After 21 months it's time for the UConn Huskies to return to the football field. One of the only FBS schools to entirely opt out of the 2020 season because of the pandemic, the Huskies enter a new era as an independent. And although the recent past hasn't given fans much to cheer about - the team hasn't won more than three games in a year since 2015 - there is reason for some realistic optimism.
With the season opener coming at Fresno State on August 28, here are some things you should know as you get reacquainted with the Huskies.
1) Meet the quarterback(2). Points have been hard to come by for the Huskies for, well, a while. But there are some pieces offensively that could change that in 2021. Randy Edsall hasn't introduced a starter yet, but the favorites are Jack Zergiotis, who threw for 1,782 yards in 10 games as a true freshman in 2019. He showed a lot of promise, but was inconsistent at times, especially on big play opportunities. Behind him is Steven Krajewski, who only attempted 38 passes in 2019 due to injury, but completed 24 of them for three touchdowns, mostly in his lone start against UCF. NC State transfer Micah Leon is also an option.
2) The run game will carry the offense. In Edsall's first tenure, a strong offensive line and dominant running backs were the staples, from Terry Caulley to Donald Brown to Andre Dixon to Jordan Todman. Kevin Mensah is just as productive, coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2018 and 2019. Believe it or not, he could break the school's all-time rushing record, currently held by Brown. He's that good.
If he's lightning, then consider Miami transfer Robert Burns thunder. The former four-star recruit is a tank, at 5-foot-11 but 225 lbs. But how will the blocking be? Pass protection was a bigger issue for a young O-line than run blocking in 2019, but you think a couple of of years in the weight room could only help.
3) Now about the defense... Yeah, it wasn't the all-time bad unit from 2018, but it wasn't evoking any memories of the mid-2000's either. Allowing 41 points and 467 yards per game isn't going to win you many games, but there are reasons to think it can be drastically better -- which is to say, it might be a mediocre defense, which would be a giant leap forward.
Junior Travis Jones, recently named to The Athletic's Bruce Feldman's annual "freaks" list, anchors a defensive line with Kevon Jones (no relation), bringing a lot of experience up front, especially combined with linebackers DJ Morgan and Omar Fortt. The run stopping should drastically improve. As for the secondary...
4) ...it's young. Mainstays Keyshawn Paul and Robert King both transferred, making an already struggling secondary even thinner and younger. The team only picked off seven passes in 2019 and the defense as a whole allowed opponents to convert on 50 percent of third downs. It's not that UConn gave up big play after big play like in 2019, it's that they couldn't get off the field. Turn that 50 percent into even 40 percent (which about the national average), and the numbers will start to look a lot better.
5) There are some winnable games on the schedule. We'll break down the schedule opponent-by-opponent next week, and get more into the "why" of their scheduling abilities with independence in the next bullet point, but there are winnable games. First off, there are two games against FCS schools in Holy Cross and Yale. For the most ardent supporters thinking of bowl eligibility (a bold prediction, for sure), only one would count toward eligibility... plus they'd have to win both to begin with.
But Vanderbilt might be the worst Power 5 team in the country with a brand new head coach. UMass might be the worst team in the country, period, who UConn beat 56-35 in 2019. Middle Tennessee is a winnable game, as well. Flirting with four or five wins isn't out of the realm of possibility.
6) Independence might not be as bad as you think. As conference realignment rears its head once again with the fallout of Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC, the Huskies might actually be in a fairly secure spot as an independent. The basketball teams are clearly finding success in the Big East, and football is making due. For starters, it has a television deal with CBS Sports Network in which its games will actually be on linear television, and not stuck behind a paywall. It's only an estimated $500,000 a year, but when you factor in the Big East's television deal with FOX and the savings from not having to pony up production costs, it's basically a wash from the American's deal with ESPN.
And while financials are obviously important, then there's the actual, you know, football part. And in terms of the schedule, it's a good one. Sure, to fill in the 2021 gaps there are two games against FCS teams, but there are also three games against Power 5 teams (Purdue, Vanderbilt and Clemson), setting the stage for the future. The Huskies have 3-4 games scheduled against P5 teams every year now through 2027, with room to add from 2023-27. That's more than they ever had in the American.
7) The future looks bright. UConn was never a recruiting behemoth in its heyday in the mid-2000's, but it thrived on finding diamonds in the rough, taking two- and three-star guys and turning them into NFL-caliber players. It looks like those days might be on the horizon. The 2022 rankings from recruiting site 24/7 has the Huskies with a top-70 class right now, a drastic improvement from the 120s and 130s, where they'd lived for the last half-decade.