EAST HARTFORD, Conn. _ Unlike in previous games this season, UConn had a shot Saturday against Houston.
The Huskies led briefly in the second quarter and pulled even at one point in the third. Twice in the second half, they marched into opposing territory with a chance to tie the game.
But the breakthrough never came. UConn failed to score inside the opposing five-yard line on one drive and missed a field goal on the next, and Houston walked away with a 24-17 win at Rentschler Field, in front of an announced crowd of 19,760.
The loss dropped UConn to 1-6 on the season and 0-4 in conference play.
"The moral of the story is, when you get opportunities, you've got to take advantage of those opportunities," coach Randy Edsall said. "And we just didn't do that today."
Despite the outcome, Saturday marked one of UConn's more competitive games this season. The Huskies' defense, which was short several injured starters, held Houston to 284 yards, forcing punts on six of 10 full drives. And quarterback Jack Zergiotis, back in the starting role for the first time in several weeks, completed 27 of 44 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Art Thompkins accounted for 100 total yards (46 rushing and 54 receiving) for the Huskies, while running back Kevin Mensah added 93 yards on 12 carries. Freshman receiver Cam Ross had nine catches for 75 yards.
But the Cougars broke just enough big gains to stay ahead, and Zergiotis tossed a costly interception and overthrew open receivers on several key second-half plays. Six UConn penalties for 52 yards gave Houston an extra boost. The end result was a closer game than UConn fans have grown used to but not an elusive second victory of the season.
"I've gotta get the ball to my guys, and I couldn't do it today," Zergiotis said. "There were at least five opportunities downfield where I had some guys open and I overthrew them."
From the overthrows to the missed chance in the red zone, UConn players lamented what could have been.
"I think we played fairly well, but at the end of the day we still lost," Ross said. "That's the frustrating part: trying to finish the game. We came so close. We lost by one score, didn't get blown out or anything, but we lost, and that's hard."
With starting quarterback D'Eriq King benched for the season and back-up Clayton Tune out with a pulled hamstring, Houston turned to its third-string signal-caller, freshman Logan Holgorsen, who completed only 7 of 15 passes for 123 yards. The Cougars found some success with wide receiver Bryson Smith running the offense from a wildcat formation but generally struggled to advance the ball.
UConn had three sacks and held Houston without a single third-down conversion until the Cougars' final offensive drive.
"Everybody just played hard and executed their assignments," said defensive end Kevon Jones, who had five tackles and a sack. "So that just gave us an advantage to actually go out and make plays and get stops."
The Huskies fell behind 3-0 on an early Houston field goal but seized their first lead in nearly a month on a 17-yard touchdown strike from Zergiotis to freshman receiver Matt Drayton. The Cougars responded with a touchdown late in the second quarter and took a 10-7 advantage into halftime.
UConn tied the game in the third quarter on a 43-yard field goal from Clay Harris, then fell behind once again when Holgorsen found receiver Jeremy Singleton for a 58-yard touchdown down the sideline.
A 58-yard rush from Mensah on the ensuing drive brought UConn inside the Houston 5-yard line late in the third quarter, but the Huskies were stopped short of the end zone on four straight plays. Later, Edsall called for the field-goal unit on fourth-and-7, and Harris missed a 40-yard kick.
"I didn't think we could make (the first down)," Edsall said. "There were nine minutes to play, and our defense was playing well."
Houston sealed its win with a 13-play, 78-yard touchdown drive that included two third-down conversions. UConn responded with its own score, on a seven-yard pass from Zergiotis to Thompkins but could not recover the ensuing onside kick.
UConn played Saturday without three usual starters on defense: linebackers D.J. Morgan and Ryan Gilmartin, plus cornerback Tahj Herring-Wilson. Safeties Diamond Harrell and Tyler Coyle exited with apparent injuries and did not return.
The Huskies have now lost 22 consecutive games against FBS opponents and 15 straight against AAC teams.
UConn will return to the field next weekend, facing UMass in Amherst, Mass.
