Husky Huddle: The Fire Fall for the Huskies
It’s been a great fall for the Huskies across the board. All the teams seem to be doing well, and each team seems to be made up go greta players not just a few stand outs. Nick is joined by Olivia, Kwasi, and Matt to discuss the fall sports rankings. From football, to soccer, to volleyball it’s all discussed right here on Husky Huddle.
Husky Huddle: The Fire Fall for the Huskies
Transcript:
Nick: Hello, everybody. This is Husky Huddle. My name is Nick, and I’m joined today by olivia, Kwasi and Matt. Today we’re going to be touching a lot on a few UConn sports, some, on campus, some off campus. It’s been a good fall for the Huskies. A lot of hot teams, a lot of good performances, and a lot of good storylines. So get ready, strap in. We’re going to be talking UConn sports, and we hope that you’re ready for today’s episode. All right, Matt, we’re going to start with UConn football. Tell us a little bit about what Jim Morris team has been up to.
Matt: So they’re two, two to start the season, and at home at Runchester Field, they’re 20. so that poses a question. Because of their recent success early on at home, would that potentially lead to bigger student turnout at football games? Because now we know that the Huskies basketball team, they’re a hot commodity. What about the football team? Do we think so?
Kwasi: No. If, I’m being honest, whenever I think about UConn football, like, UConn’s the basketball capital of the world. These are things that we know back to back champions. Now, there’s other sports that are all also d one, but especially when it comes to football, it’s like, people really hold on to those early two thousands teams of, like, oh, that was like, the mecca of, like, Uconn football. Those were, like, the glory days. And it just hasn’t really been the same since, like, 2000, 920 ten. In order to get back to that level, they need to either join a certain division of football, there’s rumors that they’re gonna join the big twelve. There’s rumors that they’re gonna go ahead and join the Big ten, even. Cause right now they’re just FBS, independent. And that doesn’t really allow kids to wanna commit to your school when the only school that really works like that is Notre Dame. But other than that, it’s just, there’s no reason why someone
coming out of high school would be like, oh, I wanna go to UConn for football. It doesn’t really make sense. People go to UConn for almost any other sport on campus. We’re going to talk about other sports that are doing just as well right now. But for football, it’s like, it’s getting better, or at least, so I’ve heard it’s getting better. But, like, for the last, like, five to ten years, it just hasn’t been looking too hot.
Olivia: I think there’s a lot to be said, though, about how much Jim Morris changed it in his third season now at UConn. He said back in July that he knows Connecticut is such a powerhouse for sports, and he doesn’t want the football program to be left behind. And I feel like he’s done a really good job. We qualified for our first bowl game his first season, but he’s done a lot since coming, and I feel like there is a lot to be said about what he’s done. And I think back to what Matt mentioned earlier, I think students are tending to go more. I think it being in Hartford is probably one of the bigger things that makes it more difficult. Cause no one wants to ride a school and bus to Hartford. But I feel like students are kind of getting more into it, especially if they are doing a little bit better, especially at home.
Kwasi: You know, let’s just touch on that, like, really fast. So, like, if they were to build a stadium, like, on campus, like wherever I. Do, you think, like, the best spot would be for that stadium? Like, just like anybody. Like anyone. Like, if any of you guys want to answer that, I’m still curious about it.
Nick: It would have to be close to the other athletic facilities. I would have to think. I don’t know if they have any more open land over there where they can build a new stadium, but I know they have that, field. I believe it’s a practice facility behind that parking lot that’s between Hilltop, and kind of like the school business camp also. That could potentially be a stadium. Would it be the best stadium? I would say probably not. So
that’s probably why they stick to Hartford, try to get a bigger draw, try to get as many people as possible. But, even in Hartford, we see that uConn, football still is not pulling in the biggest crowds. the student section isn’t always filled up, so still some work to be done, but, in terms of an on campus location, it’ll be hard in stores.
Kwasi: Have you guys been to football games at all?
