University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Southern Miss
First Road Test of 2026 Saturday Night at Southern Miss
9/16/2026 12:10:00โฏPM | Football
Media Coverage
Television: ESPN+ (pxp) Jason Baker (analyst) Larry Boyd
Radio: UConn Sports Network
(pxp) Adam Giardino (analyst) Wayne Norman (sideline) Michael Johnson
Flagship Station -ย Fox Sports 97-9 FM (Hartford)
Affiliates - WAVZ 1300 AM (New Haven), WGCH 1490 AM (Greenwich), WILI 1400 AM/95.3FM, (Willimantic); WICH 1310 AM/94.5 FM (Norwich-New London)
Online: The Varsity Network App
SiriusXM 269 and on the SiriusXM App 978
Live Stats: SouthernMiss.com
Quick Hits
The UConn Huskies are on the road for the first time in 2026 heading to Hattiesburg, MS to face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday on ESPN+.
Saturday's game marks the first-ever match-up between UConn and Southern Miss. UConn has faced a team from the Sun Belt four times since the 2022 season and is 1-3 against the conference. The Huskies have three Sun Belt opponents on this year's slate with James Madison and Old Dominion visiting Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in November.
UConn head coach Jason Candle never coached against a Southern Miss team during his tenure at Toledo. He did coach against head coach Blake Anderson three times while Anderson was the head coach at Arkansas State. Candle's team won all three match-ups including a win in the 2015 GoDaddy.com Bowl. Anderson is 2-0 in his coaching career against the Huskies, winning in the 2022 and 2023 seasons at the helm at Utah State.
The Huskies are looking to shake off a 38-14 loss at home to Big Ten foe Maryland last weekend at home.ย UConn went up 7-0 in the first quarter but the Terps answered with 24-straight points on the way to ending the Huskies nine-game home winning streak at the Rent. Quarterback Kalieb Osborne threw a pair of touchdowns in the loss. Wide out JD Willoughby caught his first career touchdown in the loss.
The 2026 season marks the start of a new era of UConn football under first-year head coach Jason Candle. The Huskies named Candle the 33rd head coach in program history in December. Candle comes to Storrs after 10 seasons at the helm at Toledo, guiding the Rockets to 81 wins, making him the program's all-time winningest coach. Under his leadership, the Rockets won two Mid-American Conference Championship titles (2017, 2022) and seven bowl appearances. No MAC team won more games than Toledo during Candle's tenure, and the program did not have a losing season in any of his ten years at the helm. He earned MAC Coach of the Year honors in both 2017 and 2023.
Scouting the Golden Eagles...ย The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are 1-1 on the season after 49-3 win over Alcorn State in their season opener and falling at Auburn, 43-8, last weekend. The Golden Eagles are led by head coach Blake Anderson who is in his first season at the helm. Anderson had previous head coaching stints at Utah State and Arkansas State. The Golden Eagles had a similar roster overhaul to the Huskies, with 74 new players entering the program this fall and just two returning starters. Quarterback Ethan Hampton has thrown for 326 yards and two scores through the first two games. On the ground, Southern Miss is averaging 183.5 yards per game with Steven Robinson leading the way with 174 yards and 3 touchdowns through two games. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt Conference West Division inย Preseason Poll.
UConn vs. the Sun Belt...ย UConn is 1-3 when matched-up against the Sun Belt Conference. The Huskies snapped an 0-3 streak against the league in 2024 with a 234-27 win at home over Georgia State. UConn was 0-2 in 2023, losing at Georgia State, 35-17, and at James Madison, 44-6.ย The first meeting came in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl, a 28-14 loss to Marshall.ย The Huskies are 0-2 all-time against Marshall with the previous loss coming when the Thundering Herd was a member of Conference-USA. UConn is 1-5 against JMU all-time and 0-1 against Georgia Southern, dating back to the FCS years.
