Lafayette, meanwhile, is the more settled program on paper, at least at the top. John Troxell enters his 5th season after leading the Leopards to an 8-3 finish and a No. 24 ranking in the FCS Coaches Poll last November — legitimately one of the better years in recent program history. But Lafayette's own portal cycle wasn't kind: quarterback Dean DeNobile left for Florida State, and the Leopards lost 12 players to the portal overall, including multiple starting linebackers and a defensive back, with only a handful of incoming transfers to offset it.
History says this is a mismatch on paper — an FBS program hosting an FCS opponent for a $300,000 guarantee, the kind of scheduling arrangement that keeps mid-major athletic departments afloat. The two sides have only met once before, back in 1984, when Lafayette actually won in Easton. They renewed the series in 2023 with UConn hosting, and this is the return trip under the same money-game framework — not a rivalry, just business.
The interesting wrinkle is that both programs are dealing with real questions at quarterback and on defense heading into September 5, which narrows the talent gap more than these matchups usually allow. UConn's ceiling is higher if Candle's new pieces gel fast; Lafayette's floor depends on how much its thinned-out front seven can hold up against an FBS roster that just got a serious talent injection.
Neither staff has tipped its hand on a starting lineup this early, and depth charts at both spots are still very much in flux heading into fall camp. Expect the clearer picture — who's actually starting under center for each side — to firm up as August rolls on.