UConn Football History
UConn football was started in 1896 when the college was known as Storrs Agricultural College, and was known as the Aggies. Interestingly, they swapped nicknames between the Aggies and Statesmen for a while, not becoming the Huskies officially until 1934.
They played mostly local foes throughout the early years of the program, such as in-state rival Yale and Rhode Island. UConn was a longtime member of the Yankee Conference, winning 15 titles there.
The program’s first success came in 1924, when they went 6-0-2, and featured a defense that was led by All-American candidate Martin “Red” O’Neill. They were proclaimed as one of the best teams in the country that year. After that, however, UConn had several years of mediocrity, until pulling through and finishing strong in the Atlantic Ten throughout the 80s and 90s.
In 1990, UConn hired a new A.D. in Lew Perkins, and his first task was to attempt to upgrade the team to D-I status. In 1997, the Big East extended invitations to Villanova and UConn. ‘Nova declined, but UConn overwhelmingly accepted, and transitioned into D-I in 2000, one year after Randy Edsall took over as coach.
UConn finished a combined 5-17 over its transitional period, but this allowed the Huskies to expand their scholarship base to 85 and replace the tiny and somewhat aging Memorial Stadium, which fell below the NCAA’s occupancy limit.
It was planned the Huskies would share a stadium with the New England Patriots as they were being courted to Hartford, CT. But when they decided to stay in Massachusetts, Rentschler Field was constructed and opened in 2003.
UConn went 6-6 and 9-3 in 2002 and 2003, what would turn out to be their last seasons as a D-I independent.
UConn was set to join the Big East in 2005, but after Miami and Virginia Tech left in 2003, they were granted early acceptance for the 2004 season. UConn finished 8-4 in 2004, good for 5th in the Big East and good enough for a Motor City Bowl appearance, which they won over Toledo.
After two down seasons, UConn broke through in the Big East in 2007 and claimed a share of the Big East title with West Virginia. The Huskies lost the Meineke Car Care Bowl to Wake Forest, and finished 9-4.
Donald Brown’s 2000 rushing yards captivated fans in 2008, as the Huskies went on to defeat MAC champs Buffalo in the International Bowl. They made it back to a bowl in 2009, winning the papajohns.com Bowl despite dealing with the murder of junior corner Jasper Howard through the season.
The team hit new heights in 2010 when the Huskies claimed the Big East title in a tiebreaker, and won a spot in the BCS as an automatic qualifier. Though they lost the Fiesta Bowl 48-20 to Oklahoma, that was the school’s first major bowl berth.
Edsall left for Maryland after the Fiesta Bowl, and UConn slumped back into mediocrity under Paul Pasqualoni. With former Notre Dame coordinator Bob Diaco leading the charge in 2014, UConn hopes to get back on track and make football in eastern Connecticut desirable again.