Welcome to the Husky Diaries. Through the college football season, I’ll be previewing and recapping every UConn Huskies game for your pleasure, and I’m assuming my agony. Maybe I’ll be surprised, though. A new head coach, a new quarterback, and a defensive coordinator who isn’t going anywhe-, wait.
The Huskies open the season on the road tomorrow at Utah State who went 11-3 last season and won the Mountain West. For UConn, they’re coming off a 1-11 season in 2021. It’s only up from here…right?
New Faces On Offense
At quarterback, UConn has Ta’Quan Roberson. While he hasn’t technically been named the teams starter, he’s taken the majority of snaps with the first team. Roberson transferred to UConn this season from Penn State where in two years, he attempted 29 passes for 85 yards and a score. While he doesn’t have much experience, I have a delusional trust in him. Everything out of camp has been positive for Roberson and he could be the guy to lead the Huskies to win more than one game.
On the offensive line, UConn brought in a stud at center. Jake Guidone was First-Team All Ivy, All New England, and an FCS All American while at Dartmouth. He was instrumental in Dartmouth winning two Ivy League titles in 2019 and 2020. Out wide, the Huskies made a splash with two talented pass catchers. They brought in 6’3 WR Nigel Fitzgerald from Old Dominion and Dajon Harrison from Texas to fill a void at wideout.
Familiar Names Will Dominate On Defense
On the defensive side of the ball, I’m looking forward to watching two players in particular. The Huskies two veteran linebackers Jackson Mitchell and Ian Swenson are poised to breakout. In 2021, Mitchell, a CT native (203 in the house) tallied 113 tackles with 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. For Swenson, he’s coming into his fifth season. Last year he made 74 tackles with two sacks and two pass breakups. These studs are going to be the big play guys on the defensive side of the ball.
The Third Facet Of The Game
Let’s not disregard special teams. Prior to camp beginning, UConn’s kicker Joe McFadden tore his ACL. McFadden played in all twelve of UConn’s games in 2021 going 12-17 on field goals with a long of 47 yards. He also was 100% on extra points. With McFadden going down, Noe Ruelas enters.
Ruelas has a leg and a half. My senior year of high school, we played Hall High where Ruelas was from. We won the game 12-10, but we were petrified that Ruelas would hit a 50 yard game winner. He holds the CT high school football record for the longest field goal with a 56 yarder. Thankfully, Hall never trotted him out and our tight end Wyatt Raymond mossed him in the end zone to win the game. All of that is beside the point. Losing McFadden sucks, but the Huskies have a capable kicker replacing him in Ruelas. He could really bail them out this year and put points on the board.
The Line
Utah State is listed as 27 point favorites on DraftKings. I’m hammering UConn to cover that gigantic spread. I understand that the Huskies were bad last year and that Utah State is the returning MWC champs, but I believe the whole nations sleeping on UConn heavily. 27 points is just way too large of a spread for the champs of the worst group-of-five conference to cover.
For the over/under, it’s currently 59.5. This is a tough one, and while betting the over is an alpha move, I just can’t do it. Something in my gut is telling me that this game is going to be not low scoring, but not a Big 12 shootout. Bet the under of 59.5 and hammer the Huskies +27.
College football is back and the UConn Huskies are about to shock the entire world. This was your warning.