EAST HARTFORD – UConn quarterback Nick Evers disregarded the debate of whether or not there should’ve been a pass interference call against Wake Forest on the final play of Saturday’s 23-20 loss, the team’s first at home this season.
The first-year Huskies QB took immediate accountability for what put his team in that situation, knowing there were plenty of other opportunities to enter the final quarter in a more ideal position.
“Late in the game I feel like it started to pick up, but, you know, started off the game really slow, missing wide open throws underneath and everything,” Evers said. “That’s one thing I need to work on in practice is just coming out hot, staying hot all four quarters.”
Saturday’s game was Evers’ fifth career start and only the third time in his three-year college career where he started and didn’t have to exit the game early with an injury. He suffered head injuries in Week 3 against Duke and in Week 5 against Buffalo, missing games against FAU and Temple, and took advantage of the bye week following the most recent Temple win as a runway for his return.
“I wouldn’t say it’s affected me mentally in a negative way. I’ve obviously had a few injuries the last month and a half or so, but it’s just making me hungry to get back out there,” Evers said.
The dual-threat QB threw 43 times on Saturday, that number boosted by late-game desperation. He completed 26 passes (60%) for 264 yards, two touchdowns and an early interception that he tried to force over the middle of the field. He added nine yards on six carries on a day where nothing was working for UConn on the ground (40 net yards).
“Everybody’s gonna make mistakes, nobody’s perfect,” said Jasaiah Gathings, UConn’s leading receiver (75 yards) on Saturday. “He had a couple mistakes, but I feel like the way he was vocal in the huddle, we fed off of that. Even when he did make a mistake, we fed off his energy.”
‘He wants it to hurt’
Pain was plastered on the faces of each UConn player who spoke with reporters following the game, and its controversial ending. For those who have been with the program for at least a year, coming back from a devastating loss like Saturday’s isn’t a foreign task.
Head coach Jim Mora, who was understandably upset after the game, wants losses like that to be painful.
“He wants it to hurt for all of us,” veteran safety Malik Dixon-Williams said. “We don’t want to just take these losses and not learn from it. It’s always a learning lesson in every loss that we take. It hurts. It digs deep. And that’s what makes us want to go harder the next week.”
Career kick
Two weeks after watching the Temple kicker boot a 60-yarder at Rentschler Field, UConn’s Chris Freeman had a shot to set his own new career-long toward the end of the first half. From 53 yards out, Freeman’s kick had just enough leg to float through the upright.
