East Hartford — Through four games, the latest a lopsided loss to No. 18 Duke, UConn has looked nothing like it did last season during which it showed signs of turning the program around.

The winless Huskies appear to be heading in the opposite direction.

Yet second-year coach Jim Mora remains optimistic, even finding some positives in a 41-7 loss Saturday at Rentschler Field. He was proud of his team’s fight and competitive spirit.

The final margin had more to do with Duke’s talent advantage than UConn’s effort.

“The score doesn’t reflect it, but it was a different football team on the sidelines and out on the field than it has been the first three weeks in terms of the effort and the intensity, and just the sense of passion to play well,” Mora said. “So that’s what we’re going to build on.

“The skeptic would say, you still got beat 41-7. Yeah, we got beat 41-7. But you’ve got to find things when you’re trying to build something, you’ve got to find things you can hang your hang on.

“The very first thing you have to be able to hang your hat on when you’re trying to build something is, is the attitude how it needs to be? Is the effort how it needs to be? Do the guys care? Is it important to them? Are they trying their hardest? Are they dying to win? And I saw that today in the midst of a very lopsided score.”

The Huskies were in a similar position last season when they started 1-4 before going 5-2 to finish the regular season and earning a bowl bid.

They believe they can do it again.

“I have nothing but confidence in this team and nothing but confidence in this coaching staff,” redshirt junior quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson, who completed 13 of 28 passes for 114 yards and rushed for his team’s only touchdown. “I believe we can turn it around.”

UConn is badly in need of a spark to ignite a sputtering offense that produced only 203 total yards compared to Duke’s 322. The Huskies, who came into the game averaging just 15 points per game, scored their only touchdown with 12 seconds left on Roberson’s two-yard sneak.

The Huskies struggled to move the ball against a defense that had allowed just 9.3 points per game. It didn’t help that starting running back Devontae Houston was too sick to play after one carry.

Defensive breakdowns and penalties, including one that led to the ejection of standout linebacker Jackson Mitchell, also hurt the Huskies.

Duke (4-0) was happy to take advantage, scoring 20 points in the second quarter to build a 27-0 halftime lead. The Huskies have been outscored in the first half this season by a whopping 82-10 margin.

Graduate running back Jordan Waters rushed for two touchdowns for the Blue Devils while junior quarterback Riley Leonard went 23 for 34 for 248 yards and a touchdown.

“I think Duke is the second best football team that we’ve played since I’ve been here behind Michigan,” Mora said. “And I don’t think they’re that far off from Michigan.”

It was never a close game.

The Blue Devils, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, scored on their second possession and took off from there. Waters fought into the end zone from one. They scored on their next two trips — on Todd Pelino’s 50-yard field goal and Waters’ 10 yard run — to take a 17-0 lead.

The second touchdown came after UConn true freshman Bryan Domino bobbled and then fumbled a pitch and Duke recovered at the UConn 10. It was a curious play call considering Domino’s inexperience and location of the play deep in their own territory. And Domino hadn’t had a carry prior to Saturday’s game.

“The decision to put him in and toss him the ball, that has to be evaluated, obviously,” Mora said. “We like him a lot. He’s a great kid and works hard. That might have been a little bit too much for him.”

The Huskies badly sputtered offensively against Duke’s top five-ranked defense. They had only 32 total yards at intermission and its longest drive covered 16 yards and came on the game’s first possession.

Sophomore running back Victor Rosa (a team-best 68 rushing yards) had few holes to run through.

Poor field position didn’t help, as UConn’s best starting position was its own 35 in the first two quarters.

The Huskies finally entered Duke territory on their first trip of the third quarter. Rosa ripped off a 39-yard run — two more yards than the team’s total yards at that point — and a face mask penalty set up UConn at the Duke 14.

But, in the next three plays, UConn lost 10 yards and Roberson threw an incomplete pass. On came kicker Joe McFadden who missed a 42-yard field goal try.

Duke extended the lead to 34-0 when defensive tackle DeWayne Carter returned running back Jalen Mitchell’s fumble 26 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Not that it factored in the outcome, but the Huskies suffered a huge loss when Mitchell, the team’s leading tackler, earned an ejection with 7:55 left in the first quarter. ACC officials worked the game.

Mitchell was flagged for roughing the quarterback after his helmet hit Riley Leonard’s face mask. At first, the ruling was that the hit didn’t warrant a targeting call. Then officials back at the ACC offices in Charlotte, N.C., reviewed the play again and changed the call, leading to Jackson’s disqualification.

Mora, to say the least, disagreed with the call.

“I’ve coached a lot of football games in my life,” Mora said. “And if you’re going to kick a man out of a game for that, then I must be the stupidest football coach and the most ignorant human being that ever lived. … That didn’t have any bearing on the game. I’m hoping they have enough integrity to give us an explanation at some point.”

The Huskies have dropped six straight dating back to last season. They will host Utah State next Saturday.

“We’ve just got to stay positive and we’ve got to execute and fix what we’re doing wrong,” Rosa said.

g.keefe@theday.com