Joe Fagnano entered Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter and flipped it on its head.
UConn’s backup quarterback led consecutive touchdown drives after replacing injured starter Nick Evers, including a perfect 21-yard pass for the go-ahead touchdown to Jasaiah Gathings which gave the Huskies their first lead of the game with eight and a half minutes to go.
The UConn defense forced four turnovers on the day, including a fumble which began the go-ahead scoring drive and another that led to a 48-yard touchdown run from Cam Edwards to seal the 31-23 win in Birmingham, Ala.
UConn (7-3) has now reached the seven-win mark for the first time since the 2010 season, which ended in the Fiesta Bowl.
Evers, who limped off the field after a short rushing attempt on the opening drive of the fourth quarter, finished his day 16 of 24 passing for 104 yards and an interception, adding 37 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Fagnano threw 4-for-11 for 64 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all in the fourth quarter.
Edwards’ late touchdown run saved what had been a rough day on the ground for the Huskies. He finished with 82 yards on 11 carries, and the team finished with 190 rushing yards on 39 attempts.
It appeared the game would be an evenly matched game of tug-of-war as the teams were almost in unison in the first quarter.
Both offenses came out with momentum and moved down the field with a balanced attack, only to be held to a field goal – UAB’s from 20 yards, UConn’s from 26. Then came the turnovers. UAB quarterback Jalen Kitna, son of former NFL QB Jon Kitna, was intercepted by UConn DB Cam Chadwick, and Huskies receiver T.J. Sheffield fumbled the ball right back as time wound down on the opening frame.
Beebe helped move the Blazers into UConn territory again after the fumble, but Kitna was incomplete on 3rd down and coach Trent Dilfer had to settle for another field goal from 36 yards out to take the lead.
As it started pouring in Birmingham, Evers’ deep ball to Skyler Bell was bobbled and intercepted by UAB’s Tyjon Jones. The Blazers capitalized again off the turnover with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Kitna to receiver Corri Milliner, which put the Huskies down 13-3 with seven minutes left in the first half.
UConn punted on its next two drives. Kam Shanks, the nation’s leader in punt return average and punt return touchdowns entering the game, slipped after getting eight yards on the first but set the Blazers up in plus territory with 18 yards on the second return. And Beebe, who surpassed the 100-yard mark in the first half, carved a 25-yard path for a touchdown to put the Blazers’ ahead 20-3 just before halftime.
UConn came out of the break with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that was extended by a 3rd down UAB hands to the face penalty, and took over seven minutes.
Evers, slipping on the wet turf on a number of dropbacks, was mobile enough to move the Huskies down the field and Durell Robinson ran in from the goal line for his seventh touchdown of the season.
The Blazers settled for a 32-yard field goal on their first drive of the second half and got into position to score again. UConn safety Malik Dixon-Williams made his third interception of the year as the third quarter came to a close, but the Huskies were unable to capitalize and went 3-and-out, losing Evers on the third down play.
Fagnano came in with about 10 minutes left and completed a 28-yard pass to Skyler Bell to set up a 6-yard touchdown pass to Shamar Porter, which cut the deficit to just six, 23-17, with just under nine minutes remaining.
Defensive lineman Jack Barton recovered a backward pass to get the ball back, and Fagnano threw a perfect pass to Shamar Porter for a 21-yard go-ahead touchdown, putting the Huskies ahead 24-23. With about five minutes left, Jevon Banks forced another fumble from the hands of Beebe and Kervins Choute recovered the ball.
After Bell made a big catch on 3rd down to keep the clock running, Edwards broke free for a 48-yard touchdown run to put the game on ice. Tui Faumuina-Brown sacked Kitna on a 4th-down passing attempt, getting the ball back with two minutes to go.
UConn has a bye week before its next road trip to Syracuse (6-3) on Nov. 23. The Huskies will finish the regular season on Nov. 30 at UMass (2-7).
