Missed tackles and dropped passes were the stories of Saturday's 34-20 loss to Louisville, two frustrating aspects of the game made even moreso when you consider that UConn had a bye week and essentially two weeks to prepare.

Louisville returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and never trailed in dashing UConn's slim Big East title hopes.

"I thought we missed tackles early," said coach Paul Pasqualoni, who spent the previous three seasons prior to coming to Storrs as the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys and Dolphins. "One thing I know about tackling is there's no such thing as a bad tackle. People might disagree, but you have to get the guy down."

The missed tackles led to UConn falling behind early and having to come from behind, something their offense isn't built to do.

Running back Lyle McCombs went over the 1,000-yard mark, becoming just the second UConn freshman to accomplish the feat (Terry Caulley in 2002), but finished with just 33 yards on 10 carries.

"We couldn't be that regular Connecticut grind-it-out offense," McCombs said. "Our offense doesn't operate well when we have to rush. We want to go four or five yards a pop and work our way down the field."

Falling behind led to them having to throw the ball more than they'd like to, which led to nine dropped passes, resulting in a perfect storm that wasn't pretty to watch.

"You have to have a short memory and shake it off," Pasqualoni said. "At one point in every receiver's career you have a day where you drop the ball. We had our day. The good Lord put your eyes in the front of your head and not the back so you can see where you're going and not where you've been."

The Huskies now have no choice but to look ahead to their final two games, beginning Saturday against Rutgers in the final home game for 13 seniors. UConn has to win both to become bowl-eligible for the fifth straight year and seventh time in the last nine seasons.

In the good news department, cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson returned after missing five games with a knee injury and played the entire game.