2021 expectations

[hardcorehusky]

If UConn loses to Yale maybe we can lose our FB coach and athletic director in 2021

None of your comments match your handle. We get you hate Edsall and Benedict- but every single post?

 

[hardcorehusky]

I think we get at least 5. My expectation is a bigger, stronger and faster team. One that is more mature than we have put out in years. I am concerned about the O line because of defections and I want to see improved play at QB. We have good skill players and as long as the O line holds up, we will score.

The defense will be stronger and faster and hopefully can hold up for a full game. I think the kicking game will be better.

 

[Nextmanup]

I think we get at least 5. My expectation is a bigger, stronger and faster team. One that is more mature than we have put out in years. I am concerned about the O line because of defections and I want to see improved play at QB. We have good skill players and as long as the O line holds up, we will score.

The defense will be stronger and faster and hopefully can hold up for a full game. I think the kicking game will be better.

My predictions for the oline.. 1st team
LT Van Demark
LG Chris Fortin
C Sydney Walker
RG Christian Haynes
RT Dylan niedrowski

2nd.. Center Rooney.
Lundt- LT. That’s all I got

 

[Husky68]

None of your comments match your handle. We get you hate Edsall and Benedict- but every single post?

You got to appreciate eye discipline, he keeps focused on his responsibility of calling it like he sees it. He isn't distracted by "winning practice everyday" posts.

UConn needs to win actual games. And Yale is one of them.

 

[huskysupporter]

I think the difference between 2-5 wins comes down to coaching philosophy and QB play.

HCRE has hinted they will open offense up more.

And average QB play would allow them to win a couple more games other than the FCS teams.

Defense will still be poor, especially in the back end exacerbated by the lack of pass rush.

I do have high hopes for Jackson Mitchell. There was a time, long long ago that UCONN churned out NFL caliber linebackers every year. I think Mitchell can be that type of player.

 

[Nextmanup]

I think the difference between 2-5 wins comes down to coaching philosophy and QB play.

HCRE has hinted they will open offense up more.

And average QB play would allow them to win a couple more games other than the FCS teams.

Defense will still be poor, especially in the back end exacerbated by the lack of pass rush.

I do have high hopes for Jackson Mitchell. There was a time, long long ago that UCONN churned out NFL caliber linebackers every year. I think Mitchell can be that type of player.

I agree. I think Mitchell can definitely be that type of player. Excited to see how he does this year

 

[Jimdish255]

If our o-line is weak and our pass rush is weak it's going to be a long season. I have no idea but it's reasonable to be concerned. Outside of QB, the o-line and pass rush are probably the most crucial determinants of success or failure unless you have a couple of freak athletes on offense. Success or lack thereof impacts every other positional aspect of your game.

 

[metsfan2323]

My predictions for the oline.. 1st team
LT Van Demark
LG Chris Fortin
C Sydney Walker
RG Christian Haynes
RT Dylan niedrowski

2nd.. Center Rooney.
Lundt- LT. That’s all I got

Really hoping that Lundt can live up to his (size) potential and take over at right tackle. Jonathan Pace is another upperclassmen with size and athleticism at tackle, hopefully he has thrived in his transition to offense the way the Big Dane did a few years back.

 

[Chief00]

I think Edsall is basically trying to reprise his first run. The program was a disaster under Diaco by most accounts. He recruited 1aa level talent and it showed. Small and slow. Edsall being Edsall decided to rebuild from the ground up which tells me that he had an understanding with AD Dave that this would take time. Then he got handed the Big East move which made it even tougher. I think Edsall will get at least another year. If we show progress even without wins he definitely will.

Recruiting has been pretty good all things considered. You just look at kids like the frosh receivers and look at us out recruiting a couple of P5 kids this year and you know we are finally landing D1 players again.
In some ways I think we lucked out with COVID in the sense that last years schedule while interesting was pretty difficult. Squeezing more than 2 wins out would have been tough. It is tough to evaluate teams off last year’s mucked up schedule but it sure looks like 2021 is far more reasonable. Yeah, Clemson and UCF will be very difficult, to put it mildly, but Pudue was bad. MTSU was bad Wyoming was bad, Vandy was bad, UMass (why aren’t we playing them on rivalry weekend?) Fresno was just ok and if it was home instead of away I think we have a shot, Army was a little difficult to evaluate given they played 3 FCS teams.
What I’m saying is that this isn’t the SEC West we are playing. It kind of reminds me of Edsall’s early 1a schedules. Maybe he sneaks out 6-7 wins if things go right. Then build on that.

Over-all good points. So you think, we just luck out with Covid, avoiding a difficult schedule that would produce perhaps 2 wins? I think, you often make your own luck and that’s exactly what Randy did. He gets paid another million plus this year. Who else would pay him that?

