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The season opener is just days away, and UConn still hasn’t announced a starting QB
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- The season opener is just days away, and UConn still hasn’t announced a starting QB
STORRS – UConn football coach Jason Candle was surprised that it took two questions for him to be asked about the Huskies' quarterback competition when he spoke with local media last week.
It was the first question on Monday, with the season-opener against FCS opponent Lafayette just five days away .
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But the answer was the same.
As of Monday afternoon, UConn has not identified a starting quarterback.
"We'll continue to work through it this week," he said. "But I think we're getting closer to that. I think those guys have done a really good job and they've handled that part of it really well as well. So we'll continue to work these next couple days and make a decision on that obviously before the first snap Saturday."
Quarterback competitions have been a regular thing at UConn.
Over four years under coach Jim Mora, last season was the only time that the starter was clear at the start of camp. Of course, Joe Fagnano would go on to have one of the best seasons ever for a Huskies QB in his third year with the program and ultimately land a spot on the 53-man roster of the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted rookie. But the competition came down to the wire in Mora's first three years as Ta'Quan Roberson ultimately won the job over freshman Zion Turner in 2022, then Fagnano won it over Roberson in 2023 before losing it to Nick Evers in 2024. In each of those three years, the backup eventually became the starter due to injuries.
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Candle's tenure starts in a similar way as he and his staff have to decide between Tennessee transfer Jake Merklinger , Toledo transfer Kalieb Osborne and fourth-year Husky Tucker McDonald .
"Ideally you would have your starting quarterback in place from the previous season. Ideally, scenario two would be that you had two guys competing that were ready to win the job. And then this scenario would be the last one you pick, right, where you have three guys," Candle said. "But it can be doable and it can work if those guys are very mature in their process and very methodical in how they prepare for practice and they really understand and harness the fact that they do play the most scrutinized position in all of sports, and they embrace that. And those three guys, in each one of those cases, they've done that. And I'm proud of them for that. It makes it a hard decision because nobody really eliminated themselves and that's kind of why it's been going the way it's been going."
Not to count McDonald out, but Merklinger and Osborne, both juniors, have seemed to be the frontrunners for the job throughout the fall.
They play two very different styles of football, as Merklinger is more of an upright, pro-style passer and Osborne is more of a dual threat option who has a tendency to make big plays with his legs. Merklinger has never started an FBS game; Osborne started once– in Toledo's 2025 bowl game against Louisville. Candle has expressed that the game plan will not have to change much depending on who wins the job.
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"100 percent, I'm confident in whoever it is. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is, it could be Coach Candle going to play quarterback," said defensive back Saxton Suchanic, who's been lining up against them all summer. "It could be all three of them though, I love all three of them from a personality standpoint to a football standpoint. All great guys, all competitors, amazing quarterbacks. I'm confident in whoever goes out there to lead this team, I'm confident in all positions, really. Whoever goes out there, I'm confident in us. I got us."
