The big 2015 UConn football guide: Bob Diaco is not a miracle worker

[huskymedic]

FWIW... pretty detailed.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...ecticut-football-2015-preview-schedule-roster

 

[SubbaBub]

6 wins does not qualify as a miracle.

 

[whaler11]

6 wins does not qualify as a miracle.

Does qualify as a hell of a good job though.

6 wins would be a tremendous result.

 

[CTMike]

Can't disagree with much of anything in there.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Reasonably, what percentage of UCONN alumni, students, and fans would be truly disappointed with 6 wins and 2015 bowl eligibility? After the cluster phark PP and GD created and left in their very wide wake?

 

[uconndogs]

Diaco has to show progress. If this season is anything like last on the offensive side of the ball then the question has to be asked if he's the right guy. What was particularly disappointing to me was the lack of progress at the end of last season (see Army and SMU).

We absolutely have to run the ball........

 

[freescooter]

I agree that another 2-10 year isn't acceptable. The team quitting again isn't acceptable. Losing to the likes of Army and SMU isn't acceptable. We also need to decide what kind of team we are going to be and be it. That's why the continuing saga of Tim Boyle needs to just end, for example.

 

[SubbaBub]

Does qualify as a hell of a good job though.

6 wins would be a tremendous result.

It would please me, calm me is more accurate. Following up 6 wins in year 2 with 8 in year 3, would be a tremendous result.

Winning a conference title in years 4 and 5 would be a miracle.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It would please me, calm me is more accurate. Following up 6 wins in year 2 with 8 in year 3, would be a tremendous result.

Winning a conference title in years 4 and 5 would be a miracle.

I'll say the same thing I said before last year: 6 wins will get Diaco the AAC COY.

I'm expecting another down year (3 or 4 wins) with an eye toward 2016. Really not losing much after this year. December 2016 will be more than enough time to judge Diaco.

 

[geordi]

If anyone thinks 6 wins is doable for this year, you've been smoking some great . In my wildest dreams, I can see only 5 wins and more probably 2-3. You gotta remember how much PP screwed this team up in just a couple of years. The only thing that we have to count on is time. If you can't wait this out, you might as well back out now.

 

[SubbaBub]

I'll say the same thing I said before last year: 6 wins will get Diaco the AAC COY.

I'm expecting another down year (3 or 4 wins) with an eye toward 2016. Really not losing much after this year. December 2016 will be more than enough time to judge Diaco.

3 or 4 would be tough to take considering we play Nova, Army, Tulane and USF. Have to win those 4. How am I supposed to ride this train if we can't do that, beat either Temple or Navy plus one more.

That isn't that big a leap. Maybe some of you are protecting yourself like abused puppies. If he loses to either Nova or Navy he shouldn't get another year. There's been too much other strangeness with this guy.

If he wants me to buy in after this year, 6 wins is the price. 5, only if we play everyone tough.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

3 or 4 would be tough to take considering we play Nova, Army, Tulane and USF. Have to win those 4. How am I supposed to ride this train if we can't do that, beat either Temple or Navy plus one more.

That isn't that big a leap. Maybe some of you are protecting yourself like abused puppies. If he loses to either Nova or Navy he shouldn't get another year. There's been too much other strangeness with this guy.

If he wants me to buy in after this year, 6 wins is the price. 5, only if we play everyone tough.

What do you suppose the fans of Army, Tulane, USF, and yes even Nova are saying about their game with us?

If you've watched this team over the last few years, there's no logical rationale to expect or assume to beat those teams you've mentioned. I've been as hard on Diaco as anyone here with the exception of the hair guy, but he inherited an absolute mess.

 

[SubbaBub]

What do you suppose the fans of Army, Tulane, USF, and yes even Nova are saying about their game with us?

If you've watched this team over the last few years, there's no logical rationale to expect or assume to beat those teams you've mentioned. I've been as hard on Diaco as anyone here with the exception of the hair guy, but he inherited an absolute mess.

Glad we played them when they stunk.

 

[ktuck911]

If anyone thinks 6 wins is doable for this year, you've been smoking some great . In my wildest dreams, I can see only 5 wins and more probably 2-3. You gotta remember how much PP screwed this team up in just a couple of years. The only thing that we have to count on is time. If you can't wait this out, you might as well back out now.

