East Hartford - UConn had a firm grip on an upset bid Saturday.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Huskies trailed by only three points, their confidence was growing and energy level rising feeding off a supportive Rentschler Field crowd of 30,098.

Mistakes, however, ultimately prevented the Huskies from winning the non-conference tug-of-war, falling to a nationally-prominent program in Boise State, 38-21.

"It hurts to be close," senior Geremy Davis said. "We just pretty much let it go. Boise State has a good team. Being that close and letting it slip away just really (stinks)."

The Huskies (1-2) did many good things, especially on defense, but also enough bad things to lead to their demise. Three turnovers led to 21 points. They were outscored, 14-0, in the fourth quarter.

"Everybody is going to be sick to their stomachs, and if they're not, we talked about identifying why," coach Bob Diaco said. "But there's some moments that we can hang our hat on and sink our teeth into and say, 'Yes, this is something that we have accomplished. We can build on this and we can move forward with this.' "

UConn will enter American Athletic Conference play on Friday at South Florida a better team than the one that took the field Aug. 29 against Brigham Young. The Huskies scored a season-high for points and limited the high-powered Broncos (2-1), who piled up 676 yards against Colorado State last week, to just 292 on Saturday. They held star tailback Jay Ajayi to just 39 yards, well under his season average (152.5).

"Our defense played pretty well," said safety Obi Melifonwu. "We just hustled to the ball and relied on each other."

But UConn just couldn't avoid hitting the self-destruct button.

On the game's opening drive, Boise's 300-pound nose tackle Armand Nance rocked 170-pound freshman tailback Arkeel Newsome into another time zone, forcing a fumble. Sophomore Tanner Vallejo scooped up the loose ball and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.

The most damaging turnover came early in the fourth quarter with UConn trailing 24-21. Quarterback Chandler Whitmer tried to hit Deshon Foxx near the sideline but Jonathan Moxey stepped in for the interception.

Four plays later, Grant Hedrick zipped in a beautiful pass to a well-covered Matt Miller for a 9-yard touchdown and a 31-21 lead. It was the second time that pair combined for a score. Miller also threw a 7-yard TD pass to Hedrick on a trick play near the end of the first half.

On the second interception, Donte Deayon wrestled the ball from Davis and returned it 50 yards for the game's final touchdown.

"Even though we did some positive things, those are things that we've got to eliminate," Whitmer said. "We're going to work on it."

Whitmer was under heavy pressure as the Broncos registered eight sacks. He completed 16 of 29 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns - a 16-yarder to freshman Alec Bloom (his first career TD catch) that handed UConn's its only lead at 10-7 - and a 10-yarder to Davis that cut the deficit to 24-21 late in the third quarter.

The Huskies had little choice but to go to the air with their feeble running attack producing just 48 yards.

For the second straight game, special teams play was a bright spot. Bobby Puyol connected on field goals from 24 and 39 yards. Jon Hicks recovered a fumbled punt return at the Boise State 30 to set up Whitmer's third-quarter TD pass.

"We're moving forward in a lot of areas but we have a lot of work to and the team is resolute to get it done," Diaco said.

News and notes

Diaco appreciated the crowd's support: "I felt an energy in the stadium." … Backup quarterback Tim Boyle played only two drives and went 6-for-9 for 33 yards. … Foxx had his third career 100-yard receiving game, finishing with 107 yards on six catches. … Davis has made a catch in 29 straight games. … Linebacker Marquise Vann had nine tackles, giving him a team-high 29 through three games.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe