BC Post Game Thread

[Husky68]

Talk about the defense in this game (other than poor scheme by DC on 4th and 5) is way missing the point. UConn scored 14 points. That is not enough to win any games. Looked at today's games that finished already. Winners scored:

40 points or more = 12 (many way over 40)
30 points or more = 20
20 points or more = 11 (only UMass and BCU had as low as 21 points)
Under 20 points = 0

UConn averages less than 20 points a game. Not sure that the LSU team with the Honey Badger defense could have a winning record with this offensive performance.

 

[alphasigko]

And again

 

[Alum86]

I was at the game game today behind the UConn bench. Overall, it was not a physical mismatch at all. The team is more physical than it was 2 years ago. It was a hot day and the defense got gassed as they were on the field a lot. Personally, I think the linebacker play has declined vs last year as they seem to be filling the wrong gaps. That said, the defense did a pretty good job of containing Castellanos who is the #1 rushing QB in FBS as they held him to his lowest rushing total and yard per carry of the season. BC ran the ball 54 times for 243 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry which isn't good, but isn't bad given the number of rushing attempts.

It's been discussed already, but the 2 dropped passes in the first half which were easy catches stopped UConn's offense and forced UConn to punt. The drops were the key offensive plays in the first half as not only did they stop UConn's offense, but it meant the defense had to go back onto the field again.

Obviously, there were 2 play calls that were questionable. The pass to Stafford on 4th and 1 was a really bad call. Let him run it and get the 1st down. On the 54 yard field goal, I can see what Mora was trying to do as if UConn made the FG, BC was probably going to start their drive with poor field position after the kickoff and hopefully get UConn the ball back and drive for the winning TD. I wanted UConn to go for it, but I can see the FG logic and Ruelas did make a 54 yard field goal last year. From my vantage point, he seemed to mishit the ball.

As for Charlton and the offense, both need to be better. I do think the lack of RB depth hurt today as Edwards seemed a little gassed with the workload today even though he had a good game. There were 2 key dropped passes and some untimely penalties. There were receivers open today and the line did a decent job with pass protection as there were no sacks. Believe it or not, Charlton is probably the second best OC UConn has had in the post Edsall 1.0 era, but the offense is lacking. If Mora keeps Charlton, he needs to revamp his offense and develop his trick plays so they are run crisply and he needs more talent at the skill positions. Wouldn't you love for UConn to have a big RB? A WR taller than 6 feet that is athletic and has good hands? Maybe 2? A TE that can run and catch that is 250 lbs?

Good post until your kudos of “2nd best OC at UConn - Charlton. “. C’mon, he’s been a massive fail. If that 4th down call doesn’t seal it, That was a Chinese fire drill gone awry.

 

[Huskygamble19]

I was unable to watch the game. Did Joly play?

He was on the field but i don't know if he played.

 

[Huskygamble19]

After that 4th and 1 we should have booked Charlton an Uber and sent his ass back to Maine where he belongs.

He misplaced Jelani Stafford

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Just got back from the game. JM gave the game away. He was playing too conservative until the 4th quarter. There were yards to gain throwing the ball against a mediocre defense. Attempting a 54 yard FG was a huge mistake. We had a 3 & 20 and got 14 yards to the BC 36. That was a perfect opportunity to go for the first down with a quick sideline route. I’m not saying that JM had more talent to work with than BC, but BC kept messing up in the red zone. BC dominated us in every stat except the scoreboard.

The BC fans were very hospitable and their stadium/campus are very nice. I wish we had an on campus stadium. Unfortunately, we had maybe 1,000 fans in attendance. Very poor showing by Husky nation.

Why are you still pretending you are a UConn fan and not a BCU fan?

 

[Chin Diesel]

It’s both. That’s what losing teams do. They suffer from a cascade of failures … poor schemes, on the field too long due to bad offense which leads to piss tackles, blow assignments, bad angles … it’s all a giant FN cluster with led by a staff that thinks if they just keep it close they can steal win. It’s the save old crap as RE2.

100%.

This is a losing team. Term "cascade of failures" sums it up perfectly. It's not just one area; every part of this team, both players and coaches, last made game changing poor decisions or execution.
And it's plenty clear by now no coach or player is capable of getting this team out of the funk of this season.
Just burn the film and start fresh the day after game 12.

No starter should be safe. No roster spot should be safe. And that includes coaches.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Frustrating year. In all the games except two in spite of all the crappy football.

