Writing Sample 3

Cory LeBihan
J2000W (2)
12/06/10
News Story # 3





With a late field goal Saturday night, the University of Connecticut Huskies’ football team clinched their fifth league victory, securing the Big East title and their first BCS bowl berth.

In what was considered by many fans and analysts to be the biggest game in program history, the UConn Huskies edged the University of South Florida Bulls by virtue of a Dave Teggart 52-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining in the game.

“Everyone was pumped. Everyone was going nuts,” said third semester undecided major Matthias Sportini about the reaction to the victory across campus.

Prior to the season, the Huskies were a trendy pick to win the Big East Conference.

“I was very optimistic about the season,” said third semester accounting major Ethan Shore.

Considering the amount of talent returning at the beginning of the season and the coaching abilities of UConn Head Coach, Randy Edsall, there was reason to believe the Huskies could make a run toward conference champion, said Shore.

Halfway through the season, it appeared that the Huskies had already played themselves out of contention. Not even the most ardent fans would have been able to picture UConn as the Big East Champion.

Losses to non-conference foes, Michigan and Temple, shadowed doubts over the team.

A heartbreaking fourth quarter collapse at rival Rutgers, and an abysmal performance that saw the Huskies held scoreless by resurgent Louisville left Connecticut with zero wins and two losses in league play, all but eliminating them from the title race.

“[The loss to Louisville] was quite disheartening considering the hype going into the season,” said Shore.

After the Louisville game, the Huskies reeled off four straight league victories, including crucial wins over the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, and the University of West Virginia Mountaineers.

Sportini credited the turnaround to the quick maturation of a young defense and the dominance of the nation’s second leading rusher, Jordan Todman, on offense.

“Randy Edsall is a great coach and did a great job coaching up a young secondary,” said Sportini.

The defensive backs also received a boost from Sio Moore and Jesse Joseph on the defensive line, and linebackers Scott Lutrus and the Big East leader in tackles, Lawrence Wilson, he said.

With the possession of the tie breakers over Pitt and West Virginia, UConn’s aspirations to be league champion, and the beneficiary of an automatic BCS bowl bid, came down to an away game against South Florida.

UConn’s stingy defense forced three interceptions from South Florida’s true freshman walk-on quarterback, Bobby Eveld, including one that was returned for a touchdown by senior linebacker, Lawrence Wilson.

However, even with their dominating performance on defense, the Huskies sputtered on offense, and found the game tied with just over a minute left on the game clock.

Senior kicker, Dave Teggart, who defeated the Bulls last season with a field goal as time expired, repeated his heroics by nailing a career long 52-yard field goal to propel the Huskies into a BCS Bowl for the first time in school history.

Only ten years removed from Division II football, the University of Connecticut Huskies have completed one of the quickest ascensions from the lower division to prominence in the FBS.

Connecticut became a football independent in 2000 and stayed without a conference affiliation through the 2003 season, when the Huskies joined the Big East, one the of six power conferences that posses an automatic BCS bid for their champion.

A year after joining the Big East, the Huskies earned their first bowl bid and first bowl victory by defeating Mid-American Conference champion, Toledo, 39-10 in the Motor City Bowl.

UConn has since made bowl appearances in four of the past six years, including last year’s visit to the PapaJohns.com Bowl where they defeated SEC opponent, South Carolina, 20-7.

The unranked UConn Huskies are scheduled to play the 7th ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Phoenix Arizona as part of the prestigious Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

The Sooners finished the season with 11 wins and only two losses and earned a BCS bid for outlasting Nebraska 23-20 in the Big 12 Championship Game.

“I think it’s going to be a rough game,” said Sportini while looking ahead to the 2011 Fiesta Bowl.

UConn is overmatched, but with Randy Edsall at the helm of the team, they have a chance, he said.

The 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will take place in Glendale, Arizona on January 1st and can be viewed on ESPN at 8 p.m. E.T.