UConn Football Notes: Huskies looking for rhythm in the run game to jolt their offense

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STORRS – Cyncir Bowers prefers road games. The new UConn running back enjoys the idea of going into someone else’s home, taking over and feeling the silence of their crowd.

“You gotta take over they trap,” he said.

It will be a hot one on Saturday, near-100 degrees in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but Bowers and the Huskies’ running backs will be hydrated and motivated to improve on what they’ve shown through the first two weeks against Southern Miss. In both games, UConn has struggled to create explosive plays on the ground and find a consistent rhythm behind a young offensive line that is still figuring itself out.

“Especially since we first got here in the winter, the line is getting better, they’ve progressed through the season great,” Bowers said. “I feel like y’all gonna see soon.”

UConn was able to produce 301 rushing yards against Lafayette – a team that struggled mightily in every phase, but especially tackling – with almost a third of those yards (90) coming from the legs of quarterback Kalieb Osborne. In Week Two against Maryland’s experienced and imposing front, the Huskies took a beating as they produced 67 yards rushing on 31 attempts, only 2.2 yards per carry.

“They forced us into some mistakes, we missed some blocks, we missed some runs where we had creases and then we didn’t hit seams… We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to play more efficiently, and when we do that, we’ll run it a little bit better because we’ll have more opportunities,” said coach Jason Candle. The Huskies averaged 8.3 yards to gain on third downs. “…There’s some rhythmic things there in the run game, timing of blocks, that we’ve got to continue to be crisp on.”

As the Huskies travel to meet an opponent that should be more on their level, the offensive line will have to manage the heat in order to get the timing down and create clean opportunities to allow the offense to find a rhythm.

“For us in our room, it’s really not like every run is going to be an 80-yard run. Some runs are going to be three, four yards and really like coming home with that and not really thinking, ‘Every run I’ve got to go 80,'” Bowers said. “You’ve got to get the three, the four, the five, for the other ones to come.”

Candle says slow down on judgement of DBs

Saturday was a tough day for UConn’s defensive backs as Maryland quarterback Malik Washington completed 34 of 41 passes for 347 yards, 222 of which came after the catch, mostly on screen plays and short throws across the field. There were also a handful of highlight plays made by the Terrapins’ talented receiving corps.

“You watch the tape and you gave up some passing yards, so everybody’s gonna jump to the big conclusion that everybody jumps to that all the DBs aren’t any good,” Candle said. “We had two one-handed catches, one on 3rd-and-5 on a deep crossing route across the field. The other guys have got scholarships and NIL money too, they get paid to make plays too, and they made a few plays. So yeah, there’s some things on the tape that we want back, but those guys stayed in there and battled and competed, and they’re only going to improve with at-bats and opportunities to play. So we’ve got to live with the good, we’ve got to live with some of the mistakes that they had.

“It’s no different than other positions, right? It’s no different at left tackle, I mean the guy’s a freshman, it is what it is. It’s no different at quarterback, it’s his second start. Some of these guys are young players, so it’s not going to be perfect every time. We’ve just got to make sure that we limit the explosives on defense and we’ve got to limit the catastrophic mistakes on offense that change the course of a football game.”

Shooting themselves in the foot

UConn had four defensive penalties against Maryland, including two pass interference calls on the same drive that gifted the Terps their second touchdown of the game, and another in the fourth quarter. That came after a series of similar mistakes in Week One.

The Huskies’ offense has been flagged six times for holding and once for a false start.

Overall, the team has surrendered 206 yards on 19 penalties, and its 103 penalty yards per game average ranks No. 136 of 138 in the FBS. Last year, the Huskies finished the year No. 42, giving up only 48.3 yards per game on penalties.

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