Villanova

[FDNY99]

Here is the video of Nova vs Cuse opening game from last season. (Cuse won 27-26 in OT)


The offense is interesting, Robertson the Nova qb reminds me a bit of a poor man's Taysum Hill. But he has a concussion history. He's got a live arm, and is accurate on his throws. UCONN D-Backs need to make clean good tackles and not whiff in this game. Nova runs a 3-3-5 defense...one dback is basically an in the box safety/LB...they fill gaps and play disciplined up front with dl& lb's. There leader on D is former Trumbull HS standout LB Don Cherry.
I hope that these kids are hungry and have a lot to show when they step on the field or it is going to be a LONG night.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The strength of our team is our defensive line. We are going to need the dline to control this game, while the rest of the team goes through their learning curves. We'll hopefully get them into long passing downs early and the DB's will make more plays than their QB and WR's. Hopefully the offense will do well enough to maintain possession and put points up. If we get up on the scoreboard, we can really start turning the defense loose to pressure their QB.

I'm worried about Villanova though, and that just sucks. Oh well. Bring it on.

 

[31GuardTrap]

I am not concerned one bit. UConn will be ready. Focused, hungry and ready to go. Their Seniors and experienced players know what a crap show last year was. They won't need anyone to remind them how important this game is to start the season. They already know that.

 

[Nostical]

I am not concerned one bit.

Neither am I.

 

[huskysupporter]

I think the most pressure will be on our edge setters on defense. I am very concerned.

I am a big proponent of forcing the issue against offenses like Villanova, so I like blitzing on the outside on run downs. Coach Diaco is not a fan of this philosophy.

Graham Stewart is a plus athlete and hits like a ton of bricks. When asked to read the play, the results are not so good. So take advantage of his explosiveness, tell him to blitz to an area, and I think there will be success.

 

[FDNY99]

I think the most pressure will be on our edge setters on defense. I am very concerned.

I am a big proponent of forcing the issue against offenses like Villanova, so I like blitzing on the outside on run downs. Coach Diaco is not a fan of this philosophy.

Graham Stewart is a plus athlete and hits like a ton of bricks. When asked to read the play, the results are not so good. So take advantage of his explosiveness, tell him to blitz to an area, and I think there will be success.

This right here is what I don't get about Diaco and his D...he is upfront about learning a lot from Al Groh and being from that coaching tree...that is the Belichick/parcells tree...3/4 blitz from the OLB's on any and every down...but who knows maybe we will see that more now that the kids have bought into the system...Poindexter made some comments about more pressure this yr because the kids can now learn more of the D now that they have the basics down.

 

[sportsart]

I read somewhere that last year was defense 101 and this year should be defense 201 or higher.

Got the impression that we would see a more active defense.

 

[weyuo]

I am not concerned one bit. UConn will be ready. Focused, hungry and ready to go. Their Seniors and experienced players know what a crap show last year was. They won't need anyone to remind them how important this game is to start the season. They already know that.

Seven seniors on defense by my count, less than that on offense. I think just with better nutrition, strength & conditioning training and being in the new system for a year(most importantly didn't see an upheaval of coaches. D coaches are all still there from last year) they will be in a much better situation to deal with the option. This Villanova game to start the season may be a blessing in disguise as it will give UConn's D a "live" practice to prepare for Army, Navy and BYU's offenses. I'm less concerned about UConn's offense vs Villanova. After seeing the Cuse vs Nova video if UConn's offense can't muscle and bully their way down the field against a smaller Nova squad I'd be really surprised. Villanova may have Robertson but their D is going to have to deal with a scrambler in Sherriffs or Anderson. Should be a good chess match, but hopefully only till halftime. By the fourth quarter the defenders sucking wind better be feline.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I think the most pressure will be on our edge setters on defense. I am very concerned.

I am a big proponent of forcing the issue against offenses like Villanova, so I like blitzing on the outside on run downs. Coach Diaco is not a fan of this philosophy.

Graham Stewart is a plus athlete and hits like a ton of bricks. When asked to read the play, the results are not so good. So take advantage of his explosiveness, tell him to blitz to an area, and I think there will be success.

Stewart needs to play better this year. Period.

The comparison to Taysum Hill was made. I don't know what poor man's thing means, but Hill put up 300+ yards passing, 3 TDs, and 100 yards rushing and 2 TD's against us.

