Connecticut kept its flickering bowl hopes alive and ended Rutgers’ Big East title chances, routing the Scarlet Knights 40-22 at East Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies (5-6, 3-3 Big East) blew open the game with 16 unanswered points in the third quarter. Ahead 24-10 at halftime, Connecticut put it away with Lyle McCombs’ 4-yard touchdown run, Scott McCummings’ 14-yard touchdown run and Dave Teggart’s 47-yard field goal.

Connecticut needs a victory at Cincinnati on Saturday to reach six victories and become bowl eligible.

Rutgers (8-4, 4-3) needed to beat the Huskies, have Cincinnati win its final two games and finish ahead of Louisville and Cincinnati in the final BCS standings to win the Big East. The Scarlet Knights committed six turnovers in having their three-game winning streak snapped

Connecticut used a 10-yard touchdown run from McCombs and a 5-yard touchdown run by McCummings in the game’s first eight minutes to take a 14-0 lead.

Rutgers pulled within 21-10 on Jawan Jamison’s 1-yard run with 4:05 left in the first half, but the Rutgers’ defense (ranked ninth in FBS at 16.8 points) couldn’t slow down the Huskies.