EAST HARTFORD – UConn gained the edge in the all-time football rivalry with UMass after a decisive, 35-16 win Friday night at Rentschler Field in one of the most anticipated games the series has seen in recent memory.

Drawing a crowd of 32,106, the Huskies took control of the game early as they overwhelmed the Minutemen at the line of scrimmage defensively and forced five consecutive 3-and-outs in the first half. Running back Cyncir Bowers powered the offense with 131 yards on the ground and UConn even scored on special teams after Shamar Porter blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone.

With its fourth straight head-to-head win, UConn now leads the all-time series, 39-38-2.

“Big game for our local area, both football teams, both football programs,” UConn coach Jason Candle said. “I thought that was choppy play a little bit in the first half, but once we got moving and got some rhythm there offensively we were able to play complimentary to one another. Got aided by a huge punt block by Shamar and really played outstanding defense the entire day… I’m really proud of our defensive effort and really proud of our kids overall for going and getting a win. But, I think we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror a little bit, too, there’s some things through this football game that we’ve got to be better at and we’ve got to clean up, and we’ve got to address that this week because I know we’ve got a massive one coming up Saturday (at Air Force).”

Quarterback Kalieb Osborne went 14-for-19 passing for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns with receiver JD Willoughby providing a team-high 65 yards and a score on three catches.

The Huskies (4-3) outgained the Minutemen, 438-303 in total yardage as they surpassed 200 rushing yards for the fourth time this season with 265 yards on the ground.

William “Pop” Watson III, the UMass QB in his first game back from an ankle injury, completed 22 of 38 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. He was the second-leading rusher for the Minutemen with 11 of their 53 total yards on the ground. They had been averaging over 160 rushing yards per game this season.

UMass, taking its fourth consecutive loss after starting the year 4-0, drove down the field with ease on its opening drive before stalling inside the 10-yard line. A sack from Anus Luqman and Joshua Mickens forced the Minutemen to settle for a 24-yard field goal to get on the board first, and they didn’t get another first down until their seventh offensive series just before the end of the half.

“The defensive front is a bunch of veteran players that understand the right way to play,” Candle said. “I think in our bye week (last week) they really challenged our guys to make sure that we were playing out of a stance on every play. And our guys were really doing a good job of playing with really good hand placement. When you play with really good hand placement, you can move another man pretty easily.”

A pair of consequential UMass defensive penalties helped the Huskies march down the field in response to the initial score and Osborne connected with Porter in the front of the end zone from 5 yards out to jump ahead. Porter was greeted by former teammates Skyler Bell and Reymello Murphy when he got to the sideline. Bell, drafted in the fourth round by the Buffalo Bills, received a warm welcome as he returned to East Hartford on his bye week.

“Missed my dawgs for sure, it definitely brought back memories of how we supported each other. They’re always happy for me and I’m always happy for them,” Porter said.

The Huskies stalled on their next three possessions, despite a 41-yard connection from Osborne to Willoughby. That play didn’t result in points, but it provided great field position for Tommy Warner’s punt to be downed at the 1-yard line.

The defense forced a fourth-straight 3-and-out and Bowers helped the Huskies move down the field on the ground before Osborne found Willoughby again, this time dropping the ball in a bucket from 20 yards into the end zone with 1:36 left until halftime.

UMass’ fifth consecutive 3-and-out took only 19 seconds off the clock. UConn’s next series only took 12 seconds as Bowers broke free for a 70-yard rushing score, his seventh of the season, to take a 21-3 advantage into the break.

Bowers has had over 100 yards rushing in two of the last three games.

“I had to literally just lock in with watching film,” he said of his improvement. “Trying to watch what I did wrong in practice, just fixing it and trying to get 1% better each day.”

Osborne and the Huskies’ offense started to cool off, but the special teams unit picked them up. Nearly forcing a fumble on punt coverage, the ball trickled out of bounds and UMass went 3-and-out from its own 21-yard line. The seventh punt of the day for the Minutemen was blocked and recovered by Porter in the end zone for a touchdown, his second of the day, to put the Huskies up 28-3 with less than seven minutes left in the third quarter.

UMass scored early in the fourth quarter as Watson flipped the ball to Curtis Kimmons IV from 7 yards out. The Minutemen had a wide open look on the 2-point conversion but dropped the ball.

