2021 UConn Huskies football team

The 2021 UConn Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut (UConn) in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Huskies competed as an independent, having left the American Athletic Conference following the 2019 season. They played their home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

2021 UConn Huskies football
ConferenceIndependent
Record1–11
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFrank Giufre (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorLou Spanos (2nd season; first 2 games)
Jarren Horton (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumRentschler Field
(capacity: 40,632)
2021 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 8 Notre Dame   –   11 –2  
No. 19 BYU   –   10 –3  
Army   –   9 –4  
Liberty   –   8 –5  
New Mexico State   –   2 –10  
UMass   –   1 –11  
UConn   –   1 –11  
Rankings from AP Poll

On September 5, following the team's 38–28 loss to FCS-school Holy Cross, head coach Randy Edsall announced he would be retiring at the end of the season.[1] The following day, the school announced that Edsall had resigned effective immediately and defensive coordinator Lou Spanos was named the interim head coach.[2][3]

On November 11, former UCLA coach Jim L. Mora was named the school's 31st head coach beginning with the 2022 season. Shortly after the hire he helped serve as an offensive assistant for the remainder of the season.[4]

The team finished the season 1–11.

In June 2020, it was announced that UConn's other sports programs would be joining the Big East Conference. Since the Big East does not sponsor football and the American did not want to keep UConn as a football-only school, it was decided that the football program would compete as an independent.[5] The move to the Big East was primarily due to the university wanting to focus more on the men's and women's basketball programs, feeling the move to the American had hindered those programs.[6]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 28 2:00 p.m. at Fresno State
CBSSN L 0–45 26,043
September 4 12:00 p.m. Holy Cross
CBSSN L 28–38 18,782
September 11 3:00 p.m. Purdue
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
 CBSSN L 0–49 14,817
September 18 12:00 p.m. at Army
CBSSN L 21–52 25,030
September 25 3:30 p.m. Wyoming
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
 CBSSN L 22–24 12,538
October 2 7:30 p.m. at Vanderbilt
ESPNU L 28–30 21,218
October 9 3:30 p.m. at UMass
NESN L 13–27 12,765
October 16 12:00 p.m. Yale
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
 CBSSN W 21–15 18,596
October 22 6:00 p.m. Middle Tennessee
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
 CBSSN L 13–44 10,698
November 13 12:00 p.m. at Clemson
ACCN L 7–44 77,522
November 20 4:00 p.m. at UCF
ESPN+ L 17–49 37,454
November 27 12:00 p.m. No. 24 Houston
  • Rentschler Field
  • East Hartford, CT
 CBSSN L 17–45 12,685

Source [7]

Roster
2021 Connecticut Huskies football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 1 Keelan Marion Fr
WR 3 Heron Maurisseau  So
WR 4 Matt Drayton So
WR 5 Aaron Turner Fr
WR 7 Cameron Ross So
QB 8 Steven Krajewski  So
WR 9 Darius Bush Fr
QB 10 Micah Leon  Jr
QB 11 Jack Zergiotis So
QB 12 Tyler Phommachanh Fr
QB 13 Miles Foerster  Fr
WR 14 Elijah Jeffreys  So
WR 15 Mark Didio Fr
RB 25 Devontae Houston Fr
RB 26 Nathan Carter Fr
RB 28 Brian Brewton Fr
RB 30 Robert Burns GS
RB 34 Kevin Mensah Sr
RB 36 Khyon Gillespie  So
WR 39 Hayden Jordon  Fr
WR 42 Kevin Dunn  Fr
RB 44 Max Modeste Fr
TE 45 Christopher Johnson Fr
OL 50 Dylan Niedrowski  So
OL 51 Peter Rooney Jr.  So
OL 52 Yakiri Walker Fr
OL 53 Sidney Walker Jr
OL 60 Mason Raymer Fr
OL 61 Jesse Polansky Fr
OL 62 Noel Ofori-Nyadu  So
OL 64 Christian Haynes  So
OL 67 Christopher Fortin Fr
OL 69 Will Meyer Fr
OL 70 Femi Sakiri Fr
OL 71 Valentin Senn  Fr
OL 72 Rayonte Brown  Fr
OL 74 Ryan Van Demark Sr
OL 75 Chase Lundt  Fr
OL 76 Jonathan Pace Jr
OL 77 Robby Rochester Fr
OL 79 Danny Antolovich Fr
TE 80 Jayce Medlock So
TE 81 Jay Rose Sr
TE 82 Brendan Heatherman Fr
TE 83 Brandon Niemenski Fr
WR 84 Jacob Flynn  Fr
TE 85 Russell Dixon  Fr
WR 86 Kevens Clercius  Fr
WR 87 Cameron Hairston  Jr
WR 88 Josh Tracey Fr
WR 89 Jahkai Gill So
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 0 Reyan Blake Fr
DB 2 Myles Bell So
DB 3 Diamond Harrell Sr
LB 5 Terrence Ganyi  So
LB 6 Ian Swenson  Jr
DB 7 Tre Wortham Jr
DB 8 Jalon Ferrell  So
DL 9 Langston Hardy Fr
DB 12 Kaleb Anthony Fr
DB 14 Malcolm Bell Fr
LB 15 Tui Faumuina-Brown Fr
DB 16 Malik Banks  So
DB 17 Stan Cross Fr
DB 18 Jaylen Jones  Fr
DB 19 Durante Jones Fr
DB 20 Deon Mclean Jr. Fr
DB 21 Jeremy Lucien Jr
DB 22 Alfred Chea Fr
DB 23 Juan Rosario So
LB 24 Desmond Fogle Fr
LB 27 Omar Fortt Sr
LB 29 Jordan Morrison  So
DB 31 Malik Dixon  Fr
DB 32 Shamel Lazarus  So
LB 33 Hunter Webb  So
DB 37 Kyle Williams GS
DB 38 Winston Jules  Fr
LB 40 Deondrick Speight Fr
LB 41 D.J. Morgan GS
LB 43 Jackson Mitchell So
LB 46 John Bechtle Fr
LB 47 Justin Bryant  So
DL 48 Kevon Jones Jr
DL 55 MarQuayveon Evans Fr
DL 56 Carter Hooper Fr
DL 57 Travis Jones Jr
LB 58 Dillon Harris Sr
DL 65 Aaron Lange Fr
DL 68 Justin Moore  Fr
DL 90 Pryce Yates Fr
DL 91 Collin McCarthy Fr
DL 93 Pierce DeVaughn  So
DL 94 Nick Harris Fr
DL 95 Eric Watts So
DL 96 Dal'mont Gourdine  Fr
DL 98 Lwal Uguak Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 17 Blake Otto Fr
LS 53 Brian Keating Sr
LS 59 Nilay Upadhyayula Fr
LS 63 Kevin Cahill So
K 84 Joe McFadden Fr
K 92 Noah Iden  So
K 97 Noe Ruelas Fr
P 99 Haydn Kerr Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Frank Giufre
    Offensive coordinator/offensive line
  • Jarren Horton
    Defensive coordinator/star, nickel, dime
  • Eddie Allen
    Special teams coordinator
  • Kyle Weiss
    Running backs
  • Corey Edsall
    Tight ends
  • Darrell Perkins
    Defensive backs
  • Dennis Dottin-Carter
    Defensive line
  • Aaron Smith
    Wide receivers
  • Mike Moyseenko
    Quarterbacks
  • Jim Mora
    Offensive assistant
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: June 7, 2021

Game summaries

At Fresno State
See also: 2021 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
UConn Huskies at Fresno State Bulldogs  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Huskies 0 0 000
Bulldogs 7 24 7745

at Bulldog Stadium • Fresno, California

  • Date: August 28
  • Game time: 2:05 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 90 °F (32 °C) • Wind: 4 SE • Weather: Smoke
  • Game attendance: 26,043
  • Referee: T. Salaam
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (color), and Lindsay Rhodes (sideline)
  • Box Score
Game information
StatisticsUConnFRES
First downs925
Total yards107538
Rushing yards35156
Passing yards72382
Turnovers11
Time of possession29:0330:57

