Hurting Huskies Finally Get Week Off

CINCINNATI -- UConn coach Randy Edsall emerged from the visitor's locker room at Nippert Stadium after a 47-45 loss to Cincinnati Saturday, the latest in a season-long full of heartbreakers for the Huskies.

He admitted he's not sure what to say anymore.

"You can use any adjective you want, but we just came up short," he said. "I told [the players] I'm running out of things to tell them after a game like this."

Saturday's loss to the No. 4 Bearcats was the latest in a string of heartbreaking losses since the murder of UConn junior Jasper Howard Oct. 18. Fortunately for the Huskies, they don't play this week, giving them a much needed break.

UConn closes the regular season at Notre Dame (Nov. 21) and home against Syracuse (Nov. 28) and South Florida (Dec. 5). The Huskies need to win at least two games to become bowl eligible.

"We need a bye, truthfully, just to get away from football for a second," UConn senior running back Andre Dixon told FanHouse. "Just to refocus. We've been playing good ball, but even since it happened. We need a little bit of time away from it to refocus."

It, of course, was Howard's murder.
"We need the bye very badly," Edsall said. "We need these kids to get away from football. They've been through quite a bit and they just need to kind of be by themselves and do what they've got to do."

Since the tragedy, the past three games for UConn have been gut-wrenching to say the least.

At West Virginia, only six days after Howard's murder, UConn led 24-21 in the final minutes only to watch West Virginia running back Noel Devine break free for a 56-yard touchdown run with 2:10 remaining. UConn lost 28-24.

Against Rutgers, five days after the team flew to Miami for Howard's funeral services, Jordan Todman's 2-yard touchdown run on fourth down gave the Huskies a 24-21 lead with 38 seconds remaining. However, Rutgers wide receiver Tim Brown, who grew up two houses down from Howard in Miami, scored on an 81-yard touchdown reception with 22 seconds remaining. UConn lost 28-24.

At Cincinnati on Saturday, the Huskies fell behind 30-10 at halftime and still trailed 40-24 with 14 minutes remaining, before putting on a furious rally. UConn pulled within 40-38, but failed on the game-tying two-point conversion with 5:03 remaining. After Cincinnati scored with 1:52 remaining, UConn answered with 13 seconds remaining, but couldn't recover the onside kick. UConn lost 47-45.

Three Saturdays. Three devastating losses. By a total of 10 points.

"It's about having pride in what you do, having the will to want to win," Dixon said. "UConn is a football team that never gives up. We really thrive on finishing. When you prepare to finish and you don't, it's kind of heartbreaking.

"But we're a team that won't give up as you can see in these last games, but it just hurts to come up short every time."

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said if the Bearcats had been playing UConn away from home, it might have ended differently.

"I know it's been talked about but Randy Edsall and the job he's done to keep his team together, is just an incredible job," Kelly said.

Besides their three recent losses, the Huskies' other two losses were to North Carolina (12-10) and Pittsburgh (24-21). The 4-5 Huskies are 15 points away from being 9-0.

"It's especially tough for the seniors," Dixon said. "Know how well we've played and how close we are to being undefeated. Think about it, it's our last year. There's no next season. As a senior, it hurts twice as much knowing this is our last time."

Dixon said the Huskies have been able to persevere through the tough times by relying on each other.

"We stick together, we push each other," Dixon said. "We compete to make sure we give our best effort in everything we do. It's not surprising at all. This is something that's a part of UConn football: it's about fighting and staying together.

"When you put the work in that we do every week, you expect to play as well as we did.

"It says something about our team character and our love for the sport, and our love for each other and how strong our family is, to bounce back from something like that and play as well as we did. It says something about our character, but the game is always measured by wins and losses at the end of the day."