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Huskies nip Zips as time expires, 38-37

East Hartford, CT. - UConn's PK Matt Nuzie split the uprights from 27 yards out as time expired against the Akron Zips to prevail 38-37 in a wild, exciting, well played game at the Huskies' Rentschler Field.  Husky QB Dan Orlovsky threw 5 TD passes among his 299 yards while his counterpart Charlie Frye put on a gutsy performance after injuring his right knee during the Zips’ first possession.  Husky SR DE Uyi Osunde was named star of the game as he stopped the Zip running game in several key situations coming up with 12 tackles, 5 for losses of 12 yards and 3 sacks for losses of 24 yards. His timely sacks kept the Akron FG kickers out of scoring range on several occasions. The Akron special teams came up with two explosive kickoff returns.  For the fourth week in a row, CFF saw a game decided by a seven points or less with the last two contests decided on the very last play! The last four games were decided by 7, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively.  Akron (5-4) was seen for the second time by CFF, but for the first time in 1A competition.  It was another thrilling game in an outstanding stretch for CFF in 2003, as we’ve now seen 88 1A programs play toward The Goal!   It doesn’t get much better than this for CollegeFootballFan.com!

     Orlovsky didn’t start well as DE Dwayne Lefall picked off a pass to get his Zips the ball on their own 44.  The gimpy Frye hooked up with WR Jason Montgomery for 32 yards to move to the 5 to set up a 4 yard TD run by RB Bobby Hendry to take the first lead, 7-0.  Orlovsky continued to struggle as he turned the ball over with a fumble on third and inches on his next series, but was redeemed on the very next play when CB Justin Perkins intercepted and brought the ball back to the Akron 41.  UConn (6-3) drove down to the five where Orlovsky hooked up with WR Brandon Young to tie it up at 7-7.  On the ensuing kickoff, the Zips’ Matt Cherry returned the ball all the way to the Husky 7-yard line. Hendry took it in on a sweep right on the next play from scrimmage to give the lead back to the Zips, 14-7.

     On the first UConn drive of Q2, RB Chris Bellamy, subbing for the injured Terry Caulley, galloped 38 yards on a 3^rd and 1 to the Zips’ 11.  From 9 yards out, Orlovsky connected over the middle with WR Shaun Feldeisen who dove and extended the ball over the goal line for another UConn six to even the score once again.  On this beautiful, chilly New England Saturday, lightning struck!  Akron WR Jamie Goodwin followed his blocking and burst past the Husky kicking team for a 100-yard TD return on the following kickoff, and the Zips were back on top showing no sign of a let up between two teams evenly matched with 5-3 records.  Leading 21-14, Akron seemed to be taking control as it held the Huskies to three and out on the next series, and Cherry returned the punt to the UC 48 to give Akron good field position.  At the Connecticut 17, Frye passed cross field to Cherry on the left side of the end zone for another Zip TD to extend the lead to 28-14.  Connecticut didn’t wait long to get on the scoreboard again though as Orlovsky lofted a 50-yard scoring strike to Brandon Young who made a great diving catch into the end zone to cut the lead, 28-21.  CFF’s seats at the goal line 21 rows up gave us perfect views of touchdowns receptions by both Young and Feldeisen.  Akron threatened again on its next series at the UC 20 with a 1^st and 10, but DE Osunde came up with two timely sacks to push the Huskies all the way back to the 41-yard line to force a punt.  The Zips held and forced UConn to punt back.  Akron moved deep into UConn territory again until Osunde came up with another big sack.  The 41-yard FG attempt by Akron’s Swiger was no good, and halftime ended with U of A in the lead 28-21.  Tired of Alumni bands and homecomings, our fourth in a row, CFF encountered lively World Series banter in the men’s room at halftime.  East Hartford is the frontline between Yankee and Red Sox territories where allegiances must be close to equal and the rivalry furious.  After a “Let’s go Yankees!” chant by a fan of the Bronx Bombers with fervor for the evening’s upcoming Game Six, a Red Sox fan responded with a chant, “Fire Grady!”  To which someone else of unknown allegiance retorted with a chant, “Hire Zimmer!”  The conversations traversed into the world of fantasy. Wouldn’t it be fun to see the old guy ditch Boss Steinbrenner to manage his targeted prey Pedro Martinez after their run-in this post-season?  The restroom rhetoric was much more entertaining than another group of former college marching band members performing at halftime. 

