EAST HARTFORD – Jim Mora won’t let his defense be a one-hit wonder.
After Saturday’s dominant 51-10 win over FIU, a defensive performance that certainly tops the charts for this season so far, the Huskies are riding high into their midseason bye week, a chance to rest and come out even better for a great opportunity at Boston College in Week 8.
“They definitely played their best game, full game,” Mora said, remembering how stout the defense looked through three quarters in their first ACC opportunity, an overtime loss at Syracuse. “They played with more energy, emotion, passion and more important than all of that, effort. That’s something that we stress always, but this week we put a little bit more emphasis on it than really we ever have. And it’s always one of our lead points of emphasis, but they embraced it, the challenge that we put toward them as coaches. I expected them to do that, and now they’ve got to keep doing it.”
UConn held FIU to 304 total yards of offense, 174 through the air and 130 on the ground, made stops on 12 of 15 third-down conversion opportunities and finished with three sacks and seven tackles for loss.
Joe Fagnano stars as UConn football dominates FIU for 51-10 Homecoming victory
“We just all played together today, finally,” said linebacker Bryun Parham, who finished second on the team with nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. “Everybody just did their job and that’s most important… Coach has been emphasizing in practice: ‘Burst to the ball, burst to the ball.’ That’s what we want to put on tape. We’re gonna hunt the ball with maniacal effort. So that was a big emphasis this week and I feel like we took a step toward that in this game.”
Parham hunted the ball and was rewarded twice, his two fumble recoveries being part of a first-half effort with three takeaways, matching the season total entering the game as Cam Chadwick snagged an interception that helped the offense score twice within the final minute of the half. Linebackers Amir Renwick – who had a game-high 11 tackles and a sack – and Aaron Key both picked off FIU backup quarterback Joe Pesansky in the fourth quarter as the Huskies finished with five takeaways.
“Coach (Matt) Brock puts a large emphasis on (creating turnovers) but he also says that he doesn’t count on takeaways to play good defense. So that’s something we strive to get, but we’re just trying to go out there and play good defense, and when you do your job and hunt the ball, those plays are gonna come,” Parham said. “This is the standard we had since I got here in January and we’ve just got to continue to build on that, stack days and it’s gonna come. We already knew we could do this, we just had to put it into action.”
Mora felt his team’s confidence start to build after last week’s game-winning field goal at Buffalo, and now the Huskies carry a three-game winning streak into their bye week.
“Confidence is a really tricky thing and it’s very, very fragile,” Mora said. “You have to keep earning that confidence by the way you work and the way you perform. So yeah, it feels great but, quite frankly, it doesn’t mean anything unless we keep rolling. Keep working the way we have in practice with the same intention and going out and playing well. You can lose momentum and confidence really fast, but confidence is built in the work you do.”
UConn quarterback Joe Fagnano scrambles for first-half yardage during the Huskies’ win over FIU on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025 at Rentschler Field. (Courtesy of UConn)
Only getting better behind center
Every Thursday, QB Joe Fagnano and top receiver Skyler Bell have been getting a group together to stay after practice and work on the deep ball. It was an area holding the Huskies back from being a true complete offense, but the extra work proved to be worth it on Saturday.
And it wasn’t just Fagnano relying on Bell, though he had a team-high six receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns – his second multi-TD game of the year. The Huskies had eight “big” passing plays of 15 yards or more to six different receivers.
“Joe’s got a good surrounding cast, he’s got guys that he trusts. He trusts the people up front, he trusts his receivers, he’s going to throw in tight spots. He’s played a lot of football and with that comes a lot of confidence,” Mora said. “The thing about Joe is he’s steady. He doesn’t change whether he’s throwing touchdowns or he’s struggling or he’s getting hit, it doesn’t matter. And I think the added thing the last couple weeks we’ve seen that’s really helped is his ability to tuck it and go. I just want to make sure he gets down, I don’t like it when our quarterback is taking hits. But it’s really fun to see him kind of take it to the next level.”
Fagnano was mobile on Saturday, but not reckless. He evaded tacklers in the back field and connected on passes on the run or across his body, and is now up to 1,556 passing yards (67.2% completion) and 11 passing touchdowns without an interception on the season.
“He’s an old head, he’s on his 15th year of college football,” receiver Reymello Murphy, who had his best game as a Husky with three catches for 78 yards and a long 61-yard touchdown, said with Fagnano listening from the back of the room. “What?” the seventh-year QB shouted.
“He’s just trying to perfect his craft and him bringing us along, just learning from a veteran player and just continuously working and working, it never stops,” Murphy continued. “He’s the epitome of a leader, so that’s somebody you’ve just got to follow… When you have a collective unit trying to lead each other and hold each other accountable, trying to strive to be the greatest, it’s something that you know is rare. Because not everybody has that work ethic, so being able to learn from each other and just continuously working on things, it’s pretty cool to be a part of.”
Dom Amore: Jim Mora has uplifted UConn football. His players returned the favor after his 100th win
Notes
Mora wasn’t thrilled with his team’s 44 rushing yards on 16 attempts (2.8 yards per carry) in the first half but it picked up in the second with Cam Edwards and Co. running 17 times for 106 yards (6.2 yards per carry) after the break. Edwards should benefit greatly from some rest during the bye week after taking so many hits since Mel Brown broke his collarbone at Delaware… Saturday’s win was No. 100 for Mora as a football coach in college and the NFL. He improved to 22-22 as head coach at UConn, winning more games in three and a half seasons than the program had in nine years prior to his hiring… FIU linebacker Dwight Nunoo, who was carted off the field on a stretcher after a collision on the opening kickoff, was brought to a local hospital and “doing okay” by the end of the game, Mora said… After an impressive start, UConn can no longer say it hasn’t turned the ball over. Bell was credited with a fumble after losing control of the ball just before he went down in the second quarter.
