A (different) View from (a few rows back in) Sec 241

[FfldCntyFan]

After yesterday's game there is so much I want to post that I figured I would try my hand at this (apologies to BL for borrowing his theme).

I am officially in next year and beyond mode. I don't know if the staff has what it takes to get us where we need to be (and I am looking at a much larger picture than a couple of winning seasons) but there are a few things that we absolutely will need to see in order to believe what we want is being built here

Offensive Line:
I posted earlier in the season about center and left tackle being the two most important positions on the line. I am very happy with the progress Crozier and Peart are making and believe they will grow to being very good/exceptional over the remainder of their time here but they are however only 40% of the offensive line. I think Leone will be our right tackle and after a not too long learning curve he should be solid. Guard has me a bit concerned, our top four will all be seniors and there will be questions/concerns with each. Hopkins has the best track record (and has appeared to be the most competent) but he will be coming off a season ending injury. Rutherford has not shown a lot, Vechery has been adequate (relative to what has been around him) and Schafenacker, has barely seen the field since getting here which speaks for itself. Part of me hopes that DeGeorge and Campbell can add enough good weight this upcoming offseason to move into the starting lineup but more realistic will be to have them see enough time in 2017 that each can make a seamless jump to being a starter in 2018. Going forward the staff absolutely need to bring in four offensive line recruits a year with three (occasionally four) on scholarship. I also believe it is imperative that Crozier's eventual replacement needs to be part of this year's recruiting class (projecting him to be a RS soph when he moves into the starting lineup. If the staff can pull this off our (now approaching a half dozen year) OL nightmare may be close to ending.

QB:
This is the acid test for Diaco and his staff. Williams has to be the real deal, there can be no ifs, and or buts here. Any margin for error in this regard was exhausted with the move of Davis to F (tight end in most offenses). Going forward with recruiting, there can be a miss for every hit (as long as one scholarship QB is brought in every year) but Williams absolutely needs to be a hit. Adding to this, next season Williams needs to be worked into the lineup early on and if he is what he needs to be, by mid-season he will be our #1 QB. I don't see any other scenario as anything but a failure.

Remainder of Offense:
In terms of talent, depth and outlook for the future I have zero complaints about what the staff has assembled here, although it does require a minimum of one, ideally both freshman RB's (Hopkins/Vickers) working out. If they do, we have more at our skill positions going forward than we've ever had.

Defense:
I will address this as an entire unit, discussing philosophy before talent. During the game yesterday BL mentioned the movie 'Remember the Titans' and the line about how they needed to get more speed on defense. Earlier in the game I was thinking about Diaco's mentor lineage (Groh, who learned from Parcells/Bellichick) and how Bellichick famously took one of the biggest players (DE) off the field and replaced him with one of the smallest (CB) as his base defense in Super Bowl XXV. Being stubborn, almost to a fault (I can present a litany of HOF coaches who qualify) while implementing a philosophy that the talent is not yet prepared for is one thing. Being completely unwilling to make necessary situational adjustments is something entirely different and this more than anything else is where Diaco needs to grow as a coach/leader.

I was angry (as it was happening) that in the first half ending drive yesterday we played our base defense (only four DB's) until UCF reached midfield (was he worried they might run the ball?). I was furious on the play where UCF scored their third TD when they went five wide, Stapleton (a DE/OLB hybrid) was covering a wide receiver. My concern was that there was no way Stapleton could cover him deep. This led to the deep help leaving the middle of the field open, where the RB, as a slot receiver beat ILB Joseph up the seam for a TD.

I have some hope considering recruits we've brought in who have yet to see the field but in today's game we need a safety who is more of a corner (this kind of has been addressed with the move of Summers) for when the offense goes to more of a spread. We also need a linebacker who is more of a safety (kind of what RE did with the Husky) and a second who has the speed to drop into coverage. Having a front seven that can switch between a three-four and four-three front is a nice concept but the 'swing' DE/LB needs to be more LB speed/body wise (kind of like the Bandit from RE days) than DE. BL stated yesterday that we would have been better off playing both Carrezola and Stapleton at ends yesterday and I believe he nailed it on that observation.

