UConn got exactly what it needed in Jason Candle’s debut: a runaway win, a clean launch point, and a whole lot of tape to fix before the schedule gets serious.
The Huskies opened the season Saturday with a 56-7 rout of Lafayette, and the numbers jumped off the page. The 49-point margin was the third-largest victory in program history, trailing only a 62-3 win over Texas Southern in 2010 and a 59-0 win over Liberty in 2005.
UConn piled up 671 total yards, the most in school history, topping last year’s opener against Central Connecticut State and the second game of 2024 against Merrimack. Those two seasons ended up producing the program’s first back-to-back nine-win campaigns in the FBS era.
That kind of start is exactly what UConn has wanted from these early FCS games: a confidence boost, a little rhythm, and a runway into the first real test. That test comes fast. Maryland is next, and after a 62-0 win over Hampton on Saturday night, the Terrapins will arrive at Rentschler Field looking every bit like a tougher measuring stick.
The mood in the UConn locker room after the Lafayette game stayed steady, according to senior linebacker and captain K’Von Sherman. He didn’t sound like a player interested in looking too far ahead.
“I try to preach that we’re gonna be the most prepared group in the country,” he said. “If you’re kind of iffy about what’s going on, you’re not gonna be as fast. I just believe that we’ve got to be on our ‘A’ game when it comes to that preparation aspect and everything else will take care of itself.”
UConn’s defense did most of its damage with control and discipline, with one exception: penalties. Those flags were the only thing that kept the Huskies from a shutout, including a call that helped set Lafayette up at the 2-yard line in the final minute.
Lafayette’s best crack at the first-team defense came in the second quarter after a pass interference call put the Leopards at the 30. Sherman and UPenn transfer John Lista slammed the door from there, each recording a sack on back-to-back plays and pushing the possession back near midfield. That sequence was part of a day that saw Lafayette punt 11 times.
“That really fired me up,” Sherman said. “I even told him, ‘Let’s just keep going back-to-back on ’em…’ That’s my partner in crime… I feel like we played really good team ball, that was the best thing that stood out to me, the communication that we had on the field was pretty good.”
Sherman and Lista each finished with five total tackles, four solo tackles and a sack in their UConn debuts. Sherman added two tackles for loss, while Lista had one and also hit the quarterback.
On offense, the biggest storyline belonged to Kalieb Osborne, whose debut looked every bit like the kind of performance UConn wanted from its starting quarterback. Osborne completed 19 of 26 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while also running eight times for 90 yards and two more scores. Pro Football Focus gave him a 95.3 quarterback grade, the best on the team for the day.
Candle said the outing matched his expectations.
“I think he played how I expected him to play,” said Candle. “We wouldn’t have named him the starting quarterback if we thought he was gonna play bad, right? But the more comfortable he gets, the better it’s going to look.”
Sherman said none of what Osborne did came as a surprise to the people around him.
“Most of the things I’ve seen him do 1,000 times,” Sherman said. “Even when he was a young pup at Toledo when coach Candle was throwing him in against the threes, he was still running around, still making crazy throws.
That’s something we see every day at practice, he’s always making crazy throws and making plays with his legs. I’m just proud of him being able to come out like that and dominate.”
UConn also spread the ball around effectively. Four receivers saw at least three targets, and Javon Brown led the way by catching all six passes thrown to him for a team-high 92 yards. Osborne pointed to Brown’s size and hands, and he also noted the work the receivers put in after practice.
“Big target, and he’s got strong hands for sure,” Osborne said. “We all connect, after practices we get catches in, extra work in, so we’re really confident with everybody’s abilities. All our receivers have great hands.”
There were still some loose ends. A handful of big plays in the passing game were erased by mistakes up front in the first half.
Ryder Treadway had a 24-yard catch-and-run wiped out by holding, Shamar Porter lost a 23-yard gain the same way, and JD Willoughby took the biggest hit of all when a 15-yard catch and a 66-yard touchdown just before halftime came off the board. Willoughby finished with three catches for 40 yards, while Treadway ended with two receptions for 33.
The offensive line settled down after the break, when UConn cleaned up the five first-half holding penalties and avoided more flags in that area. Even so, Candle pointed to one obvious mistake that still showed up on film: a pressure that got to Osborne, forced a bad throw and turned into his first interception of the season.
“Preseason camp’s a waste of time if you don’t get your first win, in my opinion,” Candle said. “So you want to do a great job of putting a plan together to go get that win, and then from there, you want to see great growth from Game One to Game Two.
I think that’s where we’re at. We had some things on tape today that we want to take off, I mean, we had a (66-yard) touchdown called back from a penalty, right?
You don’t get many chances at a (66-yard) touchdown. So we’ve got to take some of that stuff off the tape and fix some of those mistakes.”
In Other News...
UConn's New-Look Offense Just Created A Much Bigger Maryland Test
Jason Candles first game as UConns head coach could hardly have gone much better, with the Huskies rolling past Lafayette at Rentschler Field and putting up an offense that looked far removed from the team that took the field a year ago. Kalieb Osborne, the Toledo transfer, was at the center of it all, throwing for 265 yards, running for 90 more and accounting for four total touchdowns while UConn controlled the game from the opening snap.
The larger challenge now comes quickly, and it is a sturdier one. UConns opener offered a clear early glimpse of what Candle and his staff want this offense to look like, but Maryland will be a much better measuring stick for how much of that production can carry over against a bigger, faster defense. After a performance like this, the Huskies have earned the chance to find out whether the new-look attack is real or just a sharp debut. [Read more 🡒]
UConns Fast Start Came With One Late Frustration Fans Noticed
UConn wasted little time making a statement in Jason Candles coaching debut at Rentschler Field, rolling past Lafayette 56-7 behind a fast, balanced start on offense. Kalieb Osborne helped set the tone at quarterback with scoring plays through the air and on the ground, and the Huskies kept finding answers from multiple players as they built a 35-0 halftime lead and turned the afternoon into a lopsided opener.
The only real frustration for UConn came late, when Lafayette finally broke through in the final minute and took away the chance at a shutout. Even so, the result offered the kind of clean, confident start Candle and the Huskies were looking for, with plenty of production and very little resistance before the game was long out of reach. [Read more 🡒]
UConn's New Era Starts With One Decision Fans Still Need
Jason Candles first months in charge of UConn football have already been defined by transition, and the next step arrives quickly with the season opener against Lafayette. The Huskies have gone through significant roster turnover, so Candle has leaned into a simple message: build from the ground up, prepare well and judge the team week by week rather than making grand declarations about where the program should land right away.
Even with that measured approach, one of the biggest questions of the new era still hangs over camp. Candle has not locked in a starting quarterback, leaving the offense in a holding pattern while he sorts through the options, and that decision carries obvious weight for a team trying to establish a fresh identity. For now, the clearest early signs of strength appear elsewhere, with Candle pointing to the defensive front and the run game as areas that can help steady UConn while the rest of the picture comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]