Holy Cross
See also: 2021 Holy Cross Crusaders football team
Holy Cross Crusaders at UConn Huskies  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Crusaders 7 17 7738
Huskies 14 7 7028

at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, Connecticut

  • Date: September 4
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 79 °F (26 °C) • Wind: None • Weather: Sunny
  • Game attendance: 18,782
  • Referee: Jeff Pruitt
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Ed Cohen (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (color), and Tina Cervasio (sideline)
  • Box Score
Game information
StatisticsHCUConn
First downs1918
Total yards363262
Rushing yards22688
Passing yards137174
Turnovers14
Time of possession33:1326:47

Purdue
See also: 2021 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Purdue Boilermakers at UConn Huskies  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Boilermakers 7 28 14049
Huskies 0 0 000

at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, Connecticut

  • Date: September 11
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 80 °F (27 °C) • Wind: None • Weather: Sunny
  • Game attendance: 14,187
  • Referee: Stuart Mullins
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Ed Cohen (play-by-play), Randy Cross (color), and Josh Martin (sideline)
  • Box Score
Game information
StatisticsPURUConn
First downs2911
Total yards562223
Rushing yards187124
Passing yards37599
Turnovers01
Time of possession34:3425:26

At Army
See also: 2021 Army Black Knights football team
UConn Huskies at Army Black Knights  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Huskies 0 0 14721
Black Knights 14 28 7352

at Michie Stadium • West Point, NY

  • Date: September 18
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 78 °F (26 °C) • Wind: NW 5 MPH • Weather: Mostly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 25,030
  • Referee: Jerry Magallena
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Jason Horowitz (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (analyst) & Tina Cervasio (sideline)
  • Box score
Game information
StatisticsUConnARMY
First downs924
Total yards225504
Rushing yards116397
Passing yards109107
Turnovers10
Time of possession19:2440:36

Wyoming
See also: 2021 Wyoming Cowboys football team
Wyoming Cowboys at UConn Huskies  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cowboys 0 3 71424
Huskies 10 3 0922

at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, Connecticut

  • Date: September 25
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 73 °F (23 °C) • Weather: Sunny
  • Game attendance: 12,538
  • Referee: Timothy Hedgepeth
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Ed Cohen (play-by-play), Randy Cross (analyst) & Josh Martin (sideline)
  • Box score
Game information
StatisticsWYOUConn
First downs2219
Total yards353281
Rushing yards204110
Passing yards149171
Turnovers21
Time of possession35:2924:31

At Vanderbilt
See also: 2021 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
UConn Huskies at Vanderbilt Commodores  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Huskies 6 10 01228
Commodores 3 14 01330

at Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee

Game information
StatisticsUConnVAN
First downs2623
Total yards515439
Rushing yards184106
Passing yards331333
Turnovers22
Time of possession28:1031:50

At UMass
See also: 2021 UMass Minutemen football team and UConn–UMass football rivalry
UConn Huskies at UMass Minutemen  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Huskies 10 0 0313
Minutemen 7 0 31727

at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Hadley, Massachusetts

  • Date: October 9
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 64 °F (18 °C) • Weather: Overcast • Wind: E 8 MPH
  • Game attendance: 12,765
  • Referee: Hank Johns
  • TV announcers (NESN): Jay Burnham (play-by-play), Andy Gresh (analyst) and Matt Goldstein (sideline)
  • Box score
Game information
StatisticsUConnUMass
First downs1421
Total yards291407
Rushing yards163247
Passing yards128160
Turnovers30
Time of possession20:4939:11

The day before the game, interim head coach Lou Spanos, offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Frank Giufre, and tight ends coach Corey Edsall, along with offensive linemen Ryan Van Demark and Will Meyer, tested positive for COVID-19. Defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter served as the Huskies' head coach for the game.[8]