The Huskies were able to drain five minutes off the clock with a drive that ended in a 13-yard touchdown run for Osborne, which served as the dagger with three minutes left. UMass, turning to backup QB Logan Inagawa, ran into the end zone for one final score before UConn ran out the remaining minute.

UConn will be back on the road next week for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Air Force on Saturday, and then begin a three-game homestand with North Carolina, James Madison and Old Dominion visiting.

Mike Mutnansky was the barstool personnel who was supposed to give the Jug to UConn.

I assumed he'd give it to coach Candle and to the rest of the UConn football team after the game.. but apparently, he put the trophy at the UConn sidelines during the half.. * hoping the right people would take it, and.. just LEFT the game early.

Right now nobody knows where the Southwick Jug is.

Mike gives his version of what happened last night and how the trophy became missing.

Starts at 5:30 eastern

In 2024, UConn beat UMass 47-42, and we were supposed to get the Southwick Jug ( the trophy for beating our oldest rival ), but UMass AD asked that we not accept the trophy due to the legitimacy of the trophy when UMass cut all ties with their NIL group who made the trophy . UMass didn't only ask, they made sure we did NOT get the trophy that year and UMass' then NIL group has been holding this very trophy in *their *Office for the last 2 years. They're bringing the Southwick Jug to Rentschler field this Friday - hoping either team would take it when the game's done.

2024 reddit thread when UMass didn't give the trophy

HARTFORD — Decades of experience tells us at least this one absolute sports truth: From high schools to the major pro leagues, postseason play never contracts, but inexorably expands.

Of course, it’s about money, not only the TV money that comes with expanded playoffs, but the ripple effect of giving more teams more chances to play meaningful games. Even the 64, check that, 68-team NCAA basketball field was deemed to constrictive, so now we’re going to 76.

So once college football got away — decades too late — from its archaic poll-driven championships with a single championship game in 1998, it was inevitable that two finalists would become four semifinalists, then eight, 12, and so on. Now reports indicate the FBS schools will stage a 24-team playoff beginning in 2027, more or less mirroring the FCS format which actually works rather well.

“Last year, I thought it was the most balanced and best games throughout the (12-team) playoff,” UConn AD David Benedict said. “I don’t think anyone can really predict this yet, but part of what’s happening with NIL and rev-share is talent is spreading out. So before, where there was just a handful of schools that were dominating, until you got to that final game they weren’t competitive. This past weekend, the No.1 team got upset, the No. 2 team got upset, you’re just seeing the talent is being spread out.”

The changes in player movement and compensation have helped UConn attract better players and pull its football program out of the abyss to do things few would have imagined in 2021. But playoffs? We’re talking playoffs?

If, indeed, the major conferences and TV executives hammer this out, it will put UConn in a unique position or, we should say, another unique position as the only FBS independent not named Notre Dame. The FCS model gives every conference an automatic bid. Indications are automatic bids to a 24-team FBS field would go to power four conferences, whose champions would almost certainly be at-large eligible in any event, and the highest ranking Group of Six conference champs. Since “bid-stealers” would not happen often in the power conferences, it’s plausible that all of the G-6 champs would get a spot, leaving a more than fair 18 berths for power four conferences.

In either scenario, UConn in its present situation would have to play for an at-large bid, which would appear next to impossible unless a Huskies team went 12-0 against a strong schedule. In 2025, UConn was three OT losses from being 12-0, but expanded conference schedules are already making it harder for UConn to schedule strong opponents in the future, so the pressure is on to get into a power conference the next time there is realignment, sooner than later, or settle for joining a Group of Six conference in football only. They’ve had remarkable success during these seasons cast adrift, danger is coming and they’re going to have to find a place to dock the football team.

This is why there have been rumblings connecting UConn with the Pac 12 or American Athletic Conference which, so far, have come to nothing.

“Until we know all the details, I can’t answer with specificity,” Benedict said. “If you have to be a champion of a conference, that matters. I don’t know if conferences are going to keep playing championships, based on the weeks. Scheduling is going to be really important so that if you’re good you have a strength of schedule where you could be ranked. There’s lots of change going  on with regard to scheduling, especially at the P-4 level, we’ve lost (scheduled) games, multiple games in the last couple of years, so that’s more relevant, we we sit here. When we find out what the rules of the road are for getting into the playoffs, we’ll know more about scheduling.”

The American has a more favorable TV deal than other G-6 conferences, which compelled James Madison, one of those new programs in the power block, to shift from the Sun Belt. The Protect College Sports Act, if it becomes law with some of its fourth-quarter amendments, could lead to more power conference expansion and help UConn reach its promised land.

