The Post-Game Spread: Tennessee was way better
Not much to say after a 59-3 beatdown.
Welcome to The Post-Game Spread, our take on the game recap.
Regardless of how unfortunate the game’s events were, Saturday’s loss to Tennessee is not much of a setback. The Volunteers went into the game ranked 19th in the country and it showed.
The two teams on the field at Neyland Stadium that day were simply playing at two different levels. UT’s skill guys outran UConn’s defenders for three of their first four touchdowns. The first TD came on the second play from scrimmage, a hand-off up the middle for 82 yards.
The Huskies had some interesting things going early, Cam Edwards was running well at first and Justin Joly made some nice plays, finishing with eight catches for 89 yards. Ta’Quan Roberson led the offense to a couple of drives with significant yardage gained but they ended with a field goal and turnover on downs.
They even hit a trick play, with Geordon Porter taking a sweep toss right, passing to his left across the field to Roberson behind the line of scrimmage, and the Husky QB sent it upfield to Brett Buckman for 34 yards.
But it wasn’t even close to enough. A horribly busted coverage led to Tennessee’s second touchdown, a 60-yard bomb, and its fourth touchdown came on an 83-yard catch and run by Squirrel White.
A fumble recovered for a touchdown brought it to 35-3 at halftime and two consecutive pick-sixes to start the third quarter allowed the hosts to put in their backups, who also managed two scoring drives. Backup QB Zion Turner went in early in the fourth quarter for the Huskies.
Next up, UConn visits James Madison, a 9-0 team that just beat Georgia State 42-14 and went into that game ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll. It’ll probably be more of the same in Harrisonburg, Virginia next Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
After that, UConn hosts FCS Sacred Heart for its final home game of the season and then visits UMass for the season finale.
Photo: Twitter - @Vol_Football
What are we looking for over the rest of the season?
The focus for the rest of the season is: to stay healthy at JMU, let the depth chart breathe against Sacred Heart, and take care of business at UMass.
With 2023 in disappointing territory, it’s fair for Husky fans to be thinking a little bit about 2024. You aren’t on the staff. You aren’t on the practice field. It’s okay.
At QB, Roberson has demonstrated enough to hold on to the job. Judging by his performances against teams like Utah State, USF, and Rice, he appears more than capable of leading UConn’s offense and making plays within it. He’ll be facing a tough defense at JMU this week but should finish his first full season strong against Sacred Heart and UMass to take some confidence into the offseason with at least one year of eligibility left.
The team is still working to develop its receiver corps but the offensive line and running backs have been good. At receiver, we can expect to see more of Kylish Hicks and Zack Drawdy, two freshmen who turned heads in preseason camp, to see what the future holds at that position.
At running back, sophomores Cam Edwards and Victor Rosa are capable of being the future for UConn. Another sophomore, Joly, has been great at tight end. This represents a solid foundation of playmakers, but all three will be targeted by other FBS programs to transfer away. This is part of the new dynamic of college sports, one that saw the Huskies lose two running backs early in the season.
UConn will have a lot to replace on the offensive line next year. Two guards who have been really good are seniors, with Christian Haynes garnering serious NFL attention. Still, the line could stay solid if he and Noel Ofori-Nyadu are the only departures.
The Husky defense has been an all-around struggle this year. Between the front seven and secondary, it’s hard to tell which group is in need of more help going forward. Jackson Mitchell is likely to make his professional dreams come true after this year and Eric Watts will probably be on scouts’ radar as well.
Most others on the two-deep should return, but this unit obviously has a lot to figure out. We’ll probably start to see younger guys rotating in over these last three games. They could probably also use a defensive coordinator.
Over the rest of this season and off-season, we’ll be looking closely to see if the right leadership is in place to move UConn football forward. This was a weird year but also one that saw a lot of change across the sport, including realignment, the portal, and NIL and their collective impact. Can the leadership at UConn adapt?
In this new world, we saw opponents like USF, FIU, and Rice quickly upgrade their teams in one year. Jim Mora and his staff will have to look at those blueprints to see how much they can accomplish between now and next fall.
As for the whole conference thing…UConn will likely be exploring its options, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Wow! Do you really think so? What brought you to that conclusion? Tell me that you knew this way before when they first put Tennessee on the schedule. Me being a Uconn fan, I knew this was going to be an ugly game from the start. No matter what kind of team you can have no matter how are they tried. You don't go into Tennessee and play in the big house and expect to win or at least come close. They tried in the first quarter. I give them that send quarter was okay. Tennessee is just too good