Huskies Overwhelm I-AA Opponent

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It is bound to get tougher for the Huskies. It can't get any easier.

UConn was virtually unstoppable Saturday in a 59-0 victory over Liberty before an announced sellout crowd of 40,000 at Rentschler Field.

The Huskies (2-0) scored the first eight times they had the ball and played stifling defense against the Flames (1-1).

In other words, UConn did exactly what it was supposed to do against the Division I-AA opponent from Lynchburg, Va.

"We came out with the right mentality," running back Terry Caulley said. "Even though they're a I-AA team, we came out with respect for them. We came out with a game plan, executed and got the job done."

The Huskies have been nearly perfect in their first two games. UConn opened the season with a 38-0 victory over Buffalo on Sept. 1.

But it is about to get more challenging. The Huskies play No.17 Georgia Tech Saturday in Atlanta.

"We knew that we were supposed to beat these two teams," wide receiver Jason Williams said. "It's like the flip side now [against Georgia Tech]. We'll probably be the underdog, heavily. We're going to play them just the way we played Buffalo and Liberty."

The Huskies limited Liberty to 29 yards rushing on 28 carries in their third consecutive shutout at home (they beat Buffalo 29-0 last year in their home finale).

The Huskies had 600 yards of offense - 376 rushing - and did not have to punt until 3:39 remained in the third quarter.

Liberty has Division I-A aspirations, but it is clearly a long way down the road.

"The bottom line is that their offensive line was better than our defensive line and just moved us off the ball," Liberty coach Ken Karcher said. "I told my guys if you want to play Division I football, this is what it's like every week. There are no off weeks. After this week, UConn doesn't have an off week."

UConn quarterback Matt Bonislawski completed his first 10 passes and finished 18-for-25 for 217 yards. His two touchdown passes went to Williams (9 yards) and Brandon Young (18 yards).

Caulley, who started, and Cornell Brockington combined for 186 yards rushing. Caulley had 71 yards on nine carries, including a 34-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Brockington, held to 18 yards in the opener against Buffalo, rushed for 115 yards on 20 carries, including TD runs of 3, 8 and 2 yards.

Redshirt freshman fullback Lou Allen had 98 yards for the Huskies on 15 carries.

Bonislawski also ran for 26 yards, but he concentrated on getting more of the wide receivers involved in the passing game. He had two TD passes against Buffalo as well, but both were to tight end Dan Murray.

"I thought [bonislawski] executed the game plan," coach Randy Edsall said. "He's getting more confidence with each game."

Young and Williams each had four receptions, Young for 61 yards and Williams for 39.

Linebacker Danny Lansanah led the defense with eight tackles. Linebackers James Hargrave and Taurien Sowell had sacks, and freshman defensive end Cody Brown caused a fumble that helped the Huskies early.

Liberty's only threat came on its second possession. Karcher confused the Huskies by changing quarterbacks and using them in the lineup at the same time.

The Flames used the scheme to reach the UConn 26-yard line, but the possession ended in a botched faked field goal. That was Liberty's deepest penetration of the game.

"I was proud of the way our guys came out and played the game, in terms of going through executing the way we did," Edsall said. "Sometimes you have some concerns in situations like this."

It took UConn only four plays to take a 7-0 lead.

On the second UConn possession, Bonislawski threw 15 yards to backup tight end Steve Brouse, 16 to Young and 14 to running back Larry Taylor.

Those passes set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Brockington that gave the Huskies a 14-0 lead with 4:47 left in the first quarter.

The Huskies struck for 24 points in the second quarter. Bonislawski completed TD passes to Young and Williams and also ran a yard for a touchdown. The one time UConn was stopped on the way to a 38-0 halftime lead, Matt Nuzie kicked a 27-yard field goal.

After the Huskies extended the lead to 45-0 on their first possession of the second half, Edsall sent in the second-team defense. Once the score reached 52-0, he went to the second team on offense.

All that remained was to preserve the shutout.

"Our kids are playing hard," Edsall said. "I think they have some confidence. We know as the season progresses it's going to get tougher and tougher."

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