nation is keeping him and his family in our thoughts.
Returning to the game at hand, Randy and his young team showed more heart and more fight than any UConn team in recent memory. No stranger to losses, for fans this game seemed to have a familiar feel to it: The Huskies would jump out and take a quick lead against a much better team, but slowly the lead would vanish before ending in another lopsided loss. Certainly, things looked like they were going in that direction yet again with the Huskies taking a 13-0 lead before surrendering 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to trail 24-13 going into the half.
However, something remarkable happened in the second half. The team, instead of crumbling, continued to fight and managed to claw its way back into this one, losing 31-23, but at least being in a position to tie the game on a final drive.
The coaching staff — the entire coaching staff — from Edsall, Defensive Coordinator Lou Spanos, Offensive Coordinator Frank Giufre, and all their assistants deserve a huge amount of praise for this. The team adapted and adjusted on both sides of the ball to deal with the Illini and were both physically and mentally strong enough to stay in the game for all 60 minutes.
Offense
All aboard the Jack Zergiotis hype train!
When news broke that Beaudry was out with a shoulder injury this week, UConn fans naturally assumed that redshirt Freshman and HS standout Steven Krajewski would take the snaps on Saturday. So when it was announced that true freshman Zergiotis got the start, you can forgive UConn fans for responding with a bewildered, “WHO?”
Well apparently Edsall and Giufre saw enough in Zergiotis during practice and decided to roll the dice on the 18-year-old Canadian. And boy did it pay off. On a day when everyone assumed the backs would have to carry the day on offense, Zergiotis led a surprisingly effective passing attack that helped UConn move the ball and kept the Huskies in the game.
His passes were crisp and accurate in both the short and long passing game, going 21-31 for 275 yards and immediately drawing hasty comparisons to UConn Golden Child, Dan Orlovsky. He was able to thread the needle on some really impressive throws into coverage and showed a bit of quickness on his feet, scrambling and throwing on the run often. Most importantly, Zergiotis rose to the occasion, showing no signs of nerves in his first collegiate start.
Zergiotis did turn the ball over three times, with two interceptions and a fumble (which the defense bailed him out on). His first pick was a badly overthrown ball that an Illinois safety picked off at the end of the first half, and the other came on the final drive of the game, when Zergiotis failed to pick up linebacker Dele Harding, who dropped back into coverage and picked off a forced throw with just over two minutes to go in the game.
Wide Receivers
One of the most impressive stories of the UConn offense through two games so far has to be the receiving corps. Much was made about the departure of virtually every one of UConn’s leading receivers after last season, but this year’s wide out group thus far has risen to the occasion.
Division II graduate-transfer Ardell Brown, after sitting out Week One versus Wagner, lived up to the hype on Saturday catching seven balls for 81 yards, including a spinning one-handed catch in the second quarter. Brown and Zergiotis seem to have real chemistry as Brown consistently made impressive, athletic catches in traffic from pinpoint throws.
Outside of Brown, freshman Cam Ross showed impressive speed and an ability to run after the catch, registering a team-leading 85 yards on four catches, turning a couple of short routes into big gains. QB turned TE Jay Rose grabbed two catches for 31 yards, but wowed the Rentschler crowd with a beautiful one-handed grab inside the Illinois 10-yard line that eventually set up the Huskies only offensive score.
Running Game
As good as Zergiotis and the passing game was on Saturday, the running attack seemed to take a step back. After combining for nearly 250 yards and two touchdowns opening night against Wagner, both Kevin Mensah and Art Thompkins struggled to get it going on the ground. Mensah ran 14 times for 27 yards and a touchdown against Illinois while Thompkins managed eight for 14 yards.
Part of this drop off is naturally due to an increased level of competition from an FCS to Big Ten opponent, but one major cause has to be the loss of senior OT Matt Peart. Peart went down with an injury on the Huskies’ first drive of the game and never returned. A possible all-league lineman with a wealth of experience, Peart is an anchor on the O-Line and his loss was noticeable as the game went on.
The lone highlight of the running attack was an incredible second-effort touchdown by Mensah in the third quarter when it appeared as though the back would be stopped for a loss on third–and-goal, but somehow refused to go down and dove towards the end zone and broke the goal line.
