The View From Section 241

[businesslawyer]

I am totally disheartened by yesterday and where we seem to be as a team. If we got snuck up on by a MAC team last year, where we couldn't afford to be without Blidi, so be it. But given that they beat us in our house last year, I expected maximum effort from everyone yesterday to get their revenge. And I thought maximum effort would be more than enough. What we got, instead, was crap. Receivers who made easy plays but couldn't make tough catches. Defensive Backs who covered guys but, when the throw was perfect, couldn't make the great play. A front 7 that didn't come near controlling the line of scrimmage. An OL that gave up a way too many sacks. A QG who played well, but when he had to match the opponent's QB by not just making good throws but putting the ball in small windows, or hit an open deep pass, couldn't. An entire team that couldn't run through a single ankle tackle all day. In short, a team that just didn't seem to want to match the effort or playmaking of the other team. I'd like to say "well, without the two turnover deficit we win." And maybe we do. But if their QB doesn't get hurt, that doesn't matter at all. We weren't getting close but for that injury. I'd like to blame it on Deleone's playcalling. But, this week, that's way too easy, and sort of silly when we generate 24 offensive points and all the yardage, first downs and time of possession we did. George didn't tell his OL to not pick up the blitzes. And the offense didn't give up 24 long field points to a MAC team that, this year, we should have been ready for. No, I think a lethargic start by the players, players not doing what they needed to do, just dug themselves a hole too deep to get out of. And, whatever happens the rest of the way out, the season will not be as good as it should have been.

Let's start with offense. But for the two turnovers, and but for the failure to pick up blitzes, there were signs of life. We junked the wildcat in the second half. We will have to see if we keep playing it. Certainly, Whitmer looked like he got into a rhythm when he stopped coming out (gee, who woulda thunk it). He played well, but he did not play great. Maybe both those turnovers weren't his fault (and we are hearing that the first pick was on Nick Williams, and on the second you'd hope he would feel the pressure coming from his right but it obviously wasn't his fault that on a play where he was supposed to be going long a blitz came in untouched), but I still didn't see the type of accuracy that WMU's QB showed. Besides missing Davis on the fly, too often receivers that were open only if the ball came to one shoulder had to try to make plays with the ball on the other shoulder. And while the WRs, as a group, failed at that, I don't seem to recall the number of drops, as opposed to failures to make great catches, that others are talking about. And the running game showed a pulse. Still all the yards from Lyle, but there were more yards this time. Although the inability to run out of an ankle tackle was unbelievably frustrating. Two personnel notes. Bullock came in for Mateas after he got hurt. I don't think either did a good enough job making the snaps into shotgun. And we saw far less of Osiecki and Delorenzo getting snaps at FB, behind Frank, than we had seen.

Special teams were o.k. We did better covering, and Nick had a few nice returns. But -- and it is a big but -- this was a game where one huge special teams play could have changed the outcome. A punt killed inside the five. A turnover forced. A return broke. The long FG made. Something that would have given life to the other units. But it never came.

On defense, while I saw Willman opposite Trevardo, I also saw rotating DTs line up there (McBride, Worth and Pruit). We missed Joseph and Jennings but that's no excuse. We brought enough LBs and DBs blitzing and just never got there. Now, we did apply pressure, and when you apply pressure your DBs need to be up in press coverage and make plays on the ball. Often we gave room, and when we were in position we didn't make plays. The LBs were close to invisible all day. The DBs, other than Blidi (who I don't think got tested) just didn't make the big play when we needed it. I must say, I was disheartened that Brown and the D didn't seem prepared for the same things they killed us with last year. Can Brown only coach one way, and if hte other side deals with it we're done? Don't know, but I'm watching. The total yardage against us wasn't bad, but it would have been higher, maybe much higher, if their QB didn't get hurt and they didn't get conservative playing from ahead. Very, very disappointing effort from the defensive side of the ball. And, more than anything, for all of our tackles for losses this year we are not generating sufficient takeaways. If you're playing a high risk, high rewards D, where are the high rewards?

