When last these teams met, they were more familiar with each other.
Wake Forest and Connecticut have played football against each other three times and those came in a five-season window. UConn holds the aggregate scoring margin (74-65) by way of beating the Deacons 51-17 in 2003; the Deacons notched a 24-13 win at UConn early in that magical 2006 season, and then won 24-10 in the Meinecke Car Care Bowl in 2007.
And since?
Well, relatively speaking, not much has changed for Wake Forest. The Deacons are in the same conference now as they were then and they’re only one coach removed from those games.
On the other hand, UConn was an independent program for the 2003 season and is back to being one now — only after cycling through the Big East and American Athletic Conference in the last two decades. The Huskies’ coach for those three games against the Deacons was Randy Edsall; since then, UConn has been coached by Paul Pasqualoni, TJ Weist, Bob Diaco, Edsall again (with the greatest contract in sports), Lou Spanos and now, Jim Mora.
Here are five things to know about UConn ahead of Saturday’s game:
1. A turnaround
Mora worked some minor miracles to get UConn into a bowl in his first season (2022), starting 1-4 and then winning five of six games.
His second season started worse and only ended on an upswing when the Huskies beat Sacred Heart and UMass to end the season, landing on a 3-9 season.
It also ended with a plea to the NIL gods — cough, donors, cough — for more resources, which was answered.
UConn brought in some high-level transfers — more on them below — who have helped the Huskies exceed last year’s win total, at 4-2. They’re riding a three-game winning streak, two of those being blowouts of FAU (48-14) and Buffalo (47-3), and are coming out of an off week.
2. Who’s new here?
Let’s start at QB: UConn has started two this season and it looks like Joe Fagnano will be the starter. He transferred in last season from Maine and won the starting job, but suffered a season-ending injury in the second game. He threw for 272 yards and a touchdown, along with two interceptions, in a 29-20 win over Temple on Oct. 5.
Nick Evers started four games but was knocked out of the Sept. 28 game against Buffalo, reportedly his second head injury in a five-week span. He’s more of a scrambler and spent one season each at Oklahoma and Wisconsin before arriving at UConn for this year.
UConn’s top receiving threat is Skyler Bell, also a Wisconsin transfer. He has 22 catches for 508 yards (23.1 yards per catch) and had 100-yard games against Maryland, Merrimack and Buffalo.
UConn relies on three running backs — Durell Robinson, Cam Edwards and Mel Brown — who all have at least 300 yards and average at least 5.0 yards per carry. Robinson (Charlotte) and Brown (Gardner-Webb) transferred from smaller North Carolina programs (neither is an N.C. native, though).
3. An improved offense
If UConn scores 15 points against Wake Forest — please, hold your guffaws — it will have exceeded last season’s point total in the seventh game of the season.
Connecticut averages 449.7 yards per game and 6.2 yards per play, which have national ranks of 28th and 49th, respectively (hello, tempo).
The Huskies are almost perfectly balanced, too, putting up 229.3 passing yards and 220.3 rushing yards per game.
A lot of UConn’s offensive success comes from stretch running plays.
“One of the things about the stretch play that makes it so hard to defend is the gaps get distorted,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. “With a lot of inside-zone plays … the gaps are a little more stationary. When teams run the stretch play and the way that they run it, the A-gap can move 6 or 7 yards.
“If your nose guard or your tackle or your end, or whoever’s responsible for your gap, they’ve not just gotta get in the gap, they’ve got to stay in the gap. And if the ball enters that gap, they’ve got to be able to get off and make a play.”
4. Stingier defense
Maryland dropped 50 points on UConn in the opener.
The Huskies have allowed 80 points in five games since.
UConn’s defense has stiffened up since a rough start. Part of that is because of some red-zone improvement — Maryland scored three touchdowns and three field goals on six trips inside UConn’s 20-yard line; since then, UConn has given up points on 7 of 12 drives into its red zone.
And part of it is simply an improved rush defense. Maryland rolled up 248 yards and three touchdowns on 46 carries (5.4 yards/carry). In the last five games, UConn has allowed 638 rushing yards on 168 carries (3.8 yards/carry).
5. Middle of a homestand
UConn has had plenty of time to get comfortable.
This is the fourth game of a six-game homestand, across seven weeks, for the Huskies. They opened on the road at Maryland, had a home game against an FCS team, and then went to Duke.
Since then, UConn hasn’t left home.
The Huskies have home games against Rice and Georgia State in the weeks to come. They play their last three games on the road, at UAB, Syracuse and UMass — so Senior Night is a Nov. 1 game.
And you might have thought it strange that Wake Forest is traveling out of state for the first time this season.
