It was a long, quiet ride home for the UConn football team on Sunday Night/Monday morning after their 17-13 loss to South Florida. The Huskies knew, that much like the loss to Rutgers, this was a road win that got away.
And again, it was special teams breakdowns that were critical. A long kickoff return by Dontavia Bogan set up a 30 yard touchdown drive on the Bulls first possesion. A short punt set up a 48 yard touchdown drive for the go ahead score in the fourth quarter. Another long Bogan kickfoff return was negated by an Aaron Bagsby red zone interception in the final seconds of the first half. The Huskies also shot themselves in the foot with seven offensive penalties.
Still with everything that went wrong, it could have been the Huskies night. The defense, for the most part, shut down Matt Grothe and friends. They held USF under two yards per play on first down. They stood up tall on a mind boggling 4th and 1 call by USF Coach Jim Leavitt at his own 45 yard line in the second quarter with the Bulls leading 10-0 and UConn showing absolutely no life offensively. And the flea flicker that resulted Ellis Gaulden's first career touchdown reception gave UConn the momenteum that should have produced a win. But South Florida had other ideas.
So barring something unforseen, I would expect UConn to head to Toronto for the International Bowl on January 3rd against a team from the MAC. It's not exactly a vacation destination in January but a) it is a bowl game and b)- I have only heard great things about Toronto.
The men hit the airwaves tonight in the Paradise Jam final against Wisconsin at 8 pm and then Tuesday night, it's the end of our Seven Game in Six Night Marathon as the women visit BYU.
Have a Great Thanksgiving!
