Johnny McEntee was extremely erratic, throwing for 99 yards on 10-of-27 passing while also tossing three interceptions as the UConn Huskies dropped their first contest of the season, 24-21, to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
UConn (1-1) recorded 193 total yards on offense (104 passing, 89 rushing) in the loss while surrendering 259 yards to Vanderbilt - 141 through the air and 118 on the ground.
Lyle McCombs ran for 118 yards on 27 carries for UConn. Ryan Griffin had 47 receiving yards on four catches and Cole Wagner had seven punts totaling 286 yards for an average of 40.9 yards per punt.
Larry Smith completed 12-of-24 passes for 140 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for Vanderbilt. Jerron Seymour rushed for 70 yards and a score on eight carries and Chris Boyd had two catches for 46 yards and a TD.
Dave Teggart opened scoring for the Huskies, connecting on a 25-yard field goal with 7:46 left in the first quarter. Vanderbilt responded with two first quarter touchdowns - a 42-yard pass from Smith to Boyd with 5:54 left and a 40-yard run from Seymour to put the Commodores up, 14-3.
UConn answered with another Teggart field goal from 28 yards out with 9:59 left in the third quarter and a blocked punt that Byron Jones recovered in the endzone with 7:47 to go in the third, cutting the Huskies' deficit to one, 14-13.
The Huskies took their only lead of the game with 10:34 left in the fourth quarter on Yawin Smallwood's 64-yard fumble return and a two-point conversion pass from McEntee to Ryan Griffin, putting UConn up 21-14.
Vanderbilt knotted the score on a 50-yard interception by Casey Hayward with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter and Carey Spear kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2:56 left to capture the 24-21 victory.
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