So that's it. I don't see us making my 8-4 prediction, because we needed to go 4-1 OOC to do that. 7-5 is still possible, but we will have to be much more consistent to get there. I don't want to spend much time on the coaching, because I don't think that was the real issue yesterday and no changes are going to be made during the year so why talk about it (again and again and agaain) until after the season, but I do want to make one last point to go out on. Our success in the past was based on having a much higher points to yards ratio than we allowed. Or, said another way, being able to win games where we are being subtantially outgained. This year, we seem to be stuck in opposite. Why? Because we are getting killed in turnovers versus takeaways, and because when the other side moves the ball on us we don't seem able to stop drives and make the opponents settle for a FG. Think about it. In 4 games, we have given up 7 defensive TDs and only had 3 FGs attempted against us. Our D can't just be good between the 20s.

 

[SubbaBub]

disheartened

What we got, instead, was crap

didn't seem prepared for the same things they killed us with last year

we are getting killed in turnovers versus takeaways

Throwin' some hard truths, BL.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

BL - to me the most disheartening thing isn't the loss - its just the general direction this program is going.

In a what have you done for me lately world, Rutgers being 4-0 and beating SEC on the road, while we lost to MAC teams makes me feel very nervous.

After following this team religiously since I became a student in 2005 (yes I know not as long as many of you) I am starting to lose faith in the program as a whole. I have always looked for a silver lining and have alwayss defended UConn and the BE but I'm scared were going to end up as a mediocre program in a college football wasteland.

 

[CTMike]

Rutgers being 4-0 and beating SEC on the road, while we lost to MAC teams makes me feel very nervous.

I just threw up in my mouth.

 

[businesslawyer]

BL - to me the most disheartening thing isn't the loss - its just the general direction this program is going.

In a what have you done for me lately world, Rutgers being 4-0 and beating SEC on the road, while we lost to MAC teams makes me feel very nervous.

After following this team religiously since I became a student in 2005 (yes I know not as long as many of you) I am starting to lose faith in the program as a whole. I have always looked for a silver lining and have alwayss defended UConn and the BE but I'm scared were going to end up as a mediocre program in a college football wasteland.

I am a firm believer in talking about "programs" and "directions" during the offseason. The season lasts for three months, and generates enough to talk about. Plus, it is way too easy to overreact to individual games, that are critical to a season but not so much for the direction of a program. RU lost to us, and to Tulane, just last year. If they have a really good year this year, which they haven't yet, well then good for them. But to talk about the directions being different are way, way premature.

 

[uconndogs]

Thanks Biz. Some sanity and football talk. Honestly, this board is like every other college football board on the internet. I can only assume that folks mean what they post, and if they do that means firing a coach after every loss. Anyway...

First of all, I give some props to WMU, they are well coached and if Garder's hand isn't a mess he will get a long look come the NFL draft. Their OL is very good and they moved the ball against a very good defense. Although, I would agree that it was a defense that did not seem to carry the same energy it did the previous three games. I hope Brown is OK, because that would be a big loss. Yawin was invisible and struggled in coverage.

I have said this before and I will say it again, Chandler can be a good QB. He gained a lot of yards yesterday late in the game when WMU kept the play in front of them, but he can throw and I think he's finally finding some rythem. He's still young and young QBs make bonehead plays like throwing INTs inside the opponents five. He won't last the season if he doesn't start getting better protection though. He took a terrible pounding yesterday.

I watched Jimmy Bennett and Kevin Freind as best I could yesterday on the 3. They look to be good tackles to me. And I can only conclude that this OL just doesn't understand what to do with this playbook. Now, could some of that be having to learn their pro-set and the wildcat? Seems logical to me. Deleone scares the crap out of me, because I am more and more convinced that he is one of those guys who believes he's smarter than everyone else and can out scheme. We no longer have power and 3rd and 1 might as well be 3rd and 5 becuase we can't push. Folks love to see the ball flying around, but if you can't push you make the life of a defense a whole lot easier.

