UConn football notes: Blowout win opens door for bonus experience, more to clean up
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EAST HARTFORD – The season couldn’t have opened in a more ideal way for a program in UConn’s situation, having brought in more than 80 new players and an entirely new coaching staff this offseason.
In the dominant 56-7 win over FCS opponent Lafayette College, new head coach Jason Candle and his staff was able to see two different quarterbacks throw to 13 different receivers and hand the ball off to five different running backs. At least 33 different defensive players were able to get into the game and make an impact.
“There’s no substitute for experience, right?” Candle said. “Anytime those guys can get in there and get at-bats and be part of the game. You know, this is not seven-on-seven or practice, it’s live football, it’s real football. Some guys, when that ball gets caught in practice, they’re not getting tackled to the ground. We’re running and tagging the hip and we’re trying to preserve the longevity of the season and keeping guys fresh. It’s a little different story when multiple people are running at you trying to knock you down.”
Of the 13 different pass-catchers, six had at least 30 yards receiving. None of the five running backs had more than 10 carries, yet four of them had at least 30 yards – and that isn’t including quarterback Kalieb Osborne’s 90 rushing yards on eight attempts.
Backup quarterback Tucker McDonald, in his fourth season with the Huskies, got some extended time on the field and made the most of it, finishing with 105 passing yards and a touchdown as he completed 6 of 7 pass attempts.
“A lot of valuable experience for a lot of guys, a lot of stressful communication type things, situations that showed up, but yeah, I think any time that you can get out there is a positive thing,” Candle said.
Yellow flags
Nothing did more damage to UConn’s defense in Saturday’s opener than the little yellow flags that fluttered onto the field from the referees’ waistband.
Six of them cost the Huskies 84 yards and the program’s first shutout victory since 2012.
There were two penalties along Lafayette’s final drive, illegal use of the hands and defensive pass interference, that set the Leopards up at the Huskies’ 2-yard line and gifted them a last-minute touchdown – one blemish on an otherwise dominant day. While they didn’t matter much as the Huskies rolled over their overmatched FCS opponent, similar mistakes could haunt the team as it gets into the teeth of a more difficult schedule than it’s had in recent years.
“The pre-snap operation stuff, the things that take no talent, there’s just no appetite for that, it’s hard to stomach it,” Candle said. “So as long as that stuff’s not on there, the other stuff, we’ll make sure we work really hard to make sure it gets fixed.”
Notes
Former UConn running back and Norwalk native Cam Edwards made a strong first impression in his Michigan State debut Friday night, running 27 times for 98 yards and a touchdown. “I gotta be better… Wasn’t good enough,” he said on X after the Spartans’ 30-20 win over Toledo. … UConn announced a crowd of 31,831 for the opener, though the eye test would suggest the number be somewhere around 20-25,000 in the stands. … Freshman placekicker Jack O’Connor won the starting job after a competition with Ole Miss transfer Mike Baker throughout camp. He didn’t have any field goal chances Saturday but made all eight of his extra point attempts. … Quarterback Jake Merklinger, the Tennessee transfer who competed for the starting job, did not dress on Saturday and had his right hand wrapped. Candle didn’t offer much explanation, only that “he wasn’t able to go today.”
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