Huskies hammer ’Hoos

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Randy Edsall had pleaded with Connecticut fans to make life rough for Virginia inside Renstchler Field.

In the end, the Connecticut coach’s urging was much ado about nothing.

Thanks to a career-best performance from UConn tailback Donald Brown, a majority of the fanbase had happily bolted for the exits long before the fourth quarter had even started.

With Brown taking center stage, the Huskies gained 506 yards of total offense, blasting Virginia, 45-10, in the Cavaliers’ first road game.

Virginia (1-2) struggled on offense for the third straight game, managing to amass just 219 yards of total offense.

“I think we just got outplayed,” Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim said. “I got outplayed. I think our defense as a whole got outplayed. They were easily the better team.”

UConn (3-0) got 206 yards and three touchdowns from Brown and a near-perfect performance from quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, who passed for 124 yards and rushed for 52 more.

The Huskies raced out to a 28-point lead at halftime and never looked back, allowing the Cavaliers only two scoring drives.

“I did kind of blink and it was 28-0,” said Virginia tailback Cedric Peerman, who scored the Cavaliers lone touchdown on a 1-yard run with 10:24 left in the game. “We just tried to refocus but we never could get back on track.”

Marc Verica, who was 22 of 30 passing for 158 yards, was named Virginia’s starting quarterback on Wednesday in a press release that noted the benching of Pete Lalich, who did not travel with the team to the game.

“UConn played a terrific game. They did most everything right,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “We did little of anything right. It’s not about — in any way, shape or form — anybody who wasn’t here.

“Our team is the team that we put on the field today. I am responsible for that. I take the blame for that and there are really no other names necessary to discuss.”

Virginia scored its first points with 10:03 left in the third quarter on a 43-yard field goal by Yannick Reyering, but UConn answered the score as Brown broke through the Cavaliers’ defense for a 63-yard touchdown run.

“I had my hands on [Brown] numerous times and he made me look silly,” Sintim said. “He is a talented back and we knew that coming in.”

In the first half, UConn scored touchdowns on its first four possessions.

Brown opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run with 8:44 left in the first quarter, capping off an 11-play, 70-yard drive.

After forcing Virginia to punt on Verica’s second career series at quarterback, the Huskies struck again.

Lorenzen, who showcased the ability to run and pass on the drive, connected on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Davis in the back of the Cavaliers’ end zone on the fourth play of the second quarter.

In quick fashion, the Huskies added to their lead scoring 10 minutes left in the first half on a 13-yard run by Darius Butler. The 5-play, 86-yard march included a 63-yard run by Brown, who appeared headed for the end zone until cornerback Ras-I Dowling chased him down at the Virginia 23.

Virginia attempted to answer the score, moving the ball to the UConn 25, but Verica was flushed out of the pocket and threw an incompletion on 4th-and-1.

Brown, who had 112 yards rushing in the opening half, gave UConn a 28-0 halftime advantage on the Huskies’ fourth drive, scoring on an 8-yard run with 1:42 left in the half.

The Cavaliers ran 23 offensive plays in the first half and moved the ball 90 yards, but converted only once on their five third-down opportunities.

Virginia, after a bye week, returns to action at Duke on Sept. 27. It will mark the first league game of the season for the Cavaliers.