The question is being asked, with good reason, from coast to coast. With coaches moving around, the College Football Playoffs expanded to 12 teams, the ever-lurking transfer portal, player opt-outs, money and more money, why are they still playing these 40-odd bowl games?
“I understand guys that opt out, things happen and people have got to make decisions for themselves,” UConn tight end Louis Hansen said. “But in my opinion, this game’s fleeting. There are not a lot of opportunities to go out and play football, you’re not guaranteed ever to get another game, so for me it was a no-brainer, another opportunity to play football, I’m going to take advantage of it.”
UConn’s second trip to Boston for the Fenway Bowl on Saturday won’t be all it could have been, but because a majority of the Huskies appear to see it Hansen’s way, it will not be the cringy waste of time some, including me, were thinking it could be. Ticket sales, UConn folks are saying, are going fairly well.
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When players returned to campus from Thanksgiving break, with head coach Jim Mora coming only to say goodbye, they met to begin preparing for a bowl game, not to discuss or vote on opting out of one.
“I opted out of a bowl game my third year (at Syracuse) so I totally understand where that comes from,” center Wes Hoeh said. “It was a similar situation there, the head coach leaves, you want to make sure you’re healthy for the portal. But for me, this is it, there is no portal after this. I know I’m playing and the guys around me want to play.”
Notre Dame, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Florida, Auburn, Central Florida, Baylor, Rutgers and Temple all opted out of bowl games, a record total of 10 teams, forcing some of the organizers to chase 5-7 teams to fill out the expansive schedule of nonplayoff postseason games.
But for UConn (9-3, all three losses in OT), an independent program not named Notre Dame, playing in one of these games still represents something special, a ring and, we must say, a much cooler trophy than the CivilConFLiCT or even the Southwick Jug. They’re taking the Fenway Bowl defense so seriously in Storrs, practices have been locked down, locking out even some athletic department staffers who customarily watch, and interim coach Gordon Sammis, who is heading to TCU after the game, didn’t speak to reporters Friday.
So we probably won’t find out exactly who is playing until kickoff, but even players who might, frankly, be better off skipping this game against Army were all in as of the end of the week.
“The No. 1 goal is to get 10 wins,” defensive back Cam Chadwick, who intends to enter the portal but is open to returning to play for the new coaching staff. “We’re all bought in. We came in for the meeting right after we were chosen to play in the Fenway Bowl, we’re definitely blessed, we’re going to go out there and play. We don’t get a chance to play for a conference championship, so bowl games like this are our postseason and it’s a great way to go out.”
UConn’s veteran, prolific quarterback, Joe Fagnano, opted out, convinced after meeting with family and advisors he had nothing to gain with his NFL stock higher than it has ever been. Both starting tackles, Ben Murawski and Carsten Casady, are out.
But Skyler Bell, the consensus All-American receiver, almost certain to be picked in the NFL Draft, says he is playing, and his words and actions carry a lot of weight with teammates. Bell has defied conventional throughout his career, transferring from Wisconsin to UConn to be a No.1 receiver in 2024. Last year, he left significant money on the table and decided against a move to Michigan (dodging a disaster, one might add) to stay at UConn, “betting on himself,” he said. He has won that bet, and doesn’t need to play another down.
But he will. So here’s hoping Bell comes through the game healthy and the NFL evaluators give him a higher score for the intangible qualities evident in his decision to play for his teammates.
“If there’s one thing about me, if you’ve been around me, you know I’m a football player,” Bell said. “I love to play football. I came to college before the whole NIL and portal thing, I was in college when we weren’t getting paid and were just playing football for a scholarship. Any time I get a chance to strap on the pads and go do what I do, it’s an opportunity and why not make the most of it.”
Bell would have liked to have one more game with Fagnano. They formed a combination that will be long remembered in Storrs, culminating with a big-time throw, big-time catch to beat Duke in their last game at Rentschler Field.
That won’t happen, but if anywhere near the number of fans who came last year, 27,000, return to Fenway Park, they will see a representative UConn team, a team that wants to be there to face Army. And amid this muddled mess that the highest level of college football has become, this would be a good thing.
