TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -While others feared his season might be over, Tyler Lorenzen never doubted he’d be back to lead Connecticut down the stretch.
The senior quarterback missed four games because of a broken foot before returning last week to lead the Huskies to a rare Big East road win over Syracuse, improving Lorenzen’s record as a starter to 15-4.
UConn (7-3, 3-2) was 1-3 in the games he missed.
“I’m an optimist,” he said. “I told the training staff I wanted to be back for Syracuse and they laughed at me and said, ‘Ah, OK, let’s shoot for it.’ We pushed the envelope a lot, but we made it happen.”
Next, the Huskies, 4-12 all-time in conference road games, play at struggling South Florida (6-4, 1-4) on Sunday night. The Bulls, ranked as high as No. 10 this season, have lost four of five after a 5-0 start.
UConn has never won at USF.
ere big stepping stones for the program,” running back Donald Brown said. “This is another one; we’ve got to keep it rolling.”
Syracuse fired coach Greg Robinson hours after its 39-14 loss to UConn, and there has been speculation that the Orange might be interested in luring Huskies coach Randy Edsall back to his alma mater.
Lorenzen said such talk hasn’t been much of a distraction in preparing for South Florida.
“Coach told us he’s going to be here, so we’re moving on,” the quarterback said.
USF is coming off a 49-16 loss to Rutgers that left coach Jim Leavitt searching for answers to what’s gone wrong for the Bulls.
Matt Grothe, one of the nation’s top dual-threat quarterbacks, has struggled the past three games, throwing eight interceptions after only having three picked off in the team’s first seven outings.
“He’s a winner. He may be trying a little too hard,” Leavitt said, adding that this won’t be an easy game to get back on track.
“Connecticut is a good football team. … The running back that they have, I haven’t seen many better than him. He runs hard and strong,” Leavitt said of Brown, who leads in the nation in rushing at 153.70 yards per game.
“They have their quarterback back. It looks like he is ready to go. They have a very good defense. They are very sound, and they play hard. Their kicking game is very well coached. This is a good football team.”
USF has lost three straight, and the Bulls are eager to redeem themselves.
“I’m not worried about anything anymore. I just want to go out and play football. I want to go out and have fun,” Grothe said. “As a team, if we just go out and play football and not worry about anything, then the rest will come.”
Add A Comment