     The Zips scored on their first possession of the second half as PK Jason Swiger converted on a 53-yard FG attempt just clearing the crossbar to take a 31-21 lead.  UConn was held to eight yards to punt away, but Akron’s risk-taking Matt Cherry fumbled the punt and the Huskies’ Maurice Lloyd recovered the ball back at Akron’s 38.  Akron QB Charlie Frye remained on a stationary bike along the sideline to keep his injured right leg flexible while Connecticut’s Orlovsky led his team to paydirt, throwing an 8-yard TD pass to TE Tim Lassen to finish the short drive and move his team to within three, 31-28.  Akron moved deep into Husky territory once again, but leave it to the charge of Osunde to push the Zips back into a 4^th and 22 situation where a FG attempt went for naught once again from 43 yards away.  The Huskies started to drive from their own 25, but DB Domenik Hixon picked off a tipped, Orlovsky pass and returned it to his own 49.  Osunde tackled Hendry for a four-yard loss on a third and short situation later in the drive and once again the Zips missed a FG attempt, this time from 42 yards.  Osunde’s big plays kept the Zips out of FG range on three occasions.  However, Akron’s next score would come off the foot of PK Billy Sullivan, who replaced Jason Swiger after several missed attempts shorter than his successful 53- yarder, from 26 yards out.  With 10:54 remaining and only down 34-28, many Husky fans had begun to leave their seats.  Was it because of traffic concerns (more on that in Extra Points)?  Were the Alums leaving for their post-game homecoming festivities?  Did they doubt UC could come back?  Were they confident they would, but had other things to do?  The real question was how could anybody leave such an exciting, close game with nearly 11 minutes left?  Sure enough, about two minutes later, Orlovsky connected with WR O’Neil Wilson for a six-yard TD pass to tie the score.  With Nuzie’s PAT, the Huskies had their first lead of the day, 35-34, with 8:43 remaining.  Akron wasn’t about to roll over and quit, however.  On the next Zip drive faced with 3^rd and 14, the limping Frye hit Mat Cherry for a 16-yard gain and a first down.  Hendry finally broke free again for 41 yards and a pass interference call against CB Ernest Cole in the end zone gave the Zips a 1^st and goal at the 5.  But the Huskies pushed them back four yards before Sullivan converted from 26 yards to take back the lead for the Zips, 37-35, with 4:08 remaining.  Exciting game, well-played, lots of action, result in the balance, plenty of time remaining to score, the Huskies mushing their way toward Big East play, but the fickle fans continued to leave! They’d seen enough?  This doesn’t make sense!  The Huskies challenged right away driving from their own 15 to the Akron 28 where they came up with a 4^th and 4.  Nuzie’s FG attempt came up short and to the left.  Akron was on offense again with 2:01 left starting from their own 28.  Many fans continued to quit on their team.  The UConn D didn’t allow Akron an inch, and Akron helped manage the clock with a few incomplete passes.  Connecticut got the ball back at its 45 with 1:32 left on the clock.  At the Akron 41 and 1:01 remaining, UConn had 4^th and 10 and came up with the big play as Orlovsky hit Feldeisen near the sideline for an 11-yard gain.  Many “fans” were listening to radio coverage on their way out of East Hartford.  On 3^rd and 10, Orlovsky connected again to set up at the 19.  With 37 ticks left, he completed to Feldeisen again at the six and ran downfield to spike the ball and stop the clock to run another play.  An illegal substitution call moved the Huskies back to the eleven.  Orlovsky picked up one yard on the next play, but more importantly brought the ball to the middle of the field to square the ball up for a FG attempt.  He called his last time-out with :05 remaining.  Nuzie’s kick was true and the Huskies celebrated with their remaining fans for their sixth win of the season, a hard-fought, well-played 38-37 victory against MAC foe Akron for the Huskies’ third triumph in three games at their new home, Rentschler Field.  It will be recorded as the third memorable CFF game won by a team on the very last play of the game, two within the last two weeks!

     Next week, the Huskies host another MAC team, Western Michigan, before entertaining Rutgers and then traveling to Wake Forest to finish their season.  A 9-3 season is not out of the question for the Huskies, and a minor bowl game may bode for their future, but no bowl game is minor for a team in only its fourth season of 1A competition. Akron has three games remaining in conference play at Marshall and at Central Michigan before finishing at home against Ohio U.

Extra points:  Unfamiliar with the new stadium, CFF ended up parking quite a distance from the stadium as we followed the designated traffic patterns.  The main parking lots are former runways of the Pratt-Whitney airplane engine facility adjacent to the new stadium.  We were directed up one long runway ending up a quite a distance from the stadium fearing the resultant traffic on the way out after the game, especially if it was a good game and everyone stayed until the end, but we learned not to be concerned about that here.  Getting out was easy because they had everything on the way out well organized.  Four state trooper cars would head up four lanes and guide traffic coming down the runway to the end keeping pedestrian and tailgaters clear down the runway, and then they would rotate back to guide the next group out.  It was pretty quick getting out after taking a long walk to the car.

 They sell beer in Rentschler.  First you have to line up for proof to get a wristband to buy beers from various vendors.  They had specific Rolling Rock and Sam Adams stands among others if you wanted to pay $8 for a 12 oz. Plastic bottle.  It didn’t stop Yankee fans who are either rich or lose control after 1 or 2. 

 CFF sat among the Akron faithful, most of who were parents of players who wore their kids’ names on their backs, jerseys or buttons with their favorite players' pictures on them.

They play a different version of "catch of the day" here at the end of Q1 than they did last week at UNC.  A student gets a chance to catch three long spirals thrown by a machine.  Three catches gets the most prizes.  The kid who came out had pretty bad judgment and caught one ball for a $25 gift certificate for Bob’s Stores.

 UConn already has the Big East logo emblazoned on the field.  The Big East's 4-4 Rutgers will be there in two weeks expecting the Huskies to roll over and play dead because…well they’re Rutgers and they’re 4-4 (wins against Army, Buffalo, Temple and Navy).    They think UConn falls in that category.  They'll be surprised!

 Uyi Osunde’s timing was not only great on the field, but he was pictured on the cover and the featured player in the UConn game program, Kickoff.  From Bloomsburg, PA, you wonder if he’s one of those kids who avoided PSU because of JoePa’s longevity question or if he was just overlooked.  Either way, it's PSU's loss considering the way they're playing this year.  It looks like Coach Randy Edsall is making some headway with Pennsy recruits.  He’s got quite a few, including many freshmen, hailing for Nittany Lion strongholds.

 CFF will come up with an All-Football Name team someday.  Akron has the Basch brothers, Dan at RB and Dennis at TE.  They would make the team.  Mike Brake, whose parents sat in front of us, would make it if he’d play defense, but he’s a TE.  Others would include LB Mike Ambush of Maryland and OL Rich Incognito of Nebraska who’s the perfect guy to run the old “fumble-rooski” play.  Our favorite though is still UNC’s  WR Jawarski Pollock! We’ll have to work on this team in the future though.