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Critical plays lead UConn football to 34-20 road victory at Temple
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- Critical plays lead UConn football to 34-20 road victory at Temple
The UConn football team responded from back-to-back close losses with a hard-fought, 34-20 road victory at Temple on Saturday.
It was a major swing at the end of the first half – a UConn touchdown, followed by a Temple fumble and a UConn field goal as time expired – that put the Huskies in control. Their defense, after a rough first half, put the game away as it forced a second fumble in the fourth quarter and held the Owls to just three points after the break.
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Quarterback Kalieb Osborne starred as he completed 17 of 23 passes for 257 yards and made critical plays with his legs. UConn had 248 yards rushing with the attack led by Trey Cornist's 117 yards on seven carries and Cyncir Bowers' 84 yards on 18 attempts. Both scored a rushing touchdown, as well as Osborne and Kenji Christian, who was limited.
UConn improved to 3-3 in its first year under head coach Jason Candle as Temple dropped to 2-4.
Both teams scored on all-but one offensive possession in the first half as Osborne's initial rushing score was answered immediately by a 79-yard heave over the top of the Huskies' struggling secondary. Christian, who missed last week's game with a hamstring injury, announced his return with a 39-yard touchdown run, only to be answered by a double pass from the Owls, which resulted in a 29-yard touchdown from receiver Colin Chase to tight end Peter Clarke.
It was the only run of the day for Christian, whose status was not immediately clear.
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UConn turned the ball over on downs just before the end of the first quarter and held the Owls to a 26-yard field goal at the end of a 12-play, 85-yard drive as it fell behind, 17-14.
Cornist, who made the touchdown catch in overtime last week, showed off his sprinters' speed twice in the half. First was a 51-yard run to the 5-yard line, which he eventually finished in the end zone to put the Huskies back in front. Then he had a 44-yard burst that jump started the Huskies' final drive of the half. That run came one play after Temple, trying to bleed the clock in anticipation of receiving the second half kickoff, saw running back Keveun Mason get stripped by Renick Dorilas and the fumble recovery go to safety Braedyn Moore.
Facing 4th-and-6 from the Temple 33-yard line with less than a minute left in the half, Osborne took a hard hit as he dropped a perfect pass in the bucket for Shamar Porter inside the 5-yard line. The ball was moved up to the 1 due to the roughing the passer penalty and, after a muffed snap and a sack, UConn escaped disaster with a last-second spike and closed the half with a 21-yard chip shot for kicker Jack O'Connor to push the lead to 24-17.
While the first half started with seven scores on nine offensive chances, the second started with four straight punts before Temple cut into its deficit with a 29-yard field goal late in the third quarter.
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It looked like the game might be slipping away from the Huskies as penalties killed their flow on offense and Temple was leaning on its running game. The Owls were across midfield and driving when Sheppard looked to throw and had his arm arm hit by the helmet of Shamar Riser-Pressley, forcing the ball free for a K'Von Sherman fumble recovery, UConn's second of the day.
The Huskies capitalized on the short field with Bowers bouncing to the outside for an 8-yard score that pushed the lead to 31-20 with just less than eight minutes to play.
O'Connor tacked on a 27-yard field goal in the final two minutes for good measure.
Half-way through its season, UConn will have a bye week before returning to Rentschler Field for a bigger-than-usual game against UMass (4-2) on Friday night, Oct. 23.