From what I saw last year, it looked like extended Spring ball. A complete evaluation season. No real attempt at winning a ball game. Yet we managed 2 wins... This year will be different. yeah, more evaluating, but now this team's acclamated to HCBD way of doing things... IMO, I see our season going like this:

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

09/03/15 vs. Villanova Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W)
09/12/15 vs. Army Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W - pay back)
09/19/15 at Missouri Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo. TBA (L... were just not good enough yet)
09/26/15 vs. Navy * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (L)
10/02/15 at BYU Lavell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah TBA (L)
10/10/15 at UCF * Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, Fla. TBA (L)
10/17/15 vs. USF - Homecoming * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W - we're overdue for a win by this time)
10/24/15 at Cincinnati * Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio TBA (L)
10/30/15 vs. East Carolina * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA ( W - akin to the 2014 upset win over UCF )
11/07/15 at Tulane * Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, La. TBA (W - IMO another payback game)
11/21/15 vs. Houston Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W)
11/28/15 at Temple * (L)


5-7 will be a major improvement compared to last year... although I'm hoping for 7-5 and a bowl game...

 

[geordi]

3 or 4 would be tough to take considering we play Nova, Army, Tulane and USF. Have to win those 4. How am I supposed to ride this train if we can't do that, beat either Temple or Navy plus one more.

That isn't that big a leap. Maybe some of you are protecting yourself like abused puppies. If he loses to either Nova or Navy he shouldn't get another year. There's been too much other strangeness with this guy.

If he wants me to buy in after this year, 6 wins is the price. 5, only if we play everyone tough.

You mean those same Army, Tulane, and USF teams that beat us last year, and the Villanova team that was 11-3 and ranked #96 to our 184 in Sagarin? Yes, I believe those are winnable games. So do they!

Look! I want them to go 6-6, 7-5 as much as the next guy. I'd like them to turn it around like Memphis did. But realistically those are likely the only really winnable games, and you have to think in terms of a WTF loss and maybe an upset. I think the over/under is 4 wins, and we could even improve a lot and still finish 2-10.

 

[ktuck911]

From what I saw last year, it looked like extended Spring ball. A complete evaluation season. No real attempt at winning a ball game. Yet we managed 2 wins... This year will be different. yeah, more evaluating, but now this team's acclamated to HCBD way of doing things... IMO, I see our season going like this:

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

09/03/15 vs. Villanova Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W)
09/12/15 vs. Army Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W - pay back)
09/19/15 at Missouri Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo. TBA (L... were just not good enough yet)
09/26/15 vs. Navy * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (L)
10/02/15 at BYU Lavell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah TBA (L)
10/10/15 at UCF * Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, Fla. TBA (L)
10/17/15 vs. USF - Homecoming * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W - we're overdue for a win by this time)
10/24/15 at Cincinnati * Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio TBA (L)
10/30/15 vs. East Carolina * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA ( W - akin to the 2014 upset win over UCF )
11/07/15 at Tulane * Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, La. TBA (W - IMO another payback game)
11/21/15 vs. Houston Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W)
11/28/15 at Temple * (L)


5-7 will be a major improvement compared to last year... although I'm hoping for 7-5 and a bowl game...

Yikes... I can't count... 6-6... ummm, yeah, we break even... this record is doable guys.. potential bowl game with this record... but i'd still like to see 7-5

 

[ktuck911]

You mean those same Army, Tulane, and USF teams that beat us last year, and the Villanova team that was 11-3 and ranked #96 to our 184 in Sagarin? Yes, I believe those are winnable games. So do they!

Look! I want them to go 6-6, 7-5 as much as the next guy. I'd like them to turn it around like Memphis did. But realistically those are likely the only really winnable games, and you have to think in terms of a WTF loss and maybe an upset. I think the over/under is 4 wins, and we could even improve a lot and still finish 2-10.

If we show an inkling of improvement on offense, and our D starts putting pressure on the QB more often, 6-6 is doable bro... This schedule is set up to get us to a bowl game potentially. depends on how bad we want it... HCBD should have winning game plans this time around...

