Three seconds left, fourth and goal, a single yard standing between the Temple Owls and a game-winning touchdown. After burning almost four minutes off the clock, the Owls had the ingredients they needed to stun the UConn football team at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field.
A team scored a touchdown on the game’s last play. It was just not Temple who did so, however.
Senior defensive back Rante Jones forced the ball out of redshirt freshman Tyler Douglas’ hands as he entered the dogpile. Jordan Wright picked it up and ran 96 yards the other way for the game-sealing touchdown. The roars of 28,000 UConn fans inside the Rent grew louder with every step that Wright took.
"I turned around, [and the ball] was like God's gift right there,” the redshirt senior linebacker said about the play after the game. “I picked it up and got running."
That fumble-six put a bow on the Huskies’ gritty 29-20 victory over Temple. It was a complete 180 from Connecticut’s previous three home games, but their defense once again made all the difference.
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Everyone stepped up for the Huskies. Among the notable performances, redshirt senior linebacker Jayden McDonald led the charge with 14 total tackles and 2.5 for a loss. Fellow redshirt senior Malik Dixon-Williams recorded his fourth-career interception.
UConn forced three turnovers and kept their opponent off the board on 12 of their 15 possessions. All of that happened without star defensive tackle Pryce Yates; that alone speaks volumes about defensive coordinator Matt Brock’s unit.
“We talk about defending every blade of grass,” head coach Jim Mora commented. “[Tonight’s contest] was the epitome of it.”
Mighty as the Huskies’ defense was, however, their offense struggled. The Owls’ defense consistently found holes in Connecticut’s sturdy offensive line. A collapsed pocket stymied both aspects of the Huskies’ dynamic attack. UConn gained only 371 total yards of offense (a season low at home) and went 3-15 on third down.
Temple’s relentless pressure prevented Huskies’ quarterback Joe Fagnano from getting into a rhythm like his previous two appearances. The former Maine Black Bear went 24-41 for 272 yards and a 58-yard touchdown, but he also turned the ball over three times.
Fagnano struggled cracking the Owls’ defense, but Purdue transfer TJ Sheffield provided much-needed aerial support. Sheffield stepped up with Wisconsin transfer Skyler Bell having an off day, catching nine passes for a career-best 141 yards and a touchdown.
Connecticut’s run game gained 200+ yards in each of their three previous home contests. The Huskies mustered just 99 on 41 carries as a team versus Temple, and none of their runs were longer than 11 yards. Charlotte transfer Durell Robinson provided UConn with the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left. Even then, Robinson collected a team-high 52 yards.
Redshirt sophomore Cam Edwards gained just 40 yards on 15 carries, but his third and fourth rushes resulted in a turnover on downs. The Huskies’ went three-and-out on their ensuing possession, but graduate wideout Dante Wright’s fumble on the punt return gave them a second life. Connecticut’s gift only turned into a 43-yard field goal.
The Huskies’ defense did their part in maintaining that 3-0 lead, but it could only last so long. Sacramento State transfer Connor Stutz’s fourth punt of the day never left the endzone. Redshirt sophomore Antwone Santiago blocked the punt after zipping past the offensive line; redshirt junior wideout John Adams recovered it for the Temple touchdown.
UConn got two shots at scoring a go-ahead touchdown late in the first half. With the Owls’ goal-line defense standing strong on both possessions, however, the Huskies settled for two Chris Freeman field goals and a 9-7 halftime advantage.
Temple took the lead back following halftime. Despite making it to the 37-yard line on 10 plays, redshirt senior Maddux Trujillo buried a 60-yard field goal that put the Owls ahead 10-9. Trujillo could not cash in from 32 yards out following Fagnano’s first interception, however, as his kick leaned wide right. Instead, Temple’s kicker redeemed himself with a 42-yarder after Connecticut fumbled the ball four minutes later.
The Owls’ 13-9 advantage lasted two plays. The graduate gunslinger connected with Sheffield on a slant pass and watched as the Purdue transfer took it for a 58-yard touchdown and a 16-13 Huskies’ lead.
Dixon-Williams followed with his first pick of the year off Tui Faumuina-Brown’s deflection a minute into the fourth quarter. Graduate cornerback Elijah Deravil gave Temple the ball right back four plays later after reading Fagnano’s throw like a hawk. Redshirt junior Forrest Brock subsequently took the ball himself and put the Owls up 20-16 on his first rushing score of the season.
Once UConn got possession with 7:17 left, they did not stop until they reached the endzone. None of that would have happened had Fagnano not avoided a third-down sack and found a wide-open Brett Buckman near the left sideline. Robinson capped off the Huskies’ 10-play drive with a dash into the endzone for his first touchdown in two weeks.
Temple, trailing 23-20, went for the win with the 226 seconds they had left. They nearly accomplished that on their first two plays, getting into the redzone behind a 21-yard completion and a 35-yard Terrez Worthy rush. Instead of leaving East Hartford victorious, however, the Owls exited in heartbreaking defeat.
Wright delivered the dagger on the final play, crossing his arms and lying down after recovering a fumble and taking it 96 yards. Although he did not need a close result in Saturday evening’s contest, Mora sees Connecticut’s narrow victory as another building block.
“Character wins are more important to me than blowouts,” the 2004 NFC Coach of the Year explained. “That is where you start to define yourself as a team [and] as players on a team.”
The Huskies will get two weeks to regroup before their homestand continues with a fight against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Kickoff from East Hartford on Saturday, October 19, is at 12 p.m. on CBSSN.
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