A look at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl: North Carolina vs Connecticut

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On Saturday morning, America’s most beloved ballpark will be transformed into a football field to accommodate the North Carolina Tar Heels and the University of Connecticut Huskies. These two teams will be playing in the third annual Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park.

This matchup is the fourth one between the two schools. The last time they faced each other was back in September of 2009 in East Hartford, CT. The Tar Heel won 12-10 on a safety with 1:32 left in the game. The Tar Heels are 3-0 vs UConn all-time. For UNC, this will be the 39th time the school has played in a bowl game and their record in those games is 15-23. This will be the sixth year in a row for North Carolina to play in a bowl game. This is the second-longest streak in program history.

The Tar Heels finished the 2024 season at 6-6 and on a 2-game losing streak with losses at Boston College then the home finale vs North Carolina State. Running the ball was something that UNC did rather well behind RB Omarion Hampton who finished the season with 1700 yards on 281 carries for an average of 138.33 a game. He also averaged 5.9 yards a carry and scored 15 touchdowns. Running the offense was QB Jacolby Criswell who appeared in 11 games for the Tar Heels. His numbers are 185-of-319 for 2,452 yards 15 TD, and 6 INTs. He averaged 222.91 yards through the air. Criswell spread the ball around in the passing game as six receivers had at least 24 catches. JJ Jones had 34 catches for 570 yards and crossed the goal line six times. He averaged 16.76 yards a catch this year. The offense averaged 32.3 points per game and 432.4 yards a game.

On defense, the Tar Heels got to the quarterback 39 times for a loss of 228 yards which was good enough for eighth-best in the country. Amare Campbell and Jahvaree Ritzie tied for the team lead with 6.5 sacks. The defense was able to come up with six interceptions as Kaleb Cross and Marcus Allen tied with two apiece. Campbell and Desmond Evans found their way into opponents’ backfields a lot this year. Campbell had 10.5 tackles for losses, Evans had 10.

The Connecticut Huskies (8-4) finished the season winning three of their last four games. This will be the fourth game vs an ACC team this year. In the other three, the Huskies went 0-3 with losses to Duke, 26-21 on September 14, Wake Forest on October 19, 23-20, and Syracuse 31-24 on November 23. All-time the Huskies are 7-28 vs the ACC. UConn is playing in their second bowl game in the last three years under head coach Jim Mora. This is the program’s 10th eight-win season, their first since 2010. A victory in the bowl game will give the program a nine-win season for just the third time in program history.

Cam Edwards leads the running game with 775 yards on 129 attempts averaging 5.9 yards a carry, and 63 yards a game. Cam found the endzone seven times. At quarterback is Joe Fagnano who threw for 1480 yards on 104 completions in 183 attempts in nine games. His TD-to-INT ratio was very good with 18 TDs to 4 INTs. He averaged 164.44 yards per game in the air. His main targets in the passing game were Skyler Bell (47 catches for 783 yards, 4 TDs) and TJ Sheffield (49 catches for 474 yards, 3 TDs).

The Huskies’ defense got to the quarterback 21 times during the season. LB Jayden McDonald was responsible for three of those sacks. He also had nine tackles for losses and 119 total tackles. His LB running mate, Tui Faumuina-Brown, had 4.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for losses. These two will need to be contained by UNC’s offensive line. The secondary had nine interceptions with DB Malik Dixon-Williams leading the way with three. The unit allowed 33 touchdowns with 19 of them coming in the red zone on 42 attempts.

This is an important game for both teams. For UConn, which is playing at the independent level, it’s an opportunity to showcase themselves to any conference that may be looking to add a team or replace one. For UNC, the transition from Mac Brown to Bill Belichick will begin as soon as this game ends. What happens to the rest of the coaching staff and roster is anyone’s guess. Both teams want to close out 2024 with a win.