 

[DoctorWho85]

I think UCONN turns the corner this Season and the result:

15-0 and a national championship

 

[Dooley]

Are you kidding? I would do a joyous backflip into a tub of honey if we won 6 games in 2015.

3-5 wins is much more realistic optimism for this season. We still don't know with 100% certainty if we have a D-1 QB ready to play in 2015 on our roster, we might lose our starting TE, and there are always the inevitable summer injuries and academic disqualifications. This on the heels of a horrendous 2-win season in which we lost to Army, SMU, USF, and Tulane.

Honestly, I would be thrilled to death with a 4-8 season littered with competitive losses and further youth development. 2016 is the year circled on our program uprising calendars. Levenberry in the fold, a two-headed RB monster with JR year endurance, (hopefully) an established starting QB, and two sets of hog mollies with upper classmen man strength. That's the season that we can point to as a bowl game season...assuming we don't have a repeat of 2014.

 

[J187Money]

I'd really like it not to be rainy and 40 degrees during any of the games. That alone would make me much happier.

 

[Nostical]

I'm a lot more optimistic than most. We've had a year's worth of "figuring it out". The players are demonstrably stronger, more well conditioned; there's a better cohesiveness and team spirit, coaches are more experienced, better/smarter player evaluations, better O-Line, better QB play, better special teams, especially in the return game. The O guys really like the new OC. Our D will be aggressive and our D Line and LB's could be special. I see us stepping up on all fronts, including a growing level of fan support. The tipping point in our favor is that this year we'll be the ones with the advantage over all those teams that currently have us penciled-in as a win for them---Army, Tulane, E Carolina, Houston, USF, and UCF (revenge)--- and we could (I say will) pull a surprise of our own against either Navy, Cincy or Temple. Throw in Villanova and we're 8-4. "Some people see things as they are and say why, I dream things that never were and say why not."

 

[Uconnalliance]

From what I saw last year, it looked like extended Spring ball. A complete evaluation season. No real attempt at winning a ball game. Yet we managed 2 wins... This year will be different. yeah, more evaluating, but now this team's acclamated to HCBD way of doing things... IMO, I see our season going like this:

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

09/03/15 vs. Villanova Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W)
09/12/15 vs. Army Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W - pay back)
09/19/15 at Missouri Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo. TBA (L... were just not good enough yet)
09/26/15 vs. Navy * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (L)
10/02/15 at BYU Lavell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah TBA (L)
10/10/15 at UCF * Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, Fla. TBA (L)
10/17/15 vs. USF - Homecoming * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W - we're overdue for a win by this time)
10/24/15 at Cincinnati * Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio TBA (L)
10/30/15 vs. East Carolina * Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA ( W - akin to the 2014 upset win over UCF )
11/07/15 at Tulane * Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, La. TBA (W - IMO another payback game)
11/21/15 vs. Houston Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. TBA (W)
11/28/15 at Temple * (L)


5-7 will be a major improvement compared to last year... although I'm hoping for 7-5 and a bowl game...

Stretch between Army and USF has the potential to go sideways fast,I'm praying for 4 wins

 

[freescooter]

Honestly I'm just hoping we aren't worse than last year. Lose to Villanova and Army and this season could be over by the end of September because there is no way on this earth we win at Missouri, at BYU Navy and at UCF. We don't win those first 2 and we could easily be 0-6 with a team that has sent up the white flag by the 2nd weekend of October. I have never been as pessimistic going into the season as I am today. Add an Offensive coordinator who has been in the game for decades and never gotten the OC job, plus doesn't seem to really have a concept of what he wants to do...ugh. I've never picked us worse than 6-6 since the early 2000s, and I'm praying we get 3 wins.

 

[B1GEast]

I'm going with 6 wins

 

[tjhusky]

Nice detailed analysis. Only problem is that this season's results will be based on growth, not a reshuffling of pieces we has last year. If we have not grown individually in strength and technique and don't have more cohesive and knowledgeable units don't even bother showing up.

I expect a big performance jump this year that will allow the D to keep us in games and the O to score a few points (and give the D some rest) so that we can win a few games.

No clue what the W/L will be, I am just hoping for fun, whatchable football and the signs that HCBD is leading us out of the desert to some sort of promised land.