If there is a limit to how much heartache a group of people can take, the UConn football team is testing it. The last two weeks following the death of Jasper Howard have certainly been among the hardest the Huskies community has faced. One thing that could help would be to get a win; to have lost both games since his passing has been especially difficult. Losing them in the fashion that they have been makes it almost unbearable.
After last week's deflating loss at West Virginia - a long Noel Devine touchdown run with just over one minute left gave the Mountaineers the win - it seemed as though it could not get much worse; then Saturday happened.
The team came out flat and allowed the opening kickoff to be returned for a touchdown and the offense could get nothing done. Passes were dropped, balls were overthrown and neither Jordan Todman nor Andre Dixon could find any holes. Despite the Huskies' troubles, they still found themselves engineering a late game drive to take the lead.
Michael Smith and Kashif Moore, who were by Howard's side when he was stabbed, had key receptions in the drive. Moore put a move on a Rutgers defender so nasty that he had to be carried off the field because of how badly he twisted his knee.
After Todman scored on the fourth down to put UConn up 24-21, Rentschler Field exploded. I've attended games there for four years and from standing down at field level, I can honestly say it was the loudest I've ever heard it.
Sixteen seconds later, it was the quietest. After Tim Brown scored on the very next play, the Rentschler faithful - who had stood by to watch the team rally from 11 down - could do nothing but stand in stunned silence.
It had gone from a great win - with two of Howard's friends making key plays - to a crushing defeat. It's getting hard to think it could get much worse.
Head coach Randy Edsall has been a bastion of stability, but during a time of turmoil was nearly at a loss for words. Edsall has coached for a long time but this loss was among the hardest to swallow.
"If it's not the top it's in the top two or three for sure," Edsall said. "Because of all the things we've gone through."
Smith, who made a diving catch to keep the go-ahead drive alive, followed suit.
"I can't describe how I feel," Smith said. "It hurts because we really wanted to get this game for Jazz and we wanted to get West Virginia for Jazz."
It was not just this game that got to Todman but also last week's at West Virginia and at Pittsburgh and home against North Carolina. All games the Huskies should have won but didn't. All games that are weighing on this team.
"We're hurt this is over and over again we've had the opportunity to win in the fourth quarter and we let it slip through our hands," Todman said. "It hurts. I'm sure we're going to think about this one for a while."
Todman and the rest of the team will not have time to dwell on it as a prime time nationally televised game against the fourth-ranked and undefeated Cincinatti team approaches. For a team that keeps getting beaten down, a road game against an undefeated team could be the worst thing possible - if they let it.
Spoiling the Bearcats national championship aspirations on national television could be the best medicine for the Huskies' woes.
Smith, for one, knows his teammates can put this behind them and rise to the challenge.
"We just got to keep fighting," Smith said. "We won't let this one loss hinder the rest of our season. We've got take it in stride and learn."
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