“Every time I put the pads on and off, it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m one step closer to the final,’” Hoeh said. “I’m definitely a lot more thankful for all the little things, looking around at this group, this program, knowing this is my last few weeks here makes me a lot more thankful for everything.”
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Mora’s farewell
Though many in UConn’s social media universe panned the idea at the time, UConn’s football players appreciated Mora’s flying 2,000 miles back and forth on Dec. 2 to say goodbye in Connecticut the day after he was introduced at Colorado State.
“I really appreciated him looking us in the eyes and talking to us about his decision,” Hansen said. “And why it was right for him. In today’s world with the transfer portal and coaches moving around, that’s a rare thing. It’s a testament to who he is and everything he said to us during our time here at UConn to look us in the eyes on the way out was really important to us. We all appreciated that.”
Players were scattered, home for Thanksgiving, in the day Mora’s decision became public, Nov. 26.
“I haven’t had that in the past with other coaches, it definitely meant a lot,” Hoes said. “Knowing that he didn’t need to, but he wanted to. We know this is the state of college football. We can’t blame him. He’s doing what’s best for his family. We know he loves us, there’s no lost feelings there. Definitely emotional, seeing him go, but we support him and hope for the best for him.”
Jim Mora says hello at Colorado State, goodbye, good luck to players staying with UConn football
Sunday short takes
*Southington’s Chris Denorfia, who had a long career as an MLB outfielder and managed the Yard Goats from 2020-23, is back in the majors on the White Sox’s coaching staff as field coordinator.
*Elizabeth Wulf, who played at Hotchkiss School and has been an assistant coach at Wesleyan and UConn, has been named the first women’s hockey coach at Saint Joseph’s, which will begin play next year.
*UConn senior Sol Simone, who had three goals and 13 assists during the season, was a second-team All-American in field hockey.
*Add another accolade for former UConn greats Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, who were named Sports Illustrated’s “Innovators of the Year” for their start-up of the players league, Unrivaled.
*As baseball writers like myself fill out Hall of Fame ballots, here’s my annual reminder that the Hall tried its luck with a veterans committee comprised of all living Hall of Famers in 2002, and in five years they never … inducted … anyone. So much for that theory on best ways to pick ’em.
*Waterford’s righthander Mike Burrows, 26, who showed some promise in 19 starts for the lowly Pirates last season, with 97 strikeouts in 96 innings, landed with the Astros in a three-team trade Friday. He goes from a perennial last-place team to a perennial playoff team — with a history of unlocking pitchers.
*The hosts of Chiclets University, a popular hockey-centric podcast and YouTube channel, spent a couple of days in Storrs this week, touring the hockey facilities with men’s star Joey Muldowney and showcasing the program. Coach Mike Cavanaugh rolled out the A-plus treatment, which, we understand, included dinner at Cafe Aura, Geno Auriemma’s place. The resulting half-hour video had more than 66,000 views by Friday night.
*UConn was No. 1 in the Big East preseason baseball coaches poll, but it was not as clear-cut as in the past. The Huskies got five first-place votes, Creighton three.
*CollegeInsider.com ranks Yale second to Gonzaga in its mid-major men’s basketball poll. Midmajorbasketball.com has the Bulldogs ninth. All comes down to how you define “mid-major.”
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Last word
The WNBA allows teams to play games at a league-approved secondary home, like the Connecticut Sun playing in Boston. Gov. Ned Lamont told the MetroHartford Alliance on Dec. 11 that the Sun will use that option to play two games in Hartford — even though it’s in, you know, “another market” — in 2026, which now appears all but certain to be their last season in Connecticut.
The Sun spokesperson would not confirm, but it certainly makes sense they would play games in the PeoplesBank Arena, and Boston would wash its hands of the league. Given the potential to sell out a bigger arena, it would make sense for those games to be against Dallas (Paige Bueckers) and Indiana (Caitlin Clark), as the governor mentioned, but with no league schedule released and the labor situation up in the air, there is no telling what would be doable for any WNBA team next summer.
Anyhoo, lotsa luck the second time around in Houston, that women’s basketball hotbed.