At halftime in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday, UConn football coach Jim Mora knew it would take more than a speech and some minor adjustments for the team to pull out of the 20-3 hole it dug for itself.
After seven consecutive weeks in the comfort of Connecticut, the Huskies came out flat, uninspired and were about to fall to 0-3 on the road after clinching bowl eligibility the week prior.
“We didn’t have the energy, we weren’t executing well, I don’t think we were doing a good job of putting our players in position to go out and have success,” Mora told Adam Giardino from Fox Sports Radio 97-9 after the game. “To the credit of the players, they pulled it together at halftime.”
Receiving the ball to open the second half, UConn ran 15 plays for 75 yards over seven minutes of game time. Durell Robinson bowled in from the goal line for the Huskies’ first touchdown of the game, but the Blazers answered with a field goal and UConn went 3-and-out.
“(At halftime) I said, ‘You gotta go deep within. There’s nothing I can say right now, you’ve got to decide who you want to be. The work that you guys have put in this year and through your lives, we can’t squander it. Can’t squander it,’” Mora said.
“And guys went out and made plays.”
Veteran safety Malik Dixon-Williams looked like a wide receiver as he laid out to intercept UAB’s Jalen Kitna for the Huskies’ second takeaway of the game. UConn got a drive started to begin the fourth quarter but couldn’t capitalize as QB Nick Evers took a hit on a short scramble and limped off the field while Connor Stutz came on to punt.
At that point, anyone still watching the game would have likely thought it was over.
But not the UConn defense, led by its passionate coordinator Matt Brock, which has won games for the Huskies before. The unit forced two punts, two fumbles, two turnovers on downs and an interception on UAB’s final seven offensive drives.
“It’s an old cliché that turnovers come in bunches, but they do, and thankfully they came in bunches in the second half tonight… It’s a credit to their resilience, their toughness, their mental toughness, their emotional maturity – all of those things,” Mora said. “I’m really proud of them.”
Joe Fagnano came in for Evers and completed a 28-yard deep pass to Skyler Bell and then a 6-yard touchdown to Shamar Porter. All of a sudden, it was a six-point game with less than nine minutes on the clock, and UConn could tie and potentially take the lead with another trip to the end zone.
Kitna fumbled, UConn’s Jack Barton fell on it in plus territory and one play later, Fagnano fired a perfect 21-yard touchdown pass to Jasaiah Gathings, who caught the ball despite a defensive pass interference call against the Blazers. Only 11 seconds came off the game clock between UConn’s first two fourth-quarter touchdowns, and just like that, the Huskies had their first lead of the game.
“When we’ve needed (Fagnano) to go out and play, he has performed very, very well for us. That’s what being a great teammate is,” Mora said.
Both teams went 3-and-out and Kitna had a chance to regain the lead during a drive that started at midfield with five minutes to go. He passed to his running back, Lee Beebe Jr., who had his way for over 100 yards in the first half, but Jevon Banks knocked the ball out of his hands and Kervins Choute fell on it for UConn.
The game not yet on ice, UConn’s offense found itself in a 3rd-and-7 situation it has struggled with all year long. But Bell made a spectacular catch to get the past the marker and Cam Edwards added insurance with a 48-yard touchdown run on the very next play.
UAB had two more chances to tie the game with a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but failed to convert on 4th down both times.
The win was UConn’s seventh of the year. The program hadn’t reached that mark to secure a winning season since 2010, when it lost in the Fiesta Bowl. Most of the players on this year’s roster were barely old enough to play Pop Warner.
“What we have to realize is the job’s not done. That’s the attitude of these guys all the time, so I’m proud of them,” Mora said.
