Previewing UConn's Final Two Opponents and Bowl Landing Spots
With the football Huskies sitting at 7-3, their best start since 2008, and their first winning season clinched since 2010, fans are pretty happy, and basketball is starting up in Storrs, adding to the contentment. But they still have two games left, including one more chance to defeat a P4 opponent in Syracuse, and closing the season in Amherst, taking on UMass. We take a look at what to expect in these two games.
Syracuse is 6-3, with ACC games against Cal and Miami remaining, in addition to the UConn game. They have two ranked wins, over then #23 Georgia Tech in week two, and then on the road at UNLV, who was #25. They’re led by Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord, who slings it, averaging 350 passing yards per game on about 48 attempts per game. He’s just shy of eclipsing the 3,170 yards he threw for last season for the Buckeyes, and has been held under 300 yards just once this season, a 280 yard performance in an overtime win at Virginia Tech. McCord is equal opportunity with his receivers, with three receivers catching more than 500 yards this season, with another four catching more than 100 yards. They’re led by Jackson Meeks’ 653, but also have TE Oronde Gadsden III, who causes big matchup issues.
Formerly a run-heavier team, LeQuint Allen, who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, is less of a focal point in the offense, although he can make plays in the pass game. Allen is at 652 rushing yards, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Defensively, the Orange are led by Rocky Hill native, and Suffield Academy alum, Justin Barron and his 60 tackles. They’re 7th in the ACC in yards allowed at 354.4 per game, 198.9 through the air, and 155.6 on the ground. There will be questions for the Huskies, most notably, who will start at QB, and will G Brady Wayburn be back from injury, but this will be a challenging game, but the Huskies will be hoping to catch a jetlagged version of Syracuse, as they head to Berkeley the week before to take on Cal.
UMass, on the other hand, is spiraling. At 2-7, they have games with Liberty and Georgia remaining, and it wa announced that QB Taisun Phommachanh’s season is over, after suffering knee injuries. They will most likely start Ahmad Haston, but his first two tests aren’t going to be easy. Phommachanh had 1,590 yards through the air this year, and his top target, Jakobie Keeney-James caught 36 passes for 595 yards.
Their 187.4 passing yards per game is 105th nationally, and their 143.2 rushing yards per game is good for 88th. They struggle to put points on the board, averaging just 19.9 points per game, 120th nationally. The Minutemen will be joining the MAC next season and unfortunately for the Minutemen, they did not beat any of the five MAC opponents on their schedule. In fact, they have not defeated an FBS opponent this season, beating CCSU by four, and Wagner. On Monday, UMass announced that Brown will no longer be the HC, effective immediately. OC Shane Montgomery will serve as interim HC for the final two games.
Bowl Destinations:
A little primer here for fans. UConn has no bowl contracted bowl tie-ins, which doesn’t mean they can’t be in a bowl game, but they may be relegated to a “lesser” bowl. Most of the bowls involving P4 teams have tie-ins that guarantee matchups with other P4 conferences, but there are some G5 vs P4 bowls, such as the Fenway Bowl (AAC vs ACC), the irony being that if UConn remained in the conference, they could be in that bowl. UConn will most likely be eligible for what’re called “pool” games. These games are, as the name implies, between teams that aren’t affiliated with any bowl. For example, the MAC may have three tie-ins, but six eligible teams, so three of those teams enter the pool to be selected. Now, the Huskies could be in a “better” bowl, but that would require a conference to not have enough eligible teams.
With all that said, here are some of the bowls the Huskies have been projected.
Boca Raton Bowl
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Stadium: FAU Stadium
Capacity: 29,571
Payout (as of 2019): $900,000
Conference Tie-Ins: MAC, Sun Belt, MAC, Mountain West, CUSA
1st Matchup: 12/23/2013 Marshall 52 Northern Illinois 23
Last Matchup: 12/21/2023 USF 45 Syracuse 0
Cure Bowl
Location: Orlando, FL
Stadium: FBC Mortgage Stadium
Capacity: 44,206
Payout (as of 2019): $573,125
Conference Tie-Ins: AAC, Sun Belt
1st Matchup: 12/19/2015 San Jose State 27 Georgia State 16
Last Matchup: 12/16/2023 App State 13 Miami (OH) 9
Frisco Bowl
Location: Frisco, TX
Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Capacity: 20,500
Payout as of 2019): $650,000
Conference Tie-Ins: AAC
1st Matchup: 12/20/2017 Louisiana Tech 51 SMU 10
Last Matchup: 12/19/2023 UTSA 35 Marshall 17
68 Ventures Bowl
Location: Mobile, AL
Stadium: Hancock Whitney Stadium
Capacity: 25,450
Payout (as of 2019): $1.5 Million
Conference Tie-Ins: Sun Belt, MAC
1st Matchup: 12/22/1999 TCU 28 East Carolina 14
Last Matchup: 12/23/2023 South Alabama 59 Eastern Michigan 10