UConn cruises to Fenway Bowl victory over UNC

BOSTON (AP) — Joe Fagnano threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns to help UConn beat North Carolina 27-14 in the Fenway Bowl on Saturday, embarrassing Bill Belichick's new team in his old backyard.

Belichick was not spotted in the home of the Boston Red Sox, about an hour north of the stadium where he and Tom Brady hung six Super Bowl championship banners. Interim coach Freddie Kitchens, who like Belichick is a former Cleveland Browns coach, took over when Mack Brown was fired and handled the bowl preparations.

On a day that was definitely not baseball weather, UConn fans took over the home of the Red Sox, and their team was just as dominant on the field. Mel Brown rushed for 96 yards for the Huskies.

The Tar Heels (6-7) scored on Chris Culliver’s 95-yard kickoff return but had no real offense until running back Caleb Hood, who is not listed as a quarterback on the depth chart, took over in the fourth quarter. He ran five times for 64 yards before throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to John Copenhaver that made it 27-14.

Skyler Bell caught three passes for 77 yards for UConn (9-4), including a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Huskies a 10-0 first-quarter lead. Culliver took the ensuing kickoff back for the score, but that would be Carolina's only production in the first half.

Fagnano hit Alex Honig for a 4-yard TD and Cam Edwards ran it in from 2 yards out to give UConn a 24-7 lead in the second quarter. The Tar Heels did not get their first first down until there were 24 seconds left in the half, on an encouraging 2-minute drill that brought them into UConn territory for the first time before Michael Merdinger’s blooper of a pass was intercepted by Tui Faumuina-Brown.

Takeaways

UConn: Won nine games for the first time since 2007.

North Carolina: Lost its last three games to stumble to its first losing season since 2021 — one reason why the 73-year-old Brown was fired.

Fenway fun

The game started in rain, but the field mostly held up. There were only a few calls from the grounds crew to come out and tamp down the sod along the basepaths and pitcher’s mound. Snow was piled up along the right field line, by the Pesky Pole, and in left in front of the Green Monster.

The manual scoreboard was converted from innings and outs to quarters and downs, and the past Fenway Bowl champions were listed where the AL East standings usually go. The bullpen walls were removed to give a little more space for the Carolina end zone and goalposts.

“Sweet Caroline” played during a TV timeout in the fourth quarter.

Up next

UConn: Another four years under coach Jim Mora, who was signed to a two-year extension that was announced just before kickoff.

North Carolina: Welcome to “Chapel Bill.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football