Staff:
I'm not convinced that we have an adequate QB coach. I know in another thread someone recommended Lineburg for promotion to OC. I don't see that. Granted I haven't seen anything from practices but there are too many necessary, fundamental things a QB needs to be able to do in today's game that are beyond what our QB's have not shown they are capable of. This could be on the guys he's had here (Whitmer in year one, Shirreffs since) but I haven't seen the ability to check down, slide in the pocket when pressure begins or show any poise. I am not confident that our current QB coach can get the job done at this level.

I also have concerns about our CB coach (and don't understand why we need one coach for corners and another for safeties). I know the large cushions, keep the opponent in front of you philosophy comes from much higher than the CB coach and I am of the opinion (perhaps just hope) that the cushions will be greatly reduced when younger players get more accustomed to the defense/work their way into the lineup. I'm just not sure that a part of this is lack of confidence in the players' technique and understanding of leverage.

Contrary to the bulk of this board I have seen a number of things that led me to believe our OC has quite a bit of creativity and given the proper tools and freedom, our offense will be quite impressive (at the moment what we have is similar to trying to play a competitive round of golf with only a three wood and a putter.

Special teams (especially the return game) needs quite a bit more attention than it is receiving. Va Tech was basically built on defense and special teams (Beamer Ball). Special teams can supplement a less than adequate offense (look at Penn St yesterday) yet this appears to be something we've decided to put on a shelf and ignore. There may have been a valid reason for this early in this regime (too many fundamental things to work on in practice to allow for much attention paid to special teams) but as we are now ending year three this needs to change.

My overall opinion is that as frustrating as things have been, with continued recruiting and a bit of tweaking of approach/staff/philosophy we should be solid at most levels. The $64,000 question is QB and if Williams is not the answer this staff is toast.

 

[FDNY99]

After yesterday's game there is so much I want to post that I figured I would try my hand at this (apologies to BL for borrowing his theme).

I am officially in next year and beyond mode. I don't know if the staff has what it takes to get us where we need to be (and I am looking at a much larger picture than a couple of winning seasons) but there are a few things that we absolutely will need to see in order to believe what we want is being built here

Offensive Line:
I posted earlier in the season about center and left tackle being the two most important positions on the line. I am very happy with the progress Crozier and Peart are making and believe they will grow to being very good/exceptional over the remainder of their time here but they are however only 40% of the offensive line. I think Leone will be our right tackle and after a not too long learning curve he should be solid. Guard has me a bit concerned, our top four will all be seniors and there will be questions/concerns with each. Hopkins has the best track record (and has appeared to be the most competent) but he will be coming off a season ending injury. Rutherford has not shown a lot, Vechery has been adequate (relative to what has been around him) and Schafenacker, has barely seen the field since getting here which speaks for itself. Part of me hopes that DeGeorge and Campbell can add enough good weight this upcoming offseason to move into the starting lineup but more realistic will be to have them see enough time in 2017 that each can make a seamless jump to being a starter in 2018. Going forward the staff absolutely need to bring in four offensive line recruits a year with three (occasionally four) on scholarship. I also believe it is imperative that Crozier's eventual replacement needs to be part of this year's recruiting class (projecting him to be a RS soph when he moves into the starting lineup. If the staff can pull this off our (now approaching a half dozen year) OL nightmare may be close to ending.

QB:
This is the acid test for Diaco and his staff. Williams has to be the real deal, there can be no ifs, and or buts here. Any margin for error in this regard was exhausted with the move of Davis to F (tight end in most offenses). Going forward with recruiting, there can be a miss for every hit (as long as one scholarship QB is brought in every year) but Williams absolutely needs to be a hit. Adding to this, next season Williams needs to be worked into the lineup early on and if he is what he needs to be, by mid-season he will be our #1 QB. I don't see any other scenario as anything but a failure.

Remainder of Offense:
In terms of talent, depth and outlook for the future I have zero complaints about what the staff has assembled here, although it does require a minimum of one, ideally both freshman RB's (Hopkins/Vickers) working out. If they do, we have more at our skill positions going forward than we've ever had.

