The new football coach was happy with his team's first win. He just wishes the players had needed to face a few roadblocks.
To first-year UConn head coach Jason Candle, the Huskies’ 56-7 win over Lafayette on Saturday was missing something he wanted to see to start the 2026 football season.
The program-record 671 yards weren’t enough. The solid debuts of both the offense and defense, the perfect day from freshman placekicker Jack O’Connor, the fact that 100 players got into the game in the first half.
None of those were enough for him.
What is it that Candle wanted to see that he didn’t?
“I just think number one, like we haven't been through any adversity yet, right? That's the one thing that's that really stands out to me,” Candle told reporters on Monday. “You know, what's going to happen and who are we when we get hit in the mouth?
“And at some point in time throughout the course of the football season, that's going to happen. You hope there's some moments like that in game one.”
Next up: Maryland
The Huskies will take a huge step up in weight class on Saturday, when Maryland of the Big Ten comes to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.
Lafayette was the only FCS game on the schedule for the Huskies. Maryland is one of three Power Four opponents visiting UConn. Syracuse (Oct. 3) and North Carolina (Nov. 7), both of the Atlantic Coast Conference, are the others.
Some adversity would have helped – not something so awful that the Huskies lost to Lafayette – but “you want some of those moments to show up and you want to see your team respond,” Candle said.
“I think that's our challenge this week to continue to hone in on practice details and practice habits so we're ready for when, you know, the you-know-what hits the fan.”
Maryland gained 646 total yards in its Week 1 win over Hampton, also an FCS program.
Maryland quarterback Cardell Williams (6) is forced out of the pocket by Hampton defensive end BreShun Hall (14) in the second half of Maryland's 62-0 victory on Saturday in College Park, Md. Jamie Sabau-Imagn ImagesWeek 1 MVPs
Candle announced his most valuable player awards for the game on Monday. He told reporters it’s a practice of his following wins.
He named Julian Allen (special teams), K'Von Sherman (defense) and Kalieb Osborne (offense) for the honor. All three are transfers from Toledo, where Candle coached for 10 years before accepting the UConn job last December after the departure of Jim Mora.
Candle praised the performance of the special teams unit as a whole, singling out Allen, saying he “did a good job catching the punts all day long… I think he's got a really bright future at that position.”
Allen returned three punts, taking one 49 yards to the Lafayette 16-yard-line. After a penalty pushed UConn back to the 25, Kenji Christian ran 25 yards for the touchdown that pushed the score to 35-0 at the end of the second quarter.
Candle called Sherman, a linebacker, “an impact and a force right from the start.” Sherman finished with five tackles (two for loss) and a sack.
The coach also credited Osborne, named Group of Six Quarterback of the Week by Pro Football Focus's college division, with “efficient” play from the first series on.
Osborne finished with 265 passing yards, a 73.1% completion rate and two touchdowns. He also led the Huskies with 90 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
