EAST HARTFORD, Conn. _ There were some painful sights and sounds early Thursday night as UConn settled _ gently, conservatively _ into another football season. There was a two-thirds empty stadium at kickoff, a quarterback getting his helmet knocked off and the booing disapproval on several occasions of fans, many of whom trickled into Rentschler Field at various times during the first half.
The product on display as UConn pulled the curtain on a season of increased expectations was hard to watch. Thousands took their seats late and thousands left early.
Ultimately, the Huskies accomplished what was necessary. They beat outnumbered, over-matched Maine, 24-21, gathered to sing the alma mater and turned to page to Week 2, which brings the American Athletic Conference opener Sept. 10 at Navy.
Bobby Puyol made the winning field goal from 37 yards with 11 seconds remaining, ending the struggle.
But Thursday's first impression was unimpressive, at least offensively. The running game could not find holes in the Maine line, the offensive line could not create them, and UConn essentially impersonated the 2015 version of itself. Fans have seen this game before _ sound defense, largely ineffective offense.
And when Maine's Najee Goode sacked Bryant Shirreffs, forced a fumble and returned it 76-yards for the go-ahead touchdown, it looked like it might not end well for the Huskies.
Shirreffs was quick to scramble, and the way he operated would make one wonder how long he can operate and remain safe. Midway through the second quarter, with UConn trailing 7-0, Shirreffs ran left and headed for the pylon but was cut off by Goode at the goal line.
The helmet-to-helmet collision knocked off Shirreffs' helmet and knocked him out of the game, though for only one play. Garrett Anderson handed off to Ron Johnson for the 1-yard touchdown run on the next play, and Shirreffs returned for the ensuing series.
Johnson later scored what turned out to be the winning points, a 21-yard touchdown run with 3:10 remaining in the third quarter to give UConn a 14-7 lead. The Huskies were not threatened from there.
Arkeel Newsome and Johnson combined for just 36 yards in the first half and finished with 105, 65 for Johnson and 40 for Newsome.
Shirreffs was 16-of-23 for 162 yards. He also rushed 20 times for 95 yards, the Huskies' leading rusher. The last time UConn played at Rentschler Field, Shirreffs was knocked out against Houston, another helmet-to-helmet hit that kept him out of the game at Temple the following week, too.
Maine quarterback Danny Collins was 19-of-33 for 269 yards and two touchdown passes. One was to Jaleel Reed, who was called upon more often than he ordinarily would be because top receiver Micah Wright was suspended. Reed had eight catches for a career-high 169 yards and a 40-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
UConn ran 73 plays for 362 yards and Maine ran 52 for 309. The UConn defense was solid, holding Maine to 40 rushing yards on 19 attempts.
That the game played out as it did is as much a credit to Maine, which followed the script perfectly _ play solid football, establish a deep passing threat and hope for a game-changing play.
The deep threat was Reed, who was magnificent. At halftime, he had 105 receiving yards, more than he had all of last season in 11 games (104). After UConn took a 14-7 lead, it was Reed who answered, scoring on a 40-yard pass from Collins, over the top of the UConn defense.
It was 14-14 at that point. On the ensuing UConn possession, Goode entered the UConn backfield untouched as Shirreffs dropped back. Goode crushed Shirreffs, who fumbled. Goode got to his feet, scooped the ball and ran 76 yards for a touchdown to give Maine a 21-14 lead.
Shirreffs ran 33 yards to the Maine 13 with 8:25 left and the ball was on the 2 after Noel Thomas drew an interference call. Newsome ran it in from there. Maine moved the ball on its next possession, and key playing being a pass from Collins to Reed to keep the drive going. That drive ended with a 47-yard field goal attempt that was blocked by Foley Fatukasi.
That set up Shirreffs and the UConn offense. Shirreffs threw a key pass to Brian Lemelle at the left sideline with 21 seconds left, at the Maine 19-yard line. Puyol came on for the kick, which was true, and there was celebration and relief in the stadium.
Hours earlier, and for much of the night, there wasn't much to electrify fans. UConn had a slow and responsible look, punting on three consecutive possessions but pinning Maine to its own 5 on the third one. The Black Bears finally got moving, though, mostly with the Collins-to-Reed connection that was not disrupted by much of a pass rush.
