STORRS - With the season opener only days away, UConn still hasn’t settled its quarterback battle, and the decision remains open as Lafayette comes to town for the Huskies’ first game Saturday.
Coach Jason Candle said Monday afternoon that the staff is still sorting through the competition and expects to make a call before kickoff.
“We’ll continue to work through it this week,” he said. “But I think we’re getting closer to that.
I think those guys have done a really good job and they’ve handled that part of it really well as well. So we’ll continue to work these next couple days and make a decision on that obviously before the first snap Saturday.”
The fact that the quarterback question is still hanging out there is hardly unusual at UConn. Over the last four seasons under Jim Mora, only last year began with a clearly defined starter.
Even then, Joe Fagnano turned in one of the best seasons ever for a Huskies quarterback in his third year with the program before eventually earning a place on the Baltimore Ravens’ 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie. Before that, the race went down to the wire three straight years: Ta’Quan Roberson beat out freshman Zion Turner in 2022, Fagnano beat Roberson in 2023, and Nick Evers took the job in 2024.
In each of those seasons, the backup wound up starting because of injuries.
Candle is now facing that same kind of decision in his first season, with Tennessee transfer Jake Merklinger, Toledo transfer Kalieb Osborne and fourth-year Husky Tucker McDonald all in the mix.
“Ideally you would have your starting quarterback in place from the previous season. Ideally, scenario two would be that you had two guys competing that were ready to win the job.
And then this scenario would be the last one you pick, right, where you have three guys,” Candle said. “But it can be doable and it can work if those guys are very mature in their process and very methodical in how they prepare for practice and they really understand and harness the fact that they do play the most scrutinized position in all of sports, and they embrace that.
And those three guys, in each one of those cases, they’ve done that. And I’m proud of them for that.
It makes it a hard decision because nobody really eliminated themselves and that’s kind of why it’s been going the way it’s been going.”
Merklinger and Osborne have looked like the leading candidates through the fall, even if McDonald remains in the picture. The two juniors bring different skill sets: Merklinger is the more traditional pocket passer, while Osborne brings a dual-threat element and a knack for creating splash plays with his legs. Merklinger has not started an FBS game, and Osborne’s lone start came in Toledo’s 2025 bowl game against Louisville.
Candle has said the offense won’t need a major overhaul depending on who wins the job, and at least one player on the other side of the ball believes the Huskies are in good hands either way.
“100 percent, I’m confident in whoever it is. It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, it could be Coach Candle going to play quarterback,” said defensive back Saxton Suchanic, who has spent the summer lining up against the quarterbacks.
“It could be all three of them though, I love all three of them from a personality standpoint to a football standpoint. All great guys, all competitors, amazing quarterbacks.
I’m confident in whoever goes out there to lead this team, I’m confident in all positions, really. Whoever goes out there, I’m confident in us.
I got us.”
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