Defense:
I will address this as an entire unit, discussing philosophy before talent. During the game yesterday BL mentioned the movie 'Remember the Titans' and the line about how they needed to get more speed on defense. Earlier in the game I was thinking about Diaco's mentor lineage (Groh, who learned from Parcells/Bellichick) and how Bellichick famously took one of the biggest players (DE) off the field and replaced him with one of the smallest (CB) as his base defense in Super Bowl XXV. Being stubborn, almost to a fault (I can present a litany of HOF coaches who qualify) while implementing a philosophy that the talent is not yet prepared for is one thing. Being completely unwilling to make necessary situational adjustments is something entirely different and this more than anything else is where Diaco needs to grow as a coach/leader.

I was angry (as it was happening) that in the first half ending drive yesterday we played our base defense (only four DB's) until UCF reached midfield (was he worried they might run the ball?). I was furious on the play where UCF scored their third TD when they went five wide, Stapleton (a DE/OLB hybrid) was covering a wide receiver. My concern was that there was no way Stapleton could cover him deep. This led to the deep help leaving the middle of the field open, where the RB, as a slot receiver beat ILB Joseph up the seam for a TD.

I have some hope considering recruits we've brought in who have yet to see the field but in today's game we need a safety who is more of a corner (this kind of has been addressed with the move of Summers) for when the offense goes to more of a spread. We also need a linebacker who is more of a safety (kind of what RE did with the Husky) and a second who has the speed to drop into coverage. Having a front seven that can switch between a three-four and four-three front is a nice concept but the 'swing' DE/LB needs to be more LB speed/body wise (kind of like the Bandit from RE days) than DE. BL stated yesterday that we would have been better off playing both Carrezola and Stapleton at ends yesterday and I believe he nailed it on that observation.

Staff:
I'm not convinced that we have an adequate QB coach. I know in another thread someone recommended Lineburg for promotion to OC. I don't see that. Granted I haven't seen anything from practices but there are too many necessary, fundamental things a QB needs to be able to do in today's game that are beyond what our QB's have not shown they are capable of. This could be on the guys he's had here (Whitmer in year one, Shirreffs since) but I haven't seen the ability to check down, slide in the pocket when pressure begins or show any poise. I am not confident that our current QB coach can get the job done at this level.

I also have concerns about our CB coach (and don't understand why we need one coach for corners and another for safeties). I know the large cushions, keep the opponent in front of you philosophy comes from much higher than the CB coach and I am of the opinion (perhaps just hope) that the cushions will be greatly reduced when younger players get more accustomed to the defense/work their way into the lineup. I'm just not sure that a part of this is lack of confidence in the players' technique and understanding of leverage.

Contrary to the bulk of this board I have seen a number of things that led me to believe our OC has quite a bit of creativity and given the proper tools and freedom, our offense will be quite impressive (at the moment what we have is similar to trying to play a competitive round of golf with only a three wood and a putter.

Special teams (especially the return game) needs quite a bit more attention than it is receiving. Va Tech was basically built on defense and special teams (Beamer Ball). Special teams can supplement a less than adequate offense (look at Penn St yesterday) yet this appears to be something we've decided to put on a shelf and ignore. There may have been a valid reason for this early in this regime (too many fundamental things to work on in practice to allow for much attention paid to special teams) but as we are now ending year three this needs to change.

My overall opinion is that as frustrating as things have been, with continued recruiting and a bit of tweaking of approach/staff/philosophy we should be solid at most levels. The $64,000 question is QB and if Williams is not the answer this staff is toast.

Tom you are right on with a lot of the stuff here. Our conversations yesterday in game regarding Lineburg sen to be on target..we both had the same concerns and comments. As for your QB highlight on Williams...if he can't take the job from BS in the spring this program is in BIG trouble at that position. Starting next season with BS at QB isn't going to be good after his performance so far this year.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

FD, I'm looking at it a bit differently, almost the way NFL used to work young QB's into a lineup when they had the luxury (no salary cap). If in each of the first couple of games Williams plays two or three series in the first half and about 75% of the series in the second half, with the load increasing after that, it would be easier for him to acclimate to the starter's role.

 

[BlueDogs]

Nothing happens that will be spectacularly better with this staff. So, we can diagnose all we want, project who is improving, and speculate about who can bring something new, but it's all BS as long as BD and crew run the show.

 

[noeynox]

Nothing happens that will be spectacularly better with this staff. So, we can diagnose all we want, project who is improving, and speculate about who can bring something new, but it's all BS as long as BD and crew run the show.

