Coach P: Mac has "clearly separated himself"

[BugsyCT]

From his Sunday tele-presser:

http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni -- who was stuck in an elevator for an hour at the team hotel in Buffalo and arrived late to the game -- had his Sunday media teleconference, here's what he had to say:

- Johnny McEntee has "clearly separated himself" from the pack as the quarterback. UConn went into the Buffalo game with the intent of playing McEntee in the first quarter and Michael Nebrich in the second, like always, but it was McEntee for most of the game aside from the one series for Nebrich and McCummings' set plays. "Johnny played his best game of the year," Pasqualoni said. "He was able to make some key plays in the passing game, and avoided the pass rush to make a first down with his feet. He made good decisions. He wasn't perfect. But we've got something to build off of."

- Blidi Wreh-Wilson fell awkwardly in the first half, and didn't return with a knee injury. Pasqualoni wouldn't speculate on how long Blidi might be out until the results of his MRI.

- Buffalo's defensive approach was to stack nine and 10 men in the box to stop the run and make UConn beat it through the air. While the Bulls limited the run game, UConn was able to make enough plays through the air to win, Nick Williams coming through both times. "Going into this, we wanted to run to take the pressure off the quarterback," Pasqualoni said. "What happened against Buffalo is we were able to get the ball out in the passing game some and hurt the D in that regard. We have to make people respect the pass. We're going to run regardless, but sometimes its hard to do that."

- Jerome Junior served a one-game suspension Saturday, and didn't make the trip. The punishment is over, and Junior is back in the facility and in meetings today.

- The game ball went to the entire defense for the effort Saturday.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Well, I called for the Nebrich era to begin last week. I still would like to see what he can do over the course of an entire game. But, I will trust the staff who sees these kids in practice every week.

I hate to think negatively, but if the season gets out of hand, I really would still like to see Nebrich get his feet wet in some meaningful minutes.

 

[metsfan2323]

McEntee has clearly separated himself in playing time. Nebrich has still not received a fair shot. McEntee is improving though no doubt about it.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Nebrich hasn't received a fair shot at all (except during practice of course, but who cares about that!)

McEntee played a darn good game last week.

 

[BugsyCT]

I'm OK with P's decision to stabilize the QB situation with J Mac, but if we have a game soon where J Mac is struggling and things get out of hand on the scoreboard(not that that's likely) , I'd like to see Nebrich for at least a full quarter if not a whole half. Sure he's young, but to give him one series per game is not a fair evaluation of his ability IMO. Let the kid settle into the flow of the game.

 

[rbny1]

Nebrich has still not received a fair shot.

Where did you come up with that? He's had chances on the field, and we know nothing about his performance in practice.

 

[kemba]

If Mac has separated himself in practice, fine. But if that's the case I don't know why they've played nebrich at all. They clearly haven't given him a fair shot in games.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If Mac has separated himself in practice, fine. But if that's the case I don't know why they've played nebrich at all. They clearly haven't given him a fair shot in games.

I think they are out to get Nebrich.

 

[kemba]

I think they are out to get Nebrich.

Assuming you are being sarcastic, nobody said that. Maybe, just maybe, the coaching staff is mismanaging the situation

 

[Sean]

kemba is getting at what I am - if you aren't going to give Nebrich more than 1 series during the game anyway, just leave him on the bench and see how much you can improve McEntee.

 

[Palatine]

Mac was acceptable against Buffalo but not that good.

1- It was Buffalo.
2-17 points is below the goal for offense.
3-He is only competing 50% of his passes.
4-Most of his yards we Nick Williams making plays on his own.

He has only "separated" himself because P has ignored his own rules about production and decided not to let anyone else have a fair shot.

 

[Jimdish255]

Well, I called for the Nebrich era to begin last week. I still would like to see what he can do over the course of an entire game. But, I will trust the staff who sees these kids in practice every week.

I hate to think negatively, but if the season gets out of hand, I really would still like to see Nebrich get his feet wet in some meaningful minutes.

I clearly understand the thought process given Mike's upside. He's going to get there eventually. For now I'm glad we've got a plan to prepare a guy as best we can and let the team come together under that leadership. Most importantly with consistency of executions and familiarity we can develop timing and speed things up a bit, cut down on mistakes and time wasting. We're lucky to have Nebrich available and it's likely that he will be the guy in the not too distant future. And I hope I never see the wildcat again.

 

[Revrat]

You get your "shots" in practice. Nebrich has clearly not gotten it done there so he isnt in in the games. why is that so hard for everyone to understand? if thtas not how it worked every team in the country would be playing 3QB's until they all had their shot.

 

[UConnNick]

Mac was acceptable against Buffalo but not that good.

