TIME: 3:30 PM
TV: CBS Sports Network
ANNOUNCERS: Rich Walz (play-by-play), Robert Turbin (analyst), Tiffany Blackmon (sideline)
RADIO: UConn Sports Network; Varsity Network App; 97.9 Fox Sports, WGCH 1490
AM, WAVZ 1300 AM, WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM, WICH 1310 AM and 94.5 FM; Sirius/XM online streaming, XM 387 (UConn)
ANNOUNCERS:
Mike Crispino (play-by-play), Wayne Norman (color analyst), Adam Giardino (sideline)RECORDS: UConn (6-3); Duke (5-3, 4-1 ACC)
LAST WEEK: UConn crushed UAB, 38-19; Duke beat Clemson, 46-45
POINT SPREAD: Duke -9.5 (odds via FanDuel)
O/U: 65.5
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the fifth time the Huskies and Blue Devils will match up on the gridiron. The series is tied at 2-2 with the Duke having won the last two games.
GAME NOTES WITH DEPTH CHART: UConn; Duke
PREGAME PRESS CONFERENCE(S): UConn head coach Jim Mora; Duke head coach Manny Diaz
WEATHER FORECAST: East Hartford, CT
Fun With Numbers
2: With last week’s win, UConn is bowl-eligible for a second straight season and third time during Jim Mora’s tenure in Storrs.
3: Duke is the third and final ACC team the Huskies will play this season. They fell to Syracuse, 27-20, in overtime on September 6th, and beat Boston College, 38-23, on October 18th. This is also the second of three straight home games for UConn.
75: The Huskies moved up one spot to 74th in ESPN’s FPI (College Football Power Index) this week. Duke is 43rd.
59: In ESPN’s SP+ rankings, UConn comes is 57th while the Blue Devils are ranked 47th.
2,529: Joe Fagnano has thrown for 2,529 yards this season, which ranks him sixth in FBS. He’s fourth in passing TDs (22), 10th in passing yards per game (281.0) and points responsible for (144), 12th in completions per game (23.22), 14th in passing efficiency (162.5), 18th in total offense (291.1) and 20th in completion percentage (.688). UConn has not had a quarterback pass for over 3,000 yards since Dan Orlovskly in 2003.
2,572: Duke quarterback Darian Mensah has passed for 2,572 yards and averages 321.5 passing yards per game. He has thrown 21 touchdown passes this season.
0: Fagnano has also not thrown an interception all season. He has the most pass attempts (304) and passing yards (2,529) without an interception among all quarterbacks in the NCAA. He is the only QB with 300 or more pass attempts without an interception this season.
2: Mensah has only thrown two touchdown passes and has gone 209 pass attempts without an interception since the second quarter of the Tulane game on September 13th.
324.3: Duke is the fourth-best passing offense in the country at 324.3 yards per game.
216.7: The Huskies’ defense allows 216.7 passing yards per game, which ranks 66th. The Blue Devils defense ranks 122nd, allowing 263.2 passing yards per game.
994: Skyler Bell needs just six more yards receiving to get to 1,000 on the season. His 994 receiving yards ranks him second while his 11 touchdown catches leads FBS. Bell ranks first in the country in catches (74), second in yards per game (110.4) and receptions per game (8.22), and seventh in total touchdowns (11).
6: Bell has now caught a touchdown in six straight games.
11: Bell’s 11 touchdown passes caught ties the single-season school record with Carl Bond, who did it in 1998.
1: The Huskies have just one turnover on the season, which ties them with Temple for best in the country.
33: UConn’s defense has 33 sacks on the season, which places them in a tie for second with Oklahoma in FBS.
9.5: Huskies linebacker Bryun Parham leads the team with 9.5 sacks and ranks third in total sacks (9.5). Parham is also the Huskies leading tackler with 80 on the year, ranking 14th in the country and eighth in tackles for loss, averaging 1.44 per game.
815: UConn running back Cam Edwards ranks 14th in the country in rushing yards (815) and 22nd in rush yards per game (90.6). He is 21st in rushing touchdowns (9) and 20th in total touchdowns (10).
557: Duke true freshman Nate Sheppard leads the Blue Devils with 84 carries for 557 yards. He also has five TDs.
What to watch for
Big Shot
UConn is hosting a power conference team and the best opponent on its schedule when Duke visits the Rent on Saturday. The Blue Devils are not a particularly consistent or excellent team, but they match up well here. They can put up points in bunches and have a defense good enough to make some stops, even on the road.
Jim Mora’s squad has shown an ability to play up to its competition, based on the evidence from games against Syracuse and Boston College, two other teams that aren’t great (to say the least) but have a talent edge on UConn given their position. The way their run game disappears and they can’t stop the run is a massive liability, and if it comes out in this game, it could lead to a blowout.
The Huskies need to put up their best defensive performance of the season and try to ugly this game down. They can stay close in a shootout, but I don’t think they can survive one against this Duke team — they didn’t against Delaware or Rice. Maybe they have another ace up their sleeve, but with the RBs banged up and the O-line inconsistent, a lot of things will need to go right to pull off the upset. The only other hope beyond turnover and big-play luck is a let-down game after the barnburner that Duke won at Clemson last week.
How To Stop an Explosive Duke (Football) Team
UConn and Duke have met four times in a series that is emblematic of the changing landscape in college sports. The Huskies won in 2004 and 2007, when football was an afterthought for Duke and a rising program in Storrs. After the collapse of the Big East, the stratification of the “power five” and newfound power in the NIL era, Duke is an ACC contender and UConn is an independent striver. Who would’ve thought?
The Blue Devils won the last two meetings, crushing a rebuilding Year Two Mora team in 2023 before a 26-21 win last year in Durham where the Huskies led going into the fourth quarter and had two chances to regain the lead after Duke scored a go-ahead touchdown.
Duke’s QB over those two games was Texas transfer Maalik Murphy. This year, it’s Tulane transfer Darian Mensah, the most sought-after portal prospect under center this offseason. He’s putting up Joe Fagnano-like numbers at the helm of an offense ranked 21st in SP+ efficiency, 7th in Net EPA/play, and 19th in yards per play. He’s got two receivers over 500 yards and 14 yards per reception, led by Harvard transfer Cooper Barkate. If you want someone to heckle aggressively in East Hartford tomorrow, it’s Cooper Barkate. Watch out for how UConn’s secondary steps up to this test.
Though it’s not the team’s strength, Duke and OC Jonathan Brewer, a former UConn GA in 2017, are surely salivating at the way Rice and others tore UConn up on the ground. The Blue Devils have two productive backs in Nate Sheppard and Anderson Castle.
Have Fun?
This is not an appeal to fans to enjoy themselves and smell the roses during a solid season even though they might not win this week. It’s an appeal to Mora and the coaching staff to unload the clip with respect to going for it on 4th down, trick plays, and the entire offensive bag.
Beating Duke is a chance to make a meaningful statement on the season, and possibly the last one. Beating Boston College was certainly meaningful, but nobody is going to give the Huskies respect for topping a 1-8 team. They may have one more chance in the bowl game, but at that point, the story of the season is written and opt-outs paint a different picture on the value of a win. This is their chance; hopefully, they will do everything possible to take it.
