Junior quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson threw for 201 yards and four touchdowns as the UConn football team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 31-3 win over Sacred Heart Saturday afternoon in front of 19,053 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
UConn (2-9) ran for 209 yards on the ground led by Norwalk sophomore Cam Edwards (12-90) and Bristol’s Victor Rosa (11-74).
Defensively, the Huskies held the Pioneers (2-9) to 224 total yards of offense, just 78 on the ground, and just 2-of-11 on third downs. Senior Jackson Mitchell had a team-high 11 tackles, 1.5 for a loss, and moved up to third all-time in the UConn record book with 433 career tackles.
UConn got off to a fast start scoring points on their first three possessions. Sophomore Joe McFadden got the Huskies on the board first, hitting a career-long 50-yard field goal to cap an eight-play drive. Roberson finished the first quarter with a pair of touchdown throws to junior Cam Ross (3-56) and sophomore Justin Joly.
Roberson went over the top of the defense to find Ross on a 46-yard scoring throw to make it 10-0 with 5:45 remaining in the first quarter. Roberson made it 17-0 hooking-up with Joly in the left corner of the end zone with 38 seconds left in the opening quarter. Joly hauled in a career-high nine passes on 11 targets for 73 yards and one touchdown.
Sacred Heart’s lone points came with 2:02 left in the first half as quarterback Rob McCoy put together a 12 play, 68-yard drive that culminated in a Sam Renzi 24-yard field goal.
UConn would strike once more before the end of the half as Roberson found freshman Kylish Hicks from 14-yards out for his first career-touchdown reception with 17 seconds left in the first half. It was the Huskies’ longest drive of the day, covering 74 yards in 13 plays.
UConn finished out the scoring in the fourth quarter as Roberson threw his career-best fourth touchdown of the day to Brett Buckman at the right pylon to make it 31-3. Roberson finished 22-of-35 on the day for 201 yards, completing passes to eight different receivers, while also running it four times for 30 yards.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
UConn 31, Sacred Heart 3
At East Hartford
Sacred Heart (2-9) 0 3 0 0 — 3
UConn (2-9) 17 7 0 7 — 31
First quarter
C: Joe McFadden 50 FG, 8:50
C: Cam Ross 46 pass from Ta’Quan Roberson (McFadden kick), 5:45
C: Justin Joly 12 pass from Roberson (McFadden kick), 0:38
Second quarter
SH: Sam Renzi 24 FG, 2:02
C: Kylish Hicks 14 pass from Roberson (McFadden kick), 0:17
Fourth quarter
C: Brett Buckman 11 pass from Roberson (McFadden kick), 5:37
