Dear Diary,
Bachman–Turner Overdrive once sang about taking care of business. On Saturday at the Rent, the UConn Huskies took care of business. They won 28-3 over their instate rivals, the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, and start the season off 1-1.
The Offense Was Clicking
It’s really starting to look like Nate Carter is the engine of the Huskies offense. In Week Zero, he rushed for 190 yards so OC Nick Charlton went back to that well. On 23 carries, Carter rushed for 123 yards and reached pay dirt for the first time this season with a 17-yard touchdown run. While Carter has been the lead dog in the backfield, other backs contributed. Sophomore backs Brian Brewton and Devontae Houston made some noise. Brewton carried the rock 10 times for 62 yards and Houston had 4 carries for 41 yards.
Through the air, Zion Turner played a lot cleaner. The freshman went 14 for 22 with 172 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Turner’s top target was sophomore wideout Aaron Turner who reeled in 2 passes for 57 yards. All in all, the Huskies offense looked way more complete in Week One than they did in Week Zero.
Multiple CT High School Alum Made Plays On Offense
This game was a massive Connecticut love affair. We saw two Connecticut teams square off with multiple Connecticut kids on each roster. For UConn, there were two guys that really stood out and made a mark. Jacob Flynn (another guy I played in high school) recently moved up the depth chart and in Saturdays game, he caught his first career touchdown pass. In the fourth quarter, Zion Turner threw a 10 yard fade to the Southington High alum. Flynn started his career at UConn as a walk on and was put on scholarship during camp.
Flynn struck first, then came Victor Rosa. With 36 seconds remaining in the game, the 2021 CT Gatorade Player of the year ran in an 11-yard score. Rosa was a highly recruited played out of Bristol Central picking up offers from Army, Boston College, and Columbia before committing to stay in-state and play for UConn.
Blue Devils Offense Was Swallowed By The Huskies Defense
I noted last week that the Huskies pass rush needed to improve if they wanted to win games. They must have read my blog because their defensive line got after it. Junior Sokoya McDuffie made two tackles, one for loss, and one sack while sophomores Dal’mont Gourdine and Collin McCarthy each had three tackles: 1.5 for loss, and one sack. This group really set the tone and made life difficult for CCSU.
While the defensive line stole the show, linebackers Jackson Mitchell and Ian Swenson continued to make plays. The duo combined for 11 tackles. In the secondary, sixth year Brandon Bouyer-Randle, who transferred in from Texas Tech, made three tackles and an interception. They truly dominated and suffocated the Blue Devils offense holding them to only three points.
The Rent Was (Semi) Packed
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the game, but from the pictures I saw it looked like the UConn faithful and more showed up. 22,422 fans were in attendance which is a 56% attendance rate. This is a 20% jump from their average attendance last year and is a 9% jump from last year’s home opener.
UConn is back home this Saturday in primetime to face off against Syracuse in the Pasqualoni Bowl. This game will be a huge one to pack The Rent.
