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Huskies Doomed by Fourth-Quarter Mistakes Against Miami (Ohio)
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- Huskies Doomed by Fourth-Quarter Mistakes Against Miami (Ohio)
Entering theirSaturday clash with Miami (Ohio), the UConn Huskies had played one type of game.
A blowout.Three of them – two of them wins, one a loss.
The Huskiesfinally played a nail-biter and wound up on the wrong side, losing 24-21, inOxford, Ohio. Head coach Jason Candle, who coached against Miami when he was the head coach at Toledo, will watch this game film with interest.
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The first half
The Huskiesjumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first 8:37, and it appeared UConn was on itsway to another big win .
After takingthe kickoff, Kalieb Osborne marched the Huskies down the field, finishing aneight-play, 75-yard drive in just 3:56. It was capped by a 7-yard Osborne passto Javon Brown and a Jack O'Connor extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Anothereight-play drive, this one for 84 yards, followed. This time, Osborne kept theball himself, running 38 yards into the end zone to put UConn up 14-0 with 6:23to play in the half.
He led theHuskies (2-2) with 84 rushing yards.
Kalieb Osborne was the leading rusher for the Huskies in their loss on Saturday. David Butler II-Imagn Images
David McComb, Miami'squarterback, engineered yet another eight-play drive, going 90 yards to score with6:08 remaining in the half. He ran the ball in himself for the final 10 yardsand a score. A self-inflicted wound by the Huskies – a personal foul penalty –gave the RedHawks 15 yards on the drive and put them in UConn territory.
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With 1:50 leftin the half, McComb needed just one play and six seconds to hit Brendan Loftuswith a 57-yard pass for a 14-14 tie.
O'Connor misseda 46-yard field goal – his first miss of the season – as time expired in thefirst half.
What wentwrong for UConn
Each teamsettled for a touchdown in the second half until freshman Brady Stidham connectedon a 33-yard field goal attempt with 1:58 left to take the 24-21 lead.
Miami coachChuck Martin inserted Stidham in the game, replacing Kellan McLaughlin, who hadmissed field goal attempts from 40 and 44 yards.
The Huskieshad chances in the fourth quarter that were thwarted by mistakes.
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Seconds intothe final frame, running back Kenji Christian took the handoff from Osborne at theUConn 24 and ran 38 yards to the Miami 40, where he was tripped up. The playwas brought back on an offensive holding penalty to the UConn 14.
The game-crushingplay came with 9:01 left on the clock – still tied at 21 – when Osborne threw hisonly interception, picked off by linebacker CJ Young at the UConn 43.
And the RedHawks (2-2) took their time. They ran 11 plays and gained just 28 yards while running 6:49off the clock in advance of the Stidham field goal.
The Huskieshad one final chance to tie the game or take the lead with 1:50 remaining but couldn'tput together a drive in the 2-minute drill. The RedHawks took over on downs.
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The numbers
UConn wasdominated in time of possession, with Miami having the ball for 32:33.
Osborne was 17-of-32passing for 215 yards with one TD and one interception. McComb finished 19-of-29for 312 yards and two touchdowns.
Hayden Pegg hada team-high eight tackles, followed by Braedyn Moore with seven for UConn. K'VonSherman made one sack. Malcolm McCain had nine for the RedHawks.
Miami registered20 first downs to 17 for UConn. The RedHawks had 414 total yards to 377 for theHuskies.
