UConn’s Victorr Rosa ran for two touchdowns in Thursday night’s loss to North Carolina State.
EAST HARTFORD, Aug. 31, 2023 – Sports fans in Connecticut can be fickle and demanding. They can tend to sit on their hands waiting for an explosive play but they love to cheer on their heroes in national flag blue and white, especially the Huskies.
UConn fans are too aware of the tough few years at Rentschler Field watching their overmatched football team struggle in the American Athletic Conference and then as a football independent. It was hard to watch – even on television.
The arrival of head coach Jim L. Mora a year ago with his head coaching experience in the NFL (Atlanta, Seattle) and the NCAA at UCLA was surprising but expectations were minimal.
Mora helped the Huskies win six games and qualify to play in a bowl game. Wow!
That success helped fuel the excitement of opening day at Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium against a North Carolina State team that had a 31-point lead on the Huskies a year ago at halftime.
It was a beautiful late summer night with plenty of sunshine and comfortable temperatures in the high 70s. There was plenty of tailgating, a lot of food, some cornhole and a few folks tossing the pigskin in the parking lot.
The Huskies scored on their first possession of the ballgame on a 12-play, 75-yard drive to take an early 7-0 point. Visiting North Carolina State led 10-7 at halftime thanks to a 44-yard field goal from Brayden Naverson with no time left in the second quarter.
A few crucial mistakes in the third quarter left the Wolfpack with an opening that they took to come away with a 24-14 victory in the season-opening game for both squads.
The crowd of 36,526 fans at Rentschler Field — the largest crowd since Michigan came to town in 2013 and attracted 42,704 fans — was loud and enjoyed roaring after a defensive or a big offensive run. There just weren’t enough big plays to allow Connecticut to secure the victory.
“It stings right now we had a legitimate chance to win that game when you don’t get it done, it is tough,” Mora said.
Victor Rosa, the sophomore running back from Bristol Central, scored two touchdowns for the Huskies, including a 71-yard scamper with 2:04 left in the third quarter that brought the Huskies within three points, 17-14.
Rosa was one of those unexpected surprises from Mora’s first year. He got his chance to play and ran with it – similar to what he did on his second TD run of the day.
North Carolina State QB Brennan Armstrong (5) helped lead the Wolfpack past the Huskies, rushing for 2 TDs and 96 yards. Joe Mitchell (8) closes in on Armstrong.
North Carolina State had marched 91 yards on 13 plays to score on a one-yard run from Delbert Mimms to take a 17-7 lead. Two pass interference plays helped the Wolfpack along with the ability of North Carolina State QB Brennan Armstrong to elude UConn tacklers.
Armstrong ran for 101 yards on 19 carries. “Defensively, the story of the game was their quarterback eluding our rush,” Mora said. “We had a plan for it but he made people miss in the open field. We were close to getting him all night. Credit him. He made the plays he had to make.”
An 11-yard scramble from Armstrong put the ball on the UConn 11-yard line. A seven-yard run from Jordan Houston put the ball on the four before Mimms was stopped for a one-yard loss. On fourth down and two, the Wolfpack went for it but Tui Faumuina-Brown was called for pass interference in the end zone.
With a fresh set of downs, the Wolfpack scored two plays later for a 10-point lead, 17-7.
On the kickoff, UConn’s Brian Brewton took the ball from the end zone to the 29-yard line. On first down, Rosa found an opening on his left and was off to the races.
“Once you see daylight like that in front of you, you have to take advantage and get on your horse. I felt really good tonight,” Rosa said.
But when he crossed the goal line, he did a somersault into the end zone. That drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“That was foolish of me to do. It was selfish and I will never do that again,” Rosa said.
North Carolina State’s Julian Gray returned the ball 40 yards to the UConn 42-yard line and then the Huskies were hit with a 15-yard penalty for a unnecessary roughness and the Pack began their drive 27 yards away from the end zone.
Armstrong scored four plays later on an eight-yard run for a 24-14 lead.
“We have to be more poised as a football team in those moments and make better decisions,” Mora said.
Bradley Rozner (80) battles UConn’s Justin Joly (17) for the ball in Thursday night’s game in East Hartford.
Twice, Mora stressed in the post-game meeting with reporters that Rosa’s flip and penalty was not the deciding play in the contest. It didn’t help but …
“There were a bunch of plays in the third quarter that hurt us,” Mora said. “We have to be better.”
Rosa gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead scoring on an 18-yard run in the first quarter. He brought the crowd to their feet with his 71-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“A moment like that for victor, a hometown hero, breaks a long one, gets us close and (he) just has a momentary lapse of judgement,” Mora said. “It’s not like him. I love him to death. He will be doing great things around here for the next couple of years.
“He is an explosive kid,” Mora said. “Victor is hard to catch. He has pretty good speed. People underestimate how fast he is and they can’t catch him. He finds a crease and takes it the distance.”
The Huskies (0-1) hit the road to face Georgia State (1-0) on Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. It will be streamed on ESPN+.
North Carolina State 24, UConn 14
At East Hartford
NC State (1-0) 7 3 7 7 — 24
UConn (0-1) 7 0 7 0 — 14
First quarter
C: Victor Rosa 18 run (J McFadden kick), 6:39
N: Brennan Armstrong 4 run (Naverson kick), 4:27
Second quarter
N: Naverson 44 FG, 2:56
Third quarter
N: Delbert Mimms 1 run (Naverson kick), 6:27
C: Rosa 71 run (McFadden kick), 0:11
Fourth quarter
N: Armstrong 8 run (Naverson kick)
Individual statistics
RUSHING: NC State – Brennan Armstrong 19-96, Jordan Houston 13-57, Michael Allen 4-30, Delbert Mimms 8-20; UConn –Victor Rosa 9-99, Devontae Houston 7-24, Brian Brewton 3-19, Joe Fagnano 7-18
PASSING: NC State – Armstrong 17-26-0, 155; UConn – Fagnano 14-26-1, 113
RECEIVING: NC State – Kevin Concepcion 4-36, Michael Allen 3-27, Keyon Lesane 2-22, Porter Rooks 2-18; UConn – Justin Joly 4-38, Devontae Houston 3-22, Brett Buckman 2-19, Geordon Porter 2-12
