Published: September 14, 2008 12:11 am      

Brown rushes UConn to 45-10 win over Virginia

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Donald Brown ran for 206 yards and three scores and Connecticut had touchdowns on its first four drives as the Huskies routed Virginia 45-10 on Saturday night.

Brown, carried the ball just 20 times, came into the game as the nation’s second-leading rusher, averaging 180 yards. He had 112 yards and two touchdowns at halftime and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

The Huskies (3-0) scored on first-half drives of 70, 77, 86 and 75 yards, keeping the ball for almost 20 minutes in building a 28-0 lead. They racked up 506 yards of offense, including 382 on the ground, while holding Virginia (1-2) to just 219 total yards.

Tyler Lorenzen completed his first 11 passes for the Huskies, and finished 13-for-15 for 124 and a touchdown. He also ran for 52 yards.

Sophomore Marc Verica made his first start for Virginia and played well. He completed 22-of-30 passes for 158 yards and an interception.

Peter Lalich, who started the Cavaliers first two games, didn’t make the trip because of legal issues stemming from an underage drinking arrest in July.

Brown opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run, set up UConn’s third score with a 63-yard run, and had a 10-yard sprint up the middle for the Huskies fourth score.

He put the game away with another 63-yard run, a draw play that made it 35-3 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.

Cornerback Darius Butler had time at wide receiver and scored on his first career carry, a 13-yard end around in the second quarter. The senior defensive back also had two catches for 40 yards, and had two kick returns for 49 yards.

Freshman tailback Jordan Todman had his first action for the Huskies, carrying the ball 13 times for 81 yards and a fourth-quarter score.

UConn kept the ball for all but six plays in the first quarter. The Huskies used six minutes on their first drive, and took seven minutes on their next. They completed that 13-play, 77-yard drive early in the second quarter when fullback Anthony Davis was able to keep a foot down in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown catch.

Virginia went to a spread offense late in the second period and drove to the Connecticut 25, but an incompletion on fourth-and-1 gave UConn the ball back.

Verica drove the Cavaliers to the UConn 5-yard line on their first possession of the second half, but a 2-yard loss on a fumble, followed by a sack and a penalty forced them to settle for a 43-yard field goal.

UConn’s defense gave up its first touchdown of the season when Cedric Peerman’s 1-yard run made it 45-10 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

This was the second meeting between the programs. Virginia won a year ago in Charlottesville 17-16.

Al Groh’s team is 3-8 on the road in nonconference games since 2001.