Jason Candle is back in Ohio, and this one comes with a familiar feel.
The first-year UConn coach heads into Saturday’s game at Miami (Ohio) knowing exactly what kind of test awaits in Oxford. Candle was born and raised in Ohio, spent all but two seasons of his football life in the state, and now brings the Huskies into a Mid-American Conference matchup against a program he knows well from his time at Toledo.
He spent 10 seasons leading the Rockets in the MAC, where Miami is part of the landscape. And while UConn and Miami had not crossed paths during his Toledo tenure until 2023, Candle has already seen plenty of the RedHawks since then. Toledo beat Miami in three regular-season meetings, but Miami got the better of the Rockets in the 2023 MAC championship game.
“Very well-coached team. Coach Martin has done an outstanding job for a long time,” Candle said in advance of the game this week.
“They’re a tough team. They’re a tough out.”
That respect runs through the rest of his scouting report, too. Candle described Miami as a team that can beat you in every phase, and he pointed to the work Chuck Martin has done in building the program.
“The RedHawks are strong on offense, defense and in the kicking game,” he said. Martin has assembled a good staff and “created a great culture there,” and the RedHawks will be in the mix near the top of the conference standings.
Candle added, “You’ve got to go beat them, and to do it on their home field will be a great challenge for us,” before calling them a “Very detailed, very skilled team. They don't give up a lot of plays and they don't make a lot of mistakes and they're solid in all three phases.”
Candle’s own track record in the league is hard to miss. No MAC team won more games than Toledo during his run there, and the Rockets never finished a season below .500 under his watch. He was the MAC Coach of the Year in 2017 and again in 2023, and his final record at Toledo was 81-44.
UConn has opened the Candle era with a mixed but encouraging start. The Huskies blasted FCS opponent Lafayette 56-7 in Week 1, then ran into a Big Ten wall in a 38-14 loss to Maryland on Sept.
- Last week, they got back on track with a 48-20 road win at Southern Miss.
Saturday’s meeting with Miami will be the first ever between the schools. UConn has done well against the MAC overall, going 23-11 all-time against league teams and winning its last three against them.
The Huskies also have a 1-0 road record for the first time since 2012. Another MAC opponent is waiting later this season, with UMass on the schedule for a Friday night game on Oct.
Miami comes in at 1-2, but the RedHawks carry a résumé that still commands attention. They’re one of college football’s most established programs outside the power conferences, with 741 all-time wins, third among non-power conference teams behind Navy’s 758 and Army’s 746. Miami has also won 17 MAC titles and nine bowl games.
The RedHawks opened with losses to Pitt, 59-14 on Sept. 5, and Cincinnati, 35-31 on Sept. 19, with a 45-7 win over Holy Cross in between. Last week, they led the Bearcats 28-7 at halftime before the game slipped away in the second half, when Cincinnati outscored them 28-3.
Quarterback David McComb was at the center of that performance. In his third career start, he threw for 334 yards and accounted for one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. He was intercepted once and fumbled three times, losing one.
UConn and Miami kick off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Oxford, Ohio.
ESPN+ will carry the television broadcast with Shawn Kenney on play-by-play and Marcus Ray as analyst. On the radio side, FOX Sports 97.9 FM in Hartford is the flagship station for UConn football, with Mike Crispino on play-by-play, Wayne Norman as analyst and Adam Giardino on the sideline.
The game is also available on SiriusXM 272 and the app at SiriusXM 982.
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Dan Hurley Has One Big Challenge In UConns Title Push
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The mix includes Nik Khamenia from Duke, Oskar Giltay from Stanford and Elmir Dzafic from Arkansas, a signal that UConn did not simply fill gaps but added talent from ambitious places. Hurley has stressed that the culture and expectations remain the same, but the real question now is how quickly all of those pieces, especially the younger top-end talent, can be pulled together into something that looks like a title team again. [Read more 🡒]