Smith, Williams and Philips should be absolutely sick to their respective stomachs. Williams simply does not make the catches he has to make from the slot and I'ld sit him down when we're at scrimmage. Philips bailed out of at least one throw yesterday and maybe two and I'm sure that's why Davis jumped him. Davis is a player.

This is not a criticism of Lyle McCombs who is as gutsy a 170 lb football player as you are likely to find. But, he breaks nothing.......high, low, doesn't matter. In space he's a handfull, but even there he does not have the speed to make defenses pay the ultimate price. Given the RBs this young program has put out over the years it is an indictment on any number of people that this is what our running game currently is.

I'll be at the Bufallo game hoping the offense continues to show improvement and the defense is so pissed off that Bufallo sees very little of the day in our territory. Am I concerned? Yes. It doesn't feel like progress and I see an OL and a running game a far cry from what they were in the very recent past. I'm sure P has at the very least through next season to get this all right. But, if I'm the head coach and my OC is running some of the crap that we run when we need a yard or two I'ld have him him by the shirtcollar and politely explain to him the following:

"IT'S MY duckING PAY CHECK, FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET OUR BIGS TO PUSH FOLKS OUT OF THE WAY AND SHOVE THE WALLPAPER UP YOUR *SS!" please.............

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I am a firm believer in talking about "programs" and "directions" during the offseason. The season lasts for three months, and generates enough to talk about. Plus, it is way too easy to overreact to individual games, that are critical to a season but not so much for the direction of a program. RU lost to us, and to Tulane, just last year. If they have a really good year this year, which they haven't yet, well then good for them. But to talk about the directions being different are way, way premature.

BL - I appreciate your sentiment about programs and directions about being an offseason discussion, but we're not in normal times for UConn and our athletic program's future.

When Louisville and Rutgers, our top two competitors for seat's at the big boy table, are ranked #17 and #25 respectively and we're coming off a loss to an average MAC program, it's a discussion worth having.

If we were in a stable position and coming off a bad loss, then I would agree with you that we just have to move on to next week.

Obviously, no coaching changes will or should happen midseason, but if there isn't significant progress between now and the end of the season, a change has to be made.

We're not on a normal time table right now - if we let our program continue to spiral downhill we are going to be left behind.

Hopefully P is the Coach to get us going back in the right direction - if not, he has to go. We simply don't have the time to be complacent.

 

[businesslawyer]

Obviously, no coaching changes will or should happen midseason, but if there isn't significant progress between now and the end of the season, a change has to be made.

.

That, of course, is my point. If nothing is going to happen during the season, and what happens after the season depends on what happens during the season, there is nothing to talk about until we see the season.

But you're certainly entitled to discuss what you want.

 

[Srqhusky]

Bl what happened to the dj. He has some blame in this

 

[huskysupporter]

We definitely do not have that breakaway play threat. It's not the play calling here, it's the players, unfortunately. McCombs is like Stephen Davis of the Redskins. Going to get the yardage the D allows him, but he will never take one 70 yards to the house. Whitmer has shown he cannot throw a deep ball with any semblance of accuracy. And our receivers do not get consistently open deep.

What this means is that to score, there has to be sustained drives, and this team thus far has shown (wait for it) it cannot execute well enough to sustain long td drives consistently.

 

[ruskin]

