Paws Up Preview – FIU Football vs UConn

HARTFORD, CN – After winning their last two games at home against Maine and North Texas, the FIU Panthers will travel to the northeast for their final non-conference matchup of the season – The UConn Huskies.

A lot of questions we’ve had about this Panthers squad have slowly but surely been answered as the season progresses, including who they’ll depend on at the quarterback spot, and what this offense can ultimately do at a high level.

At the end of the day, winning solves everything, and that’s what FIU has been doing. This is the best start to a season for the Panthers since 2018, five whole years ago.

Now they’ll travel north, maybe face a hurricane, and take on a Huskies squad that’s yearning for their first win of the year.

What We Learned From North Texas

It can’t be expressed enough how exciting the FIU vs North Texas game was, featuring a multitude of lead changes, a whole bunch of points scored, and the team from the 305 getting the win. It helps that they looked good in their Biscayne Blue jerseys as well.

No doubt about it, the offense was clicking. Quarterback Keyone Jenkins was given the nod after a close win against Maine, and he didn’t disappoint. 291 passing yards off of 20 completions and a touchdown through the air has likely secured his spot as the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future.

But when FIU needed to score, they relied on their running game led by running back Kejon Owens who racked up 101 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, earning him a C-USA offensive player of the week award.

When it came to the defense, things were a bit more mixed. They gave up 39 points and allowed 548 yards of offense – 301 in the air and 253 on the ground.

However, they did force three turnovers, two of which were part of a crazy sequence in which three straight interceptions were thrown by both teams combined, and capped off with a house call by defensive back Hezekiah Masses.

Overall, there’s a lot of hype for this FIU squad for good reason. Whether it’s the growing tandem of Jenkins and wide receiver Kris Mitchell, the ground game led by Owens, and the linebacker core led by Donovan Manuel, one thing is for certain – the potential is there.

On to the UConn Huskies

Hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, the UConn Huskies are one the only remaining FBS teams that are independent – meaning they play for no conference.

The only other independent schools include Notre Dame, Army, and UMass. New Mexico State and Liberty were also independent before officially moving to Conference USA earlier this year.

UConn had a solid 2022 season, going 6-6, including a road win over FIU by a score of 33-12, in which they recorded almost 300 rushing yards. They were invited to the Myrtle Beach Bowl, in which they lost to the Marshall Thundering Herd.

2023 has not been kind to the Huskies so far. After falling to NC State in a surprisingly close contest, they were then blown out by Georgia State. Two games on the road, two straight losses. This game against FIU will be their home opener.

On top of those two losses, UConn had to break the news that their starting quarterback, Joe Fagnano, has suffered a shoulder injury and will require immediate surgery – sitting him out for the rest of the season.

We had mentioned in our preview for FIU vs Maine that Fagnano had put up solid numbers with the Black Bears before transferring to UConn.

Now, the Huskies will rely on redshirt junior Ta’Quan Roberson. The transfer from Penn State was supposed to lead UConn in 2022 before suffering a season-ending injury in their opener against Utah State.

In his limited action against Georgia State, after Fagnano was injured, he still collected 216 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad for a second half of action.

Perhaps UConn’s best weapon on offense is running back Victor Rosa, who racked up 600 yards and 11 touchdowns last year.

He already has 100 yards in two games in 2023 as his workload has expanded, so keep an eye out for how FIU’s defense handles him.

So far, UConn’s top receiver appears to be Brett Buckman, a transfer from Delaware, with over 100 yards. But the receiving room for the Huskies still seems to be up for grabs when it comes to a true WR1.

When it comes to defense, UConn has been a bit more mixed. Only giving up 24 points to NC State is solid, but giving up 35 to Georgia State is not a good look.

Regardless, look for linebacker Jackson Mitchell (22 tackles) and defensive back Durante Jones (19 tackles) to make some plays. But this UConn defense is unproven for the most part and has not committed an interception yet.

Jake’s Prediction

One thing I should mention about this game is that it might get sloppy thanks to the weather.

With Hurricane Lee approaching New England this weekend, there was some speculation that this game could be postponed. However, the latest radar reports show that Lee is moving more east with minimal landfall expected around the area.

Still, feeder bands from the storms could result in a rainy, wet Saturday that will lean more toward the ground game in these unpredictable conditions.

If that’s the case, I feel confident that FIU will be the better team. Owens could likely have a phenomenal game if the O-line continues their success, especially considering they’re going up against a rather unimpressive defensive line.

Maybe surprising to some, but I feel very confident that the Panthers will be the better team on both sides of the ball. I feel it’ll be a low-scoring, fast-paced game, but FIU will come out on top.

FIU – 20

UConn – 10

After the game (and the storm) the Panthers will head back home for their Homecoming game against the Liberty Flames on Saturday, September 23rd at 6:30pm.