Next up for Duke Football – the Huskies are coming

Date 14.9. || Time 6:00 || Venue Wallace Wade Stadium || video ACCNX

Duke has a chance to move to 3-0 with a win over UConn on Saturday.

This may sound familiar: The Huskies have long had a strong basketball program, but they have also struggled in football for a long time.

Unlike Duke, which plays in a good if not necessarily great football league, UConn was in the Big East, then the AAC, and is now back in the Big East.

Football has been weak for a long time. That's a problem for UConn because it makes it harder to get into a power conference. Just a few days ago, the Big 12 decided to stop pursuing the Huskies because football was seen as a weakness.

UConn is currently coached by Jim Mora, the son of the former NFL coach of the same name.

Mora coached in the NFL – three years with the Atlanta Falcons and one with the Seattle Seahawks. His career record was 31-33.

He also coached at UCLA for six seasons, compiling a 46-30 record and four bowl appearances, but his final two seasons saw the Bruins finish 4-8 and 5-6.

At UConn, he is mediocre at 10-17, and the Huskies are 1-1 so far this season.

The loss was against Maryland and 50-7 was bad; the win was against Merrimack and that was good – 63-14, kind of good.

And here's the twist: Mora's starting quarterback Nick Evers didn't play last weekend after suffering a concussion at Maryland. Backup quarterback Joe Fanano led the team against Merrimack and had an incredible game, leading the offense to seven consecutive touchdowns. Can you imagine long-suffering Husky fans seeing a guy out of nowhere go after Tom Brady and then the coach says he's not sure who's going to start?

It's not a bad problem, but Mora says it will be Evers when he's ready.

There's a big difference between Merrimack and Duke, but this is an amazing performance by Fanano. UConn fans will be talking about this for a long time. You can bet Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke and the Duke defense are talking about him a lot, too.

A little more information on Fanano: He's a college student from Maine, where we believe he spent most of his career. He's 6'4″ and 220 pounds, which is what most people like to see in a quarterback.

Duke's defense has been pretty good so far, but the offense has been a bit of a gamble, although it may have had its best showing in overtime against Northwestern. It's also possible that UConn can hit the jackpot with Fanano, winning its first game against a Power Five team in over a decade and also giving Mora job security, but it's more likely that the Blue Devils will go undefeated. Duke and UConn would be a thrilling matchup on the court, but that's less the case on grass.