Ugh…

5 games have come and gone, and that same feeling sits with me after watching UConn football that I haven’t been able to shake these last 3+ years.  Every week it starts the same.  Every week it ends the same.  I go through the same emotions while watching this team.  It never fails.  Nothing feels different.  The Boneyard is ready to implode.  What else is new?

It starts with hope, optimism, & an odd confidence that this week will be different.  This will be the week we stop turning the ball over on the first possession.  This will be the week #85 stays on the field for the majority of the game and we go to him 10+ times.  This will be the game where our defense causes turnovers and our special teams makes a big play.

Then, it happens.  The first turnover that absolutely takes the wind out of our sail.  It’s completely deflating.  It’s bad enough that it’s happened 5 weeks in a row, but it’s even worse that it’s happened 5 different ways.  It’s so bad, it’s almost comical.

Then we play catchup for the entire game.  We have spurts of looking competent.  We go consecutive plays where we look like we can really compete with anyone.  But we never seem to quite get there.  We’re playing catch-up every single week.  The O-line can’t block anything.  Literally, anything.  My impulse is to start screaming at Whitmer, but it really is not his fault.  He has no time to do anything back there.

Somewhere in the middle, there’s odd playcalling along with odd substitutions.  I genuinely ask people around me 4-5 times a game, “Where is Davis?”  Barring an injury, not having our best player on the field makes absolutely no sense.  Don’t preach to me a certain package at a certain moment gives us the best chance to win. We’re 1-4, we stink.  Put the best guys on the field.

I really want to believe Diaco is using this year as an assessment of the program.  I really want to believe our O-Line will be miles ahead next year of what they are this year.  I really want to believe different guys are getting looks and experience and that this season will benefit the program 2-3 years from now.  I really want to believe all of these things.  I just know that what I’m watching now isn’t a good product, and I’ve never been so happy for a break from it all.  I’m happy we’re on a BYE so I don’t have to torture myself this weekend.  Hopefully we’ll go to Tulane next week and give a good fight.  We’ll see what happens.

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