1- It was Buffalo.
2-17 points is below the goal for offense.
3-He is only competing 50% of his passes.
4-Most of his yards were Nick Williams making plays on his own.

He has only "separated" himself because P has ignored his own rules about production and decided not to let anyone else have a fair shot.

Agreed. What happens to him when we play a real football team, such as West Virginia? Nebrich should have been reshirted if we were only planning to play him for one series per game. I suppose they elected not to because he's the only other QB who can throw, but it's a waste of a whole year for him now. He's never going to get off the bench, barring an injury to McEntee.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

You get your "shots" in practice. Nebrich has clearly not gotten it done there so he isnt in in the games. why is that so hard for everyone to understand? if thtas not how it worked every team in the country would be playing 3QB's until they all had their shot.

See, i disagree there. If he "clearly" hasnt gotten it done in practice, then he definitely wouldnt be getting a chance in games.

Mac has gotten a shot in game action, and nebrich hasnt....and we are 0-2 against the BCS.

i want to have a QB in there who can do it. i dont care who it is.....but im just not sure mac is better. and i dont think anyone can be based on the limited chance MN has gotten in games.

 

[ctchamps]

The coaching staff was and still are in a difficult situation. None of the quaterbacks showed enough prior to the season and the early part of the season to allow them to settle on a quarterback. I'm sure burning Nebrich's redshirt was the last thing they wanted. But McEntee and McCummings did not step up. The three quarterbacks were all plan 2.

And up to the fourth game they had no clear starter. So they were left with no options but to continue playing each one of them. McEntee has played well enough in the Buffalo game to get him most of the game. But I'm sure the coaching staff has the same concerns and doubts he will maintain this lead. So nothing is probably settled and Nebrich may be asked to start in the future.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Agreed. What happens to him when we play a real football team, such as West Virginia? Nebrich should have been reshirted if we were only planning to play him for one series per game. I suppose they elected not to because he's the only other QB who can throw, but it's a waste of a whole year for him now. He's never going to get off the bench, barring an injury to McEntee.

Agree with both posters. UConn QB situation is being set back years.

 

[Revrat]

He hasnt practiced well. Coach and Nebrich himself have mentioned it, If I had to guess he has been told he needs to do something in particualr when he is out there and he doesn't do it so he doesn't go back in. It's like Calhoun. he tells you what he wants and if you get on the court and don't do it you ride the pine. Sometimes you never get of the bench again. And as far as the wasted year. Hopefully we don't need to worry about it because frankly if you can't beat out the walkon we better have better QB's coming in that can.

 

[Revrat]

Also I should mention that if the line is allowing our running backs and QB's to get eaten before they can take two steps nobody is going to be successful out there. Look at McCummings. He is supposed to be the running QB and he can't do squat with the blocking.

 

[metsfan2323]

Why not try Nebrich as the Wildcat QB instead of McCummings and pass the ball more out of those sets? The defense will have to stay back if there is a legitimate passer running the wildcat.

All summer long we heard how Deleone was going to tailor the playbook to match each QB's strengths, yet we haven't seen any plays for Nebrich that utilize his running ability. I find that very dissapointing.

 

[BlueMAB]

You get your "shots" in practice. Nebrich has clearly not gotten it done there so he isnt in in the games. why is that so hard for everyone to understand? if thtas not how it worked every team in the country would be playing 3QB's until they all had their shot.

Because Coach P says every week, and every time he's asked, that the decision on who plays will be based on production. Aside from Nick Williams turning 15 yards into 115 yards on 2 pass plays, Mac's production is pretty horrible.

 

[BlueMAB]

Why not try Nebrich as the Wildcat QB instead of McCummings and pass the ball more out of those sets? The defense will have to stay back if there is a legitimate passer running the wildcat.

All summer long we heard how Deleone was going to tailor the playbook to match each QB's strengths, yet we haven't seen any plays for Nebrich that utilize his running ability. I find that very dissapointing.

Nebrich is athletic, but I don't think he is physically ready to handle designed runs. He can scramble (and should slide) but he's not built like McCummings.

 

[pepband99]

I'll honestly take 1 of any of the 3 QB's, over all 3 of them. Just tired of this nonsense subbing and useless option run that's a known call the minute McCummings comes in.

 

[mattp]

kemba is getting at what I am - if you aren't going to give Nebrich more than 1 series during the game anyway, just leave him on the bench and see how much you can improve McEntee.

+1

 

[freescooter]

I think we may have seen at last the end of the 3 quarterback experiment. I had thought that Nebrich was going to get the job eventually, and that the coaches really wanted him to take it, but I doubt it happens now. Barring an injury or total meltdown, I'd keep him on the bench going forward. I also think this demonstrates that even with a pretty highly regarded player, the difference between playing high calbre D1 football and being a high school star, especially for a quarterback is huge.