David Pindell, Kevin Mensah save the day for UConn

To say that a UConn victory this past Saturday was a necessity is an understatement.  Randy Edsall was coaching for his career as the Huskies took on FCS opponent Rhode Island.  Had things swung just a bit the other way, Edsall would most likely be on the street looking for a new job.  UConn has zero expectations for this season as half their starting roster are underclassmen, but losing at home to a team not even in the same football division would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Edsall has two people to thank for UConn’s 56-49 victory over Rhode Island;  Quarterback David Pindell and running back Kevin Mensah.  It seems every week regardless of how UConn plays, Pindell is always the focus of the team.  He puts the team on his back and this time it paid off.  Kevin Mensah hasn’t been mentioned much because the Huskies have such a futile offensive line.

David Pindell shines again

Pindell was all over the statsheet, passing for 308 yards, rushing for 137 yards, and scoring six touchdowns total.  If Pindell was not the UConn quarterback who knows what the score would’ve been, but it surely was not the defense that shone through during this shootout.

Mensah carries the load

Kevin Mensah was the Clyde to Pindell’s Bonnie, rushing for 144 yards with two touchdowns.  The highlight of the day?  Mensah’s second touchdown with under a minute left was the game winner and essentially decided whether Edsall would stay or go.

Defense is still dreadful

Starts Omar Fortt and Tahj Herring-Wilson were out, but that’s no excuse for this porous and quite honestly embarrassing defense.  Rhode Island quarterback JaJuan Johnson threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns.

Even though the defense was terrible, there were two highlights that stuck out on the tape.  The first was a very nice interception by safety Oneil Robinson in the first half.  The other?  The play that sealed the game, an Eli Thomas sack of Johnson to end the game.

At the end of the day, everyone knew this UConn team would not be good.  But almost lose to an FCS team bad?  Nobody thought that.  Regardless of the embarrassing performance the UConn defense put on display, a win is a win and close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Onward and upward to Syracuse for next Saturday’s game.  The game starts at 4 PM so make sure to set your TVs for it.  After Syracuse’s big victory over Florida State, this might not be a pretty one.