2007 Connecticut Huskies football team The 2007 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big East Conference . The team was coached by Randy Edsall and played its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford , Connecticut . This year the Huskies , for the first time , ended the season on the BCS rankings top 25 at # 25 , and at the height of their year were ranked # 13 , the highest at any point in their history . Game notes . Duke . In a game that was a tale of two halves , the Huskies started the season off on the right foot with a solid 45 - 14 win against Duke , extending the Blue Devil ' s winless streak to twenty - one straight . Maine . UConn improved its overall record to 2 - 0 for the fourth time in five years and its record in home openers at Rentschler Field to 5 - 0 . This was the Huskies ' first shutout since a 59 - 0 victory over Liberty in 2005 . Temple . In a game which the Huskies were heavily favored , it took the help of a rotund security guard to win the game . After taking the lead early in the fourth quarter , the Huskies fought off a last minute drive by the Owls . On the final play of the game , Temple ran a wide receiver reverse pass , which was batted down in the end zone by UConn defensive back Robert Vaughn . However , on the deflection , the ball was caught by the Owls ' Bruce Francis , who was ruled out of bounds . Replays on TV showed Francis did appear to get one foot inbounds , however , it is debatable whether he also had possession at that point . After an official review , the play was upheld . The replay angle which could have provided the conclusive evidence , both foot inbounds and possession , was obstructed by a security guard standing in the line of sight of the television camera . The Huskies improved to 3 - 0 for the first time since 1998 . Pittsburgh . The Huskies continued their dominance in a 34 - 14 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field . The victory marks the first time UConn has started 4 - 0 since 1997 , as well as the first time the Huskies have won a Big East road opener . The victory is also the Huskies ' second - ever win on the road within the conference . Akron . Returning home to East Hartford , the Huskies held off the Zips to win their fifth straight game for the first time since 1995 . The Huskies were led by running back Andre Dixon who scampered for 116 yards on 12 carries , as well as his first two touchdowns of his career . Junior College transfer quarterback Tyler Lorenzen continued to play well contributing 203 yards , and two touchdowns of his own . Virginia . In a game which the winner was almost guaranteed a spot in the top 25 , the Huskies put forth a solid effort , but unfortunately came up just short . After allowing the go - ahead field goal with 3 : 20 left in the game the Huskies began the assault upfield . After a solid return , and two consecutive 11 yard runs by quarterback Tyler Lorenzen , the Huskies made the first of 3 costly mistakes allowing a snap from the shotgun formation to go whizzing by Lorenzen for a 21 yard loss . This proved to be the pivotal point in the game as the Huskies were unable to advance the ball , and in fact , turned the ball over on another botched snap from the gun , sealing a 17 - 16 victory for the Hoos . Louisville . The Huskies again returned to the friendly confines of Rentschler Field for a heavily anticipated match - up with conference foe Louisville . Weather conditions were less than ideal as heavy rains had pounded Connecticut throughout the day . After holding the Cardinals high powered offense to just seven points in the first half . Momentum soon swung in the favor of the Huskies , just moments into the third quarter . A controversial 76 - yard punt return by Larry Taylor knotted the game at 7 - 7 . It appeared as though Taylor had called for a fair catch ; however , no whistle was blown , allowing him to run down the sideline for the score against a Louisville return team which had let up due to the apparent fair catch . After a field goal and a fumble return , the Cardinals appeared to be up for good with just over ten minutes left . A Tyler Lorenzen touchdown pass to quarterback - turned - wide receiver D . J . Hernandez pulled the Huskies to within three points . After a defensive stop , the Huskies drove down the field , and Andre Dixon scored the game - winning touchdown with 1 : 32 left to play . Linebacker Danny Lansanah cemented the victory picking off Cardinals quarterback Brian Brohm with 15 seconds to play . The win improved Connecticut ' s record to 6 - 1 , making the Huskies bowl eligible for the third time in school history . South Florida . Back in East Hartford for the second of three straight home games , the Huskies looked to make a statement against 10th ranked South Florida ; and make a statement they did . On yet another rainy Connecticut afternoon , UConn jumped out to an early 3 - 0 lead . On