Nick: I went to their game against Merrimack. When they beat them, it was like 58 to 14 or something like that. So it was a blowout. But even then, the student section was full for the first half, but empty in the second half. So we’ll see what it takes for UConn to actually fill out the student section. If they’re playing good and if fans aren’t there, it’s probably not the best sign.
Kwasi: That’s it. I’ve never been to a football game, so it’s just like, for me, it’s like, I don’t really have, it’s not really a lack of interest. It’s just the fact that it’s like the entire four years I’ve been here, just like, they haven’t been that good. And in order to get people to go to your football games, you have to show investment, into, like, you have to, like, spend money to get money. Not, they’re like, not that they’re spending money on, like, getting kids to come to college, even though they technically are. But that’s besides the point. It’s just the fact that it’s like, in order to get, like, people to go to your football games, you need to be able to show that you care about football in that regard the same way that they care about basketball. It’s like basketball gets packed out, like, every single year, and it has been that way for like, three decades. And that’s just because everyone loves UConn basketball and the Yukon basketball teams, both men and women, are both so good. So it’s like, if I’m gonna go to a football game, I don’t want to see the team just go, like, maybe like six and nine over the course of the entire season. I want to see them be able to, like, you know, I’m not trying to say, like, they
have to be winning national championships, like, right away. Cause, like, those things take time, but you gotta be able to just show that you care about football and show that the program cancer. I see, like, a little bit of a turnaround for sure, but it’s like, it’s gonna take, like, a couple years for sure to be able
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Kwasi: to see that stuff actually that come to fruition.
Nick: Yeah. Olivia kind of hinted at this earlier. Ever since Jim Mora took, the head of the team a, couple years ago, the team has definitely been trending in the right direction. she said his first year, they qualified for a bowl game. That was their first time in quite a while. I’ll read you a few of these stats from their game against Merrimack. When they did beat them, it wasn’t close, it was a blowout. But they had 624 yards of total offense. That was a new school record. Their 56 first half points were a new FBS school record. And against FAU in a game on September 21, they had 421 rushing yards. That was a new FBS school record and the second most in school history. So it’s safe to say that the team is definitely progressing in terms of its talent, its playmaking ability. I think if the, team has been talking about joining the big twelve or the Pac twelve, I forget exactly what conference. The big twelve. if that were to happen, I think it would definitely give the team some more direction. give fans something to cheer for, probably. Kind of like the Big east is basically the basis of UConn basketball schedule. That’s kind of what having a conference would do for football. So if that were to happen, I think that’d be huge for the team. We’ll see where those talks go. But right now, they’ve kind of stalled.
Matt: And to Nick’s point, in that recent game against FAU, in those 421 rushing yards,
156. There were two players that had 156 rushing yards each, and that was running Bell, Terrell Robinson, and running back Mel Brown. So it’s safe to say, like Nick said, that with Jim Moore, UConn football is developing their talent, and they’re kind of building their foundation that, you know, could potentially lead to more success in the future.
Kwasi: And, they’ve had, like, NFL, like, guys get drafted these past, like, two, three years. So it’s not like that. I’m saying, like, it’s not gonna happen eventually, but, like, one thing that it just, like, seems like it’s, like, for sure it’s not gonna happen, like, at least not during my time at UConn anyway. And it’s just like, stuff like that, like, kind of sucks, but, like, you know, it’s like, I’ve experienced two basketball championships. I feel like I have, like, my rallies and riots across campus. I have enough for my lifetime anyway. But it’s just, especially when it comes to even. There’s a video game that came out recently, EA college Football 25 and UConn are one of the few FBS teams that are featured in the game alongside Notre Dame and UMass. It really is weird for people to. That’s their first experience seeing UConn football, period. They go to, they scroll to pick their favorite team, and then all of a sudden, it’s like, oh, UConn. I didn’t know UConn had a football team. And it’s just like, stuff like that hopefully changes with time. But for the time being, I do see a turnaround. I feel like we’ll get better, give it programs take five years to build. I’d say a solid five to ten year plan. So it won’t happen during our time here, but eventually there should be a little bit of a shift, and, hopefully they join a conference like you guys are saying, and then that would convince kids out of high school to be like, oh, I want to go play in that conference.
