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UConn Football: Five Takeaways From Crushing Loss Against Syracuse
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- UConn Football: Five Takeaways From Crushing Loss Against Syracuse
(Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images)
The UConn Huskies football team dropped its second consecutive game on Saturday, falling 42-41 in overtime against the visiting Syracuse Orange .
With the loss, the Huskies are now 2-3 on the year while Syracuse improved to 2-2. The Huskies are now 6-9 against Syracuse all-time. They haven't beaten the Orange since 2011. This marked the second straight year in which they lost this game in overtime.
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Here's what you need to know from the contest, in no particular order.
Furious rallies end up for naught
The Huskies fought valiantly in this game, coming back from 27-7 and 34-14 deficits to force overtime, but it just wasn't enough, ultimately.
The thing that will make Jason Candle and his staff upset is that even with the big deficits, they had this win in the bag.
In overtime, tied at 34-34, the Huskies scored first to take a 41-34 lead.
UConn then had Syracuse at 4th-and-goal from nearly the 20-yard line in overtime, but they allowed Amari Odom to find Umari Hatcher in the back of the endzone. And then Odom scored on a game-winning two-point conversion.
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Osborne plays well, but gets hit a ton
Quarterback Kalieb Osborne was 19-of-39 through the air for 314 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 23 yards. However, he was sacked three times and took several hurries and hits from the SU defensive line.
Turnovers play a role
Both teams played incredibly sloppy football: The Orange threw two interceptions and missed two field goals, while the Huskies lost two fumbles, including one that was deep in Syracuse territory in the first half.
Penalties do too...
These two teams entered play as two of the most heavily penalized teams in the nation, and they continued that in this one. The Orange took eight penalties for 84 yards while UConn took 11 penalties for 69.
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If UConn is going to start a winning streak and get bowl-eligible, then they are going to have to figure out this issue, because it's been an issue in all three losses.
Running game gets going
Earlier this week, we asked for the Huskies to get the running game going beyond Osborne, and they did that, running for 181 yards in total. Cyncir Bowers provided the spark, gaining 163 yards on 16 carries. He had a 71-yard touchdown run as well, which was one of two touchdowns for him on the day.
Up next
The Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon against Temple, in Philadelphia. That game will begin at 3:45 p.m. ET. That was announced earlier this week .
