EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds ran 28 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns and also threw a touchdown pass as Navy beat UConn, 28-18, on Saturday
Reynolds, who twice ran 10 yards for a touchdown and also scored from four yards out, now has 73 rushing touchdowns in his career, putting him second in NCAA history behind Montee Ball, who ran for 77 touchdowns while at Wisconsin.
Reynolds threw the ball just four times, but completed three of those, including a 19-yard touchdown to Jamir Tillman.
Navy (3-0, 2-0 American) had 343 yards of offense, with 303 of them on the ground. Fullback Chris Swain ran 10 times for 58 yards.
Bryant Shirreffs threw for 219 yards and two scores for UConn (2-2, 0-1 American). Freshman receiver Tyraiq Beals caught six passes for 63 yards and a touchdown for the Huskies.
Shirreffs connected with tight end Tommy Myers on a six-yard touchdown pass, and a successful two-point conversion made it a 10-point game with just over seven minutes left. The Huskies recovered the onside kick, but turned the ball over on downs, ending a comeback threat.
Reynolds has rushed for 3,491 yards and is now second on Navy’s all-time rushing list behind former running back Napoleon McCallum, who ran for 4,179 yards from 1981 through 1985.
Reynolds had 93 rushing yards by halftime after leading Navy to touchdowns on each of its three first-half possessions.
His 10-yard touchdown run capped Navy’s opening 62-yard drive. The Midshipmen went 85 yards on their second, and led 14-3 when Tillman out-jumped UConn’s Jamar Summers in the end zone. That was the 24th touchdown pass of Reynolds’ career, and it occurred on his second pass attempt of the game.
Reynolds also scored on a four-yard run with two seconds remaining in the half, capping a 14-play drive.
His 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter made it 28-10 and moved him past Texas running back Ricky Williams on the all-time list.
UConn moved the ball, putting up 325 yards of offense, including 186 in the first half.
The Huskies had to settle for a 38-yard field goal on their opening drive. They decided to pass up a 31-yard attempt on their second possession and were left with no points after Shirreffs missed a wide-open Max DeLorenzo on fourth down.
Beals later got behind the Navy defense and caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Shirreffs to cut the Navy lead to 14-10.
UConn’s defense entered the game ranked 18th in the nation and had been giving up 126 yards a game on the ground. Navy had 190 yards rushing by halftime.
Navy converted its first seven third-down attempts. The team’s first punt, midway through the third quarter, pinned the Huskies inside the one-yard line.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.