EAST HARTFORD — Jim Mora didn’t avail himself of the usual “cooling off period” after UConn’s 23-20 loss to Wake Forest.
No, he entered the interview room just a few minutes after the final gun and he was neither cooled off, nor lukewarm, nor smoldering. It was Fire … balllll:
“Okay, well, what I told the team is: ‘I’m proud of them for fighting back. We’ve got to make sure that we put ourselves in a position where it doesn’t come down to one play where an ACC (officiating team) team makes a horse (bleep) call against an independent, and that’s up to us to play better at the start of the game so it doesn’t come down to that call, which was holding and (pass interference).’ And that’s what I told them, we’ll come back, and we’ll fight, so it’s on us to play better earlier. But it’d sure be nice if it was a level playing field.”
I asked Mora if he’d gotten an explanation for the no-call that came at a crucial moment Saturday at Rentschler Field. The Huskies were trying to convert a 4th-and-8 to keep a last-ditch drive alive at midfield. Receiver Josiah Gathings was bumped and grabbed and pulled by the defender, Jamare Glasker, as Nick Evers throw sailed passed. No flag was thrown. Game over.
“It was a hold and a PI,” Mora said. “A hold and a PI. Here’s your explanation. ACC vs. independent. There’s you’re explanation. It’s pretty (bleeping) simple. …”
I paused to let someone else ask a question, no one did. Mora waited a few seconds, and walked out. Several reporters, who had to file stories at the buzzer, couldn’t get down to the bowels of the stadium in time and missed the 50-second postgame presser with the coach.
To be fair, Mora didn’t storm out. He’s not obligated to work on our timetable or stand there and wait through an awkward pause, so it was on me to jump in with a second question, or one of the others in the room to ask their own. Mora said all he wanted to say, and wouldn’t have been into any “silver lining” line of questions. That was that, just an old-time football coach’s YouTube moment, reminiscent of Mora’s father’s fondly remembered rants, or Dennis Green’s “we let let off the hook.’”
Now, let’s unpack a complex afternoon for UConn football, a glorious, warm fall afternoon, a good crowd, with 30,122 tickets distributed, a very competitive game against a power-conference opponent, the stage-setting for a dramatic victory and the ultimately disappointing result, with the emptiness that comes when officiating is involved in the decision.
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In the grand scheme, this loss hurts more than it damages. If the Huskies (4-3) take a care of their remaining winnable business against opponents such as Rice, Georgia State at home, Alabama Birmingham and UMass on the road, this game won’t move the needle in the bowl invitation picture. The goal of going undefeated at home is gone, but most other aspirations are still within reach, such as a winning record for the first time since 2010. If playing competitively against the ACC and attendance mean anything in the conference realignment sweepstakes, then this was a decent day for UConn.
But for the kids down on the field investing blood, sweat and tears into winning, it will take a few days for that to sink in. Gathings, who transferred from Akron, made seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
“I felt like there was a little holding, but I feel like I still got to make the play,” Gathings said. “I’m not putting the blame on no one else, the officials. I’ve got to create more separations, but I just didn’t make the play. I came here to win and we didn’t get that done. I don’t do ‘moral’ victories.”
The way things played out afterward, Mora took on the task of blasting the officials in defense of his players. He was willing to be the bad guy. His players then took the high ground, and echoed his message that the game shouldn’t have come down to a last-gasp 4th-and-8 with 91 seconds on the clock. Accountability is always a good look, especially under these circumstances.
“I take full responsibility,” quarterback Nick Evers said. “If I played better, we’d be in a better situation going into the fourth quarter.”
UConn made enough plays, and got a few breaks to stay in the game, much the way things happened at Duke, a 29-21 loss in the Huskies other ACC game. But they trailed 23-13 early in the fourth quarter and when Mora punted, rather than go for a 4th-and-1 at his own 35 with 10 minutes to go, it was an unpopular decision. It was also correct one. He put his faith in his defense, and got the ball back twice. Evers engineered an 88-yard drive, finished it with 25-yard TD pass to Louis Hansen to make it 23-20 with 2:27 to play.
With all their timeouts, the Huskies forced Wake Forest to go three-plays-and-punt, Jayden McDonald making a couple of big plays in he backfield. UConn got the ball back only 25 seconds after scoring.
The Huskies crossed midfield, but on 4th-and-3, guard Brady Wayburn flinched just enough to be called for a false start, forcing UConn back five yards and perhaps changing the play.
The one play that mattered went UConn’s way against Temple two weeks ago, not this time.
Mora and UConn have run afoul against ACC officiating teams before. At a key moment against NC State in the 2023 season open, Victor Rosa was flagged for somersaulting into the end zone. Against Duke midway through last season, Jackson Mitchell, UConn’s best defensive player, was ejected and Mora was furious afterward.
If referees’ conference affiliation makes a difference, it is what it is. This is life as an independent for UConn.
“I looked (for a flag) when I got up, but I don’t like putting it in the refs’ hands,” Gathings said. “We’re playing against an ACC team, ACC officials, we came in here knowing we weren’t going to get the calls. Like, we already knew that. So we have to take it to the chin.”
To the chin or the gut, it was not a knockout punch. The pain will subside this week, and a win over Rice next Saturday should heal any remaining bruises. No, it shouldn’t have come down to one play and whether or one of the multiple refs with view of the play saw what just about everyone else did and threw his flag, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a lot better than a blowout that sends the fans home at halftime. We’ve seen enough of that to keep this in perspective … right?
So a game played on the 100th anniversary of Notre Dame’s famous “Four Horsemen” victory over Army, this was no apocalypse for UConn football, just a very disappointing end to a pretty good day.
