UConn Football: Huskies set records in 48-14 win over FAU Owls

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UConn Football, UConn Huskies, The League Winners

STORRS, CT — After a loss on the road against Duke, the UConn Huskies responded with a 48-14 win over the Florida Atlantic Owls in their second home game of the college football season. Going into the game as the favorite, UConn had their most successful rushing day in program history, and Durrell Robinson helped lead the Huskies to perhaps their biggest win in a decade.

Getting off to a hot start

The game began with a quick FAU punt, allowing UConn a chance to get off to a hot start. They did just that, with Chris Freeman making his first field goal attempt of the day. Another Florida Atlantic punt led to a drive into Owl territory, but was ended thanks to a Nick Evers fumble. However, he turned it around with what ended up being two straight scoring drives. The first of which included a 43-yard laser from Evers to his former Wisconsin teammate, Skyler Bell.

That drive was later capped off by a Mel Brown receiving touchdown.

UConn played well defensively, not allowing a single passing yard in the first quarter; and they didn’t allow one until over four minutes into the second quarter. Quarterback Cam Fancher and the Owls didn’t even cross mid-field until close to five minutes into the quarter.

After (yet another) FAU punt, Connecticut got the ball back. And a 12-play, 91-yard drive with just two pass attempts was finished with an 8-yard rushing touchdown from Durrell Robinson.

Robinson was a playmaker throughout, finishing his day with 16 carries for 156 yards and two scores. “I can impact the game,” the freshman running back said postgame. Connecticut later finished their half up 17-0, one where head coach Jim Mora was “happy with where we started.”

Pulling away in the second half

It was in the third quarter of the football game where UConn finally started to extend their lead and separate themselves from FAU. The Huskies would score on each of their final six drives, en route to a 34-point victory.

That started with a 14-play, 75-yard drive taking up close to seven minutes. In fact, the Huskies excelled in long, methodical drives throughout this contest. In their first three games combined, UConn had just three drives of four or more minutes according to Adam Giardino of UConn Sports Network. Connecticut surpassed that time in four drives just in this game.

The first drive of the second half ended with a Nick Evers rushing touchdown, his first of two rushing scores. Evers finished his day with 78 yards on the ground on 18 carries.

The very next drive, Jayden McDonald picked off Fancher, who was not able to get what appeared to be an easy touchdown. “I’m definitely upset about that,” McDonald said postgame.

UConn was able to finish the drive with a field goal. However, FAU’s offense finally started to click, scoring their first touchdown thanks to some short passes and a dominant run game.

The final quarter

UConn extended their lead back to 27 in the final frame, thanks to a 46-yard run from Mel Brown, followed by a Nick Evers rushing touchdown. Brown had an excellent day as one of UConn’s lead backs, running for 156 yards on 21 carries. “Mel cuts like he has no knee’s,” Robinson said postgame. Brown’s elusive play style continue to shows he deserves an opportunity.

And as if his day wasn’t already good enough, Durrell Robinson added the salt on the wound with his second rushing touchdown.

UConn scored one last time minutes later, with Joe Fagnano stepped into the football game and threw a 33-yard touchdown to Shamar Potter.

Florida Atlantic continued to have a productive day on the ground, with C.J. Campbell running for a 38-yard touchdown. The Owls finished with 163 yards and two scores on the ground, something they will try to build off of. However, it’s hard to have a more successful rushing day than UConn had.

The Huskies finished the game with 421 rushing yards, a program record since joining the FBS. The craziest part about it is that UConn didn’t even use many of their running weapons. Victor Rosa was sidelined due to injury, and Cam Edwards was given just seven carries which he took for 30 yards. So, UConn did not get significant production from either of their top two running backs, and ran for over 400 yards.

The Potential To Grow Further

This win puts UConn in a great position the rest of the college football season. Hosting five more home games consecutively, UConn has an opportunity to stack up wins.

With eight games left, Giardino reports that UConn is the favorite in seven of those remaining contests. If UConn can build off of this performance and win those games, they could have an eight or nine win season for the first time since 2010. It is a high bar, but after watching their success, it’s been shown that UConn can live up to it.

Chase Coburn is an aspiring sports reporter and journalist who's already achieved some great things in the industry. At just 13 years old, Chase has already started his own podcast, interviewing celebrities such as ESPN's Adam Schefter, Baltimore Ravens' Justin Madubuike, ESPN's Dan Graziano, and many others. Chase is even experienced in writing for his websites, chasessportsnews.com & chasecoburn.substack.com. He runs his schools broadcast department, and is also a freelance writer for The League Winners, covering Ravens football and UConn football.Chase, who resides in Fairfield, CT, hopes to continue his dream as a broadcaster, and inspire others to CHASE their dreams like he has.

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