EAST HARTFORD – When he was in the transfer portal and opted to decline Michigan’s high-dollar pursuit to stay at UConn, Skyler Bell imagined days like Saturday.
The dynamic senior receiver made an immediate impact in the Huskies’ season-opening, 59-13 win over Central Connecticut at Rentschler Field, before an announced crowd of 37,594. After a bit of a slow start to the new season, Bell woke the entire stadium up with an 80-yard catch-and-run on his first touch. He then found himself in the end zone again with his second as the Huskies quickly established dominance over their FCS foe.
Bell’s 135 yards and two touchdowns on just four receptions helped the Huskies start the season 1-0 for the first time since 2019, when they barely snuck past Wagner to begin a 2-10 campaign.
Quarterback Joe Fagnano exited the game with a 45-13 lead late in the third quarter, finishing his day having completed 18 of 25 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns through the air, one on the ground. Backup Nick Evers completed 6 of 7 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown
Running back Cam Edwards produced chunk plays almost every time he touched the ball as he finished with 115 yards on six carries (19.2 yards per carry) and a touchdown.
UConn running back Cam Edwards (0) runs for a 73 yard touchdown while pursued by Central Connecticut defensive back Deonte Douglas (38) during an NCAA college football game at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Jessica Hill/Special to the Courant)
Mel Brown added 83 yards on nine rushing attempts as UConn’s group combined for 250 yards on the ground. The Huskies finished the game with 638 total yards.
Other than a 15-yard CCSU personal foul on the first play from scrimmage, the ball didn’t move much on UConn’s offensive drive of the season. The Huskies lined up to punt after four plays and the long snap sailed over the head of Connor Stutz, who had to fall on it at the five-yard line. Two plays later, Central’s star running back and the reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year, Elijah Howard, plowed into the end zone for the first points of the season.
Howard finished with 59 yards and a score on 11 carries.
UConn was held back by its three penalties in the first five minutes, none more consequential than a holding call on Shamar Porter that negated an 81-yard touchdown run from speedy freshman Terrence Smith.
Three plays later, Bell caught a screen, broke a tackle and took his first reception of the season 80 yards down the left sideline to tie the game. Mel Brown broke free for a 49-yard run on the next drive and the Blue Devils left Bell wide open in the end zone for a 12-yard score on the very next play.
Edwards split a pair of tacklers on a perfectly-executed zone run that went 73 yards for his first TD of the campaign early in the second quarter. And Bell only needed one hand for his third catch of the game, which went for 26 yards down the sideline and set up Fagnano to take it himself from four yards out for another score.
Fagnano connected with Arizona transfer Reymello Murphy from three yards for his third passing TD of the game, taking the Huskies into the half with a 35-10 lead.
UConn’s defense started the second half by forcing the fourth CCSU punt of the game and Bristol native Victor Rosa, who led the team in touchdowns as a freshman in 2022 and redshirted last season with injuries, capitalized with a 20-yard touchdown run.
CCSU freshman placekicker Jack Hennessey converted on field goals from 20 and 29 yards, respectively, as the UConn defense made stops on 10 of 15 third-down opportunities. Huskies’ kicker Chris Freeman converted his own 29-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Mora turned to Evers at QB late in the third and the former starter found Jackson Harper with a screen pass from 19 yards out, which he took into the endzone through a group of Blue Devils for the first TD of his career. Eastern Illinois transfer MJ Flowers scored his first TD as a Husky from 16 yards out to complete the scoring.
In its debut, the Huskies’ collection of new faces on defense held CCSU to just 257 total yards – almost perfectly split with 129 through the air and 128 on the ground.
UConn will see a step up in competition in Week Two, when it travels into the JMA Wireless Dome to meet Syracuse for the second year in a row. Syracuse lost to No. 24 Tennessee in its season-opener on Saturday, 45-26.
