The Sports Xchange
Sep 3, 2015

Bryant Shirreffs showed little rust in his first game in nearly two years, throwing for 220 yards and two touchdowns as the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Villanova Wildcats 20-15 in Thursday night's season opener at Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

Shirreffs, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, sat out the 2014 season after transferring from North Carolina State and hadn't seen game action since Nov. 16, 2013, at Boston College.

Shirreffs was 12-for-19 passing and threw an interception in his first game with UConn (1-0).

Redshirt sophomore tight end Tommy Myers and sophomore running back Arkeel Newson each had touchdown catches for the Huskies. Myers had a team-high 83 receiving yards while sophomore running back Ron Johnson rushed for 65 yards and another score.

Dual-threat senior quarterback John Robertson was 17-for-32 with 153 yards, a touchdown, and an interception and rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown to lead Villanova (0-1).

UConn took a 6-0 lead on Shirreffs'14-yard touchdown pass to Myers with 6:55 to play in the first quarter. Redshirt junior kicker Bobby Puyol's extra point attempt was blocked.

A mental mistake for Shirreffs cost the Huskies two points, as an intentional grounding call in the end zone resulted in a safety to make it 6-2 with 7:57 left before halftime.

Robertson gave Villanova its only lead on a 13-yard scoring pass to sophomore running back Matt Gudzak with 1:36 remaining in the first half, putting the Wildcats up 9-6.

Wildcats junior defensive back Jason Ceneus picked off Shirreffs on the Villanova 7-yard line with seven second left in the half to preserve the lead at the break.

Newsome's 27-yard touchdown reception at 3:52 in the fourth quarter gave UConn its largest lead at 20-9, but Robertson capped off an 11-play, 54-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown rush with 1:45 to go, pulling the Wildcats within five points.

The two-point conversion failed and UConn ran out the clock to seal the win.