With a nor'easter bearing down on New England, the Huskies just might not mind playing away from home.
Teams certainly prefer home games to road games, but the UConn Huskies might feel OK about playing in Oxford, Ohio, on Saturday.
That’s where Mid-American Conference team Miami (1-2) calls home. And based on the forecast from The Weather Channel, the weather will be delightful on Saturday: mostly sunny, with a high of 72 degrees, a 7% chance of rain with wind at 6 mph.
About 800 miles to the east at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, the home field of the Huskies, a brisk 58-degree day with a 72% chance of rain and 20 mph has been projected by The Weather Channel.
NBC Connecticut, a local affiliate, is forecasting weather along the same lines: a high of 60 degrees and a 60% chance of rain.
Game time is 3:30 p.m.
Nor’easter incoming
Meteorologists are checking the radar reports for the New England area and see signs of a nor’easter coming in for the weekend. While some experts, based on their social media posts, believe the Massachusetts coastline would take the brunt of the wind and rain, a football game played in East Hartford still could wind up to be a dirty mess.
The good weather in Ohio, should the forecast prove correct, would allow Huskies head coach Jason Candle to open the playbook for quarterback Kalieb Osborne and the offense. Extreme rainy conditions often limit a team to a ground game only.
Candle’s two-dimensional offense has put up an average of 39.3 points per game against Lafayette, Maryland and Southern Miss. The Huskies are averaging 443.3 yards per game – 249.6 yards in the air, 193.7 yards on the ground.
Southern Miss revisited
A tradition Candle brought with him to UConn from his previous head-coaching job at Toledo was the naming of players of the game – after a win only.
In case you missed the news, Candle chose running back Cyncir Bowers on offense, defensive back Anas Luqman on defense and punter Tommy Warner on special teams as the players of the game..
In the 48-20 win over Southern Miss last Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss., Bowers had 11 carries for a career-high 84 yards (7.6 yards per carry) and a touchdown.
Luqman picked off a pass in the second half and returned it 24 yards for his first career touchdown.
As for Warner, he made the most of his five punts, booting them a combined 247 yards for an average of 49.4 yards per punt. His long was 56 – one of his two punts to travel at least 50 yards.
