STORRS – The UConn football team is starting to run out of “first-in-a-while” accomplishments. But on Saturday, the Huskies will have a chance to finish the regular season with nine wins for the first time since 2007 when they travel to Florida Atlantic for the regular-season finale.
It would also be the first time ever that UConn has won nine games in back-to-back seasons (they won their ninth game in the Fenway Bowl last year).
And they’ll go into Boca Raton in great health, relative to this point in the season.
“I expect everyone that’s been either on the cusp, or maybe went out, to be back this week,” coach Jim Mora, who’s led one of the more impressive turnarounds in the sport, said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think that’s a testament to our players and their commitment to coming back in here and getting in the training room with our athletic trainers and working really hard, certainly our athletic training staff and our medical staff is top notch. So you combine those two things and you get a chance to get guys back. They’re motivated to play, they want to play, they want to be a part of going out and competing with their brothers.”
That includes running back Mel Brown, who broke his collarbone in the Sept. 13 overtime loss at Delaware. He has only played in three games this season, so he could still return to the field at this point and maintain his eligibility for a medical redshirt.
Brown’s speed would just reintroduce another element to an offense that has been, statistically, one of the best in the country.
In addition to individual players with gaudy numbers like receiver Skyler Bell and quarterback Joe Fagnano being recognized, UConn has started to earn national attention as a program, even receiving a vote in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.
“Just having this excitement, having this buzz is great, not only for the program but for the state, for everybody involved. Having UConn football be this good I think is great for New England,” said Bell, recently named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award.
The Huskies haven’t been ranked since their 2010 Fiesta Bowl season, and would likely see their name on more ballots if they can break even and get to 3-3 on the road this week.
“What are our goals relative to other team’s goals, because we don’t have a chance to play for a conference championship, we don’t have a chance to get to the College Football Playoff?” Mora said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re so hyper focused on our performance each week and maxing out each week. To get a vote, I think our goals are much higher than that, much larger than just getting a vote in the AP Top 25 poll. When you see this program climb into those rankings, then we can talk about that.”
“I am proud of this,” Mora continued: “There’s only two teams in the Group of Five, us and Tulane, that have beat two Power Four teams this year. We wish we were 3-0, we’re 2-1, that’s behind us and now all our energy is just on trying to prepare to do the best we can against FAU.”
Defense prepares to pass another challenge
Much like the Duke matchup, though on a slightly lesser scale, Saturday’s game will be another showdown between two of the better statistical quarterbacks in the FBS.
FAU’s Caden Veltkamp is right behind UConn’s Joe Fagnano on the national passing yards leaderboard with 2,971 on the season (Fagnano is sixth, Veltkamp is seventh). Veltkamp, a redshirt-junior who transferred from Western Kentucky, has completed 66.3% of his passes this year with 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His former teammate at WKU, Easton Messer, has been his top target with 83 catches on the year for 847 yards and five touchdowns – one of three receivers to find the end zone five times.
“The quarterback, he’s tall, he’s long, he’s a good decision-maker, he’s got really good arm talent and he gets rid of the ball really quickly and accurately,” Mora said. “And just having that history with their best receiver, it comes through repetition in this offense and you see it, there’s a confidence level between those two and a trust between those two. That’s a very, very good receiver and it’s a very, very good quarterback, but they’ve got a lot of weapons all over that field. They’ve got a big, physical offensive line, they’ve got backs that can run the ball. It’s an impressive offense and it’s an impressive defense as well, you see times where you just go, ‘Oh my gosh, these guys are something special.’ So that’s what we have to prepare for.”
A smooth adjustment
UConn came into this season with only two starters returning on the defensive side of the ball. A unit with its strength coming from its continuity had been completely decimated by players either graduating or entering the transfer portal, but Mora said he wasn’t concerned before the season began.
As the season’s gone on, he’s been proven right. The players who came in this year, or were asked to step up after being in a reserve role last year, have come together and now rank No. 83 in total defense with two players in the top 10 for tackles and one, Bryun Parham, third in the nation for sacks.
“I do look at some stats, I don’t look at all stats, but we’ve been an attacking style of defense and we’ve made big plays in terms of sacks and tackles for loss, we’ve made key interceptions when we’ve had to,” Mora said. “There’s always going to be things we need to improve and we’ve worked really hard to address those things. I’m pleased with the focus and the effort of our players, because it means something to them. And they’ve demonstrated that in every meeting, every lifting session, every practice, every film study, the way they approach their work, they’ve demonstrated that the commitment is there and it’s strong.”