BOSTON — UConn’s Skyler Bell wants to finish what he started.
The Huskies (9-3) enter Saturday’s Fenway Bowl matchup against Army (6-6) with quarterback Joe Fagnano opted out and coach Jim Mora gone to take over at Colorado State.
Despite rumors that Bell — who has logged 1,278 receiving yards and a program-record 13 touchdowns this season — also would get an early start on charting his NFL future, the consensus All-American wanted one last opportunity.
“I never said I wasn’t playing,” Bell said. “Being with this team the last two years, I think the brotherhood thing is super real. … I think I’d be remiss to leave here and look back at that last game and saying, ‘Why didn’t I suit up with my guys one last time?'”
Running back Cam Edwards (1,132 yards, 14 touchdowns) also is expected to help UConn chase a 10th win for the first time in program history. All three of the Huskies’ losses this season have come in overtime.
UConn looks to go back-to-back at the Fenway Bowl after beating North Carolina 27-14 a year ago. Bell made three catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in that game.
The Huskies will be led by interim coach Gordon Sammis, the offensive coordinator under Mora who will assume the same role at TCU following the bowl. UConn hired Toledo’s Jason Candle as its next head coach on Dec. 6.
Sammis did not address the media alongside his players last Friday as anticipated.
UConn also has not released an updated depth chart. The start at quarterback could go to Nick Evers, who held the role for part of last season after arriving from Wisconsin, where he was also teammates with Bell.
There could be other departures, but the Huskies figure to have a strong roster available.
“This game’s fleeting,” tight end Louis Hansen said. “You’re not guaranteed to get another game.”
Army has won back-to-back bowls — including last season’s Independence Bowl against Louisiana Tech after winning the American Conference title — and seeks three in a row for the second time in 12th-year coach Jeff Monken’s tenure at West Point.
Saturday’s kickoff comes just two weeks after the Black Knights lost only the fifth 1-point game in Army-Navy history, as a fourth-quarter touchdown was the difference in a 17-16 win for the Midshipmen.
“It’s an opportunity to play another game,” Monken said. “For this team, this brotherhood, to be able to go out and play together. For our senior class to play one more time. To play for a winning record, and to play for the opportunity to say we’re a bowl champion.”
Despite the heartbreaking rivalry loss, quarterback Cale Hellums became Army’s first 100-yard rusher against Navy since 2012 and sits just 22 rushing yards shy of becoming the eighth Black Knight to reach the 1,200-yard mark in a season.
Hellums, a junior, leads a roster that consists largely of upperclassmen. Army does things the old-fashioned way — without a transfer portal with which to work.
“We’re tough, we’re competitive, and (the players) develop and they stay in the program,” Monken said. “We’ve got juniors and seniors, for the most part, playing out there. When you grow up in the program and in the system…they play together and play for each other.”
UConn and Army met in West Point, N.Y., in 2021 and 2022. The Black Knights won both of those meetings.
Saturday marks the fourth playing of the Fenway Bowl, with initial installments in 2020 and 2021 canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Prior to UConn’s visit last December, Boston College beat a ranked SMU team 23-14 in 2023.
–Joshua Kummins, Field Level Media