BL, as usual I think your analysis is "fluid and cogent", as an English soccer commentator might say. But I think you are letting DeLeone off the hook and being a little too tough on the defense.
I loved the first play, the rollout pass to Delahunt. It gave me hope that there was going to be more creativity this game. But McCombs back-to-back carries helped end that drive. Drive No. 2 died with the red zone INT, but GD administered the lethal dose by bringing in McCummings on 2nd down and reinserting Whitmer on 3rd which did nothing except destroy rhythm and momentum (stunningly, Tony Sparano did the same exact thing today). If you're gonna use the wildcat, start with first down and let Scott play out the series. The next two drives were three and outs with uninspired playcalling and formations and the first of many disheartening drops. (box score says 5 drops, which ESPN3 replay seems to confirm). Next thing you know WMU converts on a 3rd&15 and we're down 17-0 halfway through the second quarter on the road with no room for errors like the strip sack TD return that clinched the game. Yes, the offense put up good numbers and provided some hope for the future, but GD deserves a lot of the blame for putting us in the hole. The final wildcat play of the day (thankfully) came on the first TD drive, two plays after we had to switch centers. That's flat out coaching malpractice, asking a center coming in cold for a shotgun snap in that situation. It could have easily been 24-0 with the wrong bounce. And the lack of a no-huddle in the fourth quarter down 2 TDs was also hard to stomach. Perhaps if there had been more rollouts or screens there would have been less sacks.
Sure, it wasn't the defense's best game. But put yourself in their shoes. They are coming off two heroic games in which they dominated two ACC teams. They see what happens on the offense's first two possessions and gotta be thinking "Not this again". Not an excuse, you gotta suck it up. but they are human. And credit the WMU QB and coach for a good scheme with the short drops and quick release which neutralized the pass rush. No question the game wouldn't have been as close as the end if the QB doesn't get hurt. WMU outcoached us on both sides of the ball.
To the point about the turnovers: we're 111th in the country in the bad way. The defense does need to ramp it up on the ballhawking end.
Can you imagine how a Paul Finebaum or a Tony Barnhart would analyze this offense and the playcalling? Too bad there's not a similar college football expert in this market to take GD to task. Instead we can expect to hear nonsense about "crazy fans" and no serious examination of the coaching and scheme. Flip the channel around or look at the other college games at the sports bar, and then watch our offense. It is not a 21st century offense.
If UConn were in a stable conference with a stable FBS future I'd agree with waiting until the offseason to talk about direction and program. We don't have that luxury to muddle along while the world shifts around us. The future is now. I'm pretty sure Manuel & Herbst get that, and have conveyed that to PP. There are going to be a lot of empty seats at the Rent Saturday. A mediocre coach with a mediocre record will not fill those seats in 2013 against opponents not named Maryland or Michigan.

 

[alexrgct]

If you were sitting in Section 241, you presumably would have enjoyed yourself a lot more yesterday.

 

[noeynox]

If they can fix the pass protection and cut down the sacks, they can play in reverse and use the pass to set up the run. If and its huge if they can do that and start turning around the turnover margin, I expect this team to go on a huge run in big east play. Huge run.

 

[whaler11]

WMU came in with what 3 sacks in 3 games? Then they had 6. What has anyone seen to make them think that the offensive line can be fixed in the two weeks before Rutgers. If anything it's going backwards with injuries. Snapping the ball was a challenge on Saturday.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I've only seen the power hour on SNY. Have the DVR set to record the full game tomorrow but honestly don't know if I can watch.

But isn't that Bozeman kid the one who tried to commit to us a few years back and we took Steg instead? I remember that being a bizarre story.

 

[businesslawyer]

I've only seen the power hour on SNY. Have the DVR set to record the full game tomorrow but honestly don't know if I can watch.

But isn't that Bozeman kid the one who tried to commit to us a few years back and we took Steg instead? I remember that being a bizarre story.

yes

 

[ConnHuskBask]

That, of course, is my point. If nothing is going to happen during the season, and what happens after the season depends on what happens during the season, there is nothing to talk about until we see the season.

But you're certainly entitled to discuss what you want.

Fair enough. Appreciate your write up and perspective every week.

I'm not one too over react too much, but I hope (as well all do) things will start to turn around soon.

 

[noeynox]

I've only seen the power hour on SNY. Have the DVR set to record the full game tomorrow but honestly don't know if I can watch.

But isn't that Bozeman kid the one who tried to commit to us a few years back and we took Steg instead? I remember that being a bizarre story.

Yep. Don't think he'd be starting here, but he played with a chip on his shoulder for sure.

 

[UConnDan97]

Yep. Don't think he'd be starting here, but he played with a chip on his shoulder for sure.