 

[Punkbo]

I’m a Mora guy, but many areas of frustration this year. His faith and trust in Charlton is a head-scratcher. There’s no excuse for an 0-5 record at home with our schedule. Losses to FIU and USF are inexcusable. His decision to name himself DC makes no sense. The regression of the DL is crazy bad. I had very high hopes for that group. They were absolutely manhandled for most of the game yesterday. I don’t think anyone thought we’d be 1-7 at this point, but here we are.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

1st half, BC at UConn 37. 3rd and 7, BC ball carrier jumps Malcolm Bell's attempted tackle near the sideline carrying him OB for a gain of six. If Bell makes that play it would have been 4th and 5 instead of 4th and 1. BC makes the 4th down conversion and continues for a TD. There were bad football plays like that the whole game.

 

[UConnJim]

Good post until your kudos of “2nd best OC at UConn - Charlton. “. C’mon, he’s been a massive fail. If that 4th down call doesn’t seal it, That was a Chinese fire drill gone awry.

Outside of Lashlee who has been better in the past 10 years?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I’m a Mora guy, but many areas of frustration this year. His faith and trust in Charlton is a head-scratcher. There’s no excuse for an 0-5 record at home with our schedule. Losses to FIU and USF are inexcusable. His decision to name himself DC makes no sense. The regression of the DL is crazy bad. I had very high hopes for that group. They were absolutely manhandled for most of the game yesterday. I don’t think anyone thought we’d be 1-7 at this point, but here we are.

He was paying an absent DC salary last year. Don't know where those monies this year were allocated. Marinelli's position a new creation? plus Pagano? How do you compensate a new OC in season?

 

[Alum86]

Outside of Lashlee who has been better in the past 10 years?

Weist. On the cusp of 10 years, so I’ll give you that.

 

[Stinger92860]

There is no way you give up a 4th and 5 quarterback run for 1st down that seals the game for the opponent.

That’s been a consistent outcome this year and opponents know it.

 

[UCan3]

We did not and don't belong in the Big 12 as far as football goes and I would rather hoops stick in the Big East if that were the only conference alternative.

I believe the ACC would be more accommodating both football - eventually - and hoops-wise, and that is where we will eventually end up. It might help if we could somehow some way convince Villanova to 'level up' to FBS football simultaneously. That we we'd allow the ACC to keep things even. I do not think 'Nova's football program is too far off.

I'm done blaming Mora for the program's shortfalls. We have discussed ad nauseum the structural impediments that we are facing to fielding an actual-factual FBS D1 football program and at this point to suggest that Mora is anything more than simply the head coach is tilting at windmills. Point being he can rail from the mountaintops about recruiting, funding, NIL, conference affiliation until he's blue in the face but he will never have the clout some of his peers do influence-wise. For things to truly change basically the entire cultural perception of football in the State has to change and that just is not going to happen any time soon.

The one thing that I a ready to blame Mora for yesterday is perhaps with some of the players that have left the program, we could have won that game. - some NIL no brainers, others they just didn’t like him/Nick

You can’t keep everyone, that’s college football, but he’s lost enough talent that might have given us a good shot to have stayed in the game. Some made sense, some are head-scratchers?

He and his coaches need to do a better job selling UConn not just of future recruits but keeping kids once they get there.

 

[UConnJim]

Random thoughts at this point in the season:

1. Seems like something really negative happened in the offensive room after the NC State game. RB's quit. Things took a few games to heal.
2. Coming into the season, the big concern in the defensive room was the loss of very good LB's. This has been confirmed.
3. Our WR room has to be improved. Not enough separation and creative route running. Way too many drops.
4. OC and ST coaches have to go.
5. Defense tries way too much arm tackling. Gotta get the basics tought.
6. We need a DC; Mora is spread too thin.
7. The first few games I feel like the players (defectors) let the coaches down and the last few games the coaches have let the players down.

I agree with most of your points, but I have some pushback. My feedback on your points:

1) I don't know.
2) Agree.
3) There was plenty of separation at the BC game today as guys were open. I do think the lack of RB depth really hurt as there were no screen passes to RBs to make the defense honest or fresh RB legs. I do agree we need a couple of athletic tall WRs and I would like to see a big receiving TE. Drops have been a killer this year.
4) On the ST coach, this guy is a proven ST coach. Unfortunately, he lost his 2 best returners which wasn't his fault. I do think the punts are too low which means they are easy to return. And, he inherited McFadden as his scholarship FG kicker and he has been disappointing. As for Charlton, he needs to revamp his offense. Last year, he had to go with a true freshman QB on the fly who hadn't participated in Spring football, lost his 2 best WRs to injury, lost 2 to 3 RBs to injury, and he made the offense good enough to win some games. This year, the offense is better than last year, but not good enough. He needs more weapons and I don't understand why UConn went into the season with 5 scholarship RBs with a run heavy offense. BC has 7 scholarship RBs.
5) Agree but it has gotten better as the season went on.
6) 100% agree.
7) I don't agree. UConn is close, but they are just not making winning plays. Were the coaches responsible for the 2 horrible dropped passes yesterday? Or for the LBs crashing the wrong holes and allowing runs up the middle? I do think UConn's strategy on Castellanos, BC's best offensive weapon, worked pretty well.

