SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 6, 2014
SMU 27, Connecticut 20: Prescott Line rushed for 90 yards and a pair of scores, including the go-ahead touchdown in the final stanza that lifted the visiting Mustangs to their first win since November of last season.
Matt Davis threw for 145 yards, ran for 191 and added a rushing touchdown for SMU (1-11, 1-7 American Athletic Conference), which avoided its first winless season since 2003. Darius Joseph caught nine passes for a game-high 108 receiving yards and the Mustangs overcame a 14-point halftime deficit.
Ron Johnson paced Connecticut (2-10, 1-7) with 101 yards on the ground and a score while Max DeLorenzo chipped in 66 yards and a touchdown. The Huskies lost four fumbles in the rainy weather and Chandler Whitmer was picked off once for a total of five turnovers.
The Mustangs scored 14 points off turnovers in the third quarter and Davis knotted the game at 20-20 when he capped off his 26-yard scamper with a dive into the end zone. Line collected his second rushing TD from 12 yards to put SMU ahead with 9:22 left, DeLorenzo fumbled on the ensuing drive and UConn went three-and-out on its next drive as the Mustangs gave interim coach Tom Mason a proper farewell in his last game for SMU.
SMU's early 6-0 edge vanished toward the end of the first quarter when Darius Durall's fumble was returned 32 yards for a score by Andrew Adams, tying the game at six apiece after Bobby Puyol missed the extra point. DeLorenzo ran in a 46-yard score on 4th-and-1 and Johnson tacked on a 13-yard TD run as the Huskies notched a 20-6 advantage before the break.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Wet field conditions due to the rain contributed to eight fumbles from both teams, six of which were lost. ... UConn CB Jhavon Williams had five tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. ...The 191 rushing yards by Davis is a new single-game record by a SMU quarterback.