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Can the Huskies Move Forward?

THE STORY: Jim Mora begins his second year as the Huskies’ football coach this week and with N.C. State playing at Pratt & Whitney Stadium on Thursday night, there’s a chance of a quick, national splash to open the season.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn opens the season with guarded optimism in the fanbase after a 6-7 season that included its first bowl game in six years. The Huskies are experienced and full of upperclassmen, and Mora has started to change the narrative that UConn can’t play big-time football through his sheer force of personality.

• UConn is a 15-point underdog to N.C. State, which manhandled the Huskies 41-10 as the No. 12 team a year ago in Raleigh.

• The Huskies have three players who are on the NFL Draft radar, including stud linebacker Jackson Mitchell (140 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 4.5 sacks), All-America guard Christian Haynes and defensive end Eric Watts.

• The Huskies will start Maine transfer Joe Fagnano at quarterback. Fagnano beat out Ta’Quan Roberson and Zion Turner, last year’s starter, in camp this summer. Mora called going with Fagnano a gut decision after a competitive camp.

• UConn is going to be run heavy on offense as its 32nd-ranked rushing attack is aided by the returns of Devontae Houston, who had 6.3 yards per carry last season, and Victor Rosa, who scored 11 touchdowns. Add in 5-foot-6 kickoff returner and big-play threat Brian Brewton and the Huskies have plenty of depth despite the loss of Nate Carter to Michigan State.

Mora is once again going to be the defensive coordinator but has added NFL veteran Joe Pagano to the staff as a special assistant. Pagano, the brother of former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, most recently served as the Broncos’ linebackers coach.

• UConn, for the first time in what seems like a decade, is a veteran team with 10 starters returning on defense.

• Attendance watch! Can UConn crack 30,000 fans for the opener? We’re going to party like its 2009.

IN GOOD HANDS? Fagnano being named the starting quarterback was a bit of a surprise to us, but clearly Mora is looking for someone to run Nick Charlton‘s offense effectively and efficiently. Fagnano, who played for Charlton at Maine, is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds and appears to be solid, competent and experienced.

• Fagnano started all 11 games for the Black Bears when they went 2-9 in 2022 and ranked 76th with a 57.3 completion percentage and 81st with a passing efficiency of 119.32.

• The choice of Fagnano places a premium on experience and ball security. He has thrown only 11 interceptions in 740 pass attempts over the past four seasons — a 1.49% interception rate. Turner’s interception rate last season was over 3% as the Huskies struggled in the passing game.

WHAT DID MORA SAY? “Joe’s very poised. Joe has some height to him. Joe has played a lot of snaps and thrown a lot of passes. There’s a strong correlation between the number of snaps you’ve played, the number of passes you’ve thrown, and your ability to have success. That was important to us.”

THE BOTTOM LINE: UConn has a way to go to earn football credibility that one 6-7 season can’t fix. It’s no secret UConn was close to going to the Big 12 this summer and parking its football team in a Power 5 conference. It didn’t happen, and one of the reasons the Huskies aren’t talked about among ACC expansion teams is the commitment and performance of their football team. It’s going to take years to overcome the neglect of the Bob Diaco and the Randy Edsall 2.0 years, but Mora has the team seemingly on the right track and the talent is experienced and upgraded with transfer portal additions that will see the field in no time.

• UConn plays 3 ACC teams this year with N.C. State, Duke and Boston College on the schedule. If the Huskies want to prove they can play with the teams in that conference, they’re going to have a chance to do their talking on the field.

— John Silver

Top Prospect Flagg Visiting UConn

THE STORY: Cooper Flagg, the nation’s top high school player for 2024 and a Maine native playing out of Florida, is planning to make an official visit to UConn this fall.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn will be among three schools Flagg will visit, with the other two being Duke and Kansas.

• But Flagg has a connection to UConn — his mother, Kelly, played basketball with Donovan Clingan‘s late mother, Stacey, at the University of Maine, and Donovan’s parents attended the Flagg’s wedding.

• The 6-foot-8 Flagg, who reclassified as a recruit from 2025 to 2024, is undoubtedly a top target for Dan Hurley and his coaching staff, who watched Flagg and other highly rated recruits at last month’s Nike Peach Jam tournament in South Carolina.

PERFECT EUROPEAN TOUR: UConn went 3-0 in its international exhibition games — one in France and two in Spain — with the defending national champs scoring more than 100 points in each contest.

• Freshman point guard Stephon Castle was the leading scorer (16.7 ppg) for the Huskies over the three games, followed by Tristan Newton (15.7), Clingan (15.3) and Alex Karaban (15.0).

• Samson Johnson (11.3) also had a strong showing, and beat the halftime buzzer in the final game.

— David Kull