Yeah, you always hate when kids come back to haunt you like that. He certainly played some "inspired" ball...

 

[noeynox]

WMU came in with what 3 sacks in 3 games? Then they had 6. What has anyone seen to make them think that the offensive line can be fixed in the two weeks before Rutgers. If anything it's going backwards with injuries. Snapping the ball was a challenge on Saturday.

Alot of the problems seem to be assignment based, rather than guys getting physically beat. There is hope at least in my mind they can get this rectified. It may require dumbing things down which im not sure deleone is willing to do.

 

[noeynox]

WMU came in with what 3 sacks in 3 games? Then they had 6. What has anyone seen to make them think that the offensive line can be fixed in the two weeks before Rutgers. If anything it's going backwards with injuries. Snapping the ball was a challenge on Saturday.

Alot of the problems seem to be assignment based, rather than guys getting physically beat. There is hope at least in my mind they can get this rectified. It may require dumbing things down which im not sure deleone is willing to do.

 

[BugsyCT]

Been reading most of these posts all weekend and looking to chime in, but really nothing to say (since everything's been covered) other than to echo everyone else's frustration with the same old issues.

We know all about our offensive problems, but the biggest disappointment for me yesterday was seeing our defense struggle the way it did. Carder picked them apart the same way he did last year and we didn't even seem prepared for it. Took away all the swagger the D had built up the first 3 games. Let's hope they get it back next week.

 

[businesslawyer]

Alot of the problems seem to be assignment based, rather than guys getting physically beat. There is hope at least in my mind they can get this rectified. It may require dumbing things down which im not sure deleone is willing to do.

One has to assume that Deleone took over for Foley on the OL because Deleone decided that no one but George was able to teach OL to do it his way. One also has to assume that another man might have concluded that "if my schemes can't be taught by an OL with this level of experience there is no reason to think the players will actually get it if I take them over" but George, unfortunately, is not that other man.

But I agree with the premise -- I still think the OL are spending way too much time being asked to think, as opposed to being asked to get a helmet on someone. You still see too many plays where an OL ends up standing there not ever touching anyone.

 

[Husky68]

One has to assume that Deleone took over for Foley on the OL because Deleone decided that no one but George was able to teach OL to do it his way. One also has to assume that another man might have concluded that "if my schemes can't be taught by an OL with this level of experience there is no reason to think the players will actually get it if I take them over" but George, unfortunately, is not that other man.

But I agree with the premise -- I still think the OL are spending way too much time being asked to think, as opposed to being asked to get a helmet on someone. You still see too many plays where an OL ends up standing there not ever touching anyone.

Agree. But don't understand the conversation going over film. Coach says "you were just standing there", player says "missed my guy, didn't know who to block, they surprised me as to who attacked where, etc.", coach then starts dialogue and out of this comes some change/attempted solution. Seems 15 games into PP/GD offense and this isn't happening. If you are coaching a basketball team that can't stay in front of opponents you go to zone. If can't block enough on pass rush you move pocket, quick drops, screens, reverses, WR passes , pass on 1st down, change out of 2 TE sets so opponent pays price for 3 lb's in game. Something.

I'm starting to have more of an appreciation of what a mountain McT was up against last year. He can't run, no deception in play calling, sitting duck (err, Husky).

 

[ZooCougar]

Great post +2

Agree. But don't understand the conversation going over film. Coach says "you were just standing there", player says "missed my guy, didn't know who to block, they surprised me as to who attacked where, etc.", coach then starts dialogue and out of this comes some change/attempted solution. Seems 15 games into PP/GD offense and this isn't happening. If you are coaching a basketball team that can't stay in front of opponents you go to zone. If can't block enough on pass rush you move pocket, quick drops, screens, reverses, WR passes , pass on 1st down, change out of 2 TE sets so opponent pays price for 3 lb's in game. Something.

I'm starting to have more of an appreciation of what a mountain McT was up against last year. He can't run, no deception in play calling, sitting duck (err, Husky).