By Andy Close
NEFJ Correspondent

EAST HARTFORD — The score read 69-58 in favor of the Blue Team over the White in UConn’s spring game on Saturday, but that was of little to no consequence.

In what could be described as essentially an open practice at Rentschler Field, first-year head coach Jason Candle’s Huskies were able to culminate their spring work with a glimpse into the future.

“I’m really proud of our team to where we could get to a point in time where we could have a great weather day in an unbelievable environment and stadium atmosphere,” Candle said. “It was our first time being in there, my first time being in there in a game day atmosphere, and we were able to bring our spring game back and let the fans see our kids work. That was one of 15, a small snapshot of what our 15 practices were.

“I think that we’ve improved steadily from the beginning of spring ball, but I’m not naive enough to think we’re a finished product. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The Huskies did have live 11-on-11 periods, going “thud,” mixed in with some 7-on-7, team third-down and team red zone work, as well as individual drills.

Many of Candle’s players from Toledo followed him to UConn, which has helped to ease the transition with such a large amount of roster turnover.

One of those players is defensive back Braedyn Moore, who had a strong showing on Saturday and figures to be a big part of the back end of UConn’s defense.

“Coach Candle is a great coach, and he’s easy to play for,” Moore said. “He’s a good guy, and he’s the winningest coach at Toledo, so it was good following somebody who wins games and knows how to lead programs. It’s fun to play for people like that.”

Boston College transfer tight end Matt Ragan concurred, noting he felt they had a strong showing on Saturday.

“We did good as a team and got a good look at what we’ve got,” Ragan said. “I think all the groups were pretty strong. I think we have a great staff and a great group of guys.”

A group that is a point of heavy focus is the quarterbacks. With Joe Fagnano gone, hoping to hear his name called in the NFL draft, there’s a group of three vying to replace him — redshirt junior Tucker McDonald, redshirt sophomore Jake Merklinger, and redshirt freshman Kalieb Osborne.

McDonald is the only holdover, with Merklinger coming over from Tennessee and Osborne from Toledo. Merklinger was dinged up on Saturday, but Candle indicated that he seemed to think it wasn’t anything serious.

“I think he (Jake) has done a really good job, just like Tucker,” Candle said. “He’s a guy that wants to compete and go win the job. Those guys, we rotated them pretty equally throughout the spring and gave them all the opportunity to go in and be with the first team, second team, and third team. I don’t have a depth chart right now.

“I don’t think that’s fair to say that to the kids or to you guys. We head to the next phase of summer, turn the team to the quarterbacks, and figure out whose leadership skills will surface.”