Now at 2-1, UConn football is pointing up once again after a commanding road win over Southern Miss. By the middle of the first quarter, the Huskies were up 14-0; the result was never in question from there.
UConn has not been a great road team over the last 15 years, partially because the team wasn’t very good for a lot of that time. Even with a solid team, winning on the road is hard. On Saturday night, the Huskies looked like a well-oiled machine in the first road game of the Jason Candle era.
They dominated on both sides of the ball – scoring 14, 13, and 14 points across the first three quarters – and didn’t allow a touchdown until they’d already put up 41 points. Backups were on the field at that point.
The Huskies began the game 4-5 on third down and posted 15 first downs in the first half. Quarterback Kalieb Osborne was on point; he notched four TDs in total and looked smooth in the process, finishing as the team’s second-highest-rated offensive performer according to Pro Football Focus.
“The touchdown on the scramble play, that was a him play, that wasn’t a schematic thing,” head coach Jason Candle said. “He did a good job playing within the system... continues to get more comfortable with the guys up front… for the most part, really efficient. That starts and it ends with him.”
Cyncir Bowers broke a 42-yard touchdown to help him lead the running backs with 84 rushing yards, while Kenji Christian added 64 on 4.3 yards per carry and 36 receiving yards. Trey Cornist ran for 18 tough yards, including a big third-down conversion, and also caught a touchdown pass on a play-action attempt at the goal line.
“We got good balance there with all three of the backs,” Candle said, before describing Bowers’ long TD run. “[He] did a great job stepping through the safety’s tackle and was able to spring free. It was a great individual effort by him, and a well-blocked play by the guys up front.”
Thanks to some aggressive playcalling, UConn led 27-6 at halftime following a field-goal drive mounted with 0:33 remaining.
An Osborne pass to Xavier Watson that seemed to be a nice one-handed grab was called back, but Watson grabbed a 17-yarder anyway on the next play. A 32-yard completion to JD Willoughby set up Jack O’Connor’s field goal as time expired.
The junior QB, making his fourth career start, found 11 different receivers on the day and completed 73 percent of his 22 pass attempts with seven aerial plays over 15 yards. Without sacks, he ran the ball seven times for 53 yards, with his second rushing touchdown making the score 48-13 in the middle of the fourth quarter. Tucker McDonald entered the game from there.
By yardage, UConn outgained USM 123-69 in the first quarter and 189-87 in the second quarter. The third quarter started with a turnover on downs for the home team, followed by a six-minute touchdown drive by the Huskies that was perfectly executed.
“We got a lot of guys that can make plays on the perimeter,” Candle said. “That balance and being able to aid the passing game with a really good run game [and] set the table with some really good play action passes...really helped us get some good efficiency in the first half.”
On the first play of the ensuing drive, a pick-six on a screen attempt made it 41-6 just seconds later.
Defensively, UConn set the tone with an interception on their first drive, caused by QB pressure. They forced a three-and-out on the next drive and held the Golden Eagles to a field goal in each quarter as they forced two more punts in the second quarter.
Four out of six first-half drives for USM drives ended poorly, with the INT, two three-and-outs, and one other punt on a stalled drive.
Their field goals were aided by penalties as the Huskies committed six for 64 yards in the first half to give the opponents a chance to keep it close. Still, they allowed just four yards per play across the first 30 minutes in a stifling performance.
“It's good to see those guys get back off the mat and tackle pretty well,” Candle said. “For the most part, I think the perimeter guys did a good job rallying to the ball.”
DE Anas Luqman, who grabbed the pick-six in the third quarter, and DT Tahjae Mullix were the Huskies’ highest-rated defenders who saw over 30 snaps, followed by CB Ty McKinstry and DT Esean Carter.
LB Hayden Pegg notched a team-high eight tackles, and S Saxton Suchanic led the team with 67 plays. Suchanic, McKinstry, and S Jayden Price were the only ones to see 50+ of the 78 total snaps defensively. The two turnovers forced were a welcome sight after seeing zero through the first two games.
Next up, UConn visits Miami of Ohio, a 1-2 MAC team that just played the Big 12’s Cincinnati tough. The RedHawks led most of the way but the Bearcats prevailed 35-31 on Saturday.
Since Candle started coaching at Toledo in 2009, he’s met Miami (Ohio) twice as an assistant coach, with a 1-1 record. He’s met them four times as head coach, going 3-1 in that stretch.
The first of those four matchups came in 2023, a 21-17 triumph in October. Miami got the last laugh, however, winning the MAC Championship Game that year, 23-14.
Toledo won at home in 2024, 30-20, and also in Oxford, the site of UConn’s upcoming game, 24-3 last year.
“Miami is a tremendous team,” Candle said. “Next week will have its own set of challenges as we go play there. They’re a team that makes you beat them. You got to earn everything that you get.”
