UConn walked into Hattiesburg and left with a statement win.
The Huskies rolled past Southern Miss, 48-20, on Saturday night at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Renasant Stadium in front of 23,025 fans, picking up their first road win of 2026 and moving to 2-1 on the season. The 28-point margin was UConn’s biggest road victory since a 40-13 win at UCF in 2015, and it also marked the first time the Huskies opened a season 1-0 on the road since 2012.
Junior quarterback Kalieb Osborne was the engine throughout. He threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 32 yards, and added two more scores on the ground. UConn finished with 436 total yards, splitting that production almost evenly with 223 through the air and 213 on the ground, while also turning two Southern Miss mistakes into points.
The Huskies got moving immediately. On their first drive, they converted three third downs and Osborne escaped trouble on 3rd and 4 before finding Shamar Porter for a 38-yard touchdown at 10:23. The possession covered 75 yards in nine plays, and Osborne was sharp from the start, going 4-for-4 for 58 yards on the series.
UConn’s defense then forced a takeaway on Southern Miss’ first drive, and the offense cashed it in for a 14-0 lead at 6:19. Osborne punched in a five-yard run on 3rd and 2 for his third rushing touchdown of the season. Southern Miss answered before the quarter ended with a 47-yard field goal from Creighton Wilbanks, finishing a 10-play, 51-yard march.
The Huskies kept applying pressure in the second quarter. Freshman Jack O'Connor drilled his first career field goal attempt from 46 yards to finish an 11-play, 47-yard drive and stretch the lead to 17-3 at 11:05. Then Cyncir Bowers broke the game open with a 42-yard touchdown run at 8:47, slicing through the left side and outrunning the defense for the longest run of his career and his second score as a Husky.
Southern Miss got a boost from a successful fake punt and used it to tack on another Wilbanks field goal, this one from 34 yards at 3:15, but UConn answered again before halftime. With 33 seconds left, Osborne pushed the Huskies 52 yards, including a 32-yard completion to JD Willoughby, and O'Connor capped the half with a 29-yard field goal as time expired. UConn went into the break ahead 27-6 and had scored on five of its seven first-half possessions.
The third quarter turned into more of the same. After forcing a turnover on downs, UConn took over at its own 41 and drove to the one-yard line before Osborne hit Trey Cornist in the right corner of the end zone for a 34-6 lead at 7:26.
On the very next Southern Miss snap, Anas Luqman jumped a Landry Lyddy pass, intercepted it, and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. That made it 41-6 with 7:17 left in the third and gave Luqman his first career interception and touchdown.
Bowers finished with a career-high 84 yards on 11 carries and a score. Hayden Pegg led the defense with eight tackles, while Braedyn Moore and Luqman each recorded their first career interceptions. UConn’s defense limited Southern Miss to 102 rushing yards and held the Golden Eagles to 5-of-15 on third down.
Next up, the Huskies head back on the road again, this time to Miami (OH) of the Mid-American Conference. Kickoff is set for 3:30 pm on ESPN+.
In Other News...
UConn Just Got A Reminder Of What That Duke Win Did
Jon Scheyer has spent much of the summer talking about the shape of Dukes next group, his bond with Coach K and the challenge of keeping the program on its usual standard. On the Inside College Basketball Now podcast with Jon Rothstein, he also revisited the Blue Devils NCAA Tournament loss to UConn, a result that still hangs over a matchup between two teams that have now crossed paths in a very meaningful spot.
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UConn Just Delivered The Response Husky Fans Needed To See
The first road game of the season gave UConn exactly the kind of clean response it had been seeking, as the Huskies left Southern Miss with a 48-20 victory and a 2-1 start. It was the programs first such opening through three games since 2016 under Jason Candle, and it came with a performance that looked more in line with what the staff and fan base had hoped to see after the early weeks of the season.
Kalieb Osborne gave the offense a steady rhythm throughout the afternoon, while the defense helped tilt the game by forcing two interceptions and turning one of them into points. For a UConn team still trying to establish an identity, winning away from home with production on both sides of the ball is the sort of step forward that matters, even if there is still plenty left to prove. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Faces A Real Early Test In Jason Candles First Road Game
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For the Huskies, the challenge is more than just travel. Both sides have been searching for more from the ground game after limited success in recent outings, so this one could hinge on which team can establish some control up front and stay on schedule. UConn will also be dealing with the normal first-road-game issues under a new coach, from communication to composure, and that makes this a useful measuring stick even before the result is known. [Read more 🡒]