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The Jason Candle era at UConnis approaching rapidly, with
the Huskies set to kick off the season on Sept. 5 against Lafayette.

The Leopards will be the first of seven visitors to Pratt & Whitney
Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., this season.

It’s an impressive list of games that includes three Power 4 opponents
and a school that appeared in the College Football Playoff after the 2025
season. One of those top opponents, Maryland of the Big Ten, will visit in the second week.

Under former head coach Jim Mora, the Huskies finished 9-4 each of the past
two seasons. Can Candle, his staff, and the more than five dozen new players they
recruited to the roster beat that number?

If UConn is to do that, these three home games will be key.

Syracuse: Oct. 3, noon ET

Candle, the former head coach at Toledo, wasn’t at the game in Syracuse
last fall when UConn couldn’t hold a late lead, a turn of events that resulted
in a 27-20 overtime loss to the Orange. There is
no doubt, however, that the members of the 2025 Huskies football program who returned
will want a different outcome.

The Huskies were up 17-6 before being outscored 21-3 in the final minutes
of the fourth quarter and overtime in the win at the JMA Wireless Dome in
Syracuse, N.Y.

Mora was so disgusted in defeat that he spoke to the media for just 90
seconds after the game. In his brief comments, he called the loss “very
disappointing” and put the defeat on everyone – coaches, staff and players.

Syracuse lost its opener last season and emerged from the UConn game with
a 1-1 record. After routing FCS program Colgate, the Orange shocked Clemson to
move to 3-1. Syracuse lost experienced quarterback Steve Angeli to an Achilles
injury in that game, and the Orange didn’t win another game all season.

Head coach Fran Brown spent the offseason retooling the Syracuse coaching
staff and reloading the roster with hopes for a better 2026.

North Carolina: Nov. 7, noon ET

Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick returns to New England, where he teamed
with Tom Brady to lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles. After 24 seasons
at the helm and a 266-121 record – a winning percentage of .687 – Belichick and
owner Robert Kraft divorced, giving both sides a fresh start.

After a season off, Belichick returned to coaching at North Carolina. The
Tar Heels finished 4-8 in a season marred by upheaval both personally and
professionally for Belichick. It started with drama concerning his relationship
with his much-younger girlfriend and ended with three consecutive losses.

At the media kickoff last week for the Atlantic Coast Conference, Belichick
said he expects Year 2 to be different. He spent the offseason building
relationships and a support team on campus.

“It's been fun, and I appreciate the work that they've done. We'll work a
lot more efficiently as we spend more time together and get to know each other
better and understand the needs and what's most helpful, but they've been great,"
Belichick said.

“We're focusing on going forward, what we can accomplish today, this
week, and in this training period,” he continued. “Then we'll move on to our
next set of goals."

James Madison, Nov. 14, noon ET

James Madison (12-2
in 2025) became an FBS program just four seasons ago, with remarkable results.

In the first two,
then-coach Curt Cignetti led the Dukes to a 19-4 record. Based on his success
at the school, Indiana hired him to lead its program, and at the end of his
second season, the Hoosiers were undefeated and the national champions.

He was replaced at
James Madison by Bob Chesney, who amassed 21 wins in his two seasons – and qualified
for the College Football Playoff as the No. 12 seed in his second year. Despite
the 51-34 loss to No. 5 Oregon in the CFP, UCLA plucked Chesney away from James
Madison to be its new coach.

James Madison
hired Billy Napier after he was dismissed from Florida mid-season, and the question is
whether he can find success again in the Sun Belt Conference and continue the
amazing coaching legacy started by Cignetti and Chesney.

Napier was a
rising star at Sun Belt school Louisiana, building a 40-12 record from 2018-21,
and hired at Florida. He didn’t find the same success in Gainesville, putting
together a 22-23 record in three-plus seasons (2022-25).

James Madison
will have a large group of new players, with many of the 2025 team members
hitting the transfer portal. Still, playing a College Football Playoff program
is a great barometer for UConn.

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