Breaking down the 2026 UConn football schedule: An inside look at all 12 games
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College football season is right around the corner and it is an exciting time for UConn with the Jason Candle era ready to begin.
Will the Huskies be able to sustain success despite a new coaching staff, an overhauled roster and a more difficult schedule?
There are so many questions with training camp opening on Aug. 5, but one thing is for sure: There will be no shortage of entertaining matchups and storylines playing out in East Hartford this fall. From Bill Belichick’s first game back in New England, to continuing rivalries with Syracuse and UMass, and a 2025 playoff team visiting, the Huskies will be challenged unlike they have been in recent years.
Coming off of back-to-back 9-4 seasons, it may take some time for the new group to find its groove, but Candle has never had a losing season as a Division I head coach and he made sure to set the foundation as he brought a number of players with him from Toledo.
The Huskies came in at No. 114 in ESPN’s (way-too-early) Football Power Index ranking, which projects 4.8 wins and 7.2 losses, and a 35.1% chance to win six games and be bowl eligible for the fourth time in five years. Their strength of schedule – the main knock on last year’s team, which was undefeated in regulation (all three losses came in overtime) – is up to No. 111, according to Phil Steele, who had last year’s at No. 121 in his annual preview magazine.
Anyway, projections are projections.
Here is a breakdown of the Huskies’ complete schedule and what you should know with the 2026 campaign less than six weeks away:
Week One: vs. Lafayette
When/Where: Noon, Sept. 5 at Rentschler Field
TV: WFSB Channel 3/The Wax
2025 record: 8-4
What to know: UConn hit rock bottom on Sept. 4, 2021, when FCS opponent Holy Cross visited Rentschler Field and left the Huskies embarrassed after a 38-28 loss. Coach Randy Edsall announced roughly 24 hours later that he’d retire at the end of the season, only to leave the program for good the very next day. Those dark days seem to be buried and gone and Jim Mora came off offended when asked if beating FCS teams was any sort of accomplishment. “An FBS team should beat an FCS team,” he said after the struggling 2023 Huskies whooped up on Sacred Heart. So Jason Candle’s tenure should get off on the right foot against a Lafayette program that hasn’t beaten a top-level team since taking down Columbia in 1981.
Week Two: vs. Maryland
When/Where: 3:30 p.m., Sept. 12 at Rentschler Field
TV: CBS Sports Network
2025 record: 4-8
What to know: After the disaster of a 2023 season that saw the Huskies follow a bowl appearance in Mora’s first year with a 2-9 record, greater investment was made in order to build a competitive roster for 2024. But then the Huskies went out to College Park, Maryland, to start the season and were run out of town in a 50-7 rout. UConn has since gone 3-4 against Power Four opponents, but the Terrapins remain a challenge as they return talented sophomore QB Malik Washington with an experienced offensive line and running back corps. Defensively, seven of coach Mike Locksley’s top eight tacklers from 2025 return.
Week Three: at Southern Miss
When/Where: 7 p.m., Sept. 19 at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss.
TV: ESPN+
2025 record: 7-6
What to know: UConn will be looking for its second-ever win over a team from the Sun Belt conference when it takes the field for its first-ever meeting with Southern Miss in the first road trip of the year. The Golden Eagles also have a new coach in Blake Anderson after Charles Huff took the job at Memphis following a 7-6 campaign last fall. This left the program in a tough spot with zero starters returning on offense and only one of its top 21 tacklers coming back. Ethan Hampton seems to be the frontrunner for QB1 with four years of experience at NIU before he made two appearances behind center last year at Illinois.
Week Four: at Miami (Ohio)
When/Where: Time TBD, Sept. 26 at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio
TV: TBD
2025 record: 7-7
What to know: An old MAC rivalry continues as the Redhawks will get another chance at taking down Jason Candle, who won three of four meetings while a conference foe at Toledo. UConn is 26-10 all-time against the MAC after beating Buffalo and Ball State last fall. Miami has a veteran offensive line and depth in the skill positions for its 13th season under coach Chuck Martin. With a defensive unit that returns 11 of its top 19 tacklers, it will likely be one of the favorites to win the MAC.
Week Five: vs. Syracuse
When/Where: Noon, Oct. 3 at Rentschler Field
TV: CBS Sports Network
2025 record: 3-9
What to know: Oh, so close… UConn took a 17-6 lead into the fourth quarter at the Carrier Dome last fall and blew it, before Syracuse QB Steve Angeli tore his achilles and the Orange season went down the drain. The Huskies outplayed their old Big East basketball rival so significantly through three quarters that coach Fran Brown punished his team by making it stay on the field after the game and run sprints in front of fans. Now Angeli is back and getting healthy, but his former QB coach, Nunzio Campanile, will be on the Huskies’ sideline as offensive coordinator.
