By Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb

Two thousand more seats had to be set up at East Hartford’s Rentschler Field last night, where the University of Connecticut nearly pulled off a stunner against the nationally ranked Michigan Wolverines. Husky fans arrived early, made it clear whose house the teams were playing in and stayed to the end. Yankees MLB standout Derek Jeter, who grew up in Michigan, was in attendance and former UConn basketball and NBA star Ray Allen came out to support his Alma mater – he stood on the sidelines with the UConn bench.

Yes, it was big game. Blue & white fans did hold our collective breath but not for the anticipated reason (see previous post) that our guys might get creamed, rather in hopes of maintaining an unexpected 21-7 lead in the third quarter – earned by UConn. Unfortunately, a subsequent turnover by Husky quarterback Chandler Whitmer gave the momentum back to the opponent and Michigan squeaked by – that’s right  squeaked by – with a 24-21 win.

Despite now falling to 0-3 on the season, there was a lot to cheer about in this performance by the Huskies, in particular some key tackles by #33 – Jawin Smallwood. If UConn is capable of putting such a strong effort directly in the face of a college football program like Michigan, and while under the glare of a national broadcast spotlight, it seems a victory should be close at hand.

Way to go Huskies!