Olivia: I think it’ll be interesting, too, to see you said in the next 5, 10 years how the trends change alongside the basketball team. Last year, UConn had over 50,000 applicants to UConn, which was the first time in school history. They don’t normally
have that many. And across the nation, most universities are having less and less applicants, but we’re defying national averages because of the basketball team they’re accrediting it to. So I’d be interested to see how it changes with football, too, because I feel like that’s the only thing we’re missing as a big state school. I feel like a lot of people compare us to Penn State in a lot of regards based on size and location, but I’m interested to see if people want to come to UConn more because of the football, if we get better, because I feel like that’s one thing that holds people back. The basketball is great, but the football kind of sucks for a state school.
Kwasi: And even then, it’s like, they play basketball games and, like, not in, like, not all the basketball games are on campus, too. They play at, like, the Excel center and stuff like that, but, like, there’s a draw there. So it’s like, I feel like it’s not really, like, a, stadium location. That’s, like, 100% the problem. I feel like people would probably prefer, or, like, student wise anyway. Like, people would prefer to go to games on campus, but the fact that the basketball teams can draw people almost anywhere, like, they have games at Madison Square Garden, they have games at, like, the Excel center. It’s like, it’s not really a matter of, oh, people aren’t interested in football. So, like, we have to put the stadium in Hartford. It’s really a thing of, like, okay. Like, you didn’t need to show that, like, you care about football for us to be interested in going to your games. So it’s like I said, it’s definitely going to be interesting. We’ll stick to that five to ten year radius. Do you guys think UConn football is going to get good within the next, anytime sooner at all?
Nick: I think they’ll get better. I don’t think they’ll be one of the consensus best teams in the nation. I don’t think they ever will be one of the consensus best teams in the nation. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be competitive and fun to watch.
Kwasi: We could move on now, and you guys should just educate me on UConn volleyball. Cause I see that they have a 120 overall record. It’s the best starting program history. I personally don’t watch a lot of volleyball, like, collegially anyway. Like, I watch olympics, obviously, like, beach volleyball and then, like, regular volleyball. But it’s like, I’m not sure who would want to go now. But, like, you guys just, like, tell me about, like, UConn volleyball.
Nick: Yeah. If you don’t watch volleyball, you definitely should start watching the Huskies because right now the team is 120. Head
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Nick: coach Ellen Herman Kimball has led an all around Huskies team to the best starting program history. Last year, the team went eight and 22. So it’s been not only a turnaround, but a dramatic turnaround at that. Going from a team that was under 500 to a team that’s now undefeated. They’re undefeated in non conference play. They also have seven home wins, and the team has just been receiving efforts all around the roster. That includes standout junior Emma Werkmeister, who is averaging almost five points per set. That’s the best on her team in 25th in the country. But in addition to her, Doha Kutlou, Audrey Rohm, Taylor Pinel McKenna Brand, and Hannah Toscae have all made name for themselves. So it’s been a good year and a good start to the season for the Huskies.
Matt: With storylines like this. Twelve and zero overall record is impressive in any feat. Do you believe that with sports like volleyball and cross country that have really great storylines that not many people know about unless you’re actually involved with those teams, do you think that it comes down to how well students know and how well these
teams, I guess you could say, are, like, marketed or promoted to students, like, on campus? Because I’ve been seeing a lot of, let’s say, like TikToks or like, Instagram like, reels about from different UConn teams, like the UConn volleyball team, where they go up to students and ask them questions to win, like a Dunkin gift card? Do you think that promoting and marketing are probably needed much more for teams like the volleyball ones or the ones that aren’t, you know, more known in the UConn community?
