UConn HC Wants to Continue Defensive Improvement

The UConn Huskies (3-2) are beginning to find this year’s gears under head coach Jim Mora. After last season’s sky-high 9-4 record, there were questions about how the Huskies would respond, especially after two overtime losses, the first a 27-20 loss to Syracuse, the second a 44-41 loss to Delaware. 

The Huskies’ offense ranks as one of the best in the nation. Mora’s team amasses an average of 459 yards per game, which is touted as No.25. Quarterback Joe Fagnano has tallied 1,201 yards and seven touchdowns. Combine that with running back Cam Edwards, who has totaled 557 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and you can begin to see why this is one of the nation’s best offenses. 

On the defensive end, things are not as promising. The Huskies’ defense ranks as the nation’s 97th-best in terms of yards per game, with a whopping 392.6 conceded per game. Yet things are slowly turning in favor of the Huskies’ defense, as any 20-17 scoreline will show. 

“They [the defense] played better, and we gave up 17 points, and, you know, in college football in these days, that's not bad,” Quoted Mora during his weekly press conference leading up to this weekend’s matchup with Florida International University (2-1).

“Of course, we want to be better. You know, the big play in the first half, the run, you know, where they kind of answered our scoring drive. We got to tackle better on that one, and then, you know, we had them fourth and goal to win the game and they were able to get it in there, and that was disappointing to us.”

UConn gave up 329 yards for an average of just 4.6 yards per play, and held the Bulls to a stellar 4-15 third-down conversion rate. The Huskies’ defense also forced six punts on the day.