Before they met for the fifth time as FBS programs in 2022, the UConn football team and the UMass-Amherst Minutemen announced a five-game agreement. In that deal, each flagship school mentioned that the 2023 meeting would take place at a to-be-determined neutral site.
One of the venues discussed was Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the New England Patriots play. The other was Fenway Park, the home of the nine-time World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Nothing ultimately came to fruition on the neutral-site front. UMass-Amherst announced in August of 2023 that the sixth FBS meeting between both programs would occur at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
789 days after that initial announcement, however, the Huskies get their chance to play at Major League Baseball’s oldest active ballpark.
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Typically, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl pits a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference against an American Athletic Conference program. UConn, now in their fifth year as an FBS Independent, went 4-0 versus their former conference in 2024.
As the AAC’s “representative,” the Huskies get one more shot at the ACC this season when they battle the 6-6 North Carolina Tar Heels. Kickoff Saturday from Fenway Park is at 11 a.m. EST on ESPN.
UNC is appearing in their 39th bowl game and sixth in a row, their second-longest streak in program history. The trip to Boston, Massachusetts, is the furthest east the Tar Heels have ever gone in any of their postseason contests. Connecticut, meanwhile, will play in their eighth bowl game in program history and second in three seasons.
Until this year, Randy Edsall remained the only coach to lead the Huskies to multiple bowl games. Edsall’s last contest in his first stint was also UConn’s most recent bowl game against a power conference foe. The co-Big East champion Huskies fell to the Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners 48-20 in that season’s Fiesta Bowl.
Connecticut went 8-4 in the regular season that year and 8-4 in 2024 under former National Football League head coach Jim Mora Jr. When Mora names his starting quarterback, he normally does not replace him unless they suffer an injury.
That all changed during the 2024 campaign. Redshirt sophomore Nick Evers won the starting job out of training camp in August. Despite being available during the Huskies’ last two games, the 2004 NFC Coach of the Year opted for redshirt senior Joe Fagnano under center. Instead of attacking with his speed, an ability that Evers possesses, Fagnano strikes on offense with his consistent arm.
The former Maine Black Bear had a passing touchdown in all but one game and threw more than one five times. Out of those five games with multiple passing scores, Fagnano threw for over 200 yards in four of them. He may struggle at times, but UConn has high confidence in their passing game when the redshirt senior is under center.
Fagnano has three wide receivers that he can count on. Redshirt junior Skyler Bell, the Huskies’ leading wideout with 783 yards, became a superstar in Storrs. Three out of Bell’s four touchdowns came against the Buffalo Bulls, making him the first receiver with that many scores since 1996. Although he entered the transfer portal last Monday, Mora said that the former Wisconsin Badger has still been practicing with the program.
Fellow Big Ten transfer TJ Sheffield has been a veteran presence for the corps. Sheffield has turned his team-leading 49 receptions into 474 yards (second on the team) and three touchdowns. Beyond being the No. 2 receiving option, the former Purdue Boilermaker serves as Connecticut’s dependable punt returner.
Akron transfer Jasaiah Gathings, meanwhile, can deliver in the right moments with 285 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 29 catches. Junior tight end Louis Hansen has also made significant strides lately. Since the Huskies’ first bye week in mid-October, Hansen has caught 14 passes for 203 yards and all four of his touchdowns this season.
Dynamic as the aerial attack has been, though, UConn’s identity on offense runs through their ground game. Redshirt freshman Durell Robinson and his team-leading eight rushing touchdowns departed for the Auburn Tigers two weeks ago. Although they lose Robinson to a Southeastern Conference program, the Huskies will still possess a three-headed attack in Beantown.
Mora noted last Friday that Bristol native Victor Rosa, who will be redshirting after the season, is available for Saturday’s Fenway Bowl. Rosa only has 51 yards on nine carries, but he gained over 500 yards in each of his first two campaigns. The junior running back could become Connecticut’s secret weapon. Redshirt junior Mel Brown should be as much of an X-factor on special teams.
In addition to his 577 rushing yards, which ranks third on the team, Brown returned 15 kickoffs for 462 yards. That includes a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a major difference-maker in last month’s game against the Minutemen. While the former Gardner-Webb Bulldog is a deadly sprinting force, Norwalk native Cam Edwards can attack on the ground and through the air.
