Paul Pasqualoni became the first coach in Connecticut history to win his coaching debut last week when the Huskies rolled over undermanned Fordham.

He found that things can be a bit tougher against the Southeastern Conference.

Casey Spear's 31-yard field goal with 2:56 left lifted Vanderbilt to a 24-21 victory over the visiting Huskies on Saturday.

UConn (1-1) rallied from a 14-3 deficit to take a 21-14 lead on a pair of defensive touchdowns.

Vanderbilt (2-0) got a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown by Robby Barbieri to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter and drove for the winning field goal on its next possession.

The Commodores got a couple of long scoring plays in the first half. Larry Smith connected with Chris Boyd on a 42-yard scoring pass. On the Commodores’ next possession, Jerron Seymour broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run.

The Huskies got a field goal early in the second half before Richard Kent blocked a punt and Byron Jones recovered it in the end zone to cut the deficit to 14-13, and Yawin Smallwood returned a fumble by Smith 62 yards to give UConn the lead.

UConn, which used three quarterbacks last week, went primarily with Johnny McEntee on Saturday. He went 10-for-27 with three interceptions.