UConn was far from perfect Saturday night, but look on the positive side.

The Huskies weren’t Virginia, which lost to William & Mary.

Or Duke, which lost to Richmond.

Or Iowa, which needed two blocked field goals in the final seconds to avoid an upset against Northern Iowa.

And all three of those schools were at home.

At least UConn, which was in a position to cruise in the fourth quarter before a pair of turnovers allowed Ohio University to stay in the game, survived on the road, returning to Storrs early this morning with a 23-17 victory in its back pocket.

There must (and will) be improvement before No. 21 North Carolina comes calling in another week, but at least now Randy Edsall and his coaching staff have something tangible to look at on film.

Still, they won’t survive another five turnover game against the Tar Heels.

And they must get better play at quarterback. Zach Frazer, to his credit, made no excuses about his play after completing only 11 of 24 passes for 127 yards with three interceptions. He did throw two touchdowns, but he missed a number of open receivers.

But for new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead’s offense to work, Frazer must settle down and make some plays, particularly on first down, when he was only 3-for-8 and had some chances to catch Ohio on its heels.

Moorhead’s offense is also about balance, but UConn ran 49 times and passed 24.

UConn gets a pass (no pun intended) in this game because coming in everyone knew the Huskies had to ability to dominate the line of scrimmage. They did just that, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and producing a pair of 100-yard rushers – Jordan Todman (25 carries, 157 yards) and a rejuvenated Andre Dixon (19 for 100).

There were also a couple of other things that had to drive the head coach crazy, most notably Desi Cullen hooking two kickoffs out of bounds, allowing Ohio to start at its own 40, and redshirt freshman strong safety twice allowing receivers to get behind him for touchdowns.

But there were some things that had to make Edsall smile.

Defensively, the Huskies allowed Ohio only 61 yards in 32 carries, a measly 1.9 yards per carry. True freshman Jesse Joseph and Trevardo Williams had solid debuts (Williams had a pair of sacks) and senior Lindsey Witten had three sacks, one for a safety.

Injury-wise, cornerback Jasper Howard missed a series early in the game after twisting his left knee. He returned and played well. Linebacker Scott Lutrus left late in the game after receiving a neck stringer and didn’t return.

This type of injury can be very nagging because rest is the best remedy. Let’s hope it isn’t too serious because UConn could ill afford to lose their defensive leader.