EAST HARTFORD – The UConn football team was dominant again at Rentschler Field as it beat Buffalo 47-3 and improved to 3-0 at home. But, unlike last week against FAU, the win didn’t come without injury.
The Huskies lost quarterback Nick Evers in the second quarter after he slid on an option run and took what appeared to be the knee of a defensive player to his head. UConn (3-2) was forced to turn to backup Joe Fagnano, who helped the team set records when he started two weeks prior vs. Merrimack, a game Evers missed because of a concussion in the season-opener.
Fagnano came into the game cold and was inconsistent to start, but Skyler Bell made all the difference.
One of UConn’s newest stars, Bell continued to shine on Saturday with touchdown catches of 40 and 70 yards, both from the arm of Fagnano. He tacked on a third score from 12 yards out in the third quarter to complete the hat trick and finished the day with six catches for 153 yards.
“He is so serious on the practice field, every little detail matters to him,” Mora said of Bell. “He can’t get enough catches; he’s with the quarterbacks all the time. During the week he rarely smiles, he’s all about business. And he comes out here and he’s all about business, then when he gets into the end zone he celebrates like he should.”
Evers was ruled out shortly after leaving the medical tent and finished his day 7-for-12 passing for 51 yards, while running eight times for 21. Fagnano went 11-for-19 with 217 passing yards and the trio of touchdowns to Bell, while also running six times for 19 yards.
UConn continued its excellence in the outside zone running scheme as it totaled 263 rushing yards. Cam Edwards led the way with 97 and a touchdown on 10 carries, Durell Robinson added 73 yards on eight attempts and Mel Brown had 10 carries for 53 yards and a score.
The Huskies have outscored opponents 158-31 through three games at Rentschler Field this season.
On defense, where new coordinator Matt Brock’s unit has been dominant of late, linebacker Langston Hardy had two sacks and the defensive line accumulated five pass break-ups. Jayden McDonald and Tui Faumina-Brown – who also had a sack – led the team in total tackles with six and five, respectively. In total, UConn forced 10 punts, three turnovers, and only allowed 198 total yards.
“This is a brand new scheme, it’s an unorthodox scheme, it’s not something that any of them ever played in before, except for Jevon Banks, who was there with Matt Brock (at Mississippi State). They are starting to understand the nuances of it,” Mora said. “It can be complex, it looks complex to an opponent, but our coaches have done a really good job at teaching it, but more than anything our players are just embracing it.
“And when you have a little bit of success and you’ve got the right people as players on your team, there’s a thirst to be better and I saw that in the way they worked this week.”
Buffalo got close to the Huskies’ end zone once in the fourth quarter, but a fourth-and-goal pass from Gunnar Gray, the Bulls’ backup QB, went directly to safety Rante Jones for his first interception of the year.
Forcing a punt to start the game, the Huskies’ marched down inside the Buffalo 10-yard line on their opening drive, but stalled after consecutive incompletions and settled for a short field goal from Chris Freeman to go up 3-0.
UConn’s next offensive drive was extended by a Buffalo unnecessary roughness penalty that came after a late hit on Evers as he slid. Two plays later, Edwards broke a tackle and got to the left sideline, where he sprinted 43 yards and was shoved into the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the year.
Freeman added another field goal, from 39 yards, but the Huskies’ offense initially slowed after Evers took the hit and exited the game.
Connor Stutz, after not punting at all last week, shanked his first punt on Saturday but pinned the Bulls on their own 1-yard line on his second opportunity. Another three-and-out, Buffalo’s fourth of the first half, and a 33-yard punt return from T.J. Sheffield put the Huskies’ offense back in business. But Fagnano couldn’t find an open receiver in the end zone and Freeman came out for his third field goal of the day, this time from just 22 yards, to put UConn up 16-0.
Buffalo’s secondary completely lost the Huskies’ top receiver, Bell, on the next offensive possession and Fagnano found him for a walk-in 40-yard touchdown that put UConn ahead 23-0.
“When you’re wide open like that, the biggest thing is don’t drop it. Don’t drop it. Because the wide open ones be the hardest ones,” Bell said.
The Bulls finally cracked the scoreboard with a 47-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, but less than a minute after the third quarter began, Fagnano rolled out right and found Bell again. With one cut inside, Bell was in the clear for a 70-yard score. Bell scored for a third time on a 12-yard reception to put the Huskies up 37-3 with five and a half minutes left in the third quarter.
“Coming here, talking to Coach Mora, I think we had the same belief in, not only myself, but in each other,” Bell said. “I think he gave me that confidence to where I knew I can go out here and I can make plays and I know he’s gonna be standing behind me. That helps when you’re a receiver and you know they want to get you the ball and they want to let you make plays, that’s all I really asked for. And I’m trying to prove myself as one of the best.”
The last time a UConn receiver recorded three or more receiving touchdowns was in 1996, when Dak Newton caught three against Villanova.
Buffalo turned the ball over on downs for a second time before the third quarter ended and UConn’s ensuing drive was accelerated by a 41-yard run from Robinson. Brown capped the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Freeman completed the scoring with a 27-yard field goal, his fourth of the day.
UConn with host Temple (1-4) in the third of its six-game homestand at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday (CBS Sports Network).
“We’ve got this rare schedule, and so we can’t assume that just because we’re playing at home we’re gonna play well and win. We have to make sure that we do all of the work that we can do to make sure that we go out and play well and win at home,” Mora said. “We gotta win at home, that’s gotta be mandatory. That’s nonnegotiable.”
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