EAST HARTFORD — Things went so poorly for UConn football last season that Lwal Uguak felt as if the program was up against more than Cincinnati, Temple or some other American Athletic Conference opponent each week.

He still does, really.

“We’re against the world pretty much. We’re against our own school,” the sophomore defensive lineman said Thursday night. “We’ve got to show that we can step up to the challenge and play for them and play for each other, play for ourselves.”

Attendance last year at Rentschler Field was sparse, to put it mildly. A midst the ugliest season of their existence, the Huskies averaged just 21,000 fans per game.

Slightly fewer walked through the stadium’s gates during this late summer night to welcome back that beleaguered team for myriad reasons. Some fans paid. Some got in for free. The school announced they had distributed 19,648 tickets for the season opener against Wagner, a FCS program coming off consecutive 4-7 seasons.

“It felt good actually, it felt good seeing the fans out there,” Uguak admitted.

“It was awesome,” added junior running back Kevin Mensah. “It seems like the fans enjoyed the game.”

How could they have not? After all, the Huskies matched their win total from last season on their first try, edging the Seahawks 24-21.

The Huskies’ performance wasn’t perfect. They threw a pick-six, lost a fumble and failed to convert a fourth down attempt, all in their own territory. It wasn’t over until a facemask penalty gave the Huskies a first down with 1:59 left.

For a split second, though, Randy Edsall was able to look past those mistakes.

“I’m never going to apologize for winning,” the coach said. “I don’t care if we’re supposed to beat somebody 62-10, like somebody thought we should. I’ll take a win any day of the week. A win’s a win, and for our program, we needed a win, regardless of how it was.

“Again, when you take a look at where we were, with this team and with this attitude, you saw them fight. I think stuff like that can go a long way, I really do.”

Edsall lived the nightmare of 2018, watching the Huskies sink to 1-11 while plagued by an historically bad defense. Questions about the sustainability of his program only grew louder in June, when it was announced that the Huskies would soon be departing the AAC for the Big East. While the men’s and women’s basketball programs are expected to enjoy greener pastures, Edsall’s program will travel the rocky road of an independent.

Although questions about the future remain, the Huskies — and their fans — had an opportunity to turn the page Thursday. The school made a concerted effort to put more bodies in the stands, divvying tickets to 15 different high school teams across the state and holding a postgame fireworks show. Students were allowed in for free. Prior to the game, players from the basketball programs and men’s hockey signed autographs.

And then, the football team went on to win for a change.

“You’ve kind of got to block out the noise of what reporters and stuff are saying about us last year. That’s not what we are anymore,” Uguak said. “We’re obviously coming in with some fire and some passion. That’s something that we really need.”

dbonjour@ctpost.com; @DougBonjour