UConn announces 2021 game vs. Yale
UConn football will play Yale next season, the school announced Friday. The game is scheduled for Oct. 16, 2021 at Rentschler Field.
It will mark the 50th meeting between the schools, but the first since 1998. Yale won the first 16 matchups and holds a 32-17 advantage in the series, dating to 1948. UConn has won 14 of the last 16 meetings since 1982.
Neither program competed this season due to COVID-19 concerns.
According to the contract between the schools, UConn will pay Yale a guaranteed sum of $285,000. The game will not count toward bowl eligibility for UConn because the Ivy League does not offer athletic scholarships.
UConn athletic director Dave Benedict said the schools discussed extending the series beyond 2021, including playing at the Yale Bowl, but “haven’t moved forward with any additional games at this time.”
The Huskies also announced a two-game series against Florida International. UConn will host FIU on Oct. 4, 2025 and will travel to FIU on Oct. 2, 2027.
“We are excited to have UConn on our football schedule this fall,” Yale athletic director Vicky Chun said in a statement. “Our fans have been clamoring for this matchup for decades and we are happy to come through for them. Yale and UConn football have had a long history together and David (Benedict) and I are happy to bring the in-state rivalry back again.”
The schools met each season from 1948 to 1998, with the exception of 1951 and in 1985 when the game was canceled due to Hurricane Gloria.
UConn and Yale first played on Oct. 2, 1948, a 7-0 Yale victory in New Haven. All but one of the games in the rivalry have been played at Yale Bowl — the teams met in Storrs in 1992.
Yale is UConn’s fifthmost common opponent behind Rhode Island (95), Maine (74), Massachusetts (73) and New Hampshire (71).
“We got to what was the best place on the board for us, based on the difficulties of scheduling,” Benedict said of reviving the series. “It also going to be one of the best attended games we have next year. And that’s not a bad thing.”
The Huskies, who left the American Athletic Conference in July to go independent in football, now have 11 games scheduled for next season, including Fresno State (Aug. 28), Army (Sept. 18), Vanderbilt (Oct. 2), UMass (Oct. 9), Clemson (Nov. 13) and UCF (Nov. 20) on the road and Holy Cross (Sept. 2), Purdue (Sept. 11), Wyoming (Sept. 25) and Middle Tennessee (Oct. 23) at home.