Huskies Soar Past Golden Eagles for First Road Win of 2026

Saturday, September 19

Hattiesburg, MS

7:00 PM

University of Connecticut

2-1 , 0-0

Southern Miss

1-2 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
UConn	14	13	14	7	48
Southern Miss	3	3	7	7	20

Final Stat Book

Huskies Soar Past Golden Eagles for First Road Win of 2026

9/19/2026 11:07:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Biggest Margin of Victory on the Road Since 2015

HATTIESBURG, MS – The UConn Huskies improved to 2-1 on the season thanks to their first road win of 2026, a 48-20 win at Southern Miss in front of 23,025 at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Renasant Stadium Saturday night.

The 28-point win marked the largest margin of victory on the road for the Huskies since a 27-point win (40-13) at UCF in 2015. The Huskies also go 1-0 on the road to open a season for the first time since 2012.

Junior quarterback Kalieb Osborne threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 32 yards and two more scores to lead the UConn offense. The Huskies finished with 436 yards of offense, 223 in the air and 213 on the ground in the win. UConn also caused a pair of turnovers that led to points.

Running back Cyncir Bowers ran for a career-high 84 yards on 11 carries and a score in the win. Defensively, linebacker Hayden Pegg had eight tackles while Braedyn Moore and Anas Luqman each had their first career interceptions.

On the game's opening drive, the Huskies converted three third downs, capped by Osborne scramble out of trouble on 3^rd and 4 to hit Shamar Porter for a 38-yard touchdown at 10:23 to open the scoring. The drive covered 75 yards in nine plays with Osborne going 4-4 for 58 yards on the drive.

The Southern Miss opening drive ended with the first career interception for safety Braedyn Moore and the Huskies converted it to seven points and a 14-0 lead at 6:19. Osborne ran in from five yards out on 3^rd and 2 for his third rushing TD this season. The Golden Eagles closed the first quarter with a 47 yard FG from Creighton Wilbanks, capping a 10-play, 51-yard drive.

UConn scored on their third possession with freshman Jack O'Connor's first career FG attempt from 46 yards. The kick was good to cap off an 11-play, 47 yard drive for a 17-3 lead at 11:05. The Huskies pushed their lead to 24-3 at 8:47 of the second quarter as Cyncir Bowers burst through the left side of the line and out-ran the defense for a 42-yard touchdown, his second as a Husky while also marking the longest run of his career.

Helped by a successful fake punt, the Golden Eagles added another Wilbanks field goal at 3:15 to cap a 14-play, 59-yard drive. Wilbanks hit from 34 yards out to make it 24-6 UConn.

The Huskies used their two-minute offense to add to their lead right before half. Getting the ball back with 33 seconds left in the half, Osborne drove UConn 52 yards with a 32-yard completion to JD Willoughby to set up O'Connor's third field goal of the half, a 29-yarder as time expired to lead 27-6 at the break. The Huskies scored on five of their seven drives in the first half.

The UConn defense set up another scoring drive to open the second half. Forcing a turnover on downs, the Huskies took over on their own 41-yard line and Osborne marched them down to the one-yard line then hit running back Trey Cornist in the right corner of the endzone for a 34-6 lead at 7:26 in the third. On the first play of the ensuing Southern Miss drive, defensive lineman Anas Luqman picked-off a Landry Lyddy pass and rumbled 24-yards for the score to push the lead to 41-6 with 7:17 left. It was Luqman's first career interception and touchdown.

The UConn defense held Southern Miss to 102 yards rushing and 5-of-15 on the third down on the night.

Up Next: UConn will be back on the road next Saturday when they head to Miami (OH) from the Mid-American Conference. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 pm on ESPN+.