These things, naturally, involve far more than beating UMass this week, or the landscaping around Rentschler Field. In an open letter to “UConn Nation” Monday, Benedict touted UConn’s “brand strength,” ranked No.1 by Nielsen Media and driven obviously by men’s and women’s basketball and the deep, dual March Madness runs the past four years. This can only help, but ultimately the football program needs to win, or at least avoid the embarrassing losses that give aid and comfort to detractors, and show strength in attendance, atmosphere and fundraising.

“We want to continue to move onward and upward,” coach Jason Candle said. “That’s been the goal since the day I got here, and was probably the goal before I got here. We want to take our program as high as it can possibly go. What does that look like? Define that for me? I don’t know if I have a definition for you, exactly what that looks like.”

Candle vows, as did his predecessor, Jim Mora, to concentrate on what he can control, which is the next game. The Huskies (3-3) face UMass (4-3) at Rentschler on Friday night, a must-win for UConn to have a chance to go to a bowl game for a third straight year.

Going forward, simple bowl eligibility will become the least of anyone’s worries. One of the driving forces behind the playoff expansion is traditional bowl games becoming so irrelevant, fewer and fewer good teams or players want to bother playing in them. However it plays out, the need becomes greater for UConn to rise from limbo and find a base from which it can chase one of those 24 spots.

“You see for a lot of football teams and players, if they don’t get in that top 12, they shut it down,” Benedict said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily healthy, so by expanding it, you have six more games, 12 more really good football teams that would’ve been previously been playing in a good bowl game. We’ve created this playoff, it would be like the NCAA Tournament and the NIT, most teams want to be in the NCAA. I think expanding it is the right direction. I can’t sit here today and connect dots and say it will (help UConn), and I don’t even know if they’ve 100-percent finalized how access is going to work, but what they’re saying the top 24 ranked teams are going to get in, that’s 12 more teams and we’re going to continue to try to raise the level of our football program.”

I apologize that this is paywalled. I couldn't find a comparable article that was not.

** Once. again.. CBS Rankings is DRUNK - UMass lost to Miami (OH) by one point, and they climbed up the rankings by 25 points . Their system obviously can't differentiate btwn Miami (FL) and Miami (OH) - so far this has happened to every team that played Miami (OH) this year the first day the rankings come out - they'll readjust mid week (USUALLY).

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49868647/2026-college-football-sp+-rankings-all-138-fbs-teams

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/rankings/cbs-sports-rankings/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/10/12/college-football-re-rank-week-6-georgia-texas-cfp/92205246007/

*the athletic is from the boneyard.

UConn football is 3-3 after a well-earned 34-20 win at Temple. The Huskies set the tone with the first touchdown and barely trailed as they closed the victory with a decisive fourth quarter. After forcing a fumble and driving for a TD, they forced a three-and-out and then ran down the clock with a heavy dose of the run before a field goal to put the game out of reach.

Thoughts as UConn returns to an even record (3-3) heading into their bye week.

The Run Game Emerges

The offensive line continues to improve, opening up holes for long runs from every running back. Kenji Christian scored a 39-yard TD but didn't play much. Cyncir Bowers had two 10+ yard runs as he finished with 84 yards and a TD, and Trey Cornist broke two 40+ yard runs in the second quarter, leading to a touchdown and a field goal at the end of the half.

"Just a really good individual efforts by our backs," head coach Jason Candle said in a post-game interview with Fox Sports Radio. "Our O-Line fought the whole day. The first two drives of the game, they really controlled the line of scrimmage."

Christian is dealing with a leg injury reportedly but has the bye to rest. With all three backs, this formidable group keeps the Husky offense balanced and dangerous. All three have also proven to be capable receivers out of the backfield.

Key Defensive Stops

Over six weeks, the UConn defense has shown its vulnerabilities. But it's also shown up to make big plays, like the fourth-quarter interception against Syracuse to keep that game tied, or the turnovers that helped decide the Temple game.

In the second quarter, a Temple fumble led to a UConn field goal before halftime. In the fourth quarter, the Huskies scored a decisive touchdown to go up 11 after the Owls coughed it up a second time. After allowing two easy touchdowns in the first quarter, UConn allowed just six points the rest of the game.

"You don't start the game how you want, but our kids settled in and played a really solid second half on defense," Candle said in an interview with Fox Sports Radio.