College football is alot about the QB. I love BS toughness but alot of the,stuff in the OP is spot on.

On one of the final two drives there was a screen to arkeel set up but the ball came in at about 100mph from about 3 yards away. He had pressure but the QB simply has to have a better feel.

I agree with the OP, break in Williams gradually in game action, with the intention of him taking over midseason, and if next year Williams is similar to Davis i.e no hope at the position it will seal Diaco's fate here. Next year, year 4 the gloves are off. The coaches quirkiness is no longer cute, forget about fish cakes and advance this team or hit the bricks.

 

[gtcam]

FairfieldFan - really appreciate you diagnosis but I have to concur with BlueDogs - the problem that is now known as UConn football has to be addressed from the top down.
Does AD Benedict have an action plan in the works? Is he ready to apply pressure on HCBD and the staff?
Does HCBD realize that the product, as presented now, is not generating ongoing success and is resulting in a decline in fan base support?

 

[jdb50]

I think it finally dawned on Diaco this week that the dial has been turned and the pilot light has ignited the burner under his seat. It is still on low but his comment about all the progress being made and yet it is about winning the games, "I am not an idiot" shows that. Before the season we were feeling we had a shot to win games as multiple opponents had first year head coaches. We beat Maine and Virginia and have lost to Cuse and UCF. Now it is another first year coach at ECU. Our backs are against the wall. Let's see if BD can have the team play like it.

 

[Tdaley]

All accurate thoughts about the current state of affairs with our program. Yesterday was extremely frustrating watching our defense play a soft zone against a true freshman quarter. Further, I counted at least 5 times we had a decent chance for an interception and came up empty every time. I don't think we have enough good cover people on our roster to play a bend but not break defense against spread offenses with quarterbacks who can actually throw the football. Covering running backs and extra wide receivers with our linebackers isn't going to work against most the teams that we play. The strength of pass defense is our cornerbacks. I would prefer to see more man coverage ( press coverage not ten yards off the line of scrimmage) and rush a minimum of 4 players and mixing in some blitzes. Yes, that will open us up to some big plays but it will put more pressure on the other team and its quarterback which should result in more turnovers for us. I acknowledged that we lack the talented pass rushers on our roster. Yet, giving the choice of which poison to take I would rather give our players the chance to make plays with a more aggressive defensive approach ( especially at home with our fans screaming at the top of their lungs) than to sit back and watch the other team's quarterback pick apart our defense. Our defensive coordinator seems to be getting a free pass on the boneyard while Verducci gets hammered daily. We seem to be using a system that doesn't fit our personal. Central Florida was a very winnable game. The problems with offensive have been discuss in great detail on this website. Yesterday, however, I was more disappointed in the lack of plays made by our defense against a very average CF team than I was with our offense.

 

[Chief00]

All accurate thoughts about the current state of affairs with our program. Yesterday was extremely frustrating watching our defense play a soft zone against a true freshman quarter. Further, I counted at least 5 times we had a decent chance for an interception and came up empty every time. I don't think we have enough good cover people on our roster to play a bend but not break defense against spread offenses with quarterbacks who can actually throw the football. Covering running backs and extra wide receivers with our linebackers isn't going to work against most the teams that we play. The strength of pass defense is our cornerbacks. I would prefer to see more man coverage ( press coverage not ten yards off the line of scrimmage) and rush a minimum of 4 players and mixing in some blitzes. Yes, that will open us up to some big plays but it will put more pressure on the other team and its quarterback which should result in more turnovers for us. I acknowledged that we lack the talented pass rushers on our roster. Yet, giving the choice of which poison to take I would rather give our players the chance to make plays with a more aggressive defensive approach ( especially at home with our fans screaming at the top of their lungs) than to sit back and watch the other team's quarterback pick apart our defense. Our defensive coordinator seems to be getting a free pass on the boneyard while Verducci gets hammered daily. We seem to be using a system that doesn't fit our personal. Central Florida was a very winnable game. The problems with offensive have been discuss in great detail on this website. Yesterday, however, I was more disappointed in the lack of plays made by our defense against a very average CF team than I was with our offense.

Our Defensive Coordinator is essentially our head coach.

