Location: Rentschler Field, East Hartford

Kickoff: Noon (WFSB-3)

Records: UConn 0-1, Merrimack 0-1

Last game: UConn lost at Maryland, 50-7, Saturday; Merrimack lost at Air Force, 21-6, Saturday

Series: First meeting

Players to watch: UConn, r-jr. WR Skyler Bell (five catches, 141 yards), r-so. QB Nick Evers (6 for 17, 73 yards, 1 int.), r-sr. QB Joe Fagnano (8 for 16 149 yards, 1 TD), r-sr. WR TJ Sheffield (2 catches, 32 yards, 1 TD), r-fr. RB Durell Robinson (7 carries, 34 yards), r-so. RB Cam Edwards (5 carries, 32 yards), sr. LB Amir Renwick (8 tackles), r-sr. CB Jordan Wright (five tackles), r-sr. DT Jevon Banks (two tackles, one sack), r-sr. DT Dal’Mont Gourdine (seven tackles,), jr. DB D’Mon Brinson (six tackles)

Merrimack, sr. QB, Malakai Anthony (14 for 21, 74 yards, 30 rushing yards), sr. RB Jermaine Corbett (8 carries, 59 yards), so. WR Jalen McDonald (5 catches, 39 yards, 1 TD, so. WR Donovan Wadley (named to preseason Walter Payton Award Watch List, preseason 2nd team FCS All-American), r-so. LB DJ Frazier (top returning tackler), sr. DB Tre Jordan III, Fr. DL Kendall Sims (7 tackles), sr. P Cole Peterson (50.4 yards per punt)

Noteworthy: Merrimack is in its first year as a Football Championship Subdivision independent. UConn is 20-2 overall vs. FCS teams, beating Sacred Heart, 31-3, in 2023.

Quotable: “It’s always so important to get off to a fast start,” coach Jim Mora said. “There’s statistics that would say that the team that scores first wins about 90 percent of the games in college football over the last six or seven years. For confidence, certainly, it’s important to get off to a fast start. But they’re going to have something to say about that, too.

“They’re going to be thinking the same thing. They’re coming off a tough loss with the same type of attitude that we are.”

Four down territory

• Starting quarterback Nick Evers, who suffered a head injury in last week’s opener, is a game time decision. If Evers sits out, Joe Fagnano will fill in. Fagnano started last year’s opener before an injury ended his season.

• Defense is the strength of the Warriors, who limited Air Force to 237 yards of total offense.

“They’re a gritty, tough, hard-nosed, fight-you kind of team,” Mora said. “It’s really personified by the way they play defense.”

• UConn’s defense will have a chance to shine, facing an offense that produced its only points on the game’s last play, had just 217 yards of total offense and 10 first downs.

Extra points: Huskies are 14-6 at home openers at The Rent. … UConn starting safety Rante Jones has to sit out the first half after being ejected for targeting last week in the second half. … Merrimack’s Donovan Wadley led the NCAA in yards per kick return last season, averaging 37.9 and scoring three touchdowns. … Merrimack players with Connecticut ties on the roster: OL Mike Bowman (Cheshire, Cheshire Academy), DL James Wilborn Jr. (Avon Old Farms) TE Luke Kelleher (Wethersfield, Loomis Chaffee), TE Jarden Dunn (Sandy Hook, Newtown), S Danny Simms (Stamford, St. Thomas More), DV Hammond Russell V (St. Thomas More), WR Seth Sweitzer (Madison, Choate School).

– Gavin Keefe