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Well, as opening days go that was pretty damn solid. Just a perfect weather day for the end of August, a solid tailgate (burgers, kielbasa and only CT beers), and the largest crowed we’e seen since the end of the Coach P era. That’s what UConn has reported, but frankly from the eye test I would agree with that. Were there more than 3k empty seats. Absolutely. But the stadium was as close to full as it has been for over a decade. And the student section was outstanding. Now, the question for the fan base is can we maintain that attendance? So far in the Mora era, attendance has greatly reduced as the season wore on, regardless of how well the season is going or the quality of the opponent. Coming off last year, even with the relatively low quality of the home schedule can we sustain the attendance? That may be as important to the program’s long range future as a few more wins will be. We’ll see. And, obviously, the game went fine.
As for what we learned from the game, the short answer is not much so this 241 will be (relatively) short and sweet. We learned that we were bigger, stronger and faster than Central (in a way that wasn’t true before Mora got there) so that the game really didn’t depend as much on schemes and even execution. On offense especially, much of what we saw was just easy — various skill players busting off long plays without even being challenged by the D. The offensive stats if you look at them — individually and as a team — are so great that I don’t even think we learned anything from them. But the OL was behind all of it, we showed not only skill but depth at the skill positions, and a special shout out to Victor Rosa. He is clearly part of the first team offensive unit, but was used mostly as a flanker/slot back in 4 WR formations. Having said that, when they handed him the ball twice he did everything in his power to show that he wanted to share carries with Edwards and Brown. Fagnano wasn’t perfect, but when you look at the numbers it’s hard to talk about what else he could have done better. Evers looked far more comfortable in his role than we ever saw him last year. Overall, again, I don’t think we learned anything much about the offense, but you couldn’t have hoped for it to look any better than it did. And I’m optimistic we can put up points at the Dome on Saturday.
Defense, while the numbers were solid (remember that the D only gave up 6 points, you can’t put the opening 7 on it) it just didn’t feel like the quality of performance that we would have hoped for. In fairness, some of that may have been to Central’s schemes and execution, but it just seemed o.k. We didn’t give up a lot of yards or points, but we didn’t force a single turnover, didn’t generate much of a pass rush (and we couldn’t get near the QB without a late hit anyways) and didn’t have a large number of three and outs. Nor, from my blind eyes can I single out any one player who I thought was dominant. I was largely focused on Ty King on D, but didnt’ see anything that reminded me of Tui and McDonald. But, as I said, I’m not beating on the D either. They did more than they had to do, and to some degree I feel like I’m punishing them for just quietly doing their job.
On specials, while the opening long snap shouldn’t have happened in Pop Warner (that as high over a punter’s head as I think I’ve ever seen), both the return games and the punting and kicking looked solid. Harper was the wild card there, and when the punter finally reached him he was ready. We didn’t give up enough returns to judge.
So next week, looking at preseason predictions, is our toughest challenge. Last year, we scored on them but couldn’t come near stopping them. Now, I’d be shocked if they get the quality of QB play they had last year, but we’ll see if our D can do any better. I think we can score on them, and can keep the ball out of their offense’s hands, but don’t have a clue if we’ll generate stops. But we’ll see. A win means this season has a chance to be spectacular. A loss doesn’t mean much in terms of still being able to improve on last year’s performance so long as we bounce back on the road the folllowing week.
One last note. For the first time since the Rent opened, it didn’t look like the school was supplying attendees with handouts with rosters. Really? Cheaping out is not going to drive attendance up. Sigh. Luckily, on a hunch, I had printed out the roster and two deep from the media guide so it didn’t bother me but still.
As for what we learned from the game, the short answer is not much so this 241 will be (relatively) short and sweet. We learned that we were bigger, stronger and faster than Central (in a way that wasn’t true before Mora got there) so that the game really didn’t depend as much on schemes and even execution. On offense especially, much of what we saw was just easy — various skill players busting off long plays without even being challenged by the D. The offensive stats if you look at them — individually and as a team — are so great that I don’t even think we learned anything from them. But the OL was behind all of it, we showed not only skill but depth at the skill positions, and a special shout out to Victor Rosa. He is clearly part of the first team offensive unit, but was used mostly as a flanker/slot back in 4 WR formations. Having said that, when they handed him the ball twice he did everything in his power to show that he wanted to share carries with Edwards and Brown. Fagnano wasn’t perfect, but when you look at the numbers it’s hard to talk about what else he could have done better. Evers looked far more comfortable in his role than we ever saw him last year. Overall, again, I don’t think we learned anything much about the offense, but you couldn’t have hoped for it to look any better than it did. And I’m optimistic we can put up points at the Dome on Saturday.
Defense, while the numbers were solid (remember that the D only gave up 6 points, you can’t put the opening 7 on it) it just didn’t feel like the quality of performance that we would have hoped for. In fairness, some of that may have been to Central’s schemes and execution, but it just seemed o.k. We didn’t give up a lot of yards or points, but we didn’t force a single turnover, didn’t generate much of a pass rush (and we couldn’t get near the QB without a late hit anyways) and didn’t have a large number of three and outs. Nor, from my blind eyes can I single out any one player who I thought was dominant. I was largely focused on Ty King on D, but didnt’ see anything that reminded me of Tui and McDonald. But, as I said, I’m not beating on the D either. They did more than they had to do, and to some degree I feel like I’m punishing them for just quietly doing their job.
On specials, while the opening long snap shouldn’t have happened in Pop Warner (that as high over a punter’s head as I think I’ve ever seen), both the return games and the punting and kicking looked solid. Harper was the wild card there, and when the punter finally reached him he was ready. We didn’t give up enough returns to judge.
So next week, looking at preseason predictions, is our toughest challenge. Last year, we scored on them but couldn’t come near stopping them. Now, I’d be shocked if they get the quality of QB play they had last year, but we’ll see if our D can do any better. I think we can score on them, and can keep the ball out of their offense’s hands, but don’t have a clue if we’ll generate stops. But we’ll see. A win means this season has a chance to be spectacular. A loss doesn’t mean much in terms of still being able to improve on last year’s performance so long as we bounce back on the road the folllowing week.
One last note. For the first time since the Rent opened, it didn’t look like the school was supplying attendees with handouts with rosters. Really? Cheaping out is not going to drive attendance up. Sigh. Luckily, on a hunch, I had printed out the roster and two deep from the media guide so it didn’t bother me but still.
