East Hartford — UConn was stumbling its way through its season opener on Thursday night.

Then Bryant Shirreffs came to the rescue.

Shirreffs, a redshirt senior quarterback, sparked a comeback from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter, leading the Huskies on three touchdown drives.

His 11-yard throw to junior Hergy Mayala in the corner of the end zone handed UConn the lead for good with about 12 minutes left and the Huskies closed out the dramatic 27-20 victory over Holy Cross before 24,435 at Rentschler Field.

The character-building win came in coach Randy Edsall's first game back at UConn.

"I'm really proud of our guys in terms of fighting back and getting a win," Edsall said. "I wasn't sure about our team because I had never seen them in a situation where adversity struck. We had plenty of adversity tonight." 

Missteps nearly cost the Huskies against a Football Championship Subdivision foe. Two first-half turnovers in UConn territory led to Holy Cross touchdowns. The deficit stood at 20-7 at intermission before the Huskies scored 20 straight points.

The comeback began late in the third quarter when Shirreffs, last season's starter, replaced junior college transfer David Pindell (19-for-28, 154 yards).

It took only five plays for the Huskies to score, as redshirt freshman Nate Hopkins scored his second of three rushing touchdowns, powering in from three yards out to cut the deficit to 20-14 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter. Hopkins is the first Husky to rush for over 100 yards (130) in his debut since Lyle McCombs in 2011.

The scoring drive energized the Huskies, who completed the comeback and held the Crusaders scoreless the rest of the game. Defensive back Tre Bell forced a huge fumble and linebacker Sterling Santana recovered the ball with 8:27 left, eventually setting up Hopkins' one-yard scoring run.

Shirreffs finished 9 for 13 for 124 yards and a touchdown.

"It meant a lot to me," Shirreffs said. "It was a great opportunity. I'm happy we came out with a win, which is most important. To see the guys respond with adversity and get a win together, it's big for us and something we can learn from the rest of the season."

Edsall started thinking about making a change at halftime before finally going with Shirreffs.

"You've to give Bryant credit in terms of him coming in and doing the job that he did," Edsall said. "It shows me a lot about him."

It was a bumpy start to the 2017 season.

UConn's uptempo offense struggled at times. The Huskies were shredded on defense in the first half and struggled to get off the field.

One of the few bright spots: the Huskies scored a touchdown in the first quarter after failing to do the entire 2016 season. Hopkins accomplished the feat with an 11-yard touchdown run.

The Huskies carried some momentum into their season opener. A new coaching staff injected some enthusiasm, discipline and fresh attitude into the program. In his second stint in Storrs, Edsall brought in a talented coaching staff and implemented a new offense and 3-3-5 defense.

Early on, veteran Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals picked apart the defense. A.J. Wells booted a 25-yard field goal to open the scoring.

The Huskies answered on their possession, quickly moving the ball downfield with a short passing attack. They had little choice but to throw the ball because the running game produced little. Senior Arkeel Newsome had six rushes for zero yards in the first half.

Hopkins finished off the 10-play, 71-yard drive with his first career touchdown, giving UConn a 7-3 lead with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

Turnovers hurt the Huskies.

First, Pindell fumbled it away, giving Holy Cross the ball at the UConn 34-yard-line. Off a play-action pass, Pujals found wide receiver Blaise Bell over the middle for a 19-yard touchdown play.

It was the first of three straight scoring drives for the Crusaders. Wells connected on a 20-yard field goal and then freshman Jordan Swann fumbled away the kick-off return at the UConn 20.

Three plays later, Holy Cross scored as Diquan Walker bolted in from the six for a 20-7 lead in the second quarter.

Shirreffs finally lifted the Huskies out of their funk.

It was a costly win for UConn. Linebacker Junior Joseph left the game in the third quarter with an apparent upper body injury. Defensive lineman Foley Fatukasi was flagged for targeting on a high hit on Pujals. Officials reviewed the play and then ejected Fatukasi, who'll also miss the first half of the South Florida game on Sept. 9.

"It was tough," Fatukasi said of not being on the field. "But I've got to learn from it."

g.keefe@theday.com