EAST HARTFORD -– The UConn football team ran onto Rentschler Field with a vengeance after being crushed in Week 1, and took it all out on FCS opponent Merrimack in Saturday’s home opener. The Huskies scored touchdowns on each of their first eight possessions, cruising past scoring records on the way to a blowout of their own. The final score: 63-17.
It was explosive play after explosive play in the first half as backup quarterback Joe Fagnano guided the offense down the field with ease in front of an announced crowd of 32,351. The 63 points tied UConn’s FBS era program-record, which was set against Kent State in 2002.
Fagnano got the start with Nick Evers recovering from a hit to the head in the 50-7 loss at Maryland, and exited in the third quarter after completing 13 of his 19 passes for 331 yards and five passing touchdowns, which tied Dan Orlovsky’s program record.
The Huskies totaled 619 yards, 341 through the air and 278 on the ground, and held Merrimack to 277 total. UConn’s offense saw nine different receivers catch a pass and eight different players score a touchdown. Norwalk native Cam Edwards was the only player to score twice – once on the ground and once through the air.
Durell Robinson led the team with 94 rushing yards on 10 carries, and Mel Brown was just behind with 87 yards on 13 attempts.
Every touch had a chance to get into the end zone. The Huskies’ offense broke tackles, blocked down the field and averaged nearly 20 yards per play in the opening period.
Skyler Bell, who was the only real bright spot in the opeing loss, set the tone right away.
He had an 18-yard reception negated by penalties on the opening play but answered with a 45-yard catch on the next. Fagnano ran the rest of the way and pushed into the end zone to start the scoring. Edwards broke a few tackles and sprinted down the sideline for a 50-yard TD reception on the next drive, and Robinson ran for a 48-yard score on the next offensive play to make the score 21-0 with just less than eight minutes left in the opening quarter.
Bristol native Victor Rosa, with his hometown friend and former UConn men’s basketball star Donovan Clingan in attendance, was the third running back to score when he ran in from 29 yards.
Merrimack stopped its streak of three-and-outs and got on the scoreboard with a Jermaine Corbett 46-yard touchdown run, but Bell answered immediately with a 60-yard TD reception, his first of the year, to tie the school record for points in a quarter (35).
In the second quarter, Kentucky transfer Shamar Porter hauled in a 39-yard touchdown over two defenders to make it 42-7, and Edwards dove in from the goal line for his second score of the day on the next drive. Ezeriah Anderson secured the program record for most points in a half (56) with a 44-yard TD reception.
The previous record was 49 points, which the Huskies scored in the first half of the same game against Kent State in November, 2002.
UConn’s touchdown streak stopped on the first drive of the second half as new placekicker Chris Freeman, a transfer from Indiana, booted a 52-yard field goal attempt wide left. But Fagnano found tight end Alex Honig for a 12-yard passing score on the next drive, his fifth TD pass of the day, which not only tied a school record for points in a game (63), but also the single-game passing touchdown record (5). Orlovsky threw for five touchdowns on three occasions during his UConn career.
The program’s all-time scoring record, before joining the FBS, was set in 1949 when the Huskies scored 125 points against the Newport Naval Training School.
Third- and fourth-string quarterbacks Tucker McDonald and Cole Welliver weren’t able to get the Huskies up to 70 points, though Merrimack tacked on another score with a 71-yard touchdown completion to Madison native Seth Sweitzer, which made it 63-14 in the fourth quarter. The Warriors tacked on a 32-yard field goal on the final play of the game.
Saturday’s game was the first of seven at Rentschler Field this season. UConn (1-1) will begin its six-game homestretch in Week Four, after travelling to Duke for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