 

[JMick]

I've scaled back my hate for Verducci. Once we started checking to the sidelines and using the gun as our base formation the flow of the offense has progressed nicely. The big problem is that even though the offense and play calling has improved, it hasn't resulted in points. When you're putting up 400+ yards of offense and not turning the ball over, you should be scoring at least 28 ppg. They really need to figure things out inside of the 20

 

[UConnNick]

FairfieldFan - really appreciate you diagnosis but I have to concur with BlueDogs - the problem that is now known as UConn football has to be addressed from the top down.
Does AD Benedict have an action plan in the works? Is he ready to apply pressure on HCBD and the staff?
Does HCBD realize that the product, as presented now, is not generating ongoing success and is resulting in a decline in fan base support?

Regarding the last question, he openly admits he pays no attention to the crowds at our home games, so I don't see how that translates to any recognition by him of an erosion in fan support. He operates in his own little fantasy world. I'm OK, you're OK seems to be his mantra.

He appears so divorced from his own reality that I can see us going 0-fer the rest of this season, and him being absolutely shocked when he gets called into Benedict's office to get fired. I honestly believe he has zero self-awareness, or if he does he's a master at hiding it.

 

[uconnphil2016]

BS isn't THAT bad. There are plenty of teams--especially defensively oriented teams--who win with mediocre QB play. Maybe part of it is that BS is so tough that I can't divorce myself from wanting him as our QB, but I really do think that our red zone woes are more a product of play calling

 

[TouchdownHusky]

BS isn't THAT bad. There are plenty of teams--especially defensively oriented teams--who win with mediocre QB play. Maybe part of it is that BS is so tough that I can't divorce myself from wanting him as our QB, but I really do think that our red zone woes are more a product of play calling

How about UConn break the paradigm and look to become a team that takes the game out of the defense's hands? How about scoring at a pace the opposition can't keep up with. Let's worry more about the offense and break the "old school" thinking of low scoring games.

 

[UConnNick]

How about UConn break the paradigm and look to become a team that takes the game out of the defense's hands? How about scoring at a pace the opposition can't keep up with. Let's worry more about the offense and break the "old school" thinking of low scoring games.

I couldn't agree more, but in Coach Bobby D's world, that would introduce a level of risk so horrifying to him that he doesn't want to think about it.

 

[Hoophound]

It is getting to the point that there are too many screw ups in the red zone to recall. If we had scored touchdowns in a few game winning situations we'd be in a much better place. Navy and Cuse were outrageous disasters. Unfortunately, coaching and clock issues will kill us no matter what. Even if we start scoring 28ppg, as we should with our average ypg, we'll blow most close games. The ceiling is limited with such poor managment of the game. Can you imagine being unbeaten because we score enough points to hide our flaws then losing a BCS game the way we lost to Navy? While that seems worlds away, it puts in perspective what we are up against. There is no way to avoid heartbreak with these gaffes.

Diaco is like a pilot that can't land a plane in 30mph winds. Everything is great until landing. A great season will simply mean there is no wind (no close games) the second the breeze picks up (close game), we're crashing and burning.

 

[Nostical]

A few comments on this thoughtful and comprehensive thread.

1. I agree that our DC should be getting as much scrutiny as our OC. (How depressing is that to say). What happened to our swagger? Is it merely a matter of more size leading to less speed? I'm not so sure. It was bad enough watching Temple's defense athletically attack USF a week ago to constrain and confuse them while we'd been defensively "robotic" allowing the Bull's QB to dance down the field against us in Tampa. The Friday night game vs the Owls on Nov 4th will be a huge challenge for our coaching staff. Can they adapt? Getting burned in our last best hope for an atmosphere to re-ignite fan interest would be a death knell. If the students flee the Rent in droves early, watch out.

2. It's time we woke up to the fact that opposing coaches watch our film carefully. Those side-line passes with our coverage far off the line worked all day for UCF. Press coverage and pressure on their QB in that weather would have helped. He was not a laser accurate passer. Blitzing a safety or linebacker would have been disruptive and was rare. Our fake FG was not unexpected by UCF--nor were the short yardage QB sneaks. UCF was ripe for play action but we never used it.

