– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — Two college basketball blue bloods playing an end-of-season football game inside of a baseball stadium seems odd enough. The past FBS-level success of one of those teams, the University of Connecticut, just over a decade a ago caught almost everyone in the country by surprise before they fell back to the depths of the college football world once more.
But under current head coach Jim Mora, another resurrection is in the works, with their latest (and final) impressive showing of 2024 portending to the Huskies becoming much more than a basketball school again.
Quarterback Joe Fagnano threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns as the Huskies dominated North Carolina 27-14 in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park on Saturday morning. Mel Brown rushed for 96 yards while Skyler Bell caught three passes for 77 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Huskies an early 10-0 lead. That advantage would grow to 20, 27-7, by the midway point of the third quarter. Fagnano was named the Fenway Bowl offensive MVP.
Already securing their first winning season since the 2010 team won the Big East and played in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma, the Huskies’ win today marked the third time the program has won nine games in a season since the football team transitioned into Division 1 in 2000. Connecticut also won nine games in 2003 and 2007.
Playing in their last game before former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick takes over, the Tar Heels’ only real sign of life in the first half Chris Culliver’s 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter that cut the Huskies’ lead to 10-7.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday morning’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are seven pictures in total.
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