UConn’s Trey Cornist does a lot with not many carries as Huskies run all over Temple

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UConn running back Trey Cornist is always ready for his moment, and he’s had a few over the last two weeks.

The senior followed up a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch last week in a 42-41 overtime loss to Syracuse with a career-high 114 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries Saturday as the Huskies beat Temple on the road, 34-20.

His first touch didn’t come until the second quarter, with the Huskies trailing 17-14. Cornist has been focused in practice on slowing the game down, being patient in the backfield and allowing the offensive line to create rushing lanes. He did just that on his first touch, as tight end Xavier Watson pulled to make a key block on the right side of the line and ushered Cornist through the ‘C gap’. He split a trio of would-be tacklers and rumbled 51 yards inside the 5-yard line.

Cornist’s second touch was the goal line touchdown moments later that ultimately served as the difference in the game as UConn’s defense held the Owls to just three points the rest of the way. His third went for 41 yards in the final two minutes of the first half as the Huskies turned a Temple red zone fumble into a last-second field goal and a 24-17 halftime lead.

UConn finished the game with 248 yards and four touchdowns on the ground as Cyncir Bowers, last week’s star, also went for 84 yards on 18 carries. Lead back Kenji Christian, who missed last week with an apparent hamstring injury, ran for a 39-yard touchdown and made one catch for 22 yards before he was sidelined again.

“It’s a dynamic room for sure,” UConn QB Kalieb Osborne told reporters in Philadelphia. “They come out to practice every day with the same energy, explosive plays throughout practice, shooting the gaps, the O-line is doing good with run blocking. They show it in practice and it shows on the field. They’re all playmakers, that’s a great trio there for sure.”

Defensive response in second half to put game away

Temple came into the game with a plan to expose UConn’s pass defense, which had given up more yards per game than all but two teams in the FBS through five weeks. The Owls hit immediately on a deep ball over the top that went for a 79-yard touchdown on their first play from scrimmage. They scored their second touchdown on a double pass that went for 29 yards from receiver to tight end and had eight passing plays of 15 yards or more throughout the game.

But the Huskies’ defense made game-changing plays when they absolutely had to, creating fumbles twice as Temple was threatening to score. UConn and linebacker K’Von Sherman put the game away with heavy pressure and two sacks in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense, they gave up some big plays but, for the most part, they really hung in there through a tough stretch, got settled down, they got their eyes in the right place,” UConn head coach Jason Candle told reporters. “I think at times I wished we had tackled better on the perimeter, something we’ve got to work on and continue to address, but pleased with how they finished the game. We really tried to eliminate their passing game there throughout the second half of that football game and we got them in some tough 3rd downs and were able to produce. Anytime that you can get in 3rd-and-long scenarios and you can pin your ears back, good stuff should happen.”

Temple was 2-for-7 converting on 3rd down in the second half.

Huskies carry momentum into bye week

Candle will take a bye week wherever he can get one.

But he’d much prefer the situation the Huskies are in – with some momentum at 3-3 halfway through the season – to the alternative, which would’ve been a three-game losing streak with 13 days before their next game against UMass on Oct. 23.

“You use it to get your team healthy, use it to really do a deep dive into what you feel like you’re doing well or not doing well, address those things,” Candle said. “Then, to keep the momentum, you try to highlight the really good things and try to build off that and stoke that fire. So we need it, we’ve got to catch our breath, we’ve got to get some guys that have been banged up, we’ve got to get them back. We’ve got some good players that aren’t playing the reps that we think they should be playing and maybe they don’t think they should be playing, and we’ve got to continue to coach them and get them better so our team can be operating at an optimal level here down the stretch.”

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