New York - And there was Jamar Summers making The Play. Of course. It's Yankee Stadium. Plays like this happen. All hope lost, the UConn Huskies left for dead. Cue the ghosts: Summers recovers an onsides kick with 2 minutes, 5 seconds remaining. Army 28, UConn 21. Game on.

Chandler Whitmer, UConn's max effort quarterback, gets his team to the Army 6. Rush for 26 yards. Rush for 10. Rush for 7. Then on second-and-three from the 6, UConn still with a timeout, Whitmer's ill-advised throw only changed everything.

Army's Chris Carnegie stepped in and took it 99-yards back for the game-clinching score, sending the Black Knights to a 35-21 win before 27,453 at Yankee Stadium.

The Huskies (2-7), who appeared to be on life support down 28-14 with barely more than two minutes left, lost a gutbuster.

"We had the timeout to use and we would have used it had we needed to," UConn coach Bob Diaco said. "We didn't get the opportunity to at that time. … That play didn't lose us the game. Chandler Whitmer played hard. He got us down there. He's crushed. I wish he wasn't. I feel terrible for him. It wasn't his fault. He didn't lose the game for us. Too many errors on offense in general."

And too much time on the field for the defense. Army (3-6), which lost to Yale earlier this season, ran for 325 yards and kept the ball for more than 34 minutes. Quarterback Angel Santiago ran for 102 yards, one of five players with at least 30 yards rushing. Army, which led 14-0, played keep-away for much of the game.

"You just don't have many chances. It's part of what they do," Diaco said. "It why that offense, as it relates to how they do their business, is awesome. The opponent has so few opportunities to score. You've got to move fast and strike down the field. It also almost creates a situation where the defense has to defend an offense that's three times harder because they are totally on schedule with no stress at 14-zip."

UConn cut a 14-0 deficit to 14-7 by halftime. Whitmer's two-yard run capped a 58-play drive that gave the Huskies some optimism. Except that Army's first drive of the second half occupied seven minutes, ending with Joe Walker's two-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7.

UConn cut it to 21-14 on Sean McQuillan's 16-yard touchdown reception on fourth down, but Army padded its lead with 4:22 left on Santiago's 1-yard run. Its drive took more than five minutes.

Diaco said Army's 14-0 lead prevented him from using receiver Deshon Foxx at quarterback, the set that was so successful last week in the victory over Central Florida. Foxx took a few snaps late in the third period.

Whitmer finished 19 for 31 for 170 yards, two scores and one interception. He also led UConn with 68 yards rushing.

"We've got a long way to go as a program. We haven't been at it for 12 months. I'm not sure we've been at it 11 months," Diaco said. "I don't think we took a step back. We didn't win the football game. But we didn't take a step back. Every person in our organization is better. Everyone's upset. We're upset we lost. We didn't take a step back. The players and coaches are more equipped to come to a venue and play on a national stage. The whole program is better.

"You win a game (last week) and it's like you've arrived? No. We have a long way to go."

m.dimauro@theday.com

Twitter: @BCgenius