UConn’s offense showed signs of life against Army, but mistakes must be cleaned up to improve
In the second quarter of UConn’s loss to Army on Saturday, when the Huskies trailed by three scores, CBS Sports Network analyst Ross Tucker proclaimed on air that the winless Huskies are not that bad, but that players “take turns making mistakes.”
Tucker’s take proved to be especially true in UConn’s 52-21 loss to the Black Knights. The Huskies (0-4) cost themselves a score in the fourth quarter, as a kickoff return for a touchdown courtesy of freshman Brian Brewton was negated by a holding penalty. In the second quarter, UConn picked up 55 yards on a double-pass that resulted in a sizable gain for redshirt sophomore Heron Maurisseau, though it too was called back for an unnecessary blindside block penalty. Freshman quarterback Tyler Phommachanh played with poise, but his receivers failed him on a handful of occasions, dropping would-be first-down passes as UConn tried to establish its offense.
Plays like Brewton’s called-back kick return, or the creative trick play and Phommachanh’s passing prowess showed that UConn’s offense — which had been shut out by the two previous FBS opponents it had played this season — may be set to turn a corner.
But to capitalize on those moments, the Huskies need to clean up their mistakes.
“Today we had a meeting, and I showed the good, the bad and the ugly,” interim head coach Lou Spanos said Sunday. “We, as a team, watched what we did well, what we need to improve on. And just address it now, and also get it corrected through meetings, and also get it corrected through practice this upcoming week. It’s just being consistent. If we’re consistent, we can make our plays, no foolish penalties, missed assignments and also execute.”
Through four games, UConn has committed 25 penalties to their opponents’ 16, and is just 18-for-60 on third down conversions. Its offense has scored just twice against FBS opponents this season, both of which were touchdown runs by Phommachanh on Saturday.
After both sophomore Jack Zergiotis and redshirt sophomore Steven Krajewski failed to reach the end zone against Fresno State in Week 1 and Purdue in Week 3, Spanos gave the ball to Phommachanh, a true freshman from Stratford who he said gave the Huskies the best opportunity to score.
Spanos and the coaching staff were proved correct Saturday, as Phommachanh’s dual-threat ability created touchdown runs of 38 and 6 yards, while he rushed for a team-high 60 yards overall and passed for 109 in his first college start.
Phommachanh’s redshirt status (he could play in four games and still retain his extra season) isn’t a concern to Spanos, who said he had a discussion with the freshman about it. Winning games and fielding a competent offense is Spanos’ prime goal. As of now, it appears, the rookie from Avon Old Farms gives UConn the best chance to accomplish that.
“It wasn’t too big for TP,” Spanos said. “The second half, he got more comfortable based off of his decisions to run the ball. But you’ve also got to be smart now. When he runs away out of the pocket, he’s got to make sure he does a better job of sliding. He did a good job, obviously, throwing it, but the run threat, you saw the athletic ability and the balance he showed, and you saw his breakaway speed. And also, leadership qualities.”
But even Phommachanh, just four quarters into his first game, understands work needs to be done on offense.
“Just build, watch the film,” Phommachanh said Saturday. “There were definitely opportunities that were missed. We’ve got to come back and work on it.”
Injury report
Senior long snapper Brian Keating, a Darien native and team captain, will miss Saturday’s game against Wyoming after he sustained an injury against Army. ... Senior linebacker Omar Fortt didn’t play against the Black Knights and is still day-to-day, Spanos said.
Shawn McFarland can be reached at smcfarland@courant.com.
