A new beginning
Huskies kicking off Mora era as heavy underdogs
STORRS — The UConn football program has not had a winning record since 2010, and have posted an abysmal 4-32 record the past three seasons.
So being a 27-point underdog heading into Saturday’s seasonopener at Utah State is hardly a surprise. But there is a palpable eagerness among the UConn players as they embark on a new chapter in Week 1 of the Jim Mora era.
Mora’s tenure at UConn will commence with no mercy, facing one of the better programs in the country. Utah State finished 24th in the 2021 final Associated Press Poll with an 11-3 record, a Mountain West title and a bowl game victory.
Meanwhile, Mora is returning to the sideline for the first time since 2017 when he was fired as head coach at UCLA.
“I have had butterflies for two weeks now,” Mora recently said. “I keep wanting to wake up and have them gone, but for some reason they aren’t. I’d be lying to you if I told you I wasn’t a little nervous. I haven’t been in this situation for a few years, but it’s like riding a bike. Once it gets going, you just fall back into it.”
It was made clear by returning players throughout fall camp that Mora changed the culture in the locker room within his first few months, but the on-field product is still largely a question mark.
Mora, a former NFL coach, understands this.
“It’s going to be an amazing test for us; we’re big, big, big underdogs, and we should be at this point in time,” Mora said. “One of our objectives is to go out and earn the respect of each other, our students on this campus, our fans and our opponents.”
The excitement around the team does not match the reality of where the program sits as a 1-11 team last
season. But returning players say confidence is high and they have seen the differences in preseason this year.
Saturday, however, could test the fragility of the early-stage cultural “revolution” Mora has talked about implementing. That’s why he’s trying to balance excitement with reality.
“One thing we’ve talked a lot about this week is handling adversity,” Mora said. “Sometimes you get so amped up and then something bad happens early, it can take the air out of your sails. We’ve talked about how we’re going to handle adversity; we’ve talked about how we’re going to handle success, as well.
“I think by kickoff they’ll be in a very good place emotionally ... because they’ve put in the work, they prepared, and they’re ready to go. Now they get to go out and preform, which is what they love to do.”
Preparation for the Week 1 matchup is made more difficult by the fact that just last week, defensive coordinator Lou Spanos took an indefinite leave of absence for unspecified reasons, leaving the playcalling up to a committee.
The Utah State offense was 22nd in the country with 445.6 offensive yards per game in 2021 against UConn’s 453.2 total yards allowed per game, which ranked 116th.
The Aggies also finished 21st in third-down conversion percentage at 44.8, while UConn allowed third-down conversions 41.5% of the time.
What makes Utah State’s offense so dangerous?
“Everything. The run game, pass game, RPOs (run-pass option); we have to prepare for it all,” UConn defensive backs coach Dalton Hilliard said.
“These first games you have to prepare yourself for everything because you don’t know what they’re going to do. We’re basing everything on last year’s film, but we’re excited to go out there and adjust on the fly because they had a really good year last year.”
Utah State’s offense is led by senior quarterback Logan Bonner, who completed 61.3% of his passes for 3,628 yards in 2021.
Bonner averaged 269.1 yards per game in the air and found the end zone 36 times. He also threw 12 interceptions last year.
“He’s got a cannon for an arm,” Mora said. “He can move to his right or left and throw it effectively. As a matter of fact, he’s one of the better quarterbacks I’ve seen, certainly in college football. He has that Elwayesque ability to move to his left and square his shoulders up and throw it down field with accuracy, and that is an uncommon trait.”
Utah State senior running back Calvin Tyler is another threat, coming off a season in which he rushed for 884 yards on 196 attempts (73.67 yards per game) for seven rushing touchdowns, all of which led the team.
“Offensively, they like to go fast,” Mora said. “They go high-tempo and they spread the field well. With that kind of offense there’s sometimes a misconception that they’re throwing the ball a lot, but they aren’t, they’re balanced and run really well.”
While the defensive committee focuses on containing Bonner and the Utah State offense, UConn offensive coordinator Nick Charlton will need to get points on the board.
UConn lost top wide receiver Cam Ross to a broken foot toward the end of camp but is relatively healthy otherwise.
In 2021, Utah State allowed 230.9 passing yards per game, good for 70th in the country. UConn averaged just 164.2 yards per game in the air, finishing 116th.
UConn has not yet announced its starting quarterback for the game, but the presumed leading candidate is Ta’Quan Roberson, a redshirt sophomore and Penn State transfer.
Roberson appeared in four games last season for Penn State, completing 11 of 28 pass attempts for 85 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions.
“Defensively they bring a lot of pressure, a lot of movement, and they’re very physical up front,” Charlton said. “We know they’re going to be aggressive with us, so we’ve been preparing like that.”
Last year, the Aggies finished 84th in opponent rushing yards per game at 161.9 while the UConn offense was 122nd in rushing yards per game, averaging 100.8.
“We keep stressing to these guys every day how physical this game is going to be,” Charlton said. “It’s hard to replicate… It’s an attack-style defense, so we have to be able to match that. It’s really about us ultimately, we have to go out and execute our schemes.”
Sophomore Nathan Carter and grad student Robert Burns lead the Week 1 depth chart at running back.
Carter played in all 12 games for the Huskies last year, compiling 578 yards and two touchdowns on 125 carries while catching 19 passes for 127 yards.
Burns appeared in 10 games last year, carrying the ball 12 times for 45 yards while catching one pass for 4 yards.
Mora and his staff have said they are pleased with the attitude and culture around the program. Saturday will provide the first glimpse at the on-field product.
“These kids are locked in. They’ve had great practices, great energy and great focus,” Mora said. “Now we get to go out there on Saturday and go play.”