Nick: I definitely think it helps. I personally work for UConn video services, so I also see what UConn marketing does, and I know that they do. They put an effort for every
single one of their teams. So it’s not like because the basketball team is good, they get more marketing efforts. It’s pretty even. I think the issue is that some sports are just kind of niche compared to others. Basketball is always going to be a big draw because it has a wide audience and a wide demographic of people who are interested. Volleyball is also very popular. Obviously not as much so. So it is kind of unfortunate that it doesn’t get as many eyes as some of these other sports. But what Yukon volleyball does have working for them this year is that they opened their brand new Yukon volleyball center that used to be the Frida’s ice forum on campus. They took it, they renovated it, got rid of the ice, and now it’s a brand new volleyball center. So the Huskies have a new home for their volleyball team. If you guys have ever seen it, it’s very nice. Over these first few weeks of it being open, it had a sellout crowd in its opening weekend. Few sellout crowds ever since then. So even though volleyball may not be getting the same eyes as these other sports, it is still very popular. People are still coming out. So it’s been very encouraging to see. And I think that has to do with not only the team’s good start, but also, their new home on campus.
Kwasi: And just like, further the point that you literally just made, it just kind of shows that if you invest into any type of program, you’re going to start to see results. And that’s
all that fans could ask for. That’s all that students could ask for. It’s just like if you start to. Again, they just got a new volleyball center. It’s like that could not necessarily attribute 100% to their great start to the season, but it’s like there was some correlation there that once you show them that you care, once you show them, hey, let’s make your facilities better. Let’s make sure that this is better. It’s like, it goes to show that that could help improve the team in ways that are beyond player development.
Olivia: Yeah, it reminds me of the baseball stadium because they just recently redid the RZA performance center. And it’s so nice, and the baseball team’s been doing really well. But going back to volleyball, something I think that, they do that’s really cool is they have the athletes hand out, like, flyers on campus, which I haven’t seen any other sport do. And I feel like something that’s so fun about college is like, you have such close access to the student athletes. You know, like, sometimes you see Paige Beckers walking on campus, and that’s so cool. And obviously, like, unfortunately, the volleyball players just aren’t as well known. But I think it is cool to, like, have a direct athlete be like, hey, come watch our game. And I think there’s a lot to be said about the student involvement that they have. So I think if they continue their efforts like that and they’re proving to us that they’re worth watching, we should all, like, consider going more, especially with the new stadium. It’s so nice.
Nick: The volleyball players are super nice. I have seen those videos of them handing out dunkin gift cards. So, yeah, definitely check out a game ahead to the new UConn volleyball center. The team has been playing great. Like I said, not only am a Werkmeister, but the entire team, led by coach Ellen Herman Kimball, has turned it around this year. They’ve been a fun team to watch.
Kwasi: All right, so let’s just move on to UConn men’s soccer. Now, I’ve only been to
one sports game, like, my entire, like, four years on campus, and the one sports game I went to was a, UConn men’s soccer game, I believe. I remember them winning, like, an extra time, but golden goal rules. I know once it gets extra time this year, they’ve started out, like, undefeated. Six wins, zero losses, two draws. They just seem like. It seems like almost all UConn sports in general just, it seems like they’re all getting off to really, really good starts. But UConn men’s soccer is something that I know personally. They’ve been developing something these past few years. Different players are going on to play in that metal. They’re getting drafted and stuff like that. They go on to play in Europe,
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Kwasi: I’m sure. Like, yukon, they play. Where does Yukon men’s soccer play again?
Olivia: Marrone Stadium.
Nick: Yep. Right?
Kwasi: So, like, I’m not, like, when was that built? Like, any time, like, recently or, like, I’m not too sure if, like, I don’t. Like, I don’t want to, like, we were just talking about, like, the trends of, like, you know, like, uconn investing into different sports programs and stuff like that. Like, I’m not too sure, like, when that statement was built, but, like, there has been, like, a massive turnaround. I know the game that I went to, they were commemorating one of the eighties teams that almost, I think they did win a division championship. And since then, they haven’t really done that as often, if ever. That was maybe the 50th or 40th anniversary of that team winning. And then the guys that came up to the field, and they were all just being celebrated and stuff like that. So to see a
really good turnaround in men’s soccer, it was really interesting just looking at some of these stats, it’s really, really cool to see, like, a genuine turnaround in, like, all sports, but just especially, like, UConn soccer as well.
