STORRS – The UConn football team passed its first test with a record-breaking offensive performance against Central Connecticut to open the 2025 season on Saturday.
Now the game speed will ramp up as the Huskies make the short flight to Syracuse for a regional rivalry game, their first matchup of the year against a power conference opponent. UConn hasn’t started a season 2-0 since 2015.
“Based on today’s practice, our guys are wired in and they’re ready to accept the challenge,” head coach Jim Mora reported after practice on Tuesday. “But it’s going to be difficult. It’s going to reveal a lot and these are the kind of games that you relish. So we’ve got to have a great week of preparation and we’ve got to go out and play as close to perfect as we can to have a chance to stand with these guys.”
UConn accumulated a program-record 683 yards of offense in its 59-13 win over CCSU at Rentschler Field on Saturday while getting a number of different players involved. Quarterback Joe Fagnano completed 72% of his passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns – adding another with his legs for good measure. Cam Edwards ran for 115 yards and a TD on six carries, Skyler Bell caught four passes for 135 yards and two scores, and the defense, while not perfect, eventually settled in.
Still, the Huskies watched an extensive amount of film over the Labor Day weekend and identified a number of details to clean up before the level of competition steps up a notch this week.
“There was some good, there was some bad. There was nothing to be exuberant about and there was nothing to be depressed about,” Mora said.
Three major takeaways from UConn football’s season-opening win over Central Connecticut
“It’s always easy to look at the score, look at the yards and the explosive plays we had and lean back and kind of be happy with that,” said senior tight end Alex Honig. “But we’re playing to our standard and we know things that we missed on, things we didn’t capitalize on. The main focus right now is just fixing these mistakes and kind of washing the success we had but making sure we fix what we know we can be better at.”
Syracuse, despite significant turnover this offseason, is a team capable of finding and exploiting weaknesses that CCSU could not.
Last season, in their first year under head coach Fran Brown, the Orange won 10 games, including one against the Huskies at the JMA Wireless Dome, 31-24, that was closer than most expected.
Syracuse had to replace the nation’s leader in passing yards, Kyle McCord, lead running back Lequint Allen, its top receivers and most of its offensive line this offseason. Six new starters stepped in on the defensive side of the ball when the Orange opened with a 45-26 neutral site loss to No. 24 Tennessee.
“The only thing different is the players, schematically they’re the same,” Mora said. “Special teams they have a new coordinator so they’re a little bit different there, but we’ve played against this scheme before, we’ve played against this coordinator before. What I see is a big, physical, talented football team. New quarterback (Steve Angeli) who I think played well, big receivers, big offensive line. Kind of a re-constructed defense, per say, they brought in some really good players and have grown their own players. It’s a challenge for us.”
Dom Amore: For UConn football, a victory, a good day, but much left to do
UConn’s focus has been on staying level-headed, avoiding what Mora called “the rollercoaster effect” of preparing differently based on the perceived quality of each week’s opponent.
But it is no secret that this game – whether it be the level of opponent, the rivalry or the sour taste lingering from last season – means a bit more as the Huskies continue to try to prove themselves as a program.
Malachi McLean unavailable Saturday
Safety Malachi McLean, who left Saturday’s game after going down as Central scored its first quarter touchdown, will not be available this week due to an undisclosed injury.
“Our medical team did an amazing job with him after the game, he was released from the hospital that night,” Mora said. “He’s fine, he’s back with the team. He should be back next week but he’s not ready to go this week.”
So many connections
Center Wes Hoeh will have Syracuse circled any time it is on a calendar. He spent two years with the Orange but when Brown took over last offseason and brought players with him, Hoeh was asked to leave. Jayden Bass, another Huskies offensive lineman, spent his freshman year with the Orange before transferring out.
There are also a number of coaching connections in this game: Syracuse head coach Fran Brown and UConn’s first-year quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Pryce Tracy were both part of Georgia’s coaching staff in 2022, helping the Bulldogs to a national championship … Syracuse co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Michael Johnson was on Mora’s staff when he was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004-05 … UConn linebackers coach Siriki Diabate played at Syracuse and served as a graduate assistant for the Orange from 2013-15 … UConn defensive line coach Kenny McClendon and Syracuse defensive backs coach Joe Shaefer coached together at Iowa State in 2017 and again at Youngstown State in 2020 and 2021.
