UConn Upsets Ranked Liberty to Clinch First Bowl Eligibility Since 2015

UConn stunned the college football world on Saturday after pulling off an epic upset of No. 19 Liberty (8–2) to officially clinch bowl eligibility for the first time in seven years.

The unranked Huskies defeated the Flames, 36–33, at home to improve to 6–5 in coach Jim Mora’s first year with the program. Immediately after the game, a raucous crowd of 15,107 UConn fans stormed the grass at Rentschler Field to show their appreciation for their team becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2015.

In addition to snapping the red-hot Flames’ six-game winning streak, Saturday’s win gave the Huskies another memorable reason to celebrate as the upset marked just the program’s fourth-ever win against an AP-ranked opponent.

After managing 10 combined wins over the past five seasons, UConn has been in the midst of an impressive turnaround under Mora, who was hired to the role nearly a year ago to the day after spending the 2021 season as an offensive assistant.

The longtime coach is no stranger to winning, and has once again proven he’s still capable of leading a team to success five years removed from the end of his last head coaching stint with UCLA (2012–17). In doing so, Mora has positioned the Huskies on their doorstep of a bowl game and their first seven-win season since ’10.

With only one game left in the regular season, UConn appears on the verge of closing out a magical year with a chance to add some hardware. However, Huskies fans eager to make plans for next month may like to know their team’s bow bid is not yet guaranteed.

As highlighted by Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, the Huskies will have to wait to see how things play out depending on whether or not they are enough six-win teams from the 10 FBS conferences plus fellow independent schools BYU (5–5) and Army (3–5) to fill all of the bowl spots. Currently, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson projects UConn could face ECU (6–4) in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 22.

While it remains to be seen where Mora’s squad finishes the year, UConn will now shift its focus to Army ahead of their meeting in West Point to close the season next Saturday.