the ensuing possession , USF marched down the field , but were unable to capitalize , as kicker Delbie Alvarado missed a 26 yard field goal . Midway through the second quarter , Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen hooked up with TE Steve Brouse for a three yard touchdown pass . On the next possession , Linebacker Scott Lutrus intercepted a Matt Grothe pass , and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown . The interception was Lutrus ' fourth of the year , and second returned for a touchdown . The score put UConn up 16 - 0 , after a botched extra point attempt . The score held going into the half . South Florida finally lit up the scoreboard with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter on a blocked punt , which was covered up in the endzone by the Huskies for a safety . After the free kick , Matt Grothe took just : 29 to scamper for two runs and pull the Bulls closer . After a sandwich of a UConn and USF field goals ( UConn , USF , USF , UConn ) . South Florida began to drive down the field with 5 : 19 left . After getting into the redzone down 7 , the Bulls were unable to capitalize , as a 3 yard touchdown run was called back due to a holding call . On the next play , Grothe was sacked by Redshirt freshman Greg Robinson . On the final play , Grothe passed incomplete into the corner of the endzone , sealing the 22 - 15 victory for the now 7 - 1 Huskies . The win was the first ever for the Huskies against a ranked opponent . Rutgers . At Rentschler Field for the finale of a three game homestand the Huskies were the favorite against the rival Rutgers . Uconn started the game with a blocked Jeremy Ito punt by quarterback , turned wide receiver D . J . Hernandez which went for a safety . After the punt , Uconn progressed to drive down the field as junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen hit Steve Brouse on a short two yard out route in the endzone . Tony Ciaravino missed the extra point making the score 8 - 0 Uconn . Rutgers came right back with a Ray Rice 45 yard run and eventually an Ito 30 yard field goal making the score 8 - 3 . Tyvon Branch came back with a 48 yard return and Ciaravino hit a 44 yard field goal increasing the lead to 11 - 3 . Uconn had good field possession late in the first quarter and Lorenzen hooked up with wide out Terrence Jeffers for 34 yards . Rutgers preceded to march down with a long drive ending with another Ito field goal in the second quarter . On the kickoff , Tyvon Branch took the ball to the outside juking in and then speeding to the outside of Ito for a 97 yard return . Rutgers drove again ending with a Ray Rice 4 yard touchdown run . After a Uconn punt Rutgers ended the half with another Ito field goal . In the third quarter Ito hit another field goal from 27 yards after multiple punts from both teams . Uconn drove again and with Andre Dixon out of the game , the ball was handed to sophomore Donald Brown who found a large hole on the right side and took it for a 33 yard touchdown . After a missed Ito field goal Ciaravino came back with a 30 yarder of his own . After a Rutgers punt Ciaravino hit another field goal this one from 26 yards . After Rutgers drove to the Uconn 35 , with 8 : 17 to go in the 4th Quarter Rutgers failed on a fourth and four . After a Desi Cullen punt for Uconn , a Robert McClain interception of Mike Teel , and another Cullen punt . Teel drove again and at one point completed 6 passes in a row until time ran out . This win gave Uconn a 8 - 1 record and Donald Brown came off the bench and ran for 154 yards and a touchdown . Ray Rice was held to less than 30 yards in the second half and Tyvon Branch was subsequently named Big East special teams player of the week . Cincinnati . The Cincinnati Bearcats beat the UConn Huskies behind a strong performance by the Bearcats ' quarterback Ben Mauk . Mauk threw for 276 yards and 3 touchdowns with 21 completions on 33 attempts . He also added a rushing touchdown . The Huskies managed only one scoring drive , an 11 play , 74 yard drive in 2nd quarter , resulting in a field goal . Syracuse . This is senior day for 11 seniors including leaders Dan Davis and Danny Lansanah , along with 27 year old Zak Penwell . Other seniors include specials team phenom Larry Taylor and corner Tyvon Branch . The win made UConn the second team in the history of the Big East to finish a season with 7 wins at home , joining the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers . West Virginia . West Virginia ' s blowout victory over the Huskies resulted in a sarcastic running joke in the UConn student paper , the Daily Campus . Variations on the joke , " West Virginia just scored again , " began running in the paper ' s InstantDaily feature the Monday following the game and continued well into the Spring 2008 semester . First instance of joke - The Daily Campus Meineke Car Care Bowl . The Huskies got invited to their second bowl game .