 

[freescooter]

We have been through this before Chief. We had over half our schedule cancelled by the opponents. We maybe do a UMass and play 4 games sometimes not knowing who until the Monday of game week. Football isn’t like basketball. Lots more preparation and game planning. I doubt UMass gained anything from going 0-4 all on the road.

But I also think this is a much morr manageable schedule and I agree with Drew that we need to win football games again.

 

[slepers]

6 wins

 

[ktuck911]

I think the difference between 2-5 wins comes down to coaching philosophy and QB play.

HCRE has hinted they will open offense up more.

And average QB play would allow them to win a couple more games other than the FCS teams.

Defense will still be poor, especially in the back end exacerbated by the lack of pass rush.

I do have high hopes for Jackson Mitchell. There was a time, long long ago that UCONN churned out NFL caliber linebackers every year. I think Mitchell can be that type of player.

When will we finally have a pass rush? Its been a long time coming. We need to show a pulse there this upcoming season...

 

[Vuce]

National championship hangover and we win 3 or 4 games. RE will complain “if only we had more time to lift and train”. He will then push for 2022 off for safety purposes and we can resume in 2023

 

[huskysupporter]

When will we finally have a pass rush? Its been a long time coming. We need to show a pulse there this upcoming season...

Doesn’t look like anytime soon. Need speed off the edge whether it’s someone standing up or with their hand in the dirt. We just lack speed all over.

 

[Rosebud70]

Whoever they pick to lead the offense has to have a winning mindset. If they can do that and not wait until the 4th game to get a touchdown pass I think we will steal a couple games

 

[ktuck911]

Doesn’t look like anytime soon. Need speed off the edge whether it’s someone standing up or with their hand in the dirt. We just lack speed all over.

Here's hoping you're wrong and that these kids, with a whole year, developed their techniques and now have football speed (reaction time, diagnose quickly and play).... We better see something there. Can't survive without it...

 

[polycom]

I expect to win 2 games.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm hoping we play the games. That would be an improvement.

Aside from that, I have no idea what the missed season will mean. We could be worse than ever, or better than we expect. It's just a complete unknown. Will last year's freshmen play like sophomores or freshmen?

 

[Exit 4]

I really don’t want to make predictions at this point. Could be 2, could be 6 wins- yeah that’s the range (like most have already said).

Would like to keep key players healthy and play the Fresno game before making a real prediction.

With a full year off I hope the coaches used it to really bone up their schemes. They had a great fall to watch all types of play calling. So much to absorb. I’m not expecting magic, just to see some creativity slipped in... more misdirection/counters and more control in situational football. Defense needs far more creative blitz schemes, our guys that blitz don’t get home and the opposing QBs have been good at finding that open receiver.

 

[PackTheRent]

I am hoping that my support for the Huskies football does not get me ridiculed at work on Monday mornings. So a 4-win season gets me out of that problem. I am nervous about the Yale game but think we can win that one, Umass and Holy Cross, and surprise in one other.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I can’t see how the ceiling is more than 1 win

 

[PackTheRent]

I can’t see how the ceiling is more than 1 win

Yeah, I guess it's more laughter and ridicule on Mondays. Sigh....

 

[cohenzone]

Honestly I'll be happy with watching UConn football again. I fully expect to yell at my TV, ask out loud what the heck they were doing all last season, and questioning if Randy should come back for another season. All while going on the BY and reading people jumping off the deep end and possibly joining them at times.

I'll be happy with a complete, uninterrupted CFB season that can have continuity and not postponed games all over the place. I'll be happy if stadiums can have some fans and are able to allow Marching Bands back in so we don't need fake noise or music.

Those are my expectations for next season. As for this team, I set the bar real low every year and they always seem to find a way to go even lower. So I'm expecting to go 0-12 and be ranked last in total Offense while our defense plays their hearts out for the first part of the season until Clemson rails us for 60+ and our D is so demoralized that they can't pull this team anymore.

Great. Now we’ll find a way to be 0-13. Doomed.

 

[freescooter]

I can’t see how the ceiling is more than 1 win

Fresno (3-3)
Holy Cross fcs
Purdue ( 2-4)
Army (9-3)
Vanderbilt (0-9)
UMass (0-4)
Yale FCS
Middle Tennessee (3-6)

There are possible wins there.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm really curious how the QB play will look for us. If some of our QBs were able to work on things over this long break (playbook, fundamentals, etc.), then we might really be pleasantly surprised.

This will be the most difficult undefeated prediction I've ever made... mostly because I can't figure out how many games we'll actually play. 10-0? 13-0? This is tough. But nobody beat us in 2020, so I haven't been wrong about my prediction in years...