Next Up For Duke Football - UConn
Are the Blue Devils ready for the Huskies?
Date 9/14 || Time 6:00 || Venue Wallace Wade Stadium || Video ACCNX
Duke has a chance to move to 3-0 Saturday with a win over UConn.
This may sound familiar: the Huskies have had a powerful basketball program for a long time but have struggled with football for a long time too.
Unlike Duke, which is in a good if not necessarily great football conference, UConn has been in the Big East, then the AAC and now back to the Big East again.
Football has been weak for a long time. It’s a problem for UConn because it makes it tougher to get in to a power conference. Just in the last few days, the Big 12 decided to not pursue the Huskies because football was seen as a weakness.
UConn is currently coached by Jim Mora, son of the former NFL coach by the same name.
Mora coached in the NFL - three years with the Atlanta Falcons and one with the Seattle Seahawks. His career record was 31-33.
He also coached at UCLA for six seasons, racking up a 46-30 record and four bowl games. However, his last two seasons the Bruins finish 4-8 and 5-6.
At UConn, he’s a rather pedestrian 10-17 and this season, the Huskies are 1-1 so far.
The loss was to Maryland and at 50-7 it was bad; the win was over Merrimack and it was good - 63-14 kind of good.
Here’s the twist: Mora’s starting QB, Nick Evers, didn't play last weekend after suffering a concussion at Maryland. Backup QB Joe Fanano ran the team against Merrimack and had a freakish game, directing the offense to seven straight touchdowns. Can you imagine the long-suffering Husky fans seeing a guy go all Tom Brady out of nowhere and then the coach says he’s not sure who will start?
It’s not a bad problem, but Mora says it’ll be Evers if he’s ready.
There’s a big difference between Merrimack and Duke, but that’s an amazing performance by Fanano. The UConn fans will be talking about it for a long time. You can bet Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke and the Duke defense are talking about him a lot too.
Bit more intel about Fanano: he’s a grad student transfer from Maine where we think he started for most of his career. He’s 6-4 and 225, which is what most people like to see in a QB.
Duke’s defense has been pretty good so far but the offense has been kind of hit or miss, although it may have found its heart in overtime at Northwestern. It’s also possible that UConn could catch lightning in a bottle with Fanano, win their first game in over a decade against a Power Five team and also help Mora find job security, but it’s more likely that the Blue Devils stay undefeated. On the court, Duke and UConn would be a compelling matchup but it’s less so on grass.
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