SYRACUSE, N.Y. — UConn football will run into a hungry Syracuse team on Saturday.
The Huskies are set to return to the JMA Wireless Dome for the second year in a row after an explosive opening victory over Central Connecticut State. The Huskies will be hungry, too, after last season’s 31-24 defeat at the hands of the Orange – their third one-score loss to an ACC team in the 2024 regular season.
Syracuse, debuting new faces all over the field, was overmatched by No. 24 Tennessee, 45-26, at a neutral site in its opener, and will not be taking the Huskies lightly as it looks to break into the win column and follow up a 6-1 home record last year.
“Jim Mora is a legendary coach, (so is) his father,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown told reporters this week. “I’m very thankful that we get a chance to play against UConn and I get a chance to compete against Coach Mora.”
Brown and Mora have become friendly, texting every so often since they met last season, a loss that Mora believes appeared closer on the scoreboard than it actually was.
The Orange have since replaced QB Kyle McCord, the nation’s leader in passing yards, with former Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli, and continued to have success through the air against Tennessee despite losing top receivers Jackson Meeks, Trebor Pena and tight end Oronde Gadsden II. Yasin Willis replaced Lequint Allen at running back and ran for 91 yards and three scores behind an almost completely retooled offensive line, which allowed five sacks in the opener.
UConn will need to keep eyes on Texas transfer Johntay Cook and senior Justus Ross-Simmons to avoid explosive plays in the passing game, which hurt the Huskies in the Dome last season.
“They replaced a really good quarterback with a really good quarterback,” Mora said. “They’ve got a running back who’s a big bruiser that scored three touchdowns last week. They’re physical on the front, they’re big and physical at wide receiver, they’ve got active tight ends. … You see Fran Brown’s personality over that team. They’re tough, they’re hard-nosed, they’re disciplined, gritty, they’re going to get after you.
“He’s a Jersey guy and they play with that attitude, they play with a chip on their shoulder. So you know that in order to have any success against these guys you’ve got to bring your very, very best every single play.”
What to watch for
Can UConn maintain its explosiveness? The Huskies dominated an FCS opponent in CCSU for a program-record 683 offensive yards, but now the competition will step up a level or two. The offensive line will be tested against a big, physical front, and there will be less room for error in the passing game as receivers work to get open against a secondary that flies to the ball. UConn’s success on Saturday starts with Cam Edwards and Mel Brown in the running game, both of whom had success with limited carries in last year’s matchup.
Discipline. UConn was sloppy to start against CCSU, hurting itself with penalties and a special teams turnover within the first 10 minutes. Syracuse has more weapons to make an opponent pay for those types of mistakes. The Huskies have been able to take care of the ball, for the most part, with Joe Fagnano behind center the last two seasons and will need to ride his poise in Week Two. Syracuse turned the ball over twice – one fumble, one interception – in its opener.
Sure tackling. UConn’s defensive struggles, particularly around the line of scrimmage, didn’t prove to be much of an issue against Central. But the missed tackles and the “soft” effort up the middle, as Mora described it, will not serve well against the playmakers in Syracuse’s offense. Explosive plays and slow starts have hurt the Huskies time and again in recent years against power conference opponents, including the Orange, who scored their first touchdown in two plays when they met last season.
Brown: Thankful Mora is at UConn
Mora and Brown are fighting a similar fight in the big picture of trying to build national respect for football in the Northeast.
“He’s a good person who I know loves the game of football, does it the right way. I’m very thankful that he is the head coach at UConn, because that helps the Northeast be competitive,” Brown said. “I’m happy Bill O’Brien is the head coach at Boston College because it helps be competitive, you gotta come up here and recruit now because kids will go to UConn, kids will go to Boston College, they’ll go to Pitt, Penn State.”
UConn vs. the ACC
UConn is still looking for its first regular-season win over a power conference team since Mora’s first season, when the Huskies took down Boston College in a low-scoring game, 13-3, at Rentschler Field. The Huskies are 8-28 all-time against the ACC and snapped a six-game skid against the conference with their win over North Carolina in last year’s Fenway Bowl. UConn has lost five consecutive games against Syracuse after winning five in a row from 2007-2011.
What to know
Site: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
Line: Syracuse by 6 1/2
Time: Noon
TV: ESPN+, ACCNx – Bill Spaulding, Craig Hauber
Radio: UConn Sports Network from Learfield, Fox Sports 97.9
Online: The Varsity Network App – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman, Adam Giardino
Record (2024): UConn: 1-0 (9-4), Syracuse: 0-1 (10-3)
Series: Syracuse leads, 7-6.
Last meeting: Nov. 23, 2024 – Syracuse 31, UConn 24 in Syracuse
