East Hartford ― There’s a strong feeling growing inside the UConn football team locker room.

The Huskies are building a belief in their team, each other and in the process.

They’re determined to put a dreadful last few seasons well in the past.

Saturday’s 28-3 victory over Central Connecticut State University in the home opener before 22,442 fans at Rentschler Field was another positive sign for the program.

“They’re really feeling it,” coach Jim Mora said of his team’s belief. “And they understand what it takes to be a winner. I think they’re prepared to make a commitment every single day. That’s one of the reasons that it’s such a joy for me to go to work every single day is because I get to be around these kids, they’re just desperate to win. They’re freakin’ desperate to win.

“It’s awesome to be in that environment as a coach.”

UConn, which went 1-11 in 2011, equaled last season’s victory and handed Mora his first win as Husky head coach.

The Huskies (1-1) led their Football Championship Subdivision foe by just 7-3 in the third quarter before pulling away.

“It’s definitely something we can build on,” freshman quarterback Zion Turner said. “There were a lot of mistakes made in this win, but when you come out with a W, you’re happy. We can celebrate for 24 hours and then we’re right back to business.”

Mora called the celebration in the locker room after the game “joyous.”

“It felt good,” Mora said. “They were happy. I love to see them happy. And they were excited. They brought Sweet Feet, Jake Flynn, to the middle and they jumped all over him. And they brought Victor (Rosa) in there and they jumped all over him.

“That’s what a team does, they recognize the contributors – the walk-on and the freshman that came in and played a big part in the win – and they celebrate others on their team. I’ve talked so much about the character of these guys and the lack of a sense of entitlement, that just to me was it in a nutshell.”

Flynn, a Southington High School graduate, arrived at UConn as a walk-on player and recently was awarded a scholarship. He caught his first career touchdown pass, hauling in a 10-yard throw from Turner.

“I don’t remember what happened after I caught it, because everyone just swarmed me,” Flynn said. “It was the best feeling.”

Rosa, a former Bristol Central standout, capped the scoring in a 14-point fourth quarter by fighting his way into the end zone from 11 yards out.

It was far from a masterpiece performance by the Huskies.

They committed three turnovers, had a field goal blocked and allowed too many explosive plays.

But they persevered, outscoring CCSU, 21-0, in the second half.

“It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination,” Mora said. “Up 7-3 at half, there could have been a tendency to panic a little bit, to tighten up. I thought our guys just came in at halftime and just made some adjustments. They calmed down a little bit. We corrected some of the errors that we were making and we came out and we had a pretty darn good second half.”

As it did in the season-opening loss at Utah State, UConn’s potent running game powered the attack. Sophomore Nate Carter rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight game, finishing with 123 yards on 23 carries. The Huskies finished with a total of 296 on the ground, marking the first time since 2018 that they’ve gone over 240 yards rushing in back-to-back games.

“I feel great, man,” Carter said. “The energy in the locker room is amazing. It’s always good to win, especially the way we came out and how we finished the game. It’s encouraging.”

In his first start, Turner played better than he did in the season opener when he subbed in for an injured Ta’Quan Roberson. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards and had two touchdowns, including connecting with tight end Brandon Niemenski on an 11-yard scoring strike to hand the Huskies the lead for good, 7-3, midway through the second quarter.

The Huskies also made some momentum-turning plays on special teams and defense. They blocked a field goal – thanks to the big hands of junior Eric Watts – and deflected a punt.

When CCSU put together a strong drive to open the second half that reached the UConn 2-yard-line, redshirt sophomore nose tackle Dalmont Gourdine sacked quarterback Romelo Williams for a 9-yard loss. Three plays later, Cristiano Rosa missed his 21-yard field goal attempt, banging it off the upright. Rosa hit from 28 yards earlier in the game.

“We needed a big play,” Gourdine said of his first career sack. “We didn’t want them to score.”

UConn responded by driving 80 yards on 14 plays, capping it off with Carter’s 17-yard scoring run for a 14-3 edge with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

The Huskies were never in jeopardy of losing the lead from that point on. They finished with 446 yards of total offense and allowed their fewest points since a 7-3 loss at Tulane in 2015.

Tougher opponents are ahead for UConn, which hosts Syracuse next Saturday night at Rentschler Field.

Right now, they’re feeling pretty darn good about where they’re heading.

They believe they’re a different team than the one that lost 38-28 to Holy Cross, a FCS team, in their home opener just a year ago.

“You see it, it’s a change of mindset,” Carter said. “A different culture. I give props to coach Mora and all the coaches for coming here and really putting that inside of us. We’re not the same team mentally as we were last year.”

Before leaving the post-game podium, Mora had a message for the UConn fans.

“Coaching my first game at the Rent, not really understanding or knowing what to expect, the people that were there, you felt them,” Mora said. “And the people that weren’t there, hopefully they are there next Saturday night because we feed off the energy.”

g.keefe@theday.com