Huskies' frustration mounts after another strong effort results in loss

Cincinnati - A long, emotional and frustrating Saturday night had actually turned into Sunday morning when coach Randy Edsall emerged from UConn's locker room just past midnight and tried to give his take on the Huskies' 47-45 loss to fourth-ranked Cincinnati.

"I told (the players) I'm running out of things to tell them after a game like this," Edsall said. "Again, we had some self-inflicted wounds and we've just got to do the little things correctly all the time, and if we do we'll get over this hump and we'll win a game like this."

Right now, that hump seems more like a mountain for the Huskies, who lost their third straight Big East game after a valiant comeback against the unbeaten Bearcats. UConn (4-5, 1-4) has lost five games by a mere 15 points.

"Give Cincinnati credit," Edsall said. "But if they're the No. 4 or 5 or 7 team in the country - we are who we are right now and I understand that - but we're not far off (from Cincinnati) and that's what I told our kids."

Then Edsall made a rare concession, his first since the tragic stabbing death of cornerback Jasper Howard on Oct. 18.

"We need the bye (week) very badly," he said. "We need these kids to get away from football. They've been through quite a bit and they just need to kind of be by themselves and do what they've got to do."

So Edsall gave his team Sunday, today and Tuesday off. The Huskies will also rest on Friday and Saturday before giving their full attention to a historic visit to Notre Dame on Nov. 21.

He did, however, reflect on the positives and negatives of Saturday's loss, when UConn nearly overcome a 20-point second-half deficit and put a scare into the unbeaten Bearcats.

The positives:

• The continued improved play of the offense, which scored 35 points in the second half and finished with 462 total yards - 261 passing and 201 rushing. Jordan Todman rushed for 162 yards and four touchdowns, quarterback Zach Frazer was 19-for-32 for 261 yards (and no interceptions), and Marcus Easley caught a touchdown pass for the fourth straight game and finished with 87 yards on six catches.

• The special teams performance of punter Desi Cullen and punt returner Robert McClain. Cullen averaged 44.2 yards on five punts while McClain's 87-yard touchdown return late in the third quarter gave UConn a huge momentum boost.

The negatives:

• Defense, defense and more defense. What was UConn's strength when the season began has now become a unit that has lost its way. Allowing the high-powered Bearcats' 711 total yards was bad enough, but it was the manner in which they let Cincinnati dictate the tempo that was alarming.

There were missed tackles galore, the secondary gave dangerous receivers Mardy Gilyard and Armon Binns way too much cushion at the line of scrimmage, and the Huskies put absolutely no pressure on quarterback Zach Collaros, who made UConn pay by completing 29 of 27 passes for 480 yards.

"The one thing we told the kids at halftime (when UConn trailed 30-10) and I told them the same thing before the game was to play loose and let it fly," Edsall said. "Don't worry about making a mistake. … You've got to come out and play this game with confidence and challenge people."

Edsall and his defensive staff will address some of those issues before heading to South Bend in two weeks, but he sees no reason to panic.

"We just got ourselves in a situation early that wasn't good," he said. "But I tell you, this team showed the grit, determination - you can use any adjective you want to describe these young men - but we just came up a little bit short. I was proud of the way we came back and had a chance at the end."

c.banning@theday.com