Spring Break
The Year's 15 Most Memorable Moments
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 5/11/08 Section: Sports
5. Larry Taylor's phantom fair catch - Oct. 19, 2007
Down 7-0 to Louisville, UConn punt returner Larry Taylor waved his hand in the air as if to call a fair catch. Everyone on the field - the blockers, the defenders, the referees - stopped, but Taylor didn't. When no whistle blew, UConn's 5-foot-6, 175-pound return specialist dashed up the sidelines untouched and found the end-zone 74 yards later. The controversial play appeared on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and was written about in The New York Times. Perhaps more importantly, however, it keyed UConn's first big win of the year - a 21-17 homecoming victory over the Cardinals.
4. Women's basketball stunned by Stanford - April 6, 2008
Widely considered the best team in the nation throughout the season, UConn women's basketball bowed out of the Final Four a little earlier than expected. The Huskies had no answer for Stanford's Candace Wiggins, who poured in 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds en route to leading her team to the 82-73 victory. Maya Moore scored 20 points for UConn, but it wasn't enough. The loss was just UConn's second of the season.
3. Craig Austrie downs South Florida at the buzzer - Feb. 16, 2008
In the midst of an eight-game winning streak, the Huskies' run looked to be coming to an end at the hands of the Bulls, the last-place team in the Big East. Following a layup by Dominique Jones that put USF up, 73-72, with six seconds remaining in overtime, Austrie took the inbound pass, went coast-to-coast and calmly drilled a runner with 0.2 seconds on the clock that gave the Huskies the one-point road victory. Austrie's celebration with A.J. Price will forever capture the emotion of the game and the terrific mid-season run that UConn went on. Austrie's shot also generated some of the most memorable InstantDailies of the year.
2. Men's basketball loses to San Diego in first round - March 21, 2008
Price tore his ACL early in the game and everything began to unravel for the Huskies. Though Jerome Dyson stepped in and forced overtime, it just wasn't UConn's day. San Diego's De'Jon Jackson nailed a 17-foot pull-up jumper with 1.2 seconds to give the Toreros a 70-69 win. The shocking loss marked the Huskies second consecutive NCAA exit to a mid-major, the first of which came to George Mason in 2006.
1. Football beats No. 11 South Florida, crowd rushes the Rent - Oct. 27, 2008
Greg Robinson Jr. brought down USF quarterback Matt Grothe on a 3rd-and-goal naked bootleg to preserve UConn's 22-15 victory, which was the program's first-ever win over a ranked team. UConn cracked both the AP and coaches' poll for the first time the next week. Edsall called the win the "best victory we've ever had at this institution," and tailback Andre Dixon, who totaled 209 yards from scrimmage, said "It feels good to have the fans in Connecticut coming out to enjoy watching football, and loving watching us play."
Contact Kevin Duffy at Kevin.R.Duffy@UConn.edu.
Down 7-0 to Louisville, UConn punt returner Larry Taylor waved his hand in the air as if to call a fair catch. Everyone on the field - the blockers, the defenders, the referees - stopped, but Taylor didn't. When no whistle blew, UConn's 5-foot-6, 175-pound return specialist dashed up the sidelines untouched and found the end-zone 74 yards later. The controversial play appeared on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and was written about in The New York Times. Perhaps more importantly, however, it keyed UConn's first big win of the year - a 21-17 homecoming victory over the Cardinals.
4. Women's basketball stunned by Stanford - April 6, 2008
Widely considered the best team in the nation throughout the season, UConn women's basketball bowed out of the Final Four a little earlier than expected. The Huskies had no answer for Stanford's Candace Wiggins, who poured in 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds en route to leading her team to the 82-73 victory. Maya Moore scored 20 points for UConn, but it wasn't enough. The loss was just UConn's second of the season.
3. Craig Austrie downs South Florida at the buzzer - Feb. 16, 2008
In the midst of an eight-game winning streak, the Huskies' run looked to be coming to an end at the hands of the Bulls, the last-place team in the Big East. Following a layup by Dominique Jones that put USF up, 73-72, with six seconds remaining in overtime, Austrie took the inbound pass, went coast-to-coast and calmly drilled a runner with 0.2 seconds on the clock that gave the Huskies the one-point road victory. Austrie's celebration with A.J. Price will forever capture the emotion of the game and the terrific mid-season run that UConn went on. Austrie's shot also generated some of the most memorable InstantDailies of the year.
2. Men's basketball loses to San Diego in first round - March 21, 2008
Price tore his ACL early in the game and everything began to unravel for the Huskies. Though Jerome Dyson stepped in and forced overtime, it just wasn't UConn's day. San Diego's De'Jon Jackson nailed a 17-foot pull-up jumper with 1.2 seconds to give the Toreros a 70-69 win. The shocking loss marked the Huskies second consecutive NCAA exit to a mid-major, the first of which came to George Mason in 2006.
1. Football beats No. 11 South Florida, crowd rushes the Rent - Oct. 27, 2008
Greg Robinson Jr. brought down USF quarterback Matt Grothe on a 3rd-and-goal naked bootleg to preserve UConn's 22-15 victory, which was the program's first-ever win over a ranked team. UConn cracked both the AP and coaches' poll for the first time the next week. Edsall called the win the "best victory we've ever had at this institution," and tailback Andre Dixon, who totaled 209 yards from scrimmage, said "It feels good to have the fans in Connecticut coming out to enjoy watching football, and loving watching us play."
Contact Kevin Duffy at Kevin.R.Duffy@UConn.edu.
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