Howards memory alive after UConn win

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Kashif Moore has called JoAnglia Howard before every game UConn has played in the past five weeks and reminded her that her son, Jasper, is always on the Huskies' minds.

So when Moore made an 11-yard touchdown reception in the first overtime, helping UConn earn a 33-30, double-overtime victory at Notre Dame on Saturday, it's obvious what the redshirt sophomore wide receiver was thinking about.

"It feels like a dream," Moore said. "It was real good to get one for Jazz, you know?"

Jasper Howard, a junior cornerback, was stabbed to death on campus in the early hours of Oct. 18, not long after he had played the best game of his career in the Huskies' 38-25 victory against Louisville.

Moore was with Howard the night he was killed and scored his first touchdown of the season against West Virginia six days later. But the Huskies lost that game in the closing minutes, lost against Rutgers a week later in their first home game since the murder and were defeated on the road at then-No. 4 Cincinnati on Nov. 7.

Saturday's victory marked the first time the Huskies (5-5) were able to honor their fallen teammate with a victory.

"We hadn't done that, so that first win that we were going to get was going to be special," said UConn head coach Randy Edsall. "What better place than here?"

The Huskies mourned Howard's loss with an impromptu vigil the following night at the spot where Moore held a dying Howard in his arms. A more formal ceremony came three days later, followed by the team flying to Miami - Howard's hometown - for the funeral the following Monday.

UConn had already chosen to pay tribute to Howard by wearing decals bearing his initials on their helmets, bringing his jersey and helmet to the sidelines through the end of the 2010 season - when Howard would have graduated - and setting up a variety of memorials inside the Burton Complex on campus.

But the victory allows Edsall to do something he believes will help Howard's family members remember his on-the-field contributions: he can give them a game ball, which is typically awarded to the team's outstanding players in a win.

It was a promise that he gave to JoAnglia and Daneisha Freeman, Howard's girlfriend and the mother of his unborn daughter, shortly after Howard's death.

"I know one thing - that little No. 6 was up there looking down on us today," Edsall said.

As for Moore, he planned to make another phone call to JoAnglia after the Huskies arrived home in Storrs.

"I want to tell her that we finally got a win for her," Moore said.