STORRS, Ct. – The UConn Huskies began their football season in College Park, MD on Saturday afternoon, with a 50-7 loss to the Maryland Terrapins. However, Huskies fans learned a lot about what direction their football team may be going in throughout the season, and that includes the quarterback position.
Both the Huskies and the Terps had QB battles going into Week 1, but nobody expected five quarterbacks to complete a pass in the contest. Let’s break down what went wrong from UConn, what went right for Maryland, but also what silver-linings Huskies fans can take from this matchup.
A Slow First Quarter
Things started going poorly for Connecticut from the very first place of the game, where wide receiver Tai Felton ran for 19 yards for the Terps. Maryland eventually turned that into a scoring drive, one that Felton finished in the end zone from Billy Edwards Jr., who was given the starting nod.
Felton had a fantastic day in many facets, catching seven passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, along with 19 yards on the ground and a huge special teams tackle.
Have yourself a day @playboytaishar pic.twitter.com/w3x6n6Y8X1
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) August 31, 2024
Maryland also added on another touchdown in their next drive to make it 14-0. Overall, Edwards did an incredible job in his starting opportunity, finishing turnover-less with two touchdowns and an 86.9 QBR.
Billy balled
20-27
311 yards
2 TDs pic.twitter.com/Ty5WHSeShO— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) September 1, 2024
After that, the game was slow. Each of the next five drives (into the second quarter) finished in punts. In UConn’s case, just two first downs. One of which was the final play of the quarter, where quarterback Nick Evers completed his first pass to Jasaiah Gathings for eight yards and a first down.
A Rough Second Quarter
In the second quarter, we saw a few more punts before Maryland extended their lead to 17-0. They later added on field goals to get to 23 points by the end of the first half. UConn, though, had a very promising drive, where Evers hit Skyler Bell on a 37-yard completion. And after catching it with one hand, Bell made it heard in his first reception as a Husky.
tho #uconn getting pasted right now by #maryland – this was a nice one hand snag by UCONN 6’0″ Jr. WR, Skyler Bell!!
and he lets his thoughts heard quite clear afterwards lol#ncaafootball #collegefootball pic.twitter.com/8fBo4Hvq67
— 🏀🏈 SYLNATION SPORTS (@sylnationsports) August 31, 2024
However, it ended in a missed field goal after the Huskies failed to attempt a 4th and 2 opportunity. Things didn’t end there, however, as Evers threw an interception late in the first half that allowed the Terrapins to pad on to their lead going into halftime.
3rd Quarter
The third quarter had a lot of action, to say the least.
The Terps continued where they left off, scoring again to go ahead 30-7. And after another unsuccessful drive, UConn head coach Jim Mora made the difficult decision to bring in backup Joe Fagnano to replace Evers.
While Fagnano threw an unlucky interception in his first drive, he drove the football to the Maryland 17-yard line, which was promising for UConn fans. The next drive, he followed it up with a huge pass to Bell, who finished his day with a team leading 141 yards on five catches. Fagnano then drove the team down the field again. This time, finishing it with a touchdown throw to Purdue transfer T.J. Sheffield.
UConn scores first TD of season, Joe Fagnano to TJ Sheffield to make it 30-7 late 3rd quarter
— Joe Zone (@joezonewfsb) August 31, 2024
While he didn’t do much else afterwards, the Huskies may lean to start Fagnano in Week 2 after his performance. He finished 8-16 for 149 yards, one touchdown and one interception in less than two quarters.
However, just like the entire game, the Terrapins struck back. What looked like a short pass from Edwards to Felton turned into a 75-yard highlight to take a 36-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
TAI CAN FLY!!! pic.twitter.com/e6SNbVyMiv
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) August 31, 2024
A Boring Fourth Quarter
After that, the game was fairly dull. Maryland took out Edwards and turned to Cameron Edge, who orchestrated two scoring drives with a 98.7 QBR. As for Fagnano, he couldn’t do much more offensively, and the Huskies never turned to the rushing attack.
UConn running back Camryn Edwards, who led the team in rushing last season, had just five carries in the game. This, despite him running for over six yards per carry when he was given the ball.
Overall, this game was all Maryland. They had a more creative scheme, and more weapons that showed up during opening day. In fact, Maryland picked up one of their largest wins in program history.
Our largest margin of victory in a season-opener against an FBS opponent since 1978!@MDLottery
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) August 31, 2024
The UConn football team looks to rebound in their home opener next week against Merrimack.
Chase Coburn
Chase Coburn is an aspiring sports reporter and journalist who's already achieved some great things in the industry. At just 13 years old, Chase has already started his own podcast, interviewing celebrities such as ESPN's Adam Schefter, Baltimore Ravens' Justin Madubuike, ESPN's Dan Graziano, and many others. Chase is even experienced in writing for his websites, chasessportsnews.com & chasecoburn.substack.com. He runs his schools broadcast department, and is also a freelance writer for The League Winners, covering Ravens football and UConn football.Chase, who resides in Fairfield, CT, hopes to continue his dream as a broadcaster, and inspire others to CHASE their dreams like he has.