Connecticut News, Notre Dame News, Raphielle Johnson, Uncategorized

UCONN OUTLASTS NOTRE DAME IN OT

Dixon TD run in 2nd OT wins it for UConn leaving Weis’ future in limbo

By Raphielle Johnson

To put into perspective just how much Saturday’s 33-30 win at Notre Dame means to the Connecticut program in regards to football, here are the 1999 standings in the Atlantic 10 Football Conference:

James Madison* 7-1 8-4

Massachusetts* 7-1 9-4

Villanova 6-2 7-4

Delaware 5-3 7-4

William & Mary 5-3 6-5

Connecticut 3-5 4-7

Maine 3-5 4-7

New Hampshire 3-5 5-6

Richmond 3-5 5-6

Northeastern 1-7 2-9

Rhode Island 1-7 1-10

In ten seasons a lot has changed: the A-10 no longer sponsors football (the CAA handles that) and the Huskies have progressed to the point where they’d have the opportunity to visit South Bend. Now while Notre Dame isn’t “Notre Dame” you cannot discount what the result means for Randy Edsall’s program. Following a much-needed bye week there were numerous moments where it looked as if the Huskies were in danger of falling out of reach. The first: Jimmy Clausen’s quarterback sneak early in the second quarter to put the Irish up 14-0. At that point the Huskies hadn’t shown the ability to slow down the Notre Dame passing game.

But they fought back, scoring ten unanswered points to close to within 14-10 before a David Ruffer field goal pushed the margin back to seven. At that point the team who’s been victimized in recent weeks by the kick return got a break of its own. Jordan Todman ran back the ensuing kick 96 yards to tie the score at seventeen. Dueling field goals, the second of which was made by David Teggart to tie the score at twenty, led to overtime but not before Teggart missed a field goal to win it following a pair of suspect (to be kind) holding calls to nullify two Andre Dixon touchdown runs.

The first overtime brought about a trading of touchdown passes, with Zach Frazer hitting Kashif Moore followed by Jimmy Clausen finding Michael Floyd. Notre Dame could only manage a field goal on their second possession and their run defense remained a problem. Dixon went off tackle to the left and into the end zone from four yards out to provide the Huskies their first win since the passing of Jasper Howard. It marked the second consecutive season in which a Big East opponent (Syracuse) has ruined the Notre Dame Senior Day and if the Irish fall at Stanford next week they fall out of the running for selection to the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl.

What Went Right

The running game led the way for the Huskies with both Todman (130 yards) and Dixon (114) eclipsing the 100-yard mark. As a team Connecticut rushed for 231 yards, taking advantage of their edge in size up front. The second half defense also came through, holding Notre Dame to six points (regulation) after giving up fourteen points in quick fashion in the first half. Young corners Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Dwayne Gratz made some big plays in the latter stages of the game to keep the Huskies alive on a day in which Jimmy Clausen threw for 329 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Defensively the Huskies forced a pair of fumbles and linebackers Lawrence Wilson and Scott Lutrus were all over the field. Wilson racked up sixteen total tackles while Lutrus added fourteen. Outside of the missed kick by Teggart at the end of regulation the Huskies performed well on special teams, getting a score in the return game for the third consecutive game. Teggart’s kicks seemed to have tailed left even before the miss so it isn’t a huge surprise that it was wide left. But overall he was better than in recent weeks, making the kick that tied the game in the process.

What Went Wrong

You can start with the first half pass defense, which gave a substantial cushion to the dangerous tandem of Golden Tate and Michael Floyd. Hank Hughes and Todd Orlando allowed the secondary to play a bit tighter in the second half and the Husky corners refused to back down despite their height they were giving away. And despite making some key throws down the stretch Frazer did complete just twelve of twenty-five passes for 141 yards.

Of course there are issues to be worked on in the days leading up to their home game with rival Syracuse (Noon on the Big East Network) but Saturday wasn’t a day to look at what should have been done. Nor was it a day to look forward, ignoring the significance of this win. Saturday was a day for reflection: on what the Connecticut program had been through over the past month and how far the program has come since the days of home games at Memorial Stadium, struggling to finish above water in the Atlantic 10 (preceded by the Yankee Conference). On a day that no one in their right mind would predict ten years ago, Connecticut won at Notre Dame. Cheers.