Nick: To answer your question, Kwasi it looks like Joseph J. Moroni stadium was built in 1969. So it has been a while, right? but you’re absolutely right. it seems that the trajectory of UConn men’s soccer has been in the past. It was a dominant program. It was very high on national rankings, one of the most competitive teams in the nation, and then it kind of drifted back and, wasn’t as competitive for a period. But over these last couple of years, the team has been reforming, rebuilding. A lot of that has to do with head coach Chris Bondi, who’s in his third season. When Bondi inherited this team, it was a bit messy. He had a lot of players who were with previous coaching regimens, so not exactly his team and his roster, but he’s done an incredible job acquiring talent and acquiring selfless players, who are willing to do what it takes to win. So this team is not dominated by superstars. It is very even up and down the roster, and they’ve received contributions from just about everybody.
Kwasi: I’m curious about attendance at, men’s soccer games. I don’t have anything written down about men’s soccer intendance wise, but it’s just like, I know it’s definitely more underrated compared to, obviously, basketball. The biggest thing, I feel like even more people go to our football games than they go to soccer games. But I do feel that turnaround that we were talking about earlier. When it comes to UConn football, that’s what UConn soccer has already started to progress into. They’ve already had their five to ten year turnaround of, okay, let’s redo this developed new practice tactics. Let’s make sure that we start to convince players like, hey, UConn’s the place to be, and it’s really, really good standing across the entire year of college sports. People will want to come to your campus to play sports there.
Olivia: Yeah. To answer your question from before, the attendance is not great at men’s soccer game. It’s definitely better than women’s soccer game. But I think something that UConn athletic does that’s pretty neat is they have the basketball team or the football team attend one another’s events, and they do that for the soccer games, too. Like, if you ever see Paige and KK are always posting tiktoks at the women’s soccer games. So I think that’s another draw, too, is, like, other student athletes support. So we should all support. Cause we love them. And they do a lot of, like, traditions at, ah, men’s soccer games. Like, they have tradition night, and they have all the sports teams come out. The uConn, marketing, they give out a lot of free stuff at men’s m soccer games and at, those, like, I don’t want to say, like, lesser watch sports, but for lack of a better term, I’ll say that they do give away, like, nicer stuff. Like, at the hockey games, they kind of give away cheap fanny packs, whereas at the soccer games, they give away nice t shirts and hats. So that’s another, like, draw to get students to go. So it’s not great attendance, but it’s definitely better than some of the female sports.
Nick: It has been encouraging to see the efforts that have been made by not only the players, but all UConn personnel. That includes the marketing department to put forward a good fan experience. Draw fans, draw players to UConn. Try to make the school seem, you know, as well rounded and inclusive as it can. So it’s great seeing athletes support each other, and there’s no better team to support right now, maybe, other than the volleyball team, than the 24th ranked UConn men’s soccer team. So from that, let’s kind of Segway into the other soccer team on campus, the women’s soccer team. They have a six one two start to the season, the second best overall record in the Big east. So it’s been another hot start for another husky team. What do you guys think?
Kwasi: I’d say again, just like I’ve never been to a UConn women’s soccer game. So I
definitely, definitely think that if all these teams are starting off really hot, all students should be trying their best to just go and watch, especially in the moments, especially when the team’s performing really well.You want to be there and be a part of it.
Olivia: Yeah. Something really special that they do, too, is they give out a lot of free tickets to youth, girls soccer programs. I’ve worked a couple UConn games, and it’s really nice to meet these families who come and bring their daughters, and it’s just a good way for them to show, like, female athletes can do really well.
Nick: The UConn sporting experience is definitely a special one. All right, well, to wrap it up, in case you missed it today, we discussed, the progression of UConn athletics. It’s been an incredibly hot start to the fall for pretty much all of them. For everybody in the husky huddle, I’m Nick. I was joined today by Olivia, Kwasi and Matt. Thank you for tuning in, and we’ll see you next time.
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