UConn celebrates, commemorates with win

(WTNH) - The Connecticut Huskies beat the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Papajohns.com Bowl 20-7. It was a win that came on the heels of the death of fellow team mate Jasper Howard who died after an on-campus stabbing in October.

The University of Connecticut football team nearly shutout South Carolina earning their first win over a Southeastern Conference opponent in program history in front of a crowd of 45,254 at Legion Field; a Papajohns.com Bowl record attendance.

"I've just got so much emotion," UConn Head Coach Randy Edsall after the Papajohns.com Bowl game to his team. "Because what you guys have been through, what you've done, it's special. Guys, this is something you're going to remember for the rest of your life."

This is UConn's second-straight and third overall bowl victory.

"It feels great," said UConn Lineman Zach Hurd. "You know it's been a really long season and we've been through a lot as a team. And, you know, we wanted to come down here and show the nation what the Big East is all about; what UConn is all about."

Junior quarterback Zach Frazer (Mechnicsburg, Pa.) was 9 of 21 in the air for 106 yards and connected with sophomore Kashif Moore (Burlington, N.J.) two times for 40 yards and a touchdown.

"It means a lot," said Frazer, following the Papajohns.com Bowl win. "Not only emotionally, just everything. We've been through a lot this year and to just end it this way with a victory, it means a lot."

The Huskies were the first to get on the board after an unbelievable one-handed 37-yard grab by Kashif Moore who tiptoed along the sidelines and extended into the endzone to put the Huskies up with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter.

"For us to come out here and get a win against USC, that was our goal, to just come out here and win," said Moore after Saturday's win.

At the end of the game, the UConn Huskies could be seen passing off the #6 jersey to commemorate CB Jasper Howard, 20, who died after an on-campus stabbing back in October.

"You see what can be accomplished. If you have that closed fist, you know, it's powerful. And, that's what we did," said Coach Edsall. "We just had that closed fist and hung together...stuck together and no one can penetrate that."