The UConn Fast Break - 10/7/2022

Welcome to this week’s Fast Break, and thank you for being a subscriber. Huge congrats to Shawn McGrath, the regular writer of this newsletter, who is getting married today!

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We still have meaningful football!

For the first time in ages, UConn fans will be watching meaningful football in October. This is the result of an extremely unexpected but well-earned upset win over Fresno State this past weekend.

UConn football has had a lot of doubters over the years. After the program was lampooned in the AAC, then suffered the ills of three coaching hires that didn’t work out, those calls grew louder and harder to dispute. Since the back half of 2016, UConn has been one of the worst teams in college football. For the first time since then, we have evidence that things are moving in the right direction.

All of a sudden, the possibilities for this season are pretty exciting. With four wins plausible, and six wins feeling within the realm of possibility, Jim Mora and his staff appear to be off to a solid start in Year One. The Huskies (ranked 125th in SP+ overall efficiency) are favored by five points on the road on Saturday against FIU (ranked 129th). They’ll probably be favored at home against UMass (130th) on November 4th.

If they can play like they did last Saturday, and continue to improve offensively, then games against Ball State (110th), Liberty (73rd), Boston College (89th), and Army (86th) are somewhat winnable as well. They’re all in the same neighborhood as Fresno State (82nd).

It’s nice to have hope for UConn football again. Let’s hope it lasts.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Hockey

Sweep in Vermont - After a big victory in Saturday’s game, the Huskies followed it up with another multi-goal win in the Sunday finale.

Ty Amonte’s path to team captain - After transferring from BU to UConn, he’s earned the respect of his teammates and assumed a leadership role for the Huskies.

Big Preview - You still have time to check out our hockey preview, with everything you need to know for this season including key departures, new additions, and expectations for the season.

Matthew Wood shines ($) - The youngest player in Division I played well in his debut on Saturday.

Football

UConn tops Fresno State - The Huskies overcame long odds to secure a comeback win! Game story and takeaways from The UConn Blog.

Future opponents - Check out how UConn’s six remaining opponents fared in Week 5.

Depth chart - for the upcoming game against FIU.

Preview: UConn at FIU - The Huskies have a chance to open up their offense against a struggling FIU team this Saturday.

Men’s Basketball

First Night details - Hoops season officially begins on October 14th!

Adama Sanogo film breakdown - Some nice insight on Sanogo’s game and pro prospects.

Women’s Basketball

Where does Aubrey Griffin fit? - After missing last season due to a combination of injuries, Griffin appears to be back in full health and ready to contribute.

Men’s Soccer

UConn showing signs of promise - How is the season going under first-year head coach Chris Gbandi?

Support the most in-depth coverage of UConn men’s hockey around!

 The UConn Hockey Hub 

Highlights

We won a football game - time to make a movie! UConn produced this 10-minute short on the victory over Fresno State.

Congrats to @uconndennis on his new license plate.

This extraordinary last-minute goal got UConn the win! Multiple angles of this one.

Memory Lane

At FIU this weekend, UConn football is looking for its first winning streak since around this time five years ago. On October 14th, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the Huskies scored an upset win over Temple, 28-24, and followed it up with a 20-14 victory at home against Tulsa.

Both of the games were close, and the Huskies had to hold their breath to hold on for both wins, but that was basically the high point of the second Randy Edsall era, unfortunately. That was the last home FBS win for the Huskies and the final one for Edsall.

Of course, Ian Bethune was there the last time UConn won two straight. Here are some shots from the Tulsa victory.

Remembering a Dude: Bryant Shirreffs.

Current UConn coach Luke Carrezola making a tackle.

Hergy Mayala getting lifted after a TD.

UConn, Great Pic

Ian was also on hand for the big football win against Fresno State. Here are some of his best shots from the game and ensuing celebration.

Parting Thoughts

Once again, we are talking about UConn hockey.

Chris McKenzie’s women’s squad has started the season 4-0 with two 2-game sweeps of RIT and Stonehill. The 15th-ranked Huskies begin Hockey East play this weekend with a home-and-home against Northeastern.

The men’s team came into this season with modest expectations but has quickly raised them with a two-game sweep of Vermont to open the season. They’re ranked 20th this week, and freshman forward Matthew Wood appears to be the real deal. The 17-year-old top prospect has displayed deadly shooting ability and the capacity to contribute in other ways offensively. On top of that, the Huskies are getting major contributions from new transfers and other freshmen as well.

Mike Cavanaugh’s squad will be back in action on Friday and Saturday, hosting two games at the XL Center against Union. This should be a really exciting season if the Huskies can keep playing like they did over the opening weekend.

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