EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – UConn r-sophomore quarterback Nick Evers (Flower Mound, TX) threw a pair of second half touchdowns but the Huskies came up short in a comeback bid, falling to Wake Forest, 23-20, at home in front of 30,122 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field Saturday afternoon.
Evers completed 26 of 43 for 264 yards and touchdown throws to Jasaiah Gathings (Statesville, NC) and Louis Hansen (Dover, MA). Gathings finished with a season-high seven catches for 75 yards and his first score as a Husky.
The UConn (4-3) offense was held to a season-low 40 yards rushing and 304 yards of total offense in the loss. Defensively, the Huskies were led by linebacker Jayden McDonald (Suwanee, GA) who posted a game-high 13 tackles, 2.0 for a loss and a sack. Safety Malik Dixon-Williams (Orlando, FL) had a season-high 10 tackles while cornerback Cam Chadwick (Plainfield, NJ) got his first career interception.
The Demon Deacons (3-4) were led by quarterback Hank Bachmeir who completed 21 of 36 for 275 yards, with an interception, and running back Demond Claiborne who had 30 yards on 24 carries and two scores. Placekicker Matthew Dennis made three field goals and had one blocked.
The two teams played to a 3-3 tie after the first quarter with Wake Forest getting the game's first touchdown at 13:21 in the second on Claiborne's first TD of the day, a five-yard rush to cap a seven-play, 75-yard drive for a 10-3 lead. The Demon Deacons never gave up the lead the rest of the way, using a Dennis 31-yard field goal to increase their lead to 13-3 with 6:01 left.
UConn kicker Chris Freeman (Zionsville, IN) made both of his field goal tries, including a career-long 53 yarder with 1:50 left in the first half to pull the Huskies within 13-6. Freeman extended his streak to 11-straight makes with his career-long make. The Demon Deacons where on the march for more points before half but Chadwick put the brakes on the drive with his first career intercepcion, picking off Bachmeir in the endzone.
Wake Forest took the opening kick-off of the second half and pushed their lead to 20-6 as Claiborne scored from a yard out for his second TD of the day. UConn answered that drive with their first TD of the day as Evers rifled one to Gathings in the end zone from 20-yards out at 7:33 in the third, pulling within 20-13.
The Huskies got a blocked field goal near the end of the third quarter but Dennis hit for his third of the day at 11:13 in the fourth, from 36 yards out, to make it 23-13. Evers got the Huskies to 23-20 with 2:27 left, hitting Hansen in the right corner for a 25-yard scoring strike, his first career touchdown catch. The Huskies kicked-off with all three time-outs and forced Wake Forest into a three-and-out and getting the ball back with 2:02 left with a chance to tie or go ahead. The Demon Deacons defense forced the Huskies into a fourth and three and got a break when a false start penalty backed UConn up to a fourth and eight from their own 43. Evers looked for Gathings toward the left sidelines with the play falling incomplete allowing Wake Forest to kneel out the clock for the win.
Up Next:
UConn is back at home in one week when they host Rice University for Homecoming on Saturday, October 26. Kick-off is slated for 3:30 pm on CBS Sports Network.