UConn football drops third straight, searches for positives after 41-10 loss to NC State

After the UConn football team won Saturday’s coin toss, chose to defer and Noe Ruelas sent it down the field for a touchback, NC State lined up for its first offensive play from scrimmage. Quarterback Devin Leary found receiver Thayer Thomas down the right sideline who saw nothing but green in front of him.

Thomas sprinted through the UConn defensive backfield and into the end zone to give the Wolfpack their first score of a 41-10 triumph over the Huskies just 14 seconds into the game at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.

Soon the Huskies found themselves in a similar position they were in against Michigan last week: down 17-0 after the first quarter.

“We’ve faced some some really good football teams, and the score has been ugly, but we’ve been finding some hidden victories,” Mora said following the game. “When you see a group of guys – a group of kids – who have been through a lot and they haven’t fractured at all. I’ve seen a lot of football teams when they go through a stretch like we’ve gone through ... they fracture and stop trusting each other, believing in each other, working for each other – we don’t have guys doing that.”

Up 31-0 in the final two minutes of the first half, Leary made his first mistake of the night. The junior dropped back to throw into the middle of the field, but UConn linebacker Brandon Bouyer-Randle watched the ball fly directly into his hands and returned it down to the NC State 11-yard line. It took the Huskies three plays to get one yard and set up a 28-yard field goal for Ruelas. He converted for the third time this season to get UConn on the scoreboard as time ran out in the half.

Despite the interception, Leary, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, waltzed into halftime after his stellar start with a 31-3 lead. He carved the UConn defense, completing 25 of 32 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns in the first 30 minutes of game time.

Wolfpack running back Demie Sumo-Karangbaye was sidelined midway through the second quarter with an upper-body injury, but not before carrying the ball four times for 49 yards and a score. Receiver Devin Carter recorded 63 yards on 5 receptions, while Thomas’ 75-yard reception to open the game helped him to a game-high 115 receiving yards.

UConn’s offensive game plan, which has been a sore subject recently, didn’t seem to change much. Zion Turner threw the ball 12 times (10-12) for 39 yards. Even without starting running back Nate Carter, who separated his shoulder against Michigan, UConn ran the ball on 68% of its offensive plays for a combined average of 3.8 yards per carry.

Victor Rosa, a true freshman from Bristol Central High, helped UConn find the end zone for the first time since the third quarter against Syracuse two weeks prior. Rosa took the ball from backup QB Cale Millen, made a few moves and took the ball 11 yards into the end zone for his second score of the season.

“There’s discouraging moments in the game, but in terms of being discouraged? No. There’s progress being made here. We knew that it was going to be a tough task. We knew it was going to be a process. We knew that we were going to play these three games and I’m gonna tell you the truth – you’ll probably say I’m crazy – but I’m glad we played. I’m glad we played them. I wish we hadn’t got some guys hurt that got hurt, but I’m glad we had to go play them. It’s gonna make us a better football team in the long run,” Mora said.

At the final whistle, UConn lost the total yardage battle by more than 400 yards (492-160) and converted just 2-12 third down plays compared to NC State’s 10-14.

Leary exited the game in the fourth quarter, finishing with 320 yards and four touchdown passes – tying his career high. Zion Turner completed 10 of his 12 pass attempts for just 39 yards.

UConn continued to lose players to injury in the game when defensive back Kaleb Anthony went down with what Mora fears is a torn ACL. Ian Swenson dealt with back spasms in pregame but eventually powered through to get into the game before doubling over in the fourth quarter and having to be removed. D’mon Brinson sprained his ankle before the team left and did not travel.

“They’re good kids that want to be good. There’s high character, there’s want to, we just got to get better at doing the things that we need to do to win. The fundamentals, tackling, standing the right gap, winning at the point of attack and in the pass game on both sides,” Mora said. “As coaches we’ve got to continue to try to find ways to put our players in the best spots to have success, that’s our job. It’s been hard, but there’s not one player on this team that doesn’t still believe that this will be a successful season and there’s not one single coach or administrator within this program that doesn’t feel the same way.”

The loss comes as the third consecutive by more than 30 points and fourth of the season for UConn. The Huskies return to Rentschler Field on Saturday, Oct. 1, for another tough bout against Fresno State.