Despite losing by a final score of 66-21 to No. 2 West Virginia Saturday, the UConn football team had a chance to win, or at the very least, keep the score respectable. Poor play-calling and decision-making in the first half crushed the Huskies in crucial situations.
After trading early touchdowns with West Virginia, UConn was forced to punt after a three-and-out. With the score 7-7, UConn got a pivotal stop of the vaunted Mountaineers offense - a defensive stand that should have swung the momentum to the Huskies.
But freshman Jasper Howard fumbled the ensuing punt, and West Virginia quickly capitalized with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Pat White.
The question is, why was an inexperienced freshman back to field a punt in arguably the biggest game in UConn football history?
The electric, seasoned veteran Larry Taylor should have been enough. Two punt returners is not a necessity and in this case, it clearly hurt the Huskies.
Howard should never have been placed in the position to fail on the big stage.
Yet UConn was able to momentarily recover from the debacle. The Huskies defense managed to make two consecutive stops of the explosive West Virginia offense.
But horrific play-calling made it impossible for UConn to capitalize.
On three consecutive drives, head coach Randy Edsall and offensive coordinator Rob Ambrose opted to call pass plays on 3rd-and-1 on the Huskies' 26-yard line, 3rd-and-2 on the 27-yard line and 3rd-and-3 on the Mountaineers' 35-yard line.
All three pass attempts failed.
It's certainly not outlandish to pass on 3rd-and-short, but running back Donald Brown was slicing up the field. Brown carried 22 times for 129 yards and a touchdown.
When UConn's drive stalled at West Virginia's 35-yard line, Brown had respective runs of eight, 11, 11 and five yards. That's 35 yards on four carries, over eight yards per carry.
Brown was confident and rolling and he deserved the opportunity to pick up the vital first down.
It's not only that Edsall and Ambrose opted to pass, the pass formation was a mistake as well. On 3rd-and-3, the Huskies went into the shotgun.
With Tyler Lorenzen's depth in the shotgun, a 3rd-and-3 became a 3rd-and-6 or 7. Why step backwards in a short yardage situation?
I'm aware that the shotgun spreads the field and opens up one-on-ones for wide receivers and tight ends, but the Huskies' backs are clearly superior to their receivers. Edsall and Ambrose didn't appear to be coaching to their personnel or the situation.
Starting running back Andre Dixon has been excellent this year, too. He can generally be relied upon to pick up the first down in short yardage situations. He or Brown would have been a better option than the shotgun.
I know the game ended as a blowout, but it could have ended differently if the Huskies picked up those short, third-down conversions.
A few first-half plays changed the entire outlook of the game.
The coaches should shoulder as much - if not more - of the blame for the big loss.
John Frascella's column runs every Wednesday. He can be reached at
John.Frascella@UConn.edu.
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