Kalieb Osborne Keeps Getting Better

The Huskies starting QB is a demon. His ability to make something out of nothing while keeping his eyes downfield has created multiple big plays this season. With 57 seconds left in the first half, and UConn facing 4th & 6 on the Temple 33, Osborne absorbed a big hit as he identified Shamar Porter flying upfield in man coverage and got the throw off. Porter did an incredible job of coming down with that ball and that big play gave the Huskies a lead and momentum going into the break.

Osborne completed 74% of his 23 attempts for 257 yards with a rushing touchdown. Eight of his 17 completions went for 15+ yards and he's getting all of his weapons involved. He hit nine different receivers on the day. Candle said he's been pleased with the young passer's progress.

After dropping two W’s that they gave away.

Nice to see the D find themselves in the 2H.

The UConn football team responded from back-to-back close losses with a hard-fought, 34-20 road victory at Temple on Saturday.

It was a major swing at the end of the first half – a UConn touchdown, followed by a Temple fumble and a UConn field goal as time expired – that put the Huskies in control. Their defense, after a rough first half, put the game away as it forced a second fumble in the fourth quarter and held the Owls to just three points after the break.

Quarterback Kalieb Osborne starred as he completed 17 of 23 passes for 257 yards and made critical plays with his legs. UConn had 248 yards rushing with the attack led by Trey Cornist’s 117 yards on seven carries and Cyncir Bowers’ 84 yards on 18 attempts. Both scored a rushing touchdown, along with Osborne and Kenji Christian, who was limited. Ryder Treadway led the team in receiving with a season-high 63 yards on three catches.

UConn improved to 3-3 in its first year under head coach Jason Candle as Temple dropped to 2-4.

Both teams scored on all-but one offensive possession in the first half as Osborne’s initial rushing score was answered immediately by a 79-yard heave over the top of the Huskies’ struggling secondary. Christian, who missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury, announced his return with a 39-yard touchdown run, only to be answered by a double pass from the Owls, which resulted in a 29-yard touchdown from receiver Colin Chase to tight end Peter Clarke.

It was the only run of the day for Christian, whose status was not immediately clear.

UConn turned the ball over on downs just before the end of the first quarter and held the Owls to a 26-yard field goal at the end of a 12-play, 85-yard drive as it fell behind, 17-14.

Cornist, who made the touchdown catch in overtime last week, showed off his sprinters’ speed twice in the half. First was a 51-yard run to the 5-yard line, which he eventually finished in the end zone to put the Huskies back in front. Then he had a 44-yard burst that jump started the Huskies’ final drive of the half. That run came one play after Temple, trying to bleed the clock in anticipation of receiving the second half kickoff, saw running back Keveun Mason get stripped by Renick Dorilas and the fumble recovery go to safety Braedyn Moore.

Facing 4th-and-6 from the Temple 33-yard line with less than a minute left in the half, Osborne took a hard hit as he dropped a perfect pass in the bucket for Shamar Porter inside the 5-yard line. The ball was moved up to the 1 due to the roughing the passer penalty and, after a muffed snap and a sack, UConn escaped disaster with a last-second spike and closed the half with a 21-yard chip shot for kicker Jack O’Connor to push the lead to 24-17.

While the first half started with seven scores on nine offensive chances, the second started with four straight punts before Temple cut into its deficit with a 29-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

It looked like the game might be slipping away from the Huskies as penalties killed their flow on offense and Temple was leaning on its running game. The Owls were across midfield and driving when Sheppard looked to throw and had his arm arm hit by the helmet of Shamar Riser-Pressley, forcing the ball free for a K’Von Sherman fumble recovery, UConn’s second of the day.

The Huskies capitalized on the short field with Bowers bouncing to the outside for an 8-yard score that pushed the lead to 31-20 with just less than eight minutes to play.

O’Connor tacked on a 27-yard field goal in the final two minutes for good measure.

Half-way through its season, UConn will have a bye week before returning to Rentschler Field for a bigger-than-usual game against UMass (4-2) on Friday night, Oct. 23.

UConn Huskies (2–3) @ Temple Owls (1–4)

• Date: Saturday, October 10, 2026

• Kickoff: 3:45 PM EDT

• Location: Lincoln Financial Field — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Television / Stream: ESPNU

• Radio: UConn Sports Network (97.9 ESPN) / SiriusXM

Game Overview & Series History

• All-Time Series: Temple leads 10–6.

