BOSTON — In front of a raucous Fenway Park crowd, the UConn Huskies beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, 27-14, on Saturday.
“UConn nation showed up today in a way I haven’t seen in three years,” said Huskies head coach Jim Mora postgame. “They talk about [Rentschler Field] being loud, but nothing like it was today.”
Anything You Can Do…
UNC won the toss, deferring to the second half.
UConn’s offense started with a bang when junior running back Mel Brown bounced outside for a 47-yard gain on the first play of the game. The Huskies would convert on third down on the Joe Fagnano strike to Jasaiah Gathings, putting them into the red zone.
The drive stalled out on a failed QB run, forcing UConn a kick. Chris Freeman drilled the 32-yarder to put UConn ahead 3-0 in the first four minutes of play.
North Carolina’s running game struggled to find its footing on their opening possession. The Husky defensive line blew up a third-down rush up the middle by Davion Gause, forcing a punt.
UNC’s start went from bad to worse following an injury to quarterback Jacoby Criswell just four minutes into the game. The Arkansas native would be walked to the locker room to be replaced by true freshman Michael Merdinger.
Merdinger’s first collegiate snap almost ended in a touchdown to DJ Mazzone, but the Floridian’s throw was just barely too long. UConn declined an ineligible man penalty, instead requiring the Tar Heels to punt on fourth down.
UConn would score the first major of the day when Fagnano found Skyler Bell open on a fade in the front of the endzone. Freeman’s kick put the Huskies up 10-0 with under four minutes to play in the first term.
The partisan UConn crowd quickly fell silent when return man Chris Culliver found a hole in the UConn recovery team, bounced to the sideline, and made his way into the endzone for a 95-yard score to make it 10-7 UConn.
UConn Pulls Away
As the game rolled into the second quarter, Fagnano maneuvered the UConn offense into the UNC red zone. Helped by a pair of UNC personal fouls, the Huskies would convert from four yards out. Fagnano found Alexander Honig on a short throw to the right to put the Huskies back up two scores.
UNC’s ensuing drive only continued the parade of horribles. An end around by Tyrane Stewart would be blown up by the Huskies, forcing them back 7 yards. On third down, Merdinger would be strip sacked for a loss of 12, requiring yet another Carolina punt.
After trading punts, the Husky offense put together a methodical 14-play, 56-yard drive. After being stopped three times inside the five-yard line, Cam Edwards found a hole on a toss to the right, diving over the top of a UNC defender to put the finishing touches on a spect
Carolina picked up their first first down of the game with just 24 seconds remaining in the first half. on a 23-yard reception by John Copenhaver.
The first down would be the lone highlight for the Tar Heels in the first half. Merdinger made a poor read, throwing the ball into the waiting arms of UConn linebacker Tui Faumuina-Brown.
The Huskies knelt out a dominant first half, choosing to head to the locker room with a 24-7 advantage. In the opening 30 minutes, UConn outgained Carolina by nearly 200 yards.
The Tar Heels’ Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
UConn’s kick recovery unit attempted some trickeration to start the second half, shifting into, and then back out of, an onside kick alignment before Freeman blasted the ball through the end zone.
The Tar Heels doubled their first down count on their first play of the half. Davion Gause stormed up the field for a 12 yard gain to put UNC at their own 37. However, their success was short-lived. The UConn defense would once again grind down the Carolina rushing attack, coming up with a massive fourth down stop.
Handed a short field, Fagnano once again drove the Husky offense into the UNC red zone. The Tar Heel defense would finally slow down the UConn onslaught, holding them to a short-field goal try. Freeman converted the 24-yard attempt, putting the Huskies up 27-7 at the halfway mark of the third quarter.
After a fifth UNC punt, UConn immediately hit another explosive play with a 32-yard reception by Bell. However, the gain wound up halved following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on lineman Ja’Khi Green. The 15-yard setback wound up killing any momentum for the Huskies. Freeman’s 52-yard attempt sailed wide left, giving the Tar Heels the ball at their own 34.
Carolina and UConn again traded punts, sending the game into the final term with the Huskies up 20.
Heel’s Last Hurrah
UNC put together their first solid offensive drive of the game early in the fourth quarter, repeatedly sending direct snaps to running back Caleb Hood. However, Hood would end up finishing the drive through the air. The Rockingham native lobbed a pass to tight end John Copenhaver for Carolina’s only touchdown from scrimmage. The kick from Lucas Osada split the uprights, bringing the Tar Heels within two scores with 6:46 to play.
UConn punted the ball back to UNC on the ensuing drive, backing the Tar Heels up to their own four yard line. The Carolina offense showed some promiser early in the drive, working their way out to midfield. However, the Huskies’ defense again came up big, collapsing the UNC line on fourth down to put the game away.
Postgame Proceedings
Inexperience was a major factor in UNC’s loss at Fenway. Due to opt-outs, transfers, and injuries, Carolina was forced to start four freshmen, including three on the offensive line.
“We had a lot of guys out there where this was their first playing experience,” said UNC interim head coach Freddie Kitchens. “We started three freshmen on the offensive line. When we lost Jacolby [Criswell], we had to put Mike [Merdinger] at quarterback. He came in and did an admirable job, but of course, there’s going to be some nerves for these guys. I thought they did a good job as far as just trying to move past some of the early situations we were in that weren’t advantageous for us.”
UConn imposed their will on the Tar Heel defense, running 46 times, more than the sum total of Carolina’s offensive plays. Splitting running duties between five different backs, the Huskies stuck to their gameplan and used the damp conditions to their advantage.
“For three years we’ve hung our hat on being able to run the football,” said UConn head coach Jim Mora postgame. “We take great pride in it. We work hard on it. We’re detailed. I’ve been lucky to be around some great offensive line coaches. I don’t know if anyone coaches the outside zone better than Gordy [Sammis].”
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