Edwards, who will be back in East Hartford next season, led the Huskies with 756 rushing yards (63 per game) on 129 touches. Although he has converted to being a running back full-time, the redshirt sophomore translated his defensive back skills into becoming a significant dual-threat receiver. On just 13 catches, Edwards became UConn’s fifth-leading receiver with 148 yards and two touchdowns.
The Huskies’ offense improved significantly between 2023 and 2024, but so did the defense. Connecticut went from a team that allowed almost 30 points and 408 yards per game to 24 and 359, respectively. Part of it has to do with Matt Brock, who took over the reins after Mora served as the unofficial defensive coordinator last year.
Attacking the transfer portal to replace some key losses in the offseason also played a major role for the Huskies. G5 All-American Jayden McDonald would have very easily earned all-conference honors if UConn were not an FBS independent. McDonald led the Huskies in every tackling department. Only five other FBS players assisted on more tackles than the former Troy Trojan did 72 times. 11 picked up more than McDonald’s 119 total tackles.
His phenomenal graduate campaign has made senior Tui Faumuina-Brown the second-leading linebacker for the second straight season. Nevertheless, the All-New England selection remained a lethal defensive force. Faumuina-Brown regularly pushed opposing drives backward with a team-leading 10.5 tackles for a loss and a career-best 4.5 sacks. The Pittsburgh native’s six pass breakups, four of which came in two different games, also led Connecticut.
Redshirt freshman Cam Chadwick blocked as many passes as Faumuina-Brown did during his breakout campaign. Appearing in all but one game, Chadwick turned into someone who can haul in interceptions like he did twice this season. Junior defensive back D’Mon Brinson also blossomed in a starting role; his 47 total tackles ranked fifth on the team.
Both east coast-based defenders gained critical expertise playing in the secondary alongside veteran backs Malik Dixon-Williams and Rante Jones. In just 10 games, Dixon-Williams led the team with three picks and collected 60 total tackles. Jones, meanwhile, had 54 total tackles and three quarterback hits.
With how potent their secondary is, the work that Connecticut’s defensive line does tends to go unnoticed. That defensive line features several veterans who have either recorded a tackle for a loss or a sack. Although the Huskies will not have Dal’Mont Gourdine, they will have redshirt junior Pryce Yates available. Like UConn’s third-leading tackler did last season, Yates withdrew his name from the transfer portal on Saturday.
Taking one’s name out of the portal has been a common theme at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, over the last two weeks. North Carolina hired Wesleyan University alum Bill Belichick as their 35th head coach on December 11, after dismissing 72-year-old Mack Brown in November.
Belichick’s father served as an assistant coach for the program for three seasons in the mid-1950s. His son, Steve, will be joining him as the defensive coordinator. The NFL’s second-winningest head coach will likely attend the Fenway Bowl but will not take on any coaching duties for the game. Interim head coach Freddie Kitchens, once the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, will instead call the plays on the sidelines on Saturday morning.
Brown, the Tar Heels’ winningest coach, secured bowl eligibility in all six seasons of his second stint. That includes the 2024 campaign, where Carolina started 3-0, lost four straight and won another three games before promptly losing out. Streaky as their regular season was, the Tar Heels managed a 6-6 record and a 3-5 mark in ACC play.
UNC did not face any ranked opponents and went 1-6 against bowl-eligible teams. That does not mean the Tar Heels will not stay close against programs with a winning record; four of those defeats were by 10 points or less. Had half of those games gone the other way, North Carolina would have been one of the league’s top seven teams.
The Tar Heels’ record should not fool the Huskies; they boast the league’s No. 6 scoring offense at 32.3 points per game. Like the Syracuse Orange, Carolina’s offense starts with their explosive run game.
Behind First Team All-ACC running back Omarion Hampton, the Tar Heels topped the field with a conference-leading 189.5 rushing yards per contest. Hampton picked up 1,660 yards on 281 carries and accounted for 73% of UNC’s rushing offense. The ACC’s leading rusher will not play in the Fenway Bowl after declaring for the NFL Draft.
His departure should give first-year student Davion Gause the start at the position. Gause rushed for no more than 54 yards after crossing the century mark against the UNC-Charlotte 49ers on September 7. When targeted through the air, however, the Florida native is as versatile of a running back as Edwards is.
With more opportunities, Gause could become the Tar Heels’ next electrifying dual-threat running back after Hampton. The 2023 Second Team All-American led North Carolina with 38 catches, and only graduate wideout JJ Jones had more receiving yards at 570. Jones has been a reliable option in the passing game all year; he caught multiple passes in all but two games.
