EAST HARTFORD, Conn. _ UConn's season opener Thursday night at Rentschler Field went just about how most observers expected it to.
That was not good news for the Huskies.
UConn combined competent (though turnover-prone) offense with lackluster defense in a 56-17 loss to No. 21 UCF. The defeat marked the Huskies' most lopsided start to a season since 2001, when they lost 52-10 to No. 9 Virginia Tech.
Though the final margin was not what UConn coach Randy Edsall hoped for, no one could have been surprised that UCF proved a difficult matchup. The Knights went 13-0 last season and defeated Auburn in the Peach Bowl, then returned key players including Heisman hopeful quarterback McKenzie Milton. Sportsbooks listed UCF as a 23-point favorite Thursday night.
The shape of UConn's loss also came as no shock. Quarterback David Pindell kept the offense moving, with 266 yards passing and 157 more rushing, but three team turnovers undermined his efforts. The more serious problems came on defense, where the Huskies, who lost most nearly their starting unit from last year's team, relied heavily on freshmen and inexperienced upperclassmen. Faced with little pressure from the UConn defense, Milton completed 24 of 32 passes for 346 yards and five touchdowns, while adding 50 more yards on the ground. Back-up Darriel Mack entered the game in the fourth quarter and promptly ran 70 yards for a touchdown.
In total, UCF scored touchdowns on eight of its first nine full drives and totaled 652 yards of offense (to UConn's 486).
The Huskies' defeat continued the program's recent trend of poor starts to seasons. Including Thursday, UConn has now been outscored 180-106 over its last six openers, despite facing lower-division FCS opponents in four of those games.
The tone of Thursday's game was set on the teams' respective opening drives. The Huskies picked up a pair of first downs but lost the ball on a Zavier Scott fumble. UCF promptly marched down the field for the game's first touchdown.
That opening began a pattern that continued throughout much of the first half. UConn committed costly mistakes, and UCF capitalized.
In addition to Scott's fumble, Pindell threw an interception deep in UCF territory just before half, cornerback Keyshawn Paul committed a costly personal foul (among other penalties), Ryan Crozier was called for holding on a would-have-been Pindell touchdown run and the Huskies' secondary repeatedly left receivers open.
UConn's youth showed on numerous occasions, from Paul's issues containing his man to the defensive line's failure to pressure Milton.
All in all, Milton's Heisman campaign got off to a strong start Thursday night. By halftime, the quarterback had already completed 13 of 16 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns.
UCF scored touchdowns on four of its five first-half drives (not counting an abbreviated one just before the break), then returned from halftime to score two more. UConn's biggest defensive stop, amid many failures, came late in the first quarter, when the Huskies stopped UCF running back Greg McCrae for no gain on third-and-short, forcing a punt.
UConn cycled through a number of defensive players in search of an answer for Milton and company. On the line, the Huskies employed a four-man front, in a notable departure from the 3-3-5 system they used last year. At times, the defensive line featured three true freshmen (Travis Jones, Lwal Uguak and Jonathan Pace) as well as a redshirt freshman (Caleb Thomas). Freshmen Paul, fellow cornerback Ryan Carroll and linebacker Kevon Jones all also played significant snaps Thursday.
As UConn's defense struggled, the team's offense moved the ball with some consistency. Pindell used a combination of designed runs and under-pressure scrambles to become the first Huskies quarterback since 2015 to rack up more than 100 yards on the ground, while advancing the ball through the air using short passes to receivers Kyle Buss and Hergy Mayala, as well as tight end Aaron McLean.
After an offseason in which Scott appeared to emerge as the starting running back, it was 2017 leading rusher Kevin Mensah who recorded the bulk of UConn's carries out of the backfield.
The Huskies' first touchdown came during the second quarter, when Pindell led a 10-play 75-yard scoring drive, culminating in a five-yard Pindell pass to tight end Tyler Davis. Their second touchdown arrived late in the fourth quarter, when Pindell dashed 14 yards through UCF's second-string defense for the game's final points.
UConn also scored on a 44-yard field goal from kicker Michael Tarbutt, who converted only one of his four attempts from between 40 and 49 yards last season. Another special-teams bright spot was kick returner Keyion Dixon, who regularly supplied the Huskies with strong field possession.