We better be able to defend a QB better than we did against BYU.

 

[weyuo]

Another thing about last years Nova/ Syracuse game, The Orange starting QB was booted in the first half for throwing a punch at a Wildcat defender. If he had played the second half would Cuse have worn out that D and closed the time of possession gap? I have a good feeling no UConn QB will be throwing punches.

 

[FDNY99]

Stewart needs to play better this year. Period.

The comparison to Taysum Hill was made. I don't know what poor man's thing means, but Hill put up 300+ yards passing, 3 TDs, and 100 yards rushing and 2 TD's against us.

We better be able to defend a QB better than we did against BYU.

What I meant by Poor man's Hill was..similiar style..not the athlete or not as big an arm (if he was he wouldn't be playing at the FCS level)

 

[HomeKing93]

I found an article from Brian Flinn, Nova's current WR coach. In the article Flinn talks about how Nova changed its offense in 2008 to what you see in the video above from last season. I thought it was a good read: http://fishduck.com/2012/06/the-coachs-corner-from-huddle-to-no-huddle-to-championship/

This season, Nova has to replace its #1 RB, #1 WR and three seniors on the OL. With that said, our defense will still have to prepare for a no-huddle spread offense. On the other side of the ball, we don't know what our offense is going to look like or if it's going to work, but I guess Nova doesn't either.

 

[jdb50]

As far as Stewart and everyone else on D goes, make the tackle, I don't care about the big hit, just make the tackle, get the guy on the ground! Don't get suckered into misdirection or over pursue. Get off the field. Win the game!

 

[huskymedic]

John Robertson poised for big finish with Villanova
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...son_poised_for_big_finish_with_Villanova.html

 

[huskymedic]

desmondconner 9:58am via Mobile Web
Required Reading: A beginner's guide to Villanova football
http://www.vuhoops.com/villanova-fo...illanova-football-beginners-guide-orientation

 

[RedSoloCup]

desmondconner 9:58am via Mobile Web
Required Reading: A beginner's guide to Villanova football
http://www.vuhoops.com/villanova-fo...illanova-football-beginners-guide-orientation

interesting read... and how did I not know about this!

BeerBelly

 

[Gangtackle11]

http://www.vuhoops.com/2015/8/20/9130541/2015-villanova-football-preview-quarterbacks-running-backs

 

[Gangtackle11]

http://www.vuhoops.com/2015-villano...15-villanova-football-preview-offensive-line#

 

[tjhusky]

Is it true the Villanova put the last nail in the coffin for Big East Football? Even more reason to start our season off with a BIG win.

 

[Jimdish255]

It will be tough catching a quality 5th year senior QB early in the season but I think our D will be ready and force a couple of turnovers,

 

[IMind]

Is it true the Villanova put the last nail in the coffin for Big East Football? Even more reason to start our season off with a BIG win.

This is BS. Not a single school that left the Big East was going to stay over the ACC if Villanova upgraded and became Temple II.

 

[tjhusky]

This is BS. Not a single school that left the Big East was going to stay over the ACC if Villanova upgraded and became Temple II.

Interesting to see how they view themselves and their self importance. I had never heard that before.

 

[BoatShow]

Really smug wow

 

[huskymedic]

Looking at how Villanova/UConn game became a reality
http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/2015/08/looking-at-how-villanovauconn-game.html

>>I spoke to Villanova coach Andy Talley a couple days ago and he has an answer to this question. "I think we've been playing a I-A team for a lot of years and certainly when we were looking into moving into the Big East as a football program and going I-A in football, UConn was a familiar foe in basketball and in many sports," Talley said. "That was sort of the beginning of trying to schedule teams who could potentially were Big East schools. Last year we played Syracuse, this year UConn and we have Pittsburgh next year, Temple was at the time was a Big East member when this game was set so we started to schedule teams that potentially we would play if we were to go into the Big East in football. I think that was 'let's test the waters a little in the Big East and see how we shape up as a FCS team on our way to being a FBS team.' Of course it never happened so we ended up with these games. We played Maryland, the Air Force Academy, Central Florida so we play a lot of different teams."<<

 

[Jimdish255]

So Cuse and Pitt were just stringing them along too. Surprise.