EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — The Air Force Falcons’ slim bowl hopes are done. So, too, is Liam Szarka’s season.
The Air Force quarterback left Saturday’s game in the second quarter and never returned, and the Falcons fell to football independent UConn, 26-16, at Pratt & Whitney Stadium for their seventh loss of the season.
Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun said after the game that Szarka is likely out for the rest of the season after fracturing his arm or hand. The injury came at the end of the Falcons’ fourth possession of the game, when the Grandview High product was stuffed on a fourth-and-goal run from the UConn 3-yard line with 5:00 left in the first half.
The Falcon (3-7) held a 7-6 lead at the time, but managed just nine points the rest of the game.
Needing to win out to secure six wins and bowl eligibility, Air Force will instead miss the postseason two seasons in a row for just the second time in Calhoun’s 19-year tenure at the Academy.
Cam Edwards rushed for 165 yards, pushing him over 1,000 yards for the season, to push UConn past Air Force. Edwards scored two touchdowns and finished the day with 1,031 yards.
The Huskies (8-3) scored a touchdown on their first possession of each half. They took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 10-yard run by Joe Fagnano, but a pass for the two-point conversion was incomplete. UConn added a 47-yard field goal by Chris Freeman in the final minute of the second quarter for a 9-7 lead at halftime.
UConn opened the second half with a six-play, 79-yard drive capped by Edwards’ 8-yard touchdown run. Edwards opened the drive with a 36-yard run, and Fagnano had a 31-yard completion to Shamar Porter.
Freeman added a 27-yard field goal early in the fourth and a 5-yard run by Edwards made it 26-10 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining.
Air Force’s Dylan Carson picked up his second rushing touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run to make it 26-16 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Owen Allen had 123 yards rushing for the Falcons, who had 291 yards on the ground.
The Huskies wrapped up their home season at 6-0 and are 12-1 at home over the past two seasons.
The Denver Post contributed to this report.
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