Final Analysis:
The Huskies have their new starting QB for the season and maybe the foreseeable future in Zergiotis. Sure it’s one game against a bottom-tier Big Ten opponent, but Zergiotis looked as good as any UConn QB has in a long time.
Overall, the Huskies’ offense absolutely over-performed expectations given the circumstances entering the game, but their inability to finish drives in the Red Zone continues to haunt them. Twice in the first half and once in the fourth quarter the Huskies were well inside the Illinois 20 and had to settle for field goals. In games that are as tight as Saturday, the difference between turning Red Zone field goals into touchdowns is often the difference between victory and defeat, and the Huskies found themselves on the wrong side of that breakdown against Illinois.
Defense
The name of the game for the UConn defense this year is week-to-week improvement.
After coming out last week and showing that they were much improved and capable of playing competent football, there were times last week when the squad looked downright impressive against an Illinois team led by former Michigan starting QB Brandon Peters.
Tyler Coyle got the party started on the first drive of the game by making what is easily the most impressive defensive play in two seasons for the Huskies. Coyle completely read Peters perfectly, watching him the entire time from the snap, jumping the route, picking off the pass and taking it to the house for a pick six.
After the Coyle play, the Huskies weren’t done. The next drive, they forced a punt and after that, Kevon Jones made an excellent stop on fourth down at midfield to get the ball back from the Huskies. This strong defensive effort helped the Huskies jump out to a quick 13-0 lead seconds into the second quarter.
Unfortunately, the second quarter seemed to bring back shades of the 2018 defense. The Illini scored on every single possession in the quarter with three straight touchdowns and an inexcusable mental lapse with just seconds left in the half that allowed Illinois to go 19 yards on three plays in 21 seconds to tack on a field goal. When the dust cleared, Illinois had rattled off 24 unanswered points and taken a 24-13 lead into halftime.
This is the part where in 2018 you could guarantee that the deficit would balloon to around 59-13. The Huskies’ defense of last year would have shriveled up and not shown up for the second half. However, Lou Spanos’s unit not only showed up, it kept the Huskies in this game.
After a huge kick return by the Illini to start the second half, the defense forced the first of two huge second half turnovers to keep the Huskies in the game as Travis Jones came up with a ball on Illinois’ very first play. The turnover proved to be a huge momentum swing to the Huskies, which set up the only UConn offensive touchdown of the game.
The Huskies forced a punt on the following drive and the defense had its only let down of the second half, allowing Illinois to score its final touchdown on a 12-play, 66-yard drive highlighted by a huge 50-yard run by Jakari Norwood and kept alive by a series of bad penalties on the Huskies that included a pass interference call on Tahj Herring-Wilson and a facemask on Keyshawn Paul — both in the end zone.
Still, the Huskies’ defense showed up big in the fourth quarter, shutting out the Illini and forcing a major turnover in their own Red Zone thanks to an absolutely huge strip sack by DJ Morgan.
Final Analysis:
Lou Spanos is doing an incredible job with this group. The Huskies made some big plays on defense and kept the team in the game for an entire 60 minutes – something they rarely did last season.
Tyler Coyle, DJ Morgan, Kevon Jones and Travis Jones are making big plays and may even have all-conference potential. The Huskies will continue to need them to lead if the defense is to have a chance at keeping UConn in games.
Sure, as is common with a young squad, there are still major lapses that resulted in big plays and the unit honestly looked completely lost out there in the second quarter. However, this week-to-week improvement against increasingly better competition is what you want to see.
What’s next:
The Huskies are off this week, then hit the road against another Big Ten opponent in Indiana.
It’s not hyperbole to say that last Saturday was probably the best day for UConn fans in almost two years. There is reason to be optimistic that this team will win a couple more games this year, but we should also not be delusional that there will be pains along the way. For all his apparent talent, Zergiotis is still a true freshman and the roster is still chock-full of freshmen and sophomores who will all make mistakes.
The Huskies are in for a real challenge playing on the road against an Indiana team that should be better than Illinois. However, Edsall and his crew will have an extra week to prepare and the team will get an extra week to get healthy, so hopefully the Huskies can continue to show signs of improvement in Bloomington.
