The good, the bad, and the ugly

[BlueMAB]

My take before watching again in DVR.

Good: Defense stopped the run. Fantastic job there. Whitmer played much better. One stupid throw at a very bad time but that's not why we lost. Outside of the last drive the WRs improved. The d-line was much better. Third down on D?. THANK YOU UCONN. Much better.

Bad: turnovers. Terrible start to the game...AGAIN. Bad throw by Whitmer in what was otherwise a solid game. O-line. 9+/- sacks! 9. Really? It's tiresome reading complaints about "happy feet" when Whitmer faces the kind of pressure he does very game. No running game at all. 30+/- yard rushing? I don't want to hear about their run defense, we saw the same production against stony Brook. Secondary. Ugh. They get a C. Some terrible plays, but some great run support by Adams.

Ugly. Fans leaving (lots of students too) at halftime and in the third quarter. I watched 20-30 leave in the second quarter. Why show up?


Edit: I saw improvement. I still think we can go 6-6. I don't think what we saw from Boyle was worthy of being compared to Whitmer. The defense dropped back, stopped rushing, and was probably (assuming) a lot of second stringers. Boyle didn't do enough to take the job. Keep giving him snaps here and there but if we don't get major improvement on the OL it won't matter.

 

[BoatShow]

In regards to students leaving early...I suppose they get a pass the first couple games because of A. a blowout and B. oppressive heat but leaving a ten point game early in the fourth? On national TV? Disgraceful. My crew and I from the young alumni made sure to let them know how horrendous it was to see them leaving. I mean really WTF else do they have going on at 2:45 on Saturday afternoon?

 

[freescooter]

We have had 3 fumbles by running backs deep in our own end. 2 for tds and one that set up a td. I'm the coach I tell the running backs next guy who fumbles the football in the first quarter takes a seat at the end of the bench until next year. We use too many anyway so benching one will probably help tighten the rotation. And you don't have to actually leave him there for the rest of the season if you need him, but we can't spot the other team 7 every game because backs don't take care of the football.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

In fairness to Newsome, that fumble wasn't all on him.

 

[NavinRJohnson]

Our running backs need to know how to pick up a blitz. They are lost. Max side stepped one trying to fake a run.

 

[BNich]

In fairness to Newsome, that fumble wasn't all on him.

And what about DeLorenzo's? And what about Marriner's? The ball was handed off secured and then lost. He fumbled the football. Period.

 

[huskymedic]

We have had 3 fumbles by running backs deep in our own end. 2 for tds and one that set up a td. I'm the coach I tell the running backs next guy who fumbles the football in the first quarter takes a seat at the end of the bench until next year. We use too many anyway so benching one will probably help tighten the rotation. And you don't have to actually leave him there for the rest of the season if you need him, but we can't spot the other team 7 every game because backs don't take care of the football.

If he tells them that then the RB should get to take the OL of his choice w/ him. I want to see replay but I'm not sure Newsome had a chance to even tuck it yet when he got blown up.

Edit - found it. Close but not as close as I thought w/ naked eye. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11517647&categoryid=2378529

 

[BlueMAB]

In regards to students leaving early...I suppose they get a pass the first couple games because of A. a blowout and B. oppressive heat but leaving a ten point game early in the fourth? On national TV? Disgraceful. My crew and I from the young alumni made sure to let them know how horrendous it was to see them leaving. I mean really WTF else do they have going on at 2:45 on Saturday afternoon?

Fourth quarter? You're being generous.

 

[Blue Loyalist]

My take before watching again in DVR.

Good: Defense stopped the run. Fantastic job there. Whitmer played much better. One stupid throw at a very bad time but that's not why we lost. Outside of the last drive the WRs improved. The d-line was much better. Third down on D?. THANK YOU UCONN. Much better.

Bad: turnovers. Terrible start to the game...AGAIN. Bad throw by Whitmer in what was otherwise a solid game. O-line. 9+/- sacks! 9. Really? It's tiresome reading complaints about "happy feet" when Whitmer faces the kind of pressure he does very game. No running game at all. 30+/- yard rushing? I don't want to hear about their run defense, we saw the same production against stony Brook. Secondary. Ugh. They get a C. Some terrible plays, but some great run support by Adams.

Ugly. Fans leaving (lots of students too) at halftime and in the third quarter. I watched 20-30 leave in the second quarter. Why show up?


Edit: I saw improvement. I still think we can go 6-6. I don't think what we saw from Boyle was worthy of being compared to Whitmer. The defense dropped back, stopped rushing, and was probably (assuming) a lot of second stringers. Boyle didn't do enough to take the job. Keep giving him snaps here and there but if we don't get major improvement on the OL it won't matter.

Nice write-up. Thank you. One observation however - The Rent stayed mostly full until there were 5 minutes to go and the game was clearly out of reach.

 

[BlueMAB]

Nice write-up. Thank you. One observation however - The Rent stayed mostly full until there were 5 minutes to go and the game was clearly out of reach.

Thanks, but we have different definitions of "mostly full".

 

[Nostical]

As long as so many of our fans continue to stand in the alcoves and under the scoreboard our stadium seats will never look full on TV. The Rent may be convenient with good sight lines but it's design sucks. None of the great college stadiums look like ours. Even the project manager says he blew it. I had a long discussion with him a few years ago. He said he asked the architects--who had designed The Rent to look more traditional with entrance portals and no standing areas--to rework it so fans could still see the action "while getting a hot dog". As a kid he had missed a punt return by Dave Meggett at Giants stadium while he'd been in line for a tube steak. He now says more visible TV's at concessions would have been a better alternative to having the empty seat syndrome. (He also said there were to be many more chair back seats but the cost of the sound/video systems caused a cutback to more bleachers.)
My first stadium expansion suggestion would be to fill in the alcoves and the scoreboard concourse with seats.
ps--I know some of you like to stand but i respectfully suggest you do that at the urinals and get your fannies in the seats. Of course contrary opinions are cordially invited.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I absolutely would put s second level of seats where the scoreboard is. I also would build it to a height even with the second deck opposite the press box and try to extend the deck behind the student section to an equal height. That alone should add 8k-10k seats (which would be a sufficient initial expansion). If things happen with the program the way many of us are hoping, we can then expand again by putting a third deck behind the home sidelines and if another expansion would become necessary at some point, we can then add to the end zone seats.

