It was the perfect Vine-able moment for the quick-hitting sports blogs out there, but for UConn, it was just a bad play call that ended in a loss.
For 59 minutes, the Huskies scratched, clawed and went toe-to-toe with the No. 22 Missouri Tigers out of the mighty SEC. With under a minute left and the chance to tie on a field goal, kicker Bobby Puyol came out and appeared ready to try.
But Missouri saw through the ruse. When Tim Boyle caught the snap and turned to pass, Anthony Sherrils was there for the interception, sealing the Tigers’ 9-6 victory.
“We anticipated it,” Sherrils said. “We backed up off the line to get a good view of it.”
The interception capped an eight-play, 38-yard drive after the Huskies took over on downs with a chance to win the game. Though the Huskies struggled to move the ball all day, quarterback Bryant Shirreffs completed four passes on the drive and ran for six yards to get the ball to the Missouri 25, setting up the final play.
Diaco, whose special teams struggled all game, did not have confidence in what would have been a 42-yard field goal attempt. Instead, he said:
“We felt good about the look and that Alec [Bloom] would have an opportunity on a small defender.”
It would have been the second successful trick play of the game. In the second quarter, UConn set up to punt on 4th and seven but instead, punter Justin Wain ran 13 yards for a first down.
With the loss, UConn falls to 2-1, but will open American Athletic Conference play at home next Saturday against Navy with another chance to make a statement.
The good:
- Ron Johnson ran in a six-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to put the Huskies up 6-2. UConn kept that lead for the majority of the game.
- The Huskies again won the battle of possession, albeit just barely (30:18 to 29:42). That means the offense is competent enough so that the defense doesn’t have to play 40 minutes per game.
- The defense came up with a few HUGE plays, including two on fourth down. One of them was in the third quarter with Mizzou trying to go up two scores, the other, of course, came in the Tigers’ final full drive of the game.
- Shirreffs was solid for the third game in a row, this time against a much better defense. He completed 17 of 26 passes for 156 yards and no interceptions.
The bad:
- Special teams. Oh, special teams. Another blocked extra point, a missed field goal, a few horrific punts, that safety. Blast Diaco all you want for the call at the end, but UConn would have never been in a position of desperation if it did the little things.
- Until that final drive, the offense was frighteningly inept in the second half.
- UConn was only 2-13 on third down.
- Shirreffs was sacked three times. Not awful, considering what we saw last year, but still not good.
- Penalties again played a role. We’ve said it multiple times that UConn is simply not good enough to be able to afford mental lapses. The two interference calls on punts gave Missouri better field position, but ultimately didn’t matter. The false start call on Richard Levy on the Huskies’ last drive, however, cost UConn a crucial five yards.
Bowl eligibility watch:
9/3 vs. Villanova
9/12 vs. Army
9/19 at Missouri Tough loss, but reason to think MAYBE four more wins is possible.
9/26 vs. Navy
10/2 at BYU
10/10 at UCF (Civil ConFLiCT)
10/17 vs. USF (Homecoming)
10/24 at Cincinnati
10/30 vs. East Carolina (non-conference)
11/7 at Tulane
11/21 vs. Houston
11/28 at Temple
Weekly outrageous Bob Diaco thing:
This time it’s not a quote. It’s the two trick plays that UConn tried to run. One worked, the other cost UConn the game. You can disagree with the call, but it was a gutsy one. The Huskies went for it and it didn’t work out. Going for the field goal would have been far from a sure thing and even if it had fallen, the game would have only gone to overtime. It was an outrageous move and you’re justified in disagreeing with it, but keep the torches and pitchforks at home. You’d be building a statue of Diaco right now if it had worked.
