UConn vs. Towson final score: Tigers stun Huskies 33-18 on Opening Night

Connecticut opened the scoring with a 31-yard Shakim Phillips touchdown catch, capping a 92-yard first quarter drive and giving the Huskies a 7-0 lead. It would be the last lead they would hold. Towson tied the game two minutes later on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Peter Athens to Sterling Phifer.

A Chandler Whitmer second quarter interception gave Towson the ball at the UConn 29, and Phifer quickly cashed in a second touchdown to extend Towson’s lead to 13-7. A long UConn drive stalled at the Towson 5 yard line, leading to a field goal, and the Tigers took a 13-10 lead to the locker room.

Towson extended its lead to nine points with a 13-play, 95-yard touchdown drive that ate up more than half of the third quarter. Another Tigers touchdown, this one from a five-yard run by West. UConn added a late score and two-point conversion to draw within 8 points, but a second West touchdown sealed the Huskies’ fate.

Whitmer struggled throughout the game, completing just 16 of 28 pass attempts for 206 yards, one touchdown and a crucial interception. The Huskies could not put together any semblance of a running game, with just 81 yards on 27 carries.

Towson, which went 7-4 in 2012 and won a share of the Colonial Athletic Association title, has never defeated an FBS opponent in their 26-year history in Division I-AA/FCS. Last season, the Tigers hung with LSU, trailing the Bayou Bengals by just 8 points at the half before losing 38-22. Towson is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and is known as the alma mater of former New York Giant halfback Dave Meggett.

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