Week Six: at Temple
When/Where: Time TBD, Oct. 10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia
TV: TBD
2025 record: 5-7
What to know: One of the most electric finishes in the Jim Mora era came on Oct. 5, 2024, when Temple faced fourth-and-goal with a three-point deficit in the final seconds at Rentschler Field. The Owls went for the win and coughed up the ball, which was scooped by DB Jordan Wright and returned 96 yards into the opposite end zone. The 2026 meeting will be the back end of that home-and-home series and give the Huskies an opportunity to play in an NFL stadium as they meet an improving Temple team in its second year under coach K.C. Keeler at the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Week Seven: Bye
Week Eight: vs. UMass
When/Where: 7 p.m., Oct. 23 at Rentschler Field
TV: CBS Sports Network
2025 record: 0-12
What to know: The latest rivalry series without a trophy returns after a year off with UMass making the short drive to East Hartford as the weather cools. It got as bad as it could get for the Minutemen as they went 0-12 in Year One under coach Joe Harasymiak. They even lost to Bryant, an FCS opponent, 27-26. But things can only get better from here (right?), and with dual-threat QB William “Pop” Watson Jr. – a Springfield native – returning home to Western Mass. as a transfer from Virginia Tech, there is reason for fans to be excited.
Week Nine: at Air Force
When/Where: 2 p.m., Oct. 31 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs
TV: Mountain West+
2025 record: 4-8
What to know: UConn’s visit to the U.S. Air Force Academy falls not only on Halloween, but on Space Force Day. So new defensive coordinator Ryan Manalac will have to come up with a plan to slow Liam Szarka, Owen Allen and the option offense in front of a crowd decked out in black. Allen had 122 rushing yards as the Falcons dominated time of possession in last year’s 26-16 loss at The Rent.
Week 10: vs. North Carolina
When/Where: Noon, Nov. 7 at Rentschler Field
TV: CBS Sports Network
2025 record: 4-8
What to know: East Hartford will host the first game back in New England for legendary former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who got into college coaching at North Carolina last fall. His Tar Heels notably struggled, but they quietly started to find their groove and became somewhat competitive by the end of the year. Belichick is hoping to keep progressing after the addition of QB Billy Edwards Jr., who started his career at Maryland before transferring to Wisconsin and getting injured last year. He was the QB behind that 2024 rout of the Huskies in College Park, throwing for 311 yards and two touchdowns before he was relieved early.
Week 11: vs. James Madison
When/Where: Noon, Nov. 14 at Rentschler Field
TV: CBS Sports Network
2025 record: 12-2
What to know: UConn does have a playoff team on its schedule as JMU comes to town following a 12-2 campaign in 2025, which ended after running into Oregon in the first round of the CFP. Coach Bob Chesney moved on to UCLA and the Dukes brought in Billy Napier after his failed stint at Florida. There has been a lot of roster turnover this offseason, but Napier should be able to put a solid group together as JMU looks to continue its run without a losing season since 2002.
Week 12: vs. Old Dominion
When/Where: 3:30 p.m., Nov. 21 at Rentschler Field
TV: CBS Sports Network
2025 record: 10-3
What to know: The Monarchs – meeting UConn for the first time in 2026, played eventual national champion Indiana tighter than Alabama, Illinois and Oregon did last year as they started a 10-3 season with a 27-14 loss to the Hoosiers. Coach Ricky Rahne, in his seventh season in Norfolk, Va., has some pieces to replace on offense with only one returning starter, but he has a strong front seven and NFL potential in the defensive backfield to provide a foundation. It wouldn’t be a total shock for ODU to post double-figure wins for the second year in a row.
Week 13: at Wyoming
When/Where: Time TBD, Nov. 28 at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyo.
TV: TBD
2025 record: 4-8
What to know: UConn’s longest road trip of the year will come for its final regular season game as the Huskies make the 1,884-mile trek to Laramie for the first time. It is the beginning of a home-and-home series that will bring the Cowboys to East Hartford in 2029 and the second-ever meeting between the two programs. UConn nearly pulled off an upset at The Rent back in 2021, but failed a two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds and fell to 0-5. In its third year under Jay Sawvel, Wyoming will begin its 2026 campaign at Colorado State, against Jim Mora and many other former Huskies, and complete it with UConn, which has won three straight road finales.
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