After dropping a rough 50-7 contest to the Maryland Terrapins in week one of the college football season, the UConn Huskies football team bounced back to slaughter Merrimack 63-17 in their home opener at Rentschler Field. Despite losing starter Nick Evers to injury, the Huskies’ backup quarterback Joe Fagnano had an impressive day, completing 13 of 19 passes for 328 yards, throwing for five touchdowns while running for one on his own. On the ground, several UConn running backs such as Cam Edwards, Victor Rosa and freshman Durrell Robinson gashed the Warriors’ defense for 278 total rushing yards while averaging seven per carry. The Huskies displayed an up-tempo, explosive offense while plugging up Merrimack on defense, only allowing seven points in the first half. It was truly an amazing sight to see at the Rent.
Although it’s early in the season and hard to get a read on how good some teams are going to be, I full-heartedly believe that the UConn Huskies are on route to qualifying for their second bowl game in three seasons, an amazing accomplishment after years of tough times for the program.
The Maryland game was a challenge. The Huskies struggled to get things going on both offense and defense, allowing Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards to throw through the air for 311 yards and two touchdowns. On top of that, UConn starting quarterback Nick Evers was taken out of the game due to injury and replaced with Joe Fagnano. However, a decisive win versus a smaller FCS opponent like Merrimack could be the key to UConn finding its stride and winning multiple games this season. Although it’s still up in the air if Evers will get the nod this week against Duke, Fagnano was able to build chemistry with his receivers, throwing touchdowns to four different wide receivers in the first half of the game. With that being said, winning a tune-up home opener game against Merrimack could spring the UConn Huskies in the right direction.
It’s also quintessential to look at the remainder of the Huskies’ schedule. For being an FBS Independent football program that doesn’t receive the same level of funding as other programs, it’s particularly hard to get a win against bigger Power 5 teams like Maryland.
The Huskies travel down to Durham this weekend to take on a strong Duke Blue Devils team of the ACC, and future contests will feature Wake Forest and Syracuse. However, eight of the Huskies’ remaining 10 games are against teams who are not in a Power 5 conference, proving to be very winnable. To qualify for a bowl game, a team must win at least six games, and doing so for the Huskies should be achievable.
Great stuff Tyler!