STORRS, Conn. — The UConn football team is in a league of its own — and won it.
“We were sitting here at 1-4, we gave up 148 points in those three games, NC State, Syracuse and Michigan, we kind of had a reset meeting,” coach Jim Mora said after practice Wednesday. “And we talked about some objectives. It’s going to sound kind of silly. We decided to create our own conference.”
This could be called taking lemons and making lemonade, or whistling while one works. Rather than bemoan their independent status, or the 48-14, 59-0 and 41-10 beatings they had just taken, Mora grouped the Huskies’ last seven opponents and called it the start of “conference play.”
“I loved the idea,” said linebacker Ian Swenson, who will finish his six-year career with a bowl game. “It adds some more competition to our schedule. It was interesting to see who was winning, who was not.”
UConn started with a win over Fresno State at home, beat Florida International on the road, let one get away at Ball State, defeated Boston College, UMass and Liberty at home, and lost the season finale at Army. That made it 5-2, and when Liberty lost to Virginia Tech and New Mexico State finish 3-3 over its last six, UConn claimed what Mora called the “UConn-ference” championship. T-shirts and everything.
Exactly how the standings were compiled, or which games were counted, is anyone’s guess, since (not to be a buzz kill) Fresno State was 8-1 after losing to UConn. As for the rest, Liberty was 4-3, Army 4-3, Ball State 3-4, FIU, 2-5, Boston College 1-6, UMass 0-7. But the idea apparently lifted spirits and helped lift the Huskies, who finished 6-6, to their first bowl game in seven years. They will play Marshall in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Dec. 19.
“It seemed really silly,” Mora said. “But it helped us kind of focus, when we come through a heck of a tough gantlet there the first five weeks. It just made sense, I don’t know how I thought of it. We were just flying home and I was thinking, ‘gosh, how do we re-set this thing after what we just went through?’”
Of course, it’s silly, with all these teams playing different schedules. UConn also can claim a non-existent New England title, having beaten BC and UMass. And they have had silly competitions in practice from penalty kicks to punt, pass and kick to a bowling party on the day of their selection.
When a team goes from 1-11 to 6-6, it should be fun. UConn tasted success, and kept their imaginary conference to themselves until afterward and in those ways, this differs from the ill conceived and fated “CivilConFLiCT” trophy dreamed up by Bob Diaco.
“We just went through the gantlet of Syracuse, Michigan and NC State, and he just wanted us not to get down on ourselves,” defensive back Trey Wortham said. “Really, boost our confidence and have something to play for. It’s easy, when you go down a stretch like that to give in and say, ‘oh, we’re the same old UConn.’ But he saw in us that we weren’t the same team as last year and he wanted to give us a spark that we needed. Thankfully, we took that challenge on.”
In that spirit, the Huskies now will take on a challenge that, perhaps, many power five programs would greet with a yawn.
“We realized what our identity was and we leaned on that throughout the year,” fullback Robert Burns said. “This is awesome, man, we just have a hunger here. Guys really, really want it. You see it when we’re practicing. Even outside the building, just talking about it. Man, we can’t wait. We’re really looking forward to this opportunity.”
After UConn’s loss to Army, the team took time off for Thanksgiving, then got back to work. Receivers Cam Ross and Keelan Marion, who returned from injuries late in the season, have been practicing full out, giving quarterback Zion Turner the feeling of starting the season over again with all his weapons. Running back/returner Brian Brewton will have more tests on his injured elbow, but Mora is less optimistic about his return for the game.
“We’re going to get 16, 17, 18 additional practices, which is more than you get in the spring,” Mora said.
“I haven’t played in December in so long,” Wortham said. “Usually, the season is over in November and you go home. But we’re not home. We still get to go to practice and play another game.”
Mora, calling on his NFL postseason experience, is scheduling things like a Super Bowl team, working on logistics and getting the hard practices and game plan installed over the next week. Once the Huskies reach Myrtle Beach on Dec. 15, they’ll just fine-tune and try to enjoy the experience.’
“It’s cool to be around a group of guys that set an objective and attained it,” Mora said. “It’s fun. It’s fun. ... We are really demanding, very, very demanding of these young men, and they respond. Because they respond, it’s easy to say ‘let’s do things that make sure it’s enjoyable.’ Let’s have a Halloween Party, let’s go bowling. Bill Russell, who is one of my idols, when he talked about the Boston Celtics, he said they had a unique way of playing like children without being childish. So we try to operate within those parameters. Let’s have the joy of a child, but let’s never act silly or childish.”