Dependable as the Myrtle Beach native has been, though, the Tar Heels also possess a player who can gain significant yardage. Junior Kobe Paysour, who withdrew his name from the transfer portal, averaged more yards per catch at 17.37 despite not scoring a touchdown. Nevertheless, Paysour’s decision to return to Carolina should pay off next season when he becomes the primary wide receiver. Graduate tight end John Copenhaver, meanwhile, has had 10+ receiving yards in each of his last 10 games.
Graduate gunslinger Max Johnson won the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback job out of camp, though his season ended prematurely in Minneapolis. Sophomore Connor Harrell took over as the backup, but after spearheading six touchdown drives against the North Carolina Central Eagles, Jacolby Criswell took over.
Criswell, once a backup to both Sam Howell and Drake Maye, threw for 2,452 yards and 15 touchdowns on 185 completions. Not once in 11 games has the former Arkansas Razorback completed less than 50% of his passes. In a league stacked with consistent quarterbacks, Criswell finished ninth in the ACC in passing yards and 10th in passing touchdowns.
UNC has produced three NFL quarterbacks—Howell, Maye and Mitch Trubisky—in seven years, but they are also a defensive superstar factory. Their 39 sacks as a unit are currently eighth in the nation. Senior Antavious Lane continues that legacy as a hard-hitting defensive back with a team-leading 79 tackles and two forced fumbles. Graduate students Jakeen Harris and Alijah Huzzie roam the secondary with Lane.
Harris loves swatting away footballs in the air and helping out in the tackling department; his 28 assisted tackles led the team. While not as much of a play-stopper, Huzzie can prevent a pass from reaching its destination with a team-high 8 breakups.
6-foot-0 linebackers Power Echols and Amare Campbell bashed anyone in their paths as the Tar Heels’ top linebackers. Echols finished second on the team with 76 tackles and hit the quarterback three times. Campbell, who is in the transfer portal, led Carolina with 6.5 sacks while collecting 10.5 tackles for a loss. Should the sophomore linebacker not be available for the Fenway Bowl, expect fellow sophomore Michael Short to take charge at the position.
North Carolina sports an extremely dangerous defensive line that can strike on any given snap. Desmond Evans and Kevin Hester Jr. can each individually leave any opposing offense perplexed over what went wrong. Evans unleashes fury every time he hits the quarterback, something he has done a team-high 11 times.
Hester Jr. can stop plays before they take off, while 6-foot-6 sophomore Beau Atkinson recorded 6.5 sacks. Kaimon Rucker and Jahvaree Ritzie anchored the defensive line with 12.5 combined sacks and 14.5 tackles for a loss between them. Both graduate students have declared for the NFL Draft since the regular season ended, however.
UConn kicked the ball off 17 times during the regular season, doing so at least once in each game. When the Huskies kick the ball away in Boston, their special teams defense will need to watch out for graduate student Nate McCollum.
McCollum had as many returns as Connecticut had kickoffs. Of those 17 returns, the Atlanta native gained at least 40 yards on three of them. Wideouts Chris Culliver and Javarius Green have both also gained 100 return yards, though 95 of the former’s came on a special teams touchdown.
2024 marks the first Fenway Bowl featuring two teams that are based in the original 13 colonies. It should be at least as entertaining as the Boston Tea Party that took place in 1773. Joe Arruda reported through the Hartford Courant on Monday that at least 20,000 people will fill Fenway Park on Saturday morning.
Should that many people show up, it would exceed the previous bowl capacity record of 16,238 set last year. The Boston College Eagles, who play four miles from Fenway Park at Alumni Stadium, participated in last year’s bowl game. Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, for reference, is almost 100 miles away.
Both of the teams that represented the American in the previous two iterations moved to other leagues the following academic year. The Cincinnati Bearcats, sans Luke Fickell, departed for the Big 12 Conference in 2023. The Southern Methodist Mustangs moved to the ACC back on July 1 and subsequently got their revenge over Boston College.
Should Connecticut beat the Tar Heels, the former American Athletic member could potentially receive invitations from other conferences. Even if they lose—Cincinnati and SMU’s outcome at Fenway—a close contest might convince a league to consider the Huskies as an expansion candidate.
What happens after the bowl game, whether in the final few days of 2024 or during the offseason, remains uncertain. One conclusion remains true, though: this is UConn’s most important postseason contest in 14 years.
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