Following a 38-14 loss to Maryland last week, the UConn Huskies will hop on a plane and head down to Hattiesburg, Miss., to play Southern Mississippi in a showdown of 1-1 squads.
The Huskies jumped out to a 7-0 lead early against the Terrapins before their offense took over. Maryland scored 24 unanswered points followed by another 14 unanswered after a Connecticut touchdown. Rentschler Field was packed with over 34,000 fans, most leaving The Rent unhappy with the result.
“(Against Lafayette) we were the best team to ever step on Rentschler Field, this week (against Maryland) we were the worst team ever to put on the uniform,” head coach Jason Candle said on Monday. “I get it, the truth is somewhere in the middle.”
Kalieb Osborne will try to quarterback his team back into the win column in Week 3. Osborne threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns. However, he was sacked five times, including one strip-sack.
Like UConn, Southern Miss won its season opener 49-3 against FCS opponent Alcorn State before losing big to power conference opponent Auburn 43-8.
The Huskies have a chance to establish the run game this week against Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles allowed 343 rushing yards against Auburn last week. Connecticut only rushed for a combined 67 yards against Maryland. Look for Kenji Christian, Cyncir Bowers and Trey Cornist to do damage in the backfield along with Osborne making plays with his legs.
“We’ve got some familiarity with guys there, and they’ve done a good job dealing with some of the issues with having a program for the first year which we are going through as well,” Candle said.
Candle won his first career game as the Toledo head coach in 2016 against Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson when he was at Arkansas State. Anderson is in his first year as head coach for the Golden Eagles after serving as the offensive coordinator last season.
Candle and Toledo also faced off against Southern Miss quarterback Ethan Hampton in 2022 when he was a member of Northern Illinois. Hampton threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns; however, he also tossed four interceptions in a 52-32 Toledo victory.
Despite this game being four years ago, Hampton’s interception woes still linger. He threw an interception against Alcorn State in Week 1, and his first pass against Auburn last week was a pick-six. UConn will try to get its first interception of the season against Hampton.
Steven Robinson and Jamarice Wilder are the leading rushers for the Golden Eagles. Robinson rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns against Alcorn State. He also caught the lone Southern Miss touchdown against Auburn last week. Wilder chipped in 90 yards and two touchdowns versus Alcorn State.
“They fly around, they’re high energy, they’re going to run around, they’re going to make plays and they are a really physical team,” UConn linebacker Hayden Pegg said.
Mario Sanders is the top receiving threat for Southern Miss. The Illinois transfer has nine catches for 152 yards and a touchdown on the season. Sanders will be a test for a UConn secondary that allowed 347 passing yards last week.
The Southern Miss defense is led by linebacker Laquan Robinson. Robinson racked up 10 tackles against Auburn last week and had seven tackles and a pass deflection against Alcorn State.
UConn will once again look for the defensive captains to lead the way. K’Von Sherman and John Lista combined for 16 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Maryland. The two linebackers will lead the way for the defense on and off the field against the Golden Eagles.
“Just the way they (Lista and Sherman) prepare every single day,” Pegg said. “That’s just who they are.”
The past two Saturday’s at Rentschler Field have been in the low 70s, the team is set for a different challenge down south this week.
“I think this week we’re going to deal with some heat there,” Candle said.
The temperature at kickoff on Saturday is projected to be 86 degrees with a small chance of rain.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and fans can tune into ESPN+ to catch the Huskies in action.