2026 MAC Football Week 4 Game Preview: UConn Huskies at Miami (OH) RedHawks

Setting the scene

The Miami RedHawks and UConn Huskies have never duked it out on the football field. However, their coaches are more than familiar with one another.

Chuck Martin and Jason Candle met four times in the past three years. Candle, who coached Toledo from 2016-25, won three of the four matchups. However, Martin won the one that counted most, prevailing 23-14 in the 2023 MAC Championship Game.

Martin and Candle are two of the three active FBS head coaches with multiple MAC championships, while NC State's Dave Doeren is the other. Now they'll face in a non-conference matchup in Oxford, OH.

Game notes

• Time and date: Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. ET
• Network: ESPN+
• Location: Yager Stadium in Oxford, OH
• Spread: Miami (OH) (-3.5)
• Over/under: 51.5
• All-time series: No previous meetings

UConn Huskies outlook

Long gone are the days when UConn (2-1, Independent) would only win one or two games in a season. Jim Mora Jr. revived this program, and now Jason Candle is sustaining the success from the Mora era.

While Candle had a Week 2 hiccup against Maryland, the Huskies soundly defeated their FCS opponent Lafayette and Southern Miss by a combined score of 104-27. UConn's offense is rolling with the quarterback once thought to be the future of Toledo. Redshirt sophomore Kalieb Osborne only started one collegiate game prior to this season, but he already looks the part. Osborne has 635 passing yards and six touchdowns to one interception, and he also doubles as the Huskies' leading rusher with 152 yards and four touchdowns.

Currently, he leads an offense which notched points on all nine red zone trips, including eight resulting in touchdowns.

UConn struggled to get the running backs going at Maryland in Week 2, but Osborne has received quality support from his backfield in the wins. Three different transfers running backs — Cyncir Bowers (West Virginia), Kenji Christian (Toledo), and Trey Cornist (Central Michigan) — are over the 100-yard mark this season, and they combine for four rushing touchdowns.

There is no Skyler Bell on the offense, at least until further notice, but Shamar Porter — one of the few returning Huskies in a major role — has done a good job filling the vacancy left by his former NFL-bound teammate. Porter's 123 receiving yards rank atop the team, and he averages 20.5 yards per catch with a pair of touchdowns. However, the passing game's greatest issue has been protection, and Maryland feasted in the UConn backfield with five sacks two weeks ago.

Defensively, the Huskies are led by one of the MAC's top defenders in 2025. Outside linebacker K'Von Sherman earned First Team All-MAC honors at Toledo after accruing 14.5 tackles for loss for the Rockets. He already has 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble this year, while ranking second on the team with 18 tackles.

UConn has been effective against the run, where it ranks 33rd in fewest yards allowed per game. But as Maryland exhibited in a 35-of-42, 350-yard, 2-touchdown performance through the air, the Huskies have things to clean up in the secondary. UConn is 124th in passing yards allowed per game, but the unit has also endured the third-most passing attempts in the FBS. Another Toledo transfer, free safety Braedyn Moore, is among the most impactful players in the secondary. He'll look to limit Miami's newfound passing attack after recording an interception and deflection in the first three weeks.

Miami RedHawks outlook

Miami (OH) (1-2, 0-0 MAC) had its heart shattered into a billion pieces last week. The RedHawks created a 28-7 lead on Cincinnati in the final edition of college football's oldest non-conference rivalry. But it all collapsed in the second half, and Miami did not leave with the coveted prize of the Victory Bell.

The emotional loss may take time to get over, but there's no denying the positives Miami displayed when it built the three-touchdown lead on an undefeated Big 12 team. The RedHawks' offense looks as capable in the passing game as it has been in the Chuck Martin era — and their quarterback has only played three collegiate games.

David McComb was the perfect transfer addition from Kansas. The redshirt freshman quarterback completed several deep balls against Pitt in Week 1, finished 13-of-13 against FCS Holy Cross in Week 2, and shredded Cincinnati's defense with 334 yards on a 17-of-28 showing last Saturday. He boasts a 5-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and he brings verticality which was missing in this offense last season — averaging 17.6 yards per completion.

McComb operates with a deep receiving group, led by explosive transfers Maleek Huggins (205 yards on 20.5 per catch) and Damarion Witten (184 yards on 30.7 per catch), along with returning talent Lynel Billups-Williams. The electrifying 5'5", 150-pound true freshman Scoop Smith — who returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown last week — is another viable weapon in an offense which moves best through the air.

Miami's leading rusher, Lazaro Rogers, only has 67 yards on the season. Part of that is by design, as the RedHawks split carries between several backs and have the 10th fewest rushing attempts in the country. It can also be attributed to facing the hellacious fronts of Pitt and Cincinnati in a sample size. But the RedHawks have the offensive line to establish it, returning four starters and adding All-MAC tackle Evan Malcore in a veteran front.

The RedHawks' defense couldn't have played a better first half against Cincinnati. They generated three sacks on an elite offensive line which only surrendered eight in the entire 2025 season. They also forced three punts on the Bearcats' first four drives and held them to a field goal — a significant upgrade from how the defense performed in Week 1 at Pitt.

However, the struggles from the Pitt game resurfaced in the second half, and Cincinnati essentially scored at will in a 446-yard outing. Miami's defense is 120th in yards allowed and 121st in points allowed, displaying particular struggles in containing the air, where it allows the fourth-most yards in the country.

The pressure, led by defensive end Grant Lyons, will certainly help, but Miami needs to demonstrate better open field tackling moving forward. Safeties Eli Coppess and Dillon Tatum will be among those responsible from preventing UConn from connecting on home-run plays.

Prediction

Jason Candle's Toledo defeated Chuck Martin's Miami, 24-3, in a very unappealing Midweek MACtion game from an offensive point of view. But Candle and Martin's rematch could feature plenty of more firepower from the offenses.

Miami's defense has taken a step back, while the offense has tremendously progressed under David McComb. UConn also places faith in its young quarterback Kalieb Osborne, who has led the Huskies to two 48+ point scoring performances.

The first-ever meeting between the programs in Oxford should come down to the wire. But Miami's inability to stop opponents through the air over a four-quarter timeframe gives UConn a slight edge in MAC country.

Prediction: UConn 28, Miami (OH) 27