Things didn’t get much better for Connecticut’s football team after Duke beat the Huskies 41-7 in the fourth week of the season.
You won’t to expend much pity for a school that has back-to-back men’s basketball championships, though.
Duke rolled up 41 points and lost its shutout bid with 12 seconds left about a year ago against the Huskies. Both teams have undergone significant changes since then, but there’s familiarity between most players.
UConn finished last season 3-9 and needed wins over FCS-level Sacred Heart and UMass, which was also 3-9, to get there. The Huskies were blown out, 50-7, by Maryland in this year’s opener; and turned around and blew out FCS-level Merrimack last weekend.
Here are five things to know about UConn ahead of Saturday night’s game:
1. Two games, opposite ends of blowouts
By halftime of UConn’s first game, the Huskies trailed 23-0.
By halftime of UConn’s second game, the Huskies led 56-7.
In case you’re wondering, Central Michigan comes close to having the same type of wild two-week swing to start the season.
But UConn makes for an interesting case study in lower-level FBS football; good enough to blow away an FCS team but uncompetitive against a power-conference team.
According to Duke coach Manny Diaz, the challenge in evaluating UConn stems not from the lopsided games, but from this next item.
2. Roster overhaul
As you could expect for a 3-9 team, UConn’s roster had significant turnover in the last 10 months.
The Huskies brought in 10 transfers for the spring semester and another 10 at the end of the spring.
Quarterback Joe Fagnano came from Maine, where spent three seasons under UConn’s offensive coordinator (Nick Charlton). Leading rusher Durell Robinson played in four games last season at Charlotte, and top receiver Skylar Bell played two seasons at Wisconsin before transferring in.
On defense, three of the top four tacklers are transfers. Those are Jayden McDonald (Troy), Amir Renwick (Coffeyville Community College) and Malachi McLean (New Mexico State).
“Their roster is almost entirely flipped over,” Diaz said, adding that UConn has some other players unavailable because of injuries and targeting penalties.
“So, you’re try to get a feel for who these guys are and you’re not sure what you’re watching is actually what you’re going to see. Whether they’re playing Maryland or Merrimack, you still see the schemes.”
3. Outside zone
One particular type of play has Duke’s attention this week.
UConn is one of the best outside-zone running teams in the country, Diaz said. It’s self-explanatory; the play calls for an off-tackle run with zone blocking.
The reason it presents such a challenge is because it’s nearly impossible to replicate with a scout team.
“That’s always a concern for your defense,” Diaz said. “It’s a play you have to run a lot to really master, which they have done.”
As an example of it being a play you can prepare for over and over again and still be caught off guard during the game — in UConn’s opener against Maryland, the play for the Huskies was an outside-zone run for 16 yards.
4. Multiple defenses
We can discount stats racked up against FCS teams, but the plays still happened and count.
UConn had four sacks and 10 TFLs against Merrimack last weekend. The Huskies vary up their defensive looks and blitzes enough that Diaz said you’ll never see the same blitz twice.
“It is a major, major challenge for your offensive line in the run game and in pass protection,” Diaz said. “And then for the quarterback to make sure he takes care of the ball with the different, changing looks of what they do down the field.”
5. Mega-homecoming
Ever heard of a six-game homestand in college football?
That’s what UConn has on the other side of its game at Duke. The Huskies will play Florida Atlantic, Buffalo and Temple at home for the following three weeks, have an off week, and then play host to Wake Forest, Rice and Georgia State for the following three weeks.
The game against Rice is *actually* the homecoming game.
UConn is on the road for the rest of November, with trips to UAB (Nov. 9), Syracuse (Nov. 23) and UMass (Nov. 30), and an off week mixed in.
It’s a scheduling quirk that comes with being one of three independent programs in the country, joined only by Notre Dame and UMass.
