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Huskies Start Home Stretch Saturday Night vs Florida Atlantic

Media Coverage:

Television: CBS Sports Network (pxp) Jordan Kent (analyst) Logan Ryan (sideline) Keina Martin

Radio: UConn Sports Network from Learfield (pxp) Mike Crispino (color) Wayne Norman (sideline) Adam Giardino

Flagship Station -  Fox Sports 97-9 FM (Hartford)

Affiliates - WAVZ 1300 AM (New Haven), WGCH 1490 AM (Greenwich), WILI 1400 AM/95.3FM, (Willimantic); WICH 1310 AM/94.5 FM (Norwich)

Online: The Varsity Network App

SiriusXM 387 and on the Sirius XM App

Live Stats: UConn.Statbroadcast.com

UConn Game Notes  Florida Atlantic Game Notes


Quick Hits…

The UConn Huskies return home to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field where they will begin a six-straight stretch of games starting Saturday night against the Florida Atlantic Owls. Kick-off is slated for 7:02 pm on CBS Sports Network.

The Huskies and Owls will meet for the first time since the 2002 season, a 61-14 UConn win in the final season at Memorial Stadium on campus in Storrs.  The two teams are scheduled to face-off again next season at FAU.

The Huskies head into this weekend's match-up coming off a 26-21 loss on the road at Duke last Saturday. UConn got 106 yards rushing and a touchdown from running back Cam Edwards, his third career 100-yard game. After falling behind 17-0, the Huskies got a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown from Langston Hardy then dominated the third quarter, scoring twice to lead 21-17 headed to the fourth.  Duke took the lead back with 11:52 left and after a missed UConn field goal, got the ball with 5:42 left and never gave it back to the Huskies, using a 12-play drive to run out the clock for the win.

Saturday night's game kicks-off a six-game homestand for the Huskies, their longest homestand since the 2004 season when the Huskies had four-straight at Rentschler Field. For the first time since the 2016 season, the Huskies are playing seven home games in a season.


Last Meeting vs. Florida Atlantic

Nov. 2, 2002 -- UConn 61 - FAU 14 -- Memorial Stadium - Freshman running back Terry Caulley rushed for a career-high three touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Dan Orlovsky threw for three more as UConn set a then school record for points in a home football game by blasting Florida Atlantic, 61-14 in the penultimate game at Memorial Stadium on campus. The UConn offense generated 496 yards of offense while Caulley finished with 105 yards on just 15 carries. Orlovsky was a sharp 13 of 19, for 218 yards. Freshman quarterback Jermell Williams played most of the second half and scored his first career touchdown on one-yard run in the third. Senior linebacker Razul Wallace scored UConn's final touchdown by returning an interception 31 yards for a score. The UConn defense also played effectively, holding the Owls to a school-record minus-12 yards rushing which eclipsed the minus eight yards Yale managed against UConn in 1984. Garrett Jahn came off the bench to throw two touchdowns in the second half for Florida Atlantic.

Scouting the Owls... Florida Atlantic comes to Connecticut for the first time since the 2002 season and fresh off their first win of 2024, a 38-20 win over FIU for their seventh-straight Shula Bowl victory.  The Owls had to deal with a 90-plus minute weather delay and an early 7-0 deficit on the way to a win over their rival.  Running back Zuberi Mobley ran for 134 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Owl offense. Mobley along with quarterback Cam Fancher and other back CJ Campbell Jr. lead a FAU rushing attach that averages 144.3 yards per game. Mobley is averaging 5.4 yards per carry while Fancer has run it a team-high 43 times for 141 yards.  Fancher has thrown for 470 yards and two scores with three picks in three games. The Owl defense forced five turnovers in the win over FIU and is now +6 in turnover margin through three games. Linebacker Jackson Ambush is the leading tackler with 21 on the season while true freshman safety CJ Heard has 20 stops and two fumble recoveries.

UConn vs. The American... UConn is 1-3 against teams from the American Athletic Conference since becoming an independent starting in the 2021 season.  The Huskies were 1-1 against their former conference last season, winning at Rice but falling at home to USF.  In 2021, UConn was 0-2, falling at UCF 49-17, and falling at home to nationally ranked Houston, 45-17 when the two schools were still members of the conference. The Huskies were a member of the AAC from 2013 through 2019.  UConn has three games scheduled this season against the teams from the league in this week's match-up with the Owls, a home game with Temple and a trip to UAB.

Offensive Notes from Duke... WR Skyler Bell continued to lead the UConn receiving corps three games in. Bell was targeted a game-high 14 times and caught seven passes for 58 yards. His seven catches matched his career-high, previously set at Wisconsin in 2023 against Northwestern...QB Nick Evers returned to the starting lineup and threw his first career touchdown pass, finding his tight end Alex Honig for a third quarter score. Evers finished 15-of-26 for 135 yards a touchdown and a pick while also running it 10 times for 60 yards...Honig caught a touchdown for the second-consecutive week...The UConn offensive line allowed their first sack of the season in the loss.

