East Hartford — Mike Beaudry, UConn's starting quarterback for the season opener, stepped into the spotlight on Thursday.

He's spent a good deal of his football life in the shadows and on the sidelines.

Born in Saskatchewan, his family moved to Florida when Beaudry was 10 years old. It was his father's dream to live there.

He didn't play much at Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Fla., until starting his senior year.

"It was a little bit of a tough road," Beaudry said recently. "I played my last year so I didn't get too much attention."

So Beaudry ended up at Division II West Florida in Pensacola. After sitting out as a redshirt, he missed the 2016 season with a leg injury. In 2017, he blossomed into a star quarterback, leading the Argos to the national championship game in 2017. He passed for 3,215 yards and 29 touchdowns.

The injury bug hit him again last season as he broke his foot in the first game to sideline him for the remainder of the season.

"It's kind of funny," Beaudry said. "It was almost the same as high school. I got hurt my senior year at West Florida. When I got hurt, I had that feeling that I was going to be done for the year. It was a bad injury."

At that point, Beaudry just wanted a college football coach to believe in him.

The Huskies offered Beaudry, who has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, a shot and he jumped at it. He scored his first career touchdown for the Huskies on his second series, diving into the end zone for a 2-yard score in the first quarter.

Beaudry led the Huskies to a 10-0 halftime lead over Wagner, going 6-for-10 for 82 yards.

It's been an interesting, adversity-filled journey for Beaudry, who'd love to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL someday.

"It's been really cool," said Beaudry, a graduate transfer. "I was talking to my parents the other day; man, if you're going to write my story, it's crazy to think this is where you end up. ... It's just unreal to be here. That's why I try not to feel pressure, not feel nervous. There's a lot of things that got me to this point and a lot of people that got me to this point.

"We just keep on going from here."

Huskies sign autographs

• Members of the UConn men's basketball, women's basketball and men's hockey teams signed autographs during the pregame Fan Fest outside Pratt & Whitney Stadium.

Senior Christian Vital can't wait for the men's basketball season opener on Nov. 8 against Sacred Heart.

The Huskies are coming off a productive summer.

"I think this is one of the best summers that I've been a part of since I've been here," Vital said. "... We're all on the same page of what we want to do this year and the goals and expectations that we're going to hold ourselves to. I think it's going to be a good year."

The Huskies are welcoming four newcomers in Akok Akok, James Bouknight, Jalen Gaffney and Richie Springs. Transfer R.J. Cole is sitting out this season.

News and notes

Vital says he's been in touch with his old prep school coach, St. Thomas More's Jere Quinn who's recovering from Guillain-Barre syndrome. "I'm definitely going to see him. We text here and there. I text him to see how he's doing. You know the type of guy coach Quinn is, he's a fighter. He's going to get better. It's just going to take a process." ... Wagner assistant coach Darrell Wilson is a former UConn football player. As a defensive back from 1976-80, he earned honorable mention Division I-AA All-American honors. He played one season for the New England Patriots in 1981 and then spent five seasons with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. ... Up next: UConn hosts Illinois at 3:30 Saturday, Sept. 7 at Rentschler Field.

g.keefe@theday.com