Huskies Need to Regain Focus Heading into Temple
The Huskies return to action Saturday to open the conference home slate against Temple, who are fresh off a 59-0 win over Delaware State. These are not your father’s Temple Owls (2-1, 0-0 AAC), who are averaging 40 points per game and have a win on the road over an SEC opponent, to open their 2014 campaign. The Huskies will need to clean things up not only on the offensive line, but mentally as well.
Four false starts, three of which were committed by the tight ends, was just another item that plagued the UConn offense on Friday night in Tampa. It’s just another thing that hampers winning, something I was able to ask Bob Diaco about during Sunday’s teleconference with the media.
“That was very disappointing,” Diaco said. “You had three instances of third down and short that turned into third down and long. That’s losing. Think about that, we were 0-9 on third down on the day, that we had an opportunity at the end of the game, to win the game. It’s incredible, it really is. Those are the things the guys need to see. There needs to be a higher level of detail and discipline, at the tight end position in particular, that needs to be a hallmark of how we play. We can’t do that, we can’t have those procedure penalties.”
There has been a lot of talk, including by myself, surrounding the play calling on Friday night. I asked Diaco how field position affected those decisions.
“Listen, it was a huge factor,” Diaco said. “Just so everyone knows, as it relates to play calling, I shut down the passing, I did because I believe in that. I’m watching the game, I’m watching the special teams, I’m watching the defense play. I got a chance to watch our first four passes and if I didn’t intervene then I was concerned that the game would have been 35-0, 28-0. I’m more inclined to play ping pong and win the game on defense and special teams, than just continue call plays on offense, just to call plays on offense. So based on climate, based on the early passes that I saw and based on field position being backed up as much as we were, that’s why the play pattern started to tilt, which was exactly what we needed to do, which gave us an opportunity to win the game at the end.”
Diaco was also available yesterday, during the weekly AAC conference call.
RECAPPING THE 17-14 LOSS TO USF:
“It was an opportunity to go on the road for first time with the program. In many ways, we operated really well in a lot of areas. Again, we continued to play very young, as an immature, inexperienced football team, which was by design. We never quit, never gave up and continued to fight and had a chance to win it at the end but we just couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch to capitalize.”
ON TEMPLE:
“This is a really excellent Temple team, another game at home which is great and the team needs to improve after another week of practice.”
ON WR GEREMY DAVIS:
“He leads by example, always the way you want it done. He walks the walk and talks the talk. He is one of, if not the hardest worker on team. He has incredible skill, incredible talent and incredible production to go along with it. He’s a great example of how to be and how to do your business.”
ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE DEFENSE:
“We are getting better, from a leadership point it’s really good. Marquise Vann, as a leader, he’s doing a nice job and Byron Jones is doing a nice job, as is Andrew Adams, who’s really stepped up his play. Our young guys in front have the ability to lead, some are freshman, but have ability to lead. They are gaining a more comprehensive knowledge, spending more time studying the nuances of offensive personnel and their tendencies and how they attack. Each week the defense is getting better and better.”
ON THE WEATHER ON FRIDAY NIGHT:
“I think it becomes hard to throw and you get a bit one dimensional, which was case for both teams. It wasn’t the main reason why we went to that style of play. Weather like that impacts the kicking game incredibly, catching, kicking, everything becomes a problem. The football was good, the field held up nicely, but the wet ball becomes an issue and the weather is also an overall distraction. Both teams were playing in it, so the playing field was leveled that way and it was a great experience for the guys.”
ON WHAT CHALLENGES TEMPLE PRESENTS:
“They are really explosive on offense. They present some challenges with eye key progression, guys are spread out all over, they really attack the alley and the perimeter on almost every down. They are good, physical guys that are fundamentally sound and you can see that in how they play. They are a well coached bunch of gyys that look like that are believing right now.”
We will have much more coverage leading into the Temple game today, as Diaco holds his weekly press conference with the media.
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