EAST HARTFORD – UConn gave Boise State something to think about Saturday at Rentschler Field – at least for the first three quarters.
But an interception thrown by Huskies quarterback Chandler Whitmer and a pass ripped out of the hands of receiver Geremy Davis led to two Boise State (2-1) touchdowns in the fourth quarter and the Broncos went on to a 38-21 victory over UConn (1-2) before 30,098 and split national TV crowd.
Whitmer’s interception gave Boise the ball at the UConn 37 and resulted in a 9-yard TD pass from Grant Hedrick to Matt Miller with 9:19 left. The Broncos finished off their scoring with a 50-yard interception return when Donte Deayon stripped Davis on a catch and then sprinted 50 yards to the end zone with 4 minutes remaining.
The Huskies showed improvement in the third week of the season. But eight sacks and too many mistakes doomed UConn again.
Boise State’s 21-10 halftime lead became 24-13 after the teams traded field goals in the third quarter. The Huskies actually managed to make it interesting when Shane Williams-Rhoades fumbled Justin Wain’s 52-yard punt and UConn’s John Hicks recovered at the BSU 30. Three plays later, UConn quarterback Chandler Whitmer threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Geremy Davis in the end zone. Whitmer had passed 17 yards to Deshon Foxx on first down.
A two-point conversion, on a pass from Whitmer to freshman Arkeel Newsome, was successful and the Boise State lead was 24-21 1:09 remaining in the third quarter.
UConn held Boise State’s powerful offense to six first downs and just 131 yards on 26 plays in the first half. The Huskies won the time of possession battle with 20 minutes, 34 seconds to 9:26 for Boise State. UConn led the way with 146 yards of total offense too but couldn’t get anything going with the running game, losing nine yards.
Whitmer was 11 for 15 for 151 yards in the first half and connected with tight end Alec Bloom in the back end of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass that gave the Huskies a 10-7 lead with 9:54 left in the second quarter. But the Broncos dominated the end of the second quarter. Wide receiver Matt Miller beat safety Obi Melifonwu over the middle, got wide open behind the UConn defense and caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Grant Hedrick.
Hedrick was 7-for-12 for 105 yards and one TD in the first half. He also caught a 7-yard TD pass on a trick play that gave Miller the ball on a reverse play with 32 seconds left in the second quarter. Miller’s pass wasn’t the most beautiful aerial in Rentschler Field history, but Hedrick pulled it in to give the Broncos a 21-10 lead at halftime.
For the third straight game, UConn opened with a costly fumble. Newsome coughed up the ball to Armand Nance and it was scooped up by Tanner Vallejo at the UConn 31. Vallejo ran it into the end zone for a 7-0 Boise lead with 12:24 left in the first. The Huskies responded with a 60 yard drive on 12 plays but couldn’t reach the end zone. Bobby Puyol kicked a 39-yard field to cut the Boise lead to 7-3.
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