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UConn just short of Michigan upset

 
Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner scores on a 17-yard run in the first quarter. UConn then scored 21 straight before falling.
Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner scores on a 17-yard run in the first quarter. UConn then scored 21 straight before falling.
Published Sept. 22, 2013

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Fitzgerald Toussaint ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns, Desmond Morgan made a one-handed interception in the fourth quarter as No. 15 Michigan again dodged an upset Saturday, beating Connecticut 24-21.

A week after Michigan needed a last-second stand to hold off Akron at the Big House, Brendan Gibbons' 21-yard field goal with 4:36 left gave the Wolverines their first lead of the second half.

Chandler Whitmer threw two touchdowns and Ty-Meer Brown returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter that put UConn up 21-7.

Devin Gardner turned the ball over three times for Michigan and the Wolverines also muffed a punt inside their 10 that led to a UConn touchdown.

After Huskies linebacker Yawin Smallwood stopped Gardner short on fourth and 2 at the UConn 22 with 11:23 left, the record crowd of 42,704 at Rentschler Field was rocking. But Morgan made his pick and one play later Toussaint swept untouched around the left to tie it at 21 with 9:49 left.

Michigan forced a three-and-out on the next series and got the ball back around midfield, leading to the winning field goal.

UConn, without leading receiver Shakim Phillips, gained just 206 yards.

No. 7 Louisville 72, FIU 0: Teddy Bridgewater threw four touchdowns and the host Cardinals allowed a school record-low 30 yards in routing Florida International.

It was the highest scoring game for the Cardinals since a 73-10 victory over another Division I-AA opponent, Murray State, in 2007. The yards allowed record broken Saturday was also set against Murray State, 58 yards in 1990.

The margin might have been worse if not for a clock issue in the second half. Gerald Austin, the coordinator of officials for Conference USA, acknowledged in a statement that the clock ran five times when it should have been stopped and said officials "misinterpreted" a comment by Turner on the sidelines about his team being shorthanded.

"I did notice it was going quicker," Turner said. "First of all, I don't have the authority to request it. I wish I had the authority. I'm not saying I wouldn't have, you know, but I did not request it."

Cincinnati 14, Miami, Ohio 0: The host Bearcats took a long time but the offense finally showed up, as Hosey Williams' 1-yard touchdown run broke a scoreless tie with 4:55 left. Cincinnati won the Victory Bell trophy for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year in the oldest rivalry west of the Alleghenies, dating to 1888. Miami leads the series 59-52-7.

Rutgers 28, Arkansas 24: Gary Nova threw touchdowns of 33 and 4 yards to Leonte Carroo in the final 9:55 as the host Scarlet Knights erased a 17-point, second-half deficit. Former Pasco High star Janarion Grant sparked Rutgers with a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter and set up the winning score with a 47-yard punt return to the Arkansas 33.

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