Home UConn upsets #19 Liberty, 36-33, to improve to 6-5: Bowl-eligible for the first time since 2015
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UConn upsets #19 Liberty, 36-33, to improve to 6-5: Bowl-eligible for the first time since 2015

Chris Graham
liberty
Image: Liberty Athletics

Jim Mora Jr. can obviously coach football.

Mora took over a moribund UConn football program that had won more than three games in a season just once in the past nine years, and with a 36-33 win over #19 Liberty on Saturday, he has the Huskies bowl-eligible in Year 1.

A Zion Turner-to-Kevens Clercius 30-yard TD pass with 5:43 left gave the Huskies (6-5) the lead for good, and UConn stopped Liberty (8-2) on its final drive after forcing an incompletion on a fourth-down pass at midfield with 41 seconds left.

The Flames outgained UConn 474-318, but the Huskies got a defensive touchdown, a 31-yard fumble return by Jackson Mitchell that gave UConn an early 14-3 lead.

The final UConn score came on a short field after the Huskies’ defense got a stop on a fourth-down play at the Liberty 41.

Liberty quarterback Johnathan Bennett suffered his first loss as a starter for the Flames. Bennett completed 22-of-36 pass attempts for 201 yards and a touchdown.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].