He'd been in this spot before, with arguably just as much on the line. November 21, with the score knotted at 20 in Notre Dame Stadium, Dave Teggart had a chance to kick a game-winning field goal with time expiring. He shanked it. This time around, his kick couldn't have been truer. Teggart came into Saturday's contest against USF just 11 of 19 on field goals. He missed two against West Virginia and two against Rutgers, a pair of games UConn lost by a combined eight points. But despite his struggles, and despite the inclement weather, Teggart nailed a 47-yard field goal to give UConn a 29-27 win over the Bulls.
Teggart described the jubilation of being carried off the field by his teammates as what a kicker lives for.
"As a kicker, we don't get onto the field too much," Teggart said. "Tonight I got on the field earlier and they blocked one. When that kind of thing happens, you really want to get out there again and get another kick. I was just lucky enough to get another kick at the end."
With UConn suffering so many close losses this season, five by a combined 15 points, the Huskies were hesitant to think Teggart's field goal was a sure thing. Sophomore running back Jordan Todman and some of his teammates turned away from the play and watched the kick unfold on the scoreboard video screen. And as for quarterback Zach Frazer who orchestrated the drive to put Teggart in field goal range?
"I went down to the other end of the field, away from everyone," Frazer said. "The weather and everything, I was kind of nervous, I didn't want to be around anyone. I was hoping that he made it and he did and then everyone carried him off, I was just laughing, it was funny."
But UConn head coach Randy Edsall never doubted Teggart.
"Well, if I didn't have the confidence, I wouldn't have put him out there," Edsall said. "Or I wouldn't have let him try that field goal. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in David; I just wish David had as much confidence in himself as I have in him."
Birmingham or bust
It was announced today that the UConn football team accepted a bid to play in the Papajohns.com Bowl on Jan. 2, 2010 against an SEC team yet to be named but likely the University of South Carolina. The bowl marks the fourth in UConn's history and the third straight year the Huskies have gone bowling.
UConn won the Motor City Bowl over Toledo in 2004, won the International Bowl against Buffalo in 2008 and fell in the Meineke Car Care Bowl to Wake Forest in 2007.
The matchup will give the Huskies an opportunity to notch their first program win over an SEC opponent.
The injury report
Senior safety Robert Vaughn and freshman defensive end Trevardo Williams left the game with injuries but are expected to be back in time for UConn's bowl game.
"By the time we play again, they'll be ready to go," Edsall said.
Corey Manning suffered an ankle injury early in the game but was able to return in the second half.
Quick hits
Saturday's victory marks the third consecutive time that UConn defeated South Florida in East Hartford, the previous two included a 22-15 win over then-No. 10 USF on Oct. 27, 2007 and a 15-10 win in icy conditions on Nov. 26, 2005 … Tailback Andre Dixon needs 43 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, his teammate Todman already has 1,152. If Dixon picks up 43 yards in the bowl game it will be the first time in UConn history a team has fielded two 1,000 yard rushers … Marcus Easley, who had just five catches for 104 yards in his first two seasons for UConn, has recorded 853 yards and eight touchdowns this season, including a touchdown in seven out of the Huskies' last eight games.
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