 

[billybud]

I thought that UConn looked improved over last year....this game could have easily gone the other way

Bodes well for conference play.

 

[Bonehead]

In fairness to Newsome, that fumble wasn't all on him.

Who is it on??

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Who is it on??

Oh gee I don't know.......maybe the guy on the OL who let the DT into the backfield untouched allowing him to pave Newsome the second he touched the ball. Kid didnt have time to secure the ball. I'm not absolving Newsome btw, but it wasn't anything like Max or Marriner's fumbles the first 2 games.

 

[Bonehead]

Oh gee I don't know..maybe the guy on the OL who let the DT into the backfield untouched allowing him to pave Newsome the second he touched the ball. Kid didnt have time to secure the ball. I'm not absolving Newsome btw, but it wasn't anything like Max or Marriner's fumbles the first 2 games.

I agree. Just wanted to hear it in your own words. OL pathetic.

GO TEAM!!

 

[uconnell]

Thanks, but we have different definitions of "mostly full".

Mostly full on the sunny side and pathetic on the shady side. I have a good view of the entire stadium, so I can see who is leaving. I didn't see the usual 3rd quarter stampede. Yes I am disgusted with the students.

 

[warbler1055]

Unless the OL and the running game improve, we are not going to get 6 wins this year!!! I am so sick about improvement and process, I just want a few solid wins.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

And what about DeLorenzo's? And what about Marriner's? The ball was handed off secured and then lost. He fumbled the football. Period.

Did you actually see Newsome's fumble? How does a 300 lb man child sneak past the interior of the OL without anyone laying a finger on him?

 

[freescooter]

Point is that we cannot fumble the football on the opening drive, deep in our own territory. This team isn't good enough to spot anyone 7 points.

If he tells them that then the RB should get to take the OL of his choice w/ him. I want to see replay but I'm not sure Newsome had a chance to even tuck it yet when he got blown up.

Edit - found it. Close but not as close as I thought w/ naked eye. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11517647&categoryid=2378529

Agree. Got to secure the football. This has got to end and if it takes putting a guy on the bench for a few games to end it, I think it needs to be done. Diaco made a big deal about turnovers and how he won't allow them. Well, these ones have been killers.

 

[J187Money]

I wasn't there. But at least Butch used two of my seats.

 

[Dooley]

In regards to students leaving early...I suppose they get a pass the first couple games because of A. a blowout and B. oppressive heat but leaving a ten point game early in the fourth? On national TV? Disgraceful. My crew and I from the young alumni made sure to let them know how horrendous it was to see them leaving. I mean really WTF else do they have going on at 2:45 on Saturday afternoon?

I gave them a pass for the Stony Brook game too but Saturday was embarrassing. I've been beating this drum for years about how our students don't fill in until mid/late 1st quarter through halftime. There haven't been many games in the history of the Rent that rows of students leave at halftime. It's a disgrace and embarrassment to the school. 24-21 game with 9 to play and the student sections were half full (I may be generous saying "half").

That said, Diaco taught me something on Saturday. Instead of focusing in on the 10K empty seats, he shifted the focus to the 30,098 fans that were there. So, in that spirit, the rows of students who stayed through the whole game made a good deal of noise and were very engaged throughout. Those students supported their school well and showed the level of school pride that I like to see. Those kids should be complimented and the kids who leave at halftime of every game should be expelled and have their basketball tickets revoked too.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I thought the normal crowd outside of the students stuck around and were loud until it got out of hand. Students on the other hand.....SMH.

 

[jdb50]

Did you actually see Newsome's fumble? How does a 300 lb man child sneak past the interior of the OL without anyone laying a finger on him?

Have no idea why the RG went to help the RT on that play let alone how the center did not even touch the DT. It almost looked like the center thought he was supposed to take the LB but that means the RG would have had to take on the DT and blew it. It didn't help that the LG got beat across his front by his man as well. Blowing blocking assignments like that running a simple I-formation shows how bad things really are. Should have been a center and RG double on the DT at the minimum with the RG scraping to the second level if possible.

 

[BNich]

As long as so many of our fans continue to stand in the alcoves and under the scoreboard our stadium seats will never look full on TV. The Rent may be convenient with good sight lines but it's design sucks. None of the great college stadiums look like ours. Even the project manager says he blew it. I had a long discussion with him a few years ago. He said he asked the architects--who had designed The Rent to look more traditional with entrance portals and no standing areas--to rework it so fans could still see the action "while getting a hot dog". As a kid he had missed a punt return by Dave Meggett at Giants stadium while he'd been in line for a tube steak. He now says more visible TV's at concessions would have been a better alternative to having the empty seat syndrome. (He also said there were to be many more chair back seats but the cost of the sound/video systems caused a cutback to more bleachers.)
My first stadium expansion suggestion would be to fill in the alcoves and the scoreboard concourse with seats.
ps--I know some of you like to stand but i respectfully suggest you do that at the urinals and get your fannies in the seats. Of course contrary opinions are cordially invited.

Couldn't agree more with your first sentence. WAY too many people standing up beer in hand instead of standing at their seats. Get closer to the field and make some noise people!