3. With so much at stake for our program's future (especially after that BIG XII kabuki dance) Diaco simply can't lose to UCF on Homecoming in the rain and not get excoriated by Benedict. We're one of several schools in a "great race" to claim a pot of gold. We even have a map that shows where it is. But the vehicle we entered leaks oil and our driver is erratic. Make no mistake, the pressure is real to get to six wins. We simply must beat the EC Pirates on Saturday. No other result is acceptable. Word is that DB is already giving BD an earful on expected changes in offensive philosophy.

4. One more thing. Before we debate the state of QB play next year, those questions may be further muddled by the fact that BS graduates in May and is having a child in March. It's not inconceivable (no pun intended) that life decisions may get in the way of remaining for his last year of eligibility.

 

[Hoophound]

For Bryant's sake's, I hope he sticks around and works on a graduate degree. He's going to need a good income from the get go with the family. I don't think it would be wise to pass up the opportunity as long as they can handle another year of school before getting into the real world. He's also a good athlete and I'm not sure if there's a position on the field that he can play professionally either here or in Canada, but I wouldn't mind having him on the field in a different capacity. Especially, if it would benefit the team and help advance his career

 

[CTMike]

A few comments on this thoughtful and comprehensive thread.

1. I agree that our DC should be getting as much scrutiny as our OC. (How depressing is that to say). What happened to our swagger? Is it merely a matter of more size leading to less speed? I'm not so sure. It was bad enough watching Temple's defense athletically attack USF a week ago to constrain and confuse them while we'd been defensively "robotic" allowing the Bull's QB to dance down the field against us in Tampa. The Friday night game vs the Owls on Nov 4th will be a huge challenge for our coaching staff. Can they adapt? Getting burned in our last best hope for an atmosphere to re-ignite fan interest would be a death knell. If the students flee the Rent in droves early, watch out.

2. It's time we woke up to the fact that opposing coaches watch our film carefully. Those side-line passes with our coverage far off the line worked all day for UCF. Press coverage and pressure on their QB in that weather would have helped. He was not a laser accurate passer. Blitzing a safety or linebacker would have been disruptive and was rare. Our fake FG was not unexpected by UCF--nor were the short yardage QB sneaks. UCF was ripe for play action but we never used it.

3. With so much at stake for our program's future (especially after that BIG XII kabuki dance) Diaco simply can't lose to UCF on Homecoming in the rain and not get excoriated by Benedict. We're one of several schools in a "great race" to claim a pot of gold. We even have a map that shows where it is. But the vehicle we entered leaks oil and our driver is erratic. Make no mistake, the pressure is real to get to six wins. We simply must beat the EC Pirates on Saturday. No other result is acceptable. Word is that DB is already giving BD an earful on expected changes in offensive philosophy.

4. One more thing. Before we debate the state of QB play next year, those questions may be further muddled by the fact that BS graduates in May and is having a child in March. It's not inconceivable (no pun intended) that life decisions may get in the way of remaining for his last year of eligibility.

On your last point - if it were me in the same situation - I'd have to think long and hard about my long term health and whether it is worth the risk with a kid on the way. But that's just me.

 

[noeynox]

For Bryant's sake's, I hope he sticks around and works on a graduate degree. He's going to need a good income from the get go with the family. I don't think it would be wise to pass up the opportunity as long as they can handle another year of school before getting into the real world. He's also a good athlete and I'm not sure if there's a position on the field that he can play professionally either here or in Canada, but I wouldn't mind having him on the field in a different capacity. Especially, if it would benefit the team and help advance his career

IF NOT QB, we could use some help at safety. Jamar will go back to corner and Obi graduates. I know that is getting WAY ahead of ourselves but I hope he sticks around either way.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

IF NOT QB, we could use some help at safety. Jamar will go back to corner and Obi graduates. I know that is getting WAY ahead of ourselves but I hope he sticks around either way.

Please excuse the critique, but he is way too slow for a safety imo. We are already entirely too slow on defense. If anything, at his size & speed, LB would be a better choice...albeit not a good one.

All of this is to say that it has a 1% chance of happening so this is probably all moot...but we just can't stay this slow on defense, OR OFFENSE for that matter.

Watching other games on Saturdays, and seeing the difference in speed between us and just about every other team i've seen (and i watch a lot of CFB), is staggering, and really disheartening.

