The Huskies scored touchdowns on all eight of their first-half drives as they ran away with this one.
UConn football opened its home slate with a convincing win over FCS Merrimack, 63-17, at Rentschler Field on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies (1-1) started with 28 unanswered points in the first quarter after forcing the visitors into three consecutive three-and-outs and never looked back.
With starter Nick Evers sitting after a hit to the head in the season opener against Maryland, backup QB Joe Fagnano, last year’s Day One starter, played the entirety of Saturday’s Week 2 contest. He finished with 13-for-19 for 323 yards and five touchdowns as the Huskies racked up over 600 yards of total offense and had backups in by the third quarter.
MC hit a long TD run to make it 28-7 late in the opening quarter, but the Huskies were rolling and got another one quickly to make it 35-7. They scored on touchdown plays of 50, 48, 29, 46, 60, 39, and 44 yards, just in the first half. Cam Edwards scored two while Durrell Robinson, Fagnano, and Victor Rosa each ran one in and Fagnano completed TD passes to Edwards, Skyler Bell, Shamar Porter, and Ezeriah Anderson.
The Husky defense looked sharp on this day, keeping penalties to a minimum while forcing five three-and-outs in the first half and seven on the day. The score was 56-7 at halftime as the Warriors added 10 more points in garbage time in the second half. UConn QBs Tucker Macdonald and Cole Welliver saw time as well.
Next week, the Huskies are on the road to face Duke. The Blue Devils are 2-0 after starting the season with a win over FCS Elon and a Friday-night OT win over Northwestern. Kick-off will be at 6 p.m. on ACC Network/ESPN+.