Ex-Huskies head coach Jim Mora and a whole bunch of transfers post big wins.
Jason Candle’s UConn debut could not have gone much better, with his team gaining a school-record 671 yards and authoring a dominant 56-7 win over Lafayette on Saturday.
Some UConn friends got the 2026 football season off to a great start, too.
In Fort Collins, Colo., former Huskies coach Jim Mora made a victorious return west as his Colorado State team defeated Wyoming 35-13 on Saturday. It’s a meaningful game in the Rocky Mountain states, one of those meetings that has a name, a legacy, bragging rights for a year and a symbolic trophy to go with it.
The Border War. The 118th edition. The Bronze Boot.
Jim Mora’s Pac-12 rebirth
UConn hired the veteran Mora before the 2022 season to turn around a drowning program that hadn’t registered a season of .500 or better since 2010.
And he did it, finishing 27-23 with three bowl berths and two nine-win seasons out of his four in Storrs, Conn.
When Colorado State, looking for a new head football coach, came calling, it was an offer impossible to refuse. Mora had spent most of his coaching career in the west, both in college and in the NFL, including six seasons and a 46-30 record at UCLA.
The Bruins played in the old Pac-12, which was left with just two members (Oregon State and Washington State) for two seasons after the other schools split for other conferences. Colorado State is part of the new Pac-12 as the conference enjoys its revival this season.
So well-loved was Candle at his previous school – Toledo – that 21 of his players left the Rockets to join him in Storrs. They helped to fill the spots of the 18 former Huskies who joined Mora at Colorado State with the Rams.
How the ex-Huskies fared
Mora is 1-0, the first Colorado State coach to win the first game of the season since Mike Bobo in 2015.
And several of those 18 transfers from UConn played a role. In fact, 11 of them saw their names in the box score.
On the offensive side, Mel Brown ran the ball eight times for 57 yards and added seven receiving yards on two catches. Jackson Harper caught three passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, and he also returned three punts for 35 yards. And Terrence Smith Jr. did a little bit of everything; he caught four balls for 29 yards, completed his one pass attempt for 28 yards and gained three yards on one carry.
On defense, Oumar Diomande made 11 tackles and pulled down an interception, with Stephon Wright and Brandon Kelley each recording three tackles. Wright had one tackle for loss and a sack.
And in Michigan…
Connecticut native Cam Edwards was UConn’s top rusher last season, running for 1,240 yards. He led the Huskies in rushing in 12 of 13 games, gaining more than 100 yards in six of those games.
It’s no mystery why Michigan State moved quickly to snap up Edwards in the transfer portal.
In his debut with the Spartans on Friday, a 30-20 win over Candle’s former school – Toledo – Edwards accounted for 98 of Michigan State’s 150 rushing yards. He rushed 27 times (3.6 yards per carry) and scored the Spartans’ first touchdown of the season.
Michigan State running back Cam Edwards (0) celebrates a first down against Toledo during the first half at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Sept. 4, 2026. Junfu Han /USA TODAY Network.