 

[ktuck911]

Contrary to the bulk of this board I have seen a number of things that led me to believe our OC has quite a bit of creativity and given the proper tools and freedom, our offense will be quite impressive (at the moment what we have is similar to trying to play a competitive round of golf with only a three wood and a putter.

Special teams (especially the return game) needs quite a bit more attention than it is receiving. Va Tech was basically built on defense and special teams (Beamer Ball). Special teams can supplement a less than adequate offense (look at Penn St yesterday) yet this appears to be something we've decided to put on a shelf and ignore. There may have been a valid reason for this early in this regime (too many fundamental things to work on in practice to allow for much attention paid to special teams) but as we are now ending year three this needs to change.

I agree that there is some creativity from OC, BUT, it's so damned scripted. I mentioned this in another thread. If something gets in the way of the script, the adjustments are all off... Do you not see this? That's my biggest concern there. After awhile EVERYBODY know what's coming, and, unfortunately, the opposing team's D, shows up more prepared than our offense to execute....

Spot on with Special Teams... Total joke.. Grade for now 3 years when from F- to F+.... That's just utter nonsense for our team to go from a team that could return punts, for TDs even, over the course of our FBS tenure to nothing, zilch, zippo... utter nonsense. and unexceptable.

 

[uconnphil2016]

How about UConn break the paradigm and look to become a team that takes the game out of the defense's hands? How about scoring at a pace the opposition can't keep up with. Let's worry more about the offense and break the "old school" thinking of low scoring games.

I just don't get this line of thinking. You really think that we're a good play caller away from dropping 60 on someone? Even if Verducci is a substandard offensive coordinator, I fail to believe that he's got the 2011 Patriots on the field just waiting to break themselves free from his restrictions. Sure, maybe our offense could be marginally better than it is right now, but at a certain point we have to understand that our offensive talent is incapable of being a high scoring unit.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I just don't get this line of thinking. You really think that we're a good play caller away from dropping 60 on someone? Even if Verducci is a substandard offensive coordinator, I fail to believe that he's got the 2011 Patriots on the field just waiting to break themselves free from his restrictions. Sure, maybe our offense could be marginally better than it is right now, but at a certain point we have to understand that our offensive talent is incapable of being a high scoring unit.

Agreed, but you can never get there if you don't start. The first thing UConn needs is a program commitment that an high octane offense is their vision. Talented, high school playmakers have got to believe that they will be showcased in an entertaining, modern day offense.

And, yes, to run this offense you have to have this caliber athlete, but you don't get that caliber athlete without the program being attractive: past paced, big play oriented, exciting offense (not only for players but fans).

Right now, UConn offers an anemic, boring style of play that is turning off recruits and fan base.

 

[businesslawyer]

It is getting to the point that there are too many screw ups in the red zone to recall. If we had scored touchdowns in a few game winning situations we'd be in a much better place. Navy and Cuse were outrageous disasters. Unfortunately, coaching and clock issues will kill us no matter what. Even if we start scoring 28ppg, as we should with our average ypg, we'll blow most close games. The ceiling is limited with such poor managment of the game. Can you imagine being unbeaten because we score enough points to hide our flaws then losing a BCS game the way we lost to Navy? While that seems worlds away, it puts in perspective what we are up against. There is no way to avoid heartbreak with these gaffes.

Diaco is like a pilot that can't land a plane in 30mph winds. Everything is great until landing. A great season will simply mean there is no wind (no close games) the second the breeze picks up (close game), we're crashing and burning.

A lot of truth there.

 

[J187Money]

I agree that our DC should be getting as much scrutiny as our OC. (How depressing is that to say). What happened to our swagger? Is it merely a matter of more size leading to less speed? I'm not so sure. It was bad enough watching Temple's defense athletically attack USF a week ago to constrain and confuse them while we'd been defensively "robotic" allowing the Bull's QB to dance down the field against us in Tampa. The Friday night game vs the Owls on Nov 4th will be a huge challenge for our coaching staff. Can they adapt? Getting burned in our last best hope for an atmosphere to re-ignite fan interest would be a death knell. If the students flee the Rent in droves early, watch out.

We are 54th in scoring defense and 71st in total defense.

The offense is better - 0nly 102nd. But we had a legit defense, and now we don't. This offense isn't great, but with last year's D? We would have at least 5 wins.