The Thursday night college football slate, the first of its kind of the new 2017 season, was certainly packed with some memorable moments and plays.

Nestled deep under the shade of a pair of top 10 teams playing and a few other notable teams being in action around the country, there was the return of Randy Edsall at the University of Connecticut. The former UConn head coach had a bumpy return to the Huskies program as the home team dug a 20-7 hole against a Holy Cross team that won just four games the previous season in the Patriot League.

And the way things were going throughout the evening, things started to look more and more damning for the Huskies in the return of Edsall. But you play the game for 60 minutes for a reason, and UConn battled back to take a 27-20 lead in the fourth quarter.

A victory that seemed improbable earlier in the game became even more humorous to the neutral observer when cameras captured UConn quarterback Bryant Shirreffs and center Ryan Crozier taking the extra time during a break in the action to get in some quick practice reps for one of the most critical plays in any team’s playbook; the victory formation.

Make all the jokes you want about this moment of the game captured on video, but understand what had transpired here to get a better respect for the care and caution these two players were exhibiting.

UConn trailed Holy Cross 20-7 at halftime and outscored the Crusaders 20-0 in the second half to put themselves in position to grab a win to open the season. After working so hard to take a lead, the last thing any quarterback and center want to do is botch the simplicity of a quarterback kneel to run out the clock. Nobody wants to be the next Miracle at the Meadowlands.

We may have plenty of opportunities to crack jokes about UConn, but this is not a moment that should live in infamy. This is genuine leadership from a team’s center and quarterback to ensure all of the hard work seen in the second half did not go to waste. And it must have worked, as UConn did indeed secure the win, 27-20, to go 1-0 in the second Randy Edsall era.

[SB Nation]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.