• Last Meeting: UConn defeated Temple 29–20 on October 5, 2024 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.

• Context: Former Big East and American Athletic Conference counterparts renew their regional rivalry. UConn enters looking to stabilize after consecutive tight losses, while Temple aims to defend home turf and secure a key non-conference victory.

Thread Guidelines

• Keep discussions civil and focused on the game.

• Do not post or request unauthorized streaming links.

• Upvote top plays, highlights, and quality analysis.

Through five weeks, the UConn football team has started to figure things out.

Expectations were set high for the start of the Jason Candle era after the Huskies set a new program record with 671 yards of offense in their opener against Lafayette. But they were quickly brought back to earth as the pass defense was exposed in a 38-14 home loss to a Maryland team that has struggled since.

Candle’s team looked like it figured something out in a convincing road win at Southern Miss in Week 3, but then surrendered a 14-point lead to lose at Miami, Ohio, and saw its own comeback from 20 points down come up short in overtime against Syracuse last weekend.

So the Huskies are 2-3 as they go on the road to Lincoln Financial Field, where they’ll meet Temple (2-3) on Saturday.

Here is how they stack up nationally:

Offense

Quarterback Kalieb Osborne started to find his groove in the second half against Syracuse and now finds himself 41st nationally in passing yards with 1,164 and No. 20 in QB rushing yards with 243 on 53 attempts.

Running back Cyncir Bowers, coming off of his 163-yard effort against Syracuse, has the 55th-most rushing yards in the country with 349 on the season. And, with 14 different receivers who have at least 30 yards, five over 100, the Huskies don’t have anyone in the top 200 for receiving yards as they approach the midway point of the season. Javon Brown, the team’s leading receiver with 202 yards on 14 catches, is No. 208 nationally, though he will miss some time after suffering a concussion on Saturday.

Nonetheless, the trio has helped UConn to the No. 38 scoring offense in the country at 36 points per game.

The Huskies are No. 43 in total offense (438 yards per game), No. 46 in rushing (181.6) and No. 47 in passing (256.4). They rank No. 56 in red zone scoring percentage at 88.24%, No. 66 in 3rd down conversion percentage (41.94%) and No. 95 on 4th down (45.45%).

While Bowers’ 71-yard rushing touchdown tied Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter, it was only UConn’s 22nd run of the season that’s gone for at least 10 yards – a category in which the Huskies rank 74th nationally. They’ve had 51 passes for at least 10 yards, good for 28th in the nation.

The offense has contributed to UConn’s 44 penalties on the year. Only seven teams have been flagged more.

Defense

Unlike on the offensive side of the ball, where there is a clear balance in passing and rushing success, the defense has had a clear issue with the ball in the air and the numbers back it up.

The Huskies have the third-worst passing defense in the country, allowing 290.8 yards per game (No. 136 of 138), including 50 passes of 10 yards or more, which ranks 121st. They’ve been much better against the run, limiting opponents to 110.8 rushing yards per game, which is good for No. 35 nationally, and only 11 runs of 10 yards or more (No. 10).

All in all, the defense has allowed 26.2 points per game (No. 97) and 401.6 total yards of offense per game (No. 112). It’s seen opponents convert on 43.59% of their 3rd down opportunities (No. 111), 50% on 4th down (No. 61) and score on 84.21% of their trips into the red zone.

Hayden Pegg, the walk-on turned starting linebacker, leads the team with 35 total tackles, which puts him at No. 99 nationally. He is the 20th-highest rated linebacker by Pro Football Focus and the only UConn linebacker in the top 400. UConn’s sack leader, K’Von Sherman, is No. 49 nationally with 3.0 on the season, and he’s also been credited for three forced fumbles, which is second in the nation.

Special teams

UConn’s special teams units, led by freshman placekicker Jack O’Connor and punter Tommy Warner, have been exceptional at limiting return opportunities. Opponents have only attempted to return one punt, which went for 3.0 yards (No. 27), and three kickoffs for an average of 11.67 yards (No. 5).

In the placekicking game, O’Connor’s career has gotten off to a 2-for-4 start with both misses coming from 40-plus yards, one in each of the last two weeks after making his first two kicks at Southern Miss. He missed his first extra point attempt of the season on Saturday to get to 23 of 24 on the season.

Julian Allen has been a quality punt returner with 75 yards on six opportunities (No. 51) and had his first breakaway on a kickoff return for 48 yards against Syracuse, which brought him to 73 yards on three returns (No. 99).