STORRS - UConn football opens a new season Saturday with the kind of expectations that make sense in this sport, even if the goals don’t come wrapped in championship language.
At noon at Rentschler Field, Jason Candle will coach his first game for the Huskies against Lafayette, and the mood around the program is already buoyed by what happened over the winter. UConn kept its momentum after Jim Mora left for Colorado State by moving quickly to hire Candle from Toledo, and then loading up with dozens of transfers, many of them following him from a winning Toledo team.
That reset mattered. A fall back to square one would have been a real problem, but UConn avoided that. The new coach may not arrive with Mora’s NFL or Power Conference background, but he does bring credibility, and the program has spent the offseason looking more stable than fragile.
Still, this is college football, where the path is murky for almost everyone. Only 12 teams get to chase a national championship, and that number is likely to grow as bowl games keep losing meaning. Teams spend the season trying to win enough to get invited, but once they arrive, the best players - and often the coaches - are already elsewhere.
UConn knows that reality as well as anybody. The Fenway Bowl loss to Army was a flat ending after a nine-win season, and neither Joe Fagnano nor Jim Mora was there when it happened.
Skyler Bell played just one series before leaving, which is part of the business now. For the people who poured time, money and emotion into the season, the ending felt empty.
But that’s not the memory that defines the program right now.
On Nov. 8, UConn gave the state a football moment it could hold onto.
Fagnano fired a perfect pass to Bell in the corner of the end zone with less than two minutes left, then added the two-point conversion in a 37-34 win over Duke. More than 38,000 fans stormed the field at Rentschler to celebrate.
That was the kind of scene UConn football wants to keep producing: not a vague promise, but a real reason for Connecticut to care in September, October and November. As the state shifts into football season, that’s the standard - be fun, be watchable, and give people something worth remembering.
Sophomore defensive back Saxton Suchanic knows the atmosphere that can build at The Rent.
“Wow … packed,” Suchanic said. “I mean, I’ve been there, it’s only my second year, but The Rent gets crazy.
I love The Rent, I love this university, I love the fans. So I’m super excited to get back there and play and put on a show for ’em.”
That’s the ask this season. The parking lots will fill up, the grills will fire, and the hope is that the action inside the stadium gives fans a reason to move from tailgate to seats without delay. Maryland comes next week, and the challenge is already clear.
The schedule won’t be gentle. Maryland, Syracuse, North Carolina and James Madison are all coming to Storrs, and UConn won’t surprise anybody the way it once could. The rest of the country knows the Huskies aren’t the same program they were during the rough years from 2016-21, and opponents like North Carolina will remember the 2024 Fenway Bowl.
There’s also the question of whether this team can match what came before it. Back-to-back 9-4 seasons were built around Fagnano, Bell and Cam Edwards, who is now at Michigan State.
Fagnano and Bell were experienced, proven pieces, and Edwards had pro potential. That kind of offensive trio is hard to replace.
Even so, the program cannot afford a major step backward, especially with the larger ambition of staying in the conversation for a power conference invitation. For now, though, Candle said this week the focus should stay simple: get through the first game before worrying about what success will look like.
That may be the right approach. UConn football’s biggest goals may still be a little fuzzy, but the moment everyone remembers is clear enough. Give the state a few more afternoons and nights like last Nov. 8, and let the rest sort itself out later.
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UConns November 7 meeting with North Carolina had already taken on an unusual feel, with Bill Belichick potentially making a return to New England as the Tar Heels head coach. For the Huskies, it is the kind of nonconference spotlight game that stands out on a schedule, even as they begin a new era under Jason Candle against Lafayette to open the season.
The backdrop around that game has gotten murkier in recent days, with North Carolina now under investigation and the situation pulling more attention toward the program than anyone expected. The uncertainty has also spilled into the Belichick family picture, leaving plenty of questions about how the coachs next steps could affect a matchup that once looked like a clear reunion date on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]
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UConn Opens A New Era With One Huge Question Still Looming
Jason Candle is set to take the sideline for the first time as UConns coach when the Huskies open against Lafayette at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, beginning a new chapter after Jim Moras departure for Colorado State. Candle arrived from Toledo, where he built a strong reputation, and now inherits a roster that has been reshaped throughout the offseason as UConn tries to sort out what this version of the program will look like right away.
The opener also comes with one big item still hanging over the week: the Huskies have not yet settled on a starting quarterback, leaving one of the most important decisions in place as game day approaches. Lafayette enters with its last outing wiped out by weather, and coach John Troxell has stability on his side after a recent contract extension, but all eyes in Storrs are on how Candle handles the first real test of this new era. [Read more 🡒]