Donald Brown refused to count himself and his team out, waiting until the last play to decide who the winner was.

The junior tailback, Brown, and the rest of the Connecticut team were shutout for three quarters in ‘rain that was coming down sideways,’ against Temple on Sept 6.

Brown rushed for 214 yards, a career high, and scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime to move Connecticut (2-0) to No. 1 in the Big East standings.

In 2007, Brown was plagued by a mid-season ankle injury that forced him to sit out UConn’s game against Virginia. After recovering from his ankle injury, he went on to share the team’s Offensive MVP award.

After leading UConn to an overtime 12-6 win over Temple, Brown will have the chance to avenge his absence against the Cavaliers, last season, when UConn hosts Virginia Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

‘My ankle’s feeling great now,’ Brown said. ‘I missed the Virginia game and played sparingly the game after that last season, but this year I’m back at full strength.’

It wasn’t easy for Brown and the Huskies last weekend, though.

Brown’s teammate Tony Ciaravino was the first to score for the Huskies against Temple. Ciaravino made a field goal in the fourth quarter, to put UConn on the board. Later in the quarter, Ciaravino scored a second field goal to help Connecticut tie the game and force overtime.

During overtime, Brown scored his only touchdown of the game.

‘There wasn’t a moment until the clock timed out that I knew we had won it,’ Brown said. ‘You don’t know who won until the last play. We were down the whole game so anything could happen.’

Despite the terrible weather conditions, Connecticut’s head coach Randy Edsall attributed only one lost scoring opportunity to the rain caused by Hurricane Hannah.

‘I just wanted the guys to find a way to win,’ Edsall said. ‘I’m proud of the way we played and over came some adversity. We have a long way to go if we want to stay at the top.’

Added Brown, ‘We stayed focused as a team to win in overtime.’

Edsall feels there is still room to grow for Brown and the rest of the offensive line.

‘As a unit the offensive line is improving,’ Edsall said. ‘I actually expected them to be better going into the season. They are going to work very hard to get where we need to be at.’

McKillop still defensive power

Pittsburgh’s Scott McKillop had a game-high 15 tackles, last Saturday, when Pittsburgh (1-1) defeated Buffalo 27-16. McKillop, a senior linebacker, was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week.

McKillop was the country’s No. 1 tackler in 2007 with an average of 12.58 tackles per game.

‘I thought it was Scott’s type of game,’ said Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh head coach. ‘Buffalo’s a one-back, two-back team, where he would play back at his normal position and he has the opportunity to make some plays. He was the difference I thought.

‘He did a great job of helping everyone line up. So in addition to his numbers, his leadership this past week has been amazing.’

Wannstedt still wants his defense to grow, but was satisfied with the improvement from week one to week two.

‘The entire team cleaned things up,’ Wannstedt said. ‘Our difference in our football team was the approach. All around, our approach was better. We hit on all cylinders.’

The Panthers have a bye week this weekend and will face Iowa next on Sept. 20.

Sweeping the series

South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe led the Bulls to a 31-24 win over Central Florida on Sept 6. Last Saturday’s game was the last in the Sunshine State rivalry, as No. 17 South Florida finished the series 4-0 against the Golden Knights.

Grothe went 23-for-40 for 346 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, while rushing for 54 yards also. In overtime, Grothe threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Taurus Johnson to win and was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week.

South Florida (2-0) is back at home on Friday, taking on Kansas at 8 p.m.

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on September 9, 2008 at 12:00 pm