Coaching legacies MacIntyre and Mora to meet when FIU hosts UConn on Saturday night

Both teams are led by the son of a well-known coach.

Both coaches are in their first years with their respective programs.

And both teams have already doubled their win totals from their 1-11 records in 2021.

That’s the matchup set for Saturday night at 7, when the FIU Panthers (2-2) will play host to the Connecticut Huskies (2-4).

FIU coach Mike MacIntyre said he knows his UConn counterpart, Jim Mora, quite well.

MacIntyre’s father, the late George MacIntyre, was the long-time Vanderbilt’s coach. Jim Mora Sr. coached in the NFL for the Saints and Colts most notably.

“We have the same agent,” MacIntyre said of him and Jim Mora Jr. “Both our dads were coaches. We’re coach’s brats, I guess.”

MacIntyre said during Tuesday’s weekly press conference that UConn has played “an extremely tough schedule”, and it’s really hard to argue that point.

The Huskies have lost to three Power Five schools this year: at home to Syracuse and on the road against Michigan and North Carolina State by a combined score of 148-24.

UConn, which also lost to Utah State, had perhaps the biggest win of its season last week, beating visiting Fresno State, 19-14.

The somewhat odd thing about this matchup is that only one of these teams has a quarterback from South Florida – and that’s Connecticut.

Freshman Zion Turner, who is from St. Thomas Aquinas, is completing 54.5 percent of his passes this year as UConn’s starting QB. He leads the team in passing yards (559), and he has a 5-3 TD-to-interception ratio.

“He’s a heck of a football player,” MacIntyre said of Turner. “I don’t think he lost a game at St. Thomas. He’s doing a great job as a freshman.”

Turner, though, is not how the Huskies plan to beat FIU, according to MacIntyre.

“(The Huskies) play a lot of two tight end sets,” he said. “They’ll try to knock us off the ball.

“UConn is the biggest team we’ve played all year. They are physical, powerful and long.”

Nathan Carter, who has missed two contests this year, still leads UConn in rushing (405 yards), average per run (6.2) and average per game (101.3).

Huskies backup Devontae Houston is second on the team in rushing yards (215) and averaged per run (5.4).

“They’re a little bit bigger than us,” MacIntyre said of the Huskies. “They will try to pound the rock.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Safety Demetrius Hill, who leads FIU with 35 tackles, has made rapid improvement this year: “In the spring, he would have a bad scrimmage and a good one. You can ask him,” MacIntyre said. “But he’s now understanding what offenses are trying to do, and he is able to correct himself. He asks a lot of good questions. He’s a smart and physical player.”

▪ Running back Lexington Joseph, who leads FIU with 117.5 all-purpose yards per game, is a hard runner, according to MacIntyre. “He’s hard to bring down,” the coach said. “He doesn’t look like he is running that fast, but they don’t ever get him.”

▪ MacIntyre on Tuesday brought up Hurricane Ian, saying: “I’m praying for everyone on the west coast of Florida. We have a lot of players on our team who have had a lot situations happen there. It’s been tough.”

▪ MacIntyre praised defensive coordinator Jovan Dewitt: “He’s done a great job,” MacIntyre said. “Our players are really young, and they are getting used to the speed of the game.

“The guy that really popped for me last week was (defensive lineman) Jordan Guerad. He was harassing the quarterback, playing good technique. He’s grown up a lot over the past month.”