Defensive Notes from Duke...The UConn defense created their first turnover of the season against Duke. LB Tui Faumuina-Brown broke-up a second quarter pass and fellow LB Langston Hardy corralled his first career interception and rumbled 64-yards for the first defensive touchdown of the season...Four Huskies posted new career-highs in tackles in the loss in D'Mon Brinson (8), Jack Barton (7), Jordan Wright (6) and Donovan Branch (4) while Faumuina-Brown (12) and Jelani Stafford (7) both matched their career-highs.

Special Teams Notes from Duke... Punter Connor Stutz set a new career-high with three punts landing inside the 20 yard line in last Saturday's loss at Duke.  Stutz also matched his career-high for punts in a game (8) and longest punt (54-yd)...PK Chris Freeman averaged 65.0 yards per kick-off and had two touchbacks.  On the season, he is averaging 64.3 yards per kick-off and has eight touchbacks. Freeman missed his only field goal attempt, a 48-yard try, leaving him 0-for-3 on the season.

Bell Among NCAA Leading WRs... Through the first three games of 2024, wideout Skyler Bell has hauled in 14 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown with a pair of 100-yard games to his credit. Bell is averaging 21.71 yards per catch and 101.3 yards per game. He currently ranks 12th in the NCAA in receiving yards, 16th in yards per game and 27th in yards per catch. In the season opener, Bell hauled in five passes for 141 yards at Maryland, marking the first 100-yard game by a UConn receiver since the 2021 season when Keelan Marion had 102 yards at Vanderbilt. Against Merrimack, Bell caught two passes for 105 yards including his first UConn touchdown, and became the first UConn receiver to go over 100 yards in back-to-back games since Hergy Mayala did during the 2017 season.  For Bell, it was his second and third career 100-yard games, his first coming in 2022 at Wisconsin when he had four catches for 108 yards and two scores against New Mexico State.

Edwards Leads the Ground Game... Running back Cam Edwards notched his first 100-yard game of the season at Duke last Saturday, carrying the ball a season-high 21 times for 106 yards and a score in the loss.  That gives the r-sophomore back three-career 100-yard games over the last two seasons.  He currently leads the team with 153 yards on 32 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.  He's also the team's top-scorer so far with three touchdowns, two on the ground and another through the air.

Husky Rankings... The UConn offensive line has allowed just one sack through three games, ranking ninth in the nation in sacks allowed per game (0.33). UConn ranked ninth last season allowing just 12 sacks all season (1.00 pg) and 29th in 2022 (1.38 pg)...The UConn ground game is churning out 181.7 yards per game, ranked 44th nationally...On special teams, the UConn kick return comes in ranked 23rd, averaging 24.29 yards per return. RB Mel Brown leads the way, ranking sixth among NCAA leaders averaging 28.2 yards per return...WR TJ Sheffield is ranked 49th in punt returns, averaging 7.9 yards per return...Punter Connor Stutz ranks 38th with a 43.1 yard punting average...LB Jayden McDonald is the team's top-tackler with 25 stops on the season, ranking 49th nationally (8.3 tkl pg).

Players Mentioned

Donovan Branch

LB
6' 4"
Junior
604

D

DB
5' 10"
Junior
5100

Cam Edwards

RB
5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
5110

Tui Faumuina-Brown

LB
6' 3"
Senior
6030

Langston Hardy

LB
6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
6040

Alex Honig

TE
6' 7"
Redshirt Junior
6070

Jelani Stafford

DL
6' 1"
Senior
6010

Chris Freeman

K
6' 1"
Graduate Student
6010

Connor Stutz

P
6' 3"
Junior
6030

Mel Brown

RB
5' 9"
Junior
5090

Skyler Bell

WR
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
6000

Jordan Wright

DB
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
5100

Players Mentioned

Donovan Branch

6' 4"
Junior
604
LB

D

5' 10"
Junior
5100
DB

Cam Edwards

5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
5110
RB

Tui Faumuina-Brown

6' 3"
Senior
6030
LB

Langston Hardy

6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
6040
LB

Alex Honig

6' 7"
Redshirt Junior
6070
TE

Jelani Stafford

6' 1"
Senior
6010
DL

Chris Freeman

6' 1"
Graduate Student
6010
K

Connor Stutz

6' 3"
Junior
6030
P

Mel Brown

5' 9"
Junior
5090
RB

Skyler Bell

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
6000
WR

Jordan Wright

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
5100
DB