UConn football vs. Miami Ohio: TV info, keys to the game, behind the numbers
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UConn Huskies (2-1, FBS Independent) vs. Miami Ohio RedHawks (1-2, 0-0 Mid-American Conference)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
Location: Fred C. Yager Stadium, Oxford, OH
TV: ESPN+ (Shawn Kenney, Marcus Ray)
Radio: UConn Sports Network (Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman, Adam Giardino
Fox Sports 97-9 FM (Hartford), WAVZ 1300 AM (New Haven), WGCH 1490 AM (Greenwich), WILI 1400 AM/95.3 FM (Willimantic), WICH 1310 AM/94.5 FM (Norwich-New London)
Online: The Varsity Network App
SiriusXM 272 and on the SiriusXM App 982
Odds: Miami Ohio favored -3.5, O/U: 51.5
Series History
This is the first-ever meeting between these two schools. UConn holds a 23-11 all-time record against MAC teams, winning its last three MAC battles, dating back to the 2022 season.
UConn head coach Jason Candle has faced Miami four times as head coach of Toledo, posting a 3-1 record. Their only loss came in the 2023 MAC Championship Game. Candle’s Rockets won in Oxford, 24-3, last year.
“Coach Martin has done an outstanding job for a long time. We played against them here [at Miami Ohio] the last few years during my years at Toledo and they were a tough team,” Candle said. “Very detailed, very skilled team. They don’t give up a lot of plays and they don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Game Notes:UConn|Miami Ohio
Pre-Game Press Conferences
Fun With Numbers
446: The RedHawks’ defense conceded 446 total offensive yards (309 passing, 137 rushing) in their 35-31 loss to Cincinnati.
809: Miami QB David McComb has thrown for 809 yards this season, as the passing attack appears to be the strength of their offense.
5: UConn has five road games this year and will have already played two after Miami. The Huskies visit Temple and Air Force in October before ending the season at Wyoming.
10: The Huskies posted 10 big plays (passes 15+ yards, runs 10+ yards) last week against Southern Miss.
1: Since 2013, the Huskies have only lost once to a MAC team, falling 25-21 to Ball State in 2022.
55: Wideout Ryder Treadway hauled in four receptions for a team-high 55 yards and a touchdown against the RedHawks last year. Candle considered this Treadway’s breakout game.
Keys to the Game
Breakout Through the Air
The Husky offense racked up 436 yards (223 passing, 213 rushing) last week and will be looking to keep that momentum going against a tougher opponent. On Saturday, we’d like to see the passing game take a step forward and also see someone stand out from the pass-catchers.
So far, Candle’s offense has emphasized balance and variety. RB Kenji Christian can rush for a first down and also turn short passes out of the backfield into big gains. But he’s not the only RB contributing. Cyncir Bowers earned offensive MVP honors for Week 3 after a performance that included a 42-yard rushing touchdown, while Trey Cornist added a receiving touchdown and gained some tough yards in short-yardage situations.
Quarterback Kalieb Osborne also presents a running threat and can keep plays alive with his active scrambling. He found 10 different receivers against Southern Miss and seven of his 16 completions (at an 83% completion rate) went for over 15 yards. His first touchdown pass was the result of scrambling until a receiver was open.
But a go-to receiver has not yet emerged, and the passing attack as a whole has remained modest even in two blowout wins. They haven’t needed it to be more explosive, but on Saturday they probably will. Osborne’s efficiency completing his passes and finding big gains from last week offer hope that he can maintain a similar performance with a few more attempts than the 22 he had last week.
O-line Development
Against Southern Miss, UConn was called for six penalties. Four holding and one false start, all on offensive line. The sixth was an intentional grounding that can be attributed to heavy pressure on Osborne, though the penalty was called on the QB.
Candle noted the relative youth and inexperience among the starting O-linemen, expressing confidence in their future. This is going to be a big test for them as the competition steps up into the middle or upper-middle class of the Group of 6.
Don’t Get Beat Deep
Against USM, UConn did a good job of generating a pass rush and also forced its first two turnovers of the season, two interceptions that were not flukey, while holding the Golden Eagles to four yards per play in the first half as they amassed a 27-6 halftime lead.
“If a quarterback gets disrupted and he gets off to a rocky start, very few can come back and rebound from that,” Candle said. “I think we try to make the other team one-dimensional; if we can, try to limit their opportunity to run the football and then, when we have the chance to, pin our ears back and try to get after the quarterback.”
Based on its strengths and the vulnerability UConn showed against Maryland, Miami will probably go after the Husky secondary.
The RedHawks may have lost last week, but they still scored 31 points with over 400 total yards against a Big 12 rival at a neutral site. WR Maleek Huggins had 128 receiving yards and a TD vs. Cinci, with a monstrous ypc of 32.0, and is the team’s leader in receiving yards, while Ohio State transfer Damerion Witten has pulled in two TDs on the season as the team’s second-leading receiver, while boasting an impressive 30.7 ypc on the season.
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