EAST HARTFORD, Sept. 21, 2024 – Running backs Durell Robinson and Mel Brown each ran for 156 yards as UConn won their second game of the season with a dominant 48-14 win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night at Rentschler Field.
Robinson ran for 156 yards and two TDs on 16 carries while Brown had 156 yards and one TD on 21 carries. The Huskies ran for a FBS school-record 421 yards and finished just 16 yards of the team record of 437 against UMass in 1956.
Quarterback Nick Evers ran for a career-high 78 yards and two TDs on 18 carries. He also completed 9-of-14 passes for 88 yards.
He led the UConn offense to 542 total yards on 81 plays while picking up 32 first downs, the first time getting 30 or more first downs since the 2018 season (vs. SMU – 34). The Huskies also did not punt on Saturday night, a first since a game at Syracuse during the 2004 season.
The Huskies (2-2) ran their way to a 17-0 lead at the half, pounding the ball at the FAU defense to the tune of 31 rushes for 169 yards while holding the football for 20:36. The Huskies ran 42 total plays to 20 for the Owls in the first half.
The Huskies orchestrated a pair of 12-play drives in the second quarter to put a pair of touchdowns on the board. Evers converted on a second-and-goal try at 11:32, finding Brown out of the backfield for a 10-0 lead.
Evers then led UConn’s longest scoring drive of the season, pacing the offense 91-yards, running on 10 of the 12 plays, capped by an eight-yard burst up the middle by Robinson at 1:50 for a 17-0 lead.
The UConn running attack picked right up to open the second as Evers ran in his first career rushing touchdown, a three-yard plunge, to cap of a 14-play drive which featured 12 runs to cover the 75 yards.
UConn’s defense gave up a season-low 250 total yards in the win, just 87 yards through the air. Senior linebacker Tui Faumuina Brown led the defense with nine tackles.
The Huskies return to action on Saturday when they host Buffalo at noon in East Hartford.
UConn 48, Florida Atlantic 14
At East Hartford Florida Atlantic (1-3) 0 0 7 7 — 14
UConn (2-2) 3 14 10 21 — 48 First quarter C: Chris Freeman 34 FG, 10:09 Second quarter C: Mel Brown 5 pass from Nick Evers (Freeman kick), 11:32
C: Durell Robinson 8 run (Freeman kick), 1:50 Third quarter C: Evers 3 run (Freeman kick(, 8:09
C: Freeman 35 FG, 5:47
F: C.J. Campbell 3 run (Carter Davis kick), 2:17 Fourth quarter C: Evers 2 run (Freeman kick), 14:26
C: Robinson 10 run (Freeman kick), 11:45
F: Campbell 38 run (Davis kick), 9:57
C: Shamar Porter 33 pass from Joe Fagnano (Freeman kick), 5:02
Att: 20,144 Individual statistics
RUSHING: UConn – Mel Brown 21-156, Durell Robinson 16-156, Nick Evers 18-78, Cam Edwards 7-30, Daniel Shaban 2-6, Joe Fagnano 1-minus 3; FAU – Cam Fancher 8-71, CJ Campbell 6-53, Zuberi Mobley 10-36, Gemari Sands 1-3, Kasen Weisman 1-0
PASSING: UConn – Nick Evers 9-14-0, 88, Joe Fagnano 1-1-0, 33; FAU – Cam Fancher 9-15-1, 87, Kasen Weisman 0-1-0, 0
RECEIVING: UConn – Skyler Bell 1-43, Shamar Porter 1-33, T.J. Sheffield 4-18, Ezeriah Anderson 1-14, Jasaiah Gathings 1-5, Mel Brown 1-5, Louis Hansen 1-3; FAU – Caleb Coombs 2-28, Jabari Smith 1-26, CJ Campbell 1-16, Omari Hayes 3-13, Marylyn Johnson 1-4, Zuberi Mobley 1-0