Yale
See also: 2021 Yale Bulldogs football team
Yale Bulldogs at UConn Huskies  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bulldogs 0 0 9615
Huskies 0 14 7021

at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, Connecticut

  • Date: October 16
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 75 degrees Sunny
  • Game attendance: 18,596
  • Referee: Hans Wittelsberger
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Jason Knapp (play-by-play) & Ross Tucker (color)
  • Box score
Game information
StatisticsYALEUConn
First downs1615
Total yards299318
Rushing yards108119
Passing yards191199
Turnovers40
Time of possession31:3528:25

Middle Tennessee
See also: 2021 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at UConn Huskies  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Blue Raiders 3 21 101044
Huskies 0 13 0013

at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, Connecticut

  • Date: October 22
  • Game time: 6:02 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny
  • Game attendance: 10,698
  • Referee: Mike Roche
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): John Sadak (play-by-play) & Randy Cross (color analyst)
  • Box score
Game information
StatisticsMiddle TennesseeUConn
First downs3016
Total yards473304
Rushing yards15567
Passing yards318237
Turnovers03
Time of possession37:2222:38

At Clemson
See also: 2021 Clemson Tigers football team
UConn Huskies at Clemson Tigers  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Huskies 7 0 007
Tigers 10 20 7744

at Memorial Stadium • Clemson, South Carolina

  • Date: November 13
  • Game time: 12:03 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 59 °F (15 °C) • Weather: Sunny • Wind: W 9 MPH
  • Game attendance: 77,522
  • Referee: Riley Johnson
  • TV announcers (ACCN): Wes Durham (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (color analyst), and Taylor Davis (sideline)
  • Box Score
Game information
StatisticsUConnClemson
First downs626
Total yards99476
Rushing yards-17129
Passing yards116347
Turnovers22
Time of possession23:1636:44

At UCF
See also: 2021 UCF Knights football team
UConn Huskies at UCF Knights  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Huskies 0 14 0317
Knights 21 14 01449

at Bounce House • Orlando, Florida

  • Date: November 20
  • Game time: 4:05 p.m.
  • Game weather: Temperature: 73 °F (23 °C) • Weather: Cloudy • Wind: SW 14 MPH
  • Game attendance: 37,454
  • Referee: Tim Rich
  • TV announcers (ESPN+): Conner Onion (play-by-play) & Leger Douzable (color analyst)
  • Box Score
Game information
StatisticsUConnUCF
First downs1723
Total yards311537
Rushing yards137280
Passing yards174257
Turnovers31
Time of possession32:3027:30

No. 24 Houston
See also: 2021 Houston Cougars football team
Houston Cougars at UConn Huskies  – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cougars 7 14 17745
Huskies 0 10 0717

at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field • East Hartford, Connecticut

  • Date: November 27
  • Game time: 12:08 p.m.
  • Game weather: 39 degrees Sunny
  • Game attendance: 12,685
  • Referee: Tom Omara
  • TV announcers (CBSSN): Jason Knapp (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (color analyst), and Tina Cervasio (sideline)
  • Box score
Game information
StatisticsHoustonUConn
First downs2116
Total yards472238
Rushing yards14982
Passing yards323156
Turnovers11
Time of possession31:1628:44

References
  1. Scarborough, Alex (September 5, 2021). "UConn football coach Randy Edsall announces retirement, effective at season's end, after loss to FCS Holy Cross". ESPN. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  2. Kidwai, Aman (September 5, 2021). "Randy Edsall out as UConn head coach". The UConn Blog. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  3. Bonjour, Doug (September 7, 2021). "Day after Randy Edsall's departure, Uconn shifts focus to Purdue: 'Bit of a roller coaster'". CT Insider. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  4. Rittenberg, Adam (November 11, 2021). "UConn hires former UCLA coach Jim Mora to lead football program". ESPB. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  5. Putterman, Alex (August 28, 2020). "A program in transition: As Huskies kick off season, independent future slowly snaps into focus". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  6. "Big-tome football not going over big for UConn". The Day. September 7, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  7. "2021 UConn Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  8. Wilson, Dave (October 9, 2021). "UConn Huskies interim football coach Lou Spanos tests positive for COVID-19, won't coach Saturday". ESPN. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
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