Objectively, UConn is somewhat better than last year, but not good enough. 5 of UConn's 7 losses have been by 10 points or less. T win close games, you need very good coaching and winning plays by the players. Last year, UConn benefitted by having 3 of the last 4 games at home. This year, only 1 of the last 5 games are at home. I was worried about that going into the season as I thought UConn would take some time to gel.

 

[TMB4405]

I thought the team really fought hard yesterday. Some hot takes based on watching and reading this thread:

1. There is no defending trying the FG. Made zero sense. Was livid watching the Fg team trot on field
2. Although the offense contributes to TOP difference it really is about the defense never being able to get off field on 3rd down. Bc had ball entire 3 quarter with only 2 possessions.
3. I dont mind going for 4th and 1 and play call. Roberson made a bad read. He had a guy inside 3 yards away. That said hand it to Stafford.
4. The entire offense still feels like a 1990’s pro style offense. College FB offenses in general feel more exciting than ours. We need a Lashlee type hire. Not sure who that would be.
5. How can we let kickoffs and punt consistently hit ground. Kills us immediately. How hard is it to call a fair catch. Ball at 25.

We are 1-7. Might as well try some diff people in last 4 games including QB. Not due to Riberson. He has been decent. Might as well see if we have anything else.

 

[uconnfan68]

He misplaced Jelani Stafford

That mess was all on Roberson. Was way too late to make the play.

 

[AllHusky]

Weist. On the cusp of 10 years, so I’ll give you that.

Was Moorhead an OC, or just position coach?

 

[jdb50]

Moorhead was the OC and when PP came in he gave it to DeLeone and put JM at QB coach. JM left after the season. In reality JM should have been made head coach. We have been screwing up for years. Did it again when Weist-an offensive coach- took over after PP was fired and got the team to play better. So we ignore that and hire crazy Bob.

 

[BlueandOG]

I have been going to games at BC for many years. There were more than 1k UConn fans there. Years ago, it was much easier for visiting fans to attend a BC football game than it is now. Visitors used to be able to park on campus or near campus and you could tailgate. Heck, I had friends that brought Winnebagos to games at BC. Now, to park on campus and tailgate, you have to pay $1.5k to $10k+ per season. (And UConn fans complain about donor seating!) The 2 parking garages are thousands of dollars per season and the parking garage was the only tailgating option for the UConn game at if I remember correctly $400 per car.

I brought a group of BC fans to the Rent last year and they raved about the whole experience. Plenty of parking, easy to tailgate, plenty of food and beverage options, easy entry and exit, more comfortable seating,... It would be nice to have an on-campus stadium, but we don't.

This is so true. I work at BC and live pretty close to campus. It is a nightmare getting to and from games. No parking, hard to get Ubers home since everyone Ubers, the Greenline to BC is slower than my grandma walking, and there is NO tailgating (seriously, BC has the worst tailgating in football).

 

[Duncan Idaho]

We very much miss Swenson this year. He was extremely versatile in pass coverage and run tackling. Under appreciated until now career.

 

[UConnJim]

Weist. On the cusp of 10 years, so I’ll give you that.

UConn was ranked 114 out of 125 schools in total offense the year Weist was OC and averaged 20.6 points per game. They didn't score more than 21 points in a game until the 10th game of the season. And, he had way more talent to work with than Charlton. His 3 deep QBs? Casey Cochran, Tim Boyle, and Chandler Whitmer. Yes, he was the OC when Boyle threw 8 ints and 0 TDs and looked totally lost. He had Geremy Davis, Noel Thomas, and Shakim Phillips at WR. RBs were OK with Lyle McCombs, Max DeLorenzo, and Deshon Foxx.

You think he did a better job with the talent he had than Charlton?

 

[UConnJim]

We very much miss Swenson this year. He was extremely versatile in pass coverage and run tackling. Under appreciated until now career.

The LBs that were lost to graduation, Bouyer-Randle, Swenson, and Bembry, were much bigger losses than I expected. Bouyer-Randle was graded UConn's highest graded tackler by PFF last year. Remember, Bouyer-Randle was 6'2", 240 lbs and hit hard. We miss that this year.