EAST HARTFORD – The UConn football Huskies are bowl eligible.
Playing under the Friday night lights at Rentschler Field in its final home game of the year, UConn capitalized on two interceptions from its defense and a handful of big-time runs from Mel Brown to pull away for a 34-27 win over Georgia State.
The win moves UConn’s record to 6-3, 6-1 at home, and clinches bowl eligibility for the program’s second time in three years under Jim Mora. The Huskies have also doubled their win total from the 2023 season, when they finished 3-9.
Largely behind Brown’s breakaway speed, 293 of UConn’s 368 total yards came on the ground. Brown finished with 138 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, and Cam Edwards added 88 yards and 13 carries. Quarterback Nick Evers, who had a few solid runs himself, wasn’t called on to pass much in the second half and finished the game 10 of 16 with 75 yards and a passing touchdown. Evers also ran for a touchdown.
Defensively, UConn allowed 372 total yards but hurried the Panthers’ quarterback 11 times and forced field goals on two of their three red zone appearances. Georgia State QB Zach Gibson finished the game 28 of 38 passing for 257 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Gibson ran for a touchdown with less than two minutes left to make it a one-score game before UConn sealed it.
The Huskies forced a 3-and-out on Georgia State’s opening drive and got the ball with great field position after a fair catch interference penalty on the Panthers’ punt. On the very first offensive play from scrimmage, Brown found a hole and ran 52 yards down the home sideline to get the Huskies inside the 10 and set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Evers to tight end Louis Hansen.
It was a 3-play, 59-yard scoring drive that took just 1:02 off the clock. It was also UConn’s first touchdown in the first half of a game since the 47-3 rout of Buffalo on Sept. 28.
UConn’s offense went 59 yards down the field again on its second drive but had to settle for a 42-yard field goal from Chris Freeman and led, 10-0, at the end of the first quarter.
Georgia State receiver Ted Hurst made a nice catch in the corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown to start the second quarter and the Panthers capitalized off a Durell Robinson fumble with a 30-yard field goal that tied the game at 10 with three and a half minutes left in the opening half.
The Huskies’ offense slowed in the second quarter, but an interception from D’Mon Brinson got them the ball back in plus territory as time wound down on the half. A pair of failed run plays and an incompletion brought Freeman out for another field goal, this time from 23 yards out, which sent UConn into the half with a 13-10 lead.
Edwards broke a 46-yard run on 3rd-and-1 to spark the offense as it came out of the locker room. There was a defensive pass interference call that moved UConn inside the 5-yard line, Edwards ran for three yards and Robinson punched it in from the goal line to put the Huskies up 20-10.
The Panthers ran 16 plays on their next drive and took 7:25 off the clock before settling for a 21-yard field goal.
UConn went 3-and-out once in the third quarter and Connor Stutz flipped the field with a career-long 69-yard punt. The defense forced a 3-and-out and gave the offense great field position as the third quarter ended. Edwards and Evers finished the job at the start of the fourth, with Evers running in himself for a 5-yard touchdown that put the Huskies up 14 points with 13 minutes left.
There was a roughing the passer penalty called on Dal’Mont Gourdine which extended Georgia State’s first fourth-quarter drive. But on the very next play, backup QB Christian Veilleux threw a pass straight to safety Malik Dixon-Williams for the Huskies second interception of the day.
Brown broke free one play later and pranced into the end zone with a 31-yard rushing score. UConn’s lead was extended to 34-13 with 11:24 left on the clock and the game all-but sealed. But, just like Rice’s late kickoff return last week, Georgia State running back Freddie Brock broke a 55-yard touchdown four plays later.
Not going away, Gibson ran for a score to cap a 93-yard drive with 1:47 left on the clock, but UConn recovered the onside kick attempt and
UConn will hit the road for the first time since Sept. 14 for a game against Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
