5 Games In

[jayfromfla]

Down the road:

at UCF
USF
at Cincy
EAST CAROLINA
at Tulane
- (bye week) -
HOUSTON
at Temple

Toughest games right now look like Cincy and Temple. So far we've learned that this team can hang in games against solid teams but still makes too many mistakes (both in coaching & player execution) that are too difficult to overcome.

With this being a down year for UCF, next week is very winnable. Almost a must-win now.

UCF, USF EC and Tulane are all better than 50/50

 

[RedStickHusky]

This is exactly right. Talent, shmalent, we absolutely should have won at Mizzou and BYU. The only team that was better than us was Navy. And we even had a shot at them with fewer mistakes on O. Coaching/schemes and mental errors have put us in some very tough spots. Fix that and we have a real chance at beating anyone remaining on our schedule.

so when we play those schools even it's because the talent matches up and when we fall short at the end it's scheme and mental errors? more like we scheme to overcome our talent deficit but at the end of the day, someone still has to make a play.

 

[31GuardTrap]

I figured 3-2 or 2-3 with hopefully stealing a W vs Navy or BYU. Once Hill went down, I thought for sure we had a real good chance to beat BYU especially after Mich blanked them.
With that said, there is no way we should not beat UCF and USF thus going to Cincy at 4-3. That game will be ugly. They are way too fast for UConn right now.
So 4-4 with 4 to go is my prediction. anything can happen in those last 4 games.
Of course, you need to score points to win a game so my thought could right out the window this week.

 

[Nostical]

So here's my take, since it seems to bring out a high degree of incredulity among the doubters. I'm not saying our "talent" is always equal to all of our opponents, but there are lots of teams that play and win with "lesser talent"--and talent is largely often perceived, not measurable. Sometimes it's motivation or effort, and the more highly "talented" kid doesn't exert enough will. Sometimes it's "schemes" or surprising play calls--i.e., coaching --or fewer mental mistakes. Based on all of those criteria, plus the ebb and flow of any particular game, one can make a fairly valid assessment as to whether we " didn't belong on the same field" or " had a great chance to win" or "gave the game away", etc.
I stand by my assessment that we "should have beaten Mizzou (that's not even debatable) and BYU (despite the statistical discrepancy)". The only team that was demonstrably better --via schemes and execution--was Navy--and we still had our chances with better play calling and execution on just a few key offensive plays.
Bottom line, we have a team that can play with and defeat any of our remaining opponents. None of them have greater "talent" than we do. There are certain opposing players that need to be stopped in order for us to prevail, but that's where the schemes and coaching strategies come in. Therefore, based on my reasoning, we should be favored against UCF--not underdogs. We're certainly as talented. We'll be highly motivated (especially Andrew Adams). And we're finding ways to use our talent better. We learned a lot from these past few games. Our coaches are ready to up their game. Our players were just chastised about keeping their heads (and feet) In the game. Our best days are ahead of us. We will win on Saturday.

 

[RedStickHusky]

that's a little more understandable. we certainly created opportunities to win the mizzou and byu games that we failed to take advantage of but maybe demonstrating that the talent gap is not insurmountable. There is a code in coach speak that'll tip you off on a how a coach feels about his talent relative to an opponent -- if he talks about getting up early and keeping the pressure on, he's feeling pretty good about his talent level; if he talks about keeping it close and having a chance to win in the 4th, he thinks he's fighting upstream talent-wise. a lot of what happens in the 1st three qtrs is designed to either exploit that advantage or to mitigate that disadvantage....

 

[Palatine]

2-3 was expected. It shows no real improvement. We barely scraped by Army and Nova. This team like many UConn teams before it, plays to the bottom of their potential.

There is still plenty of time to have a good season. If the offensive line can lift their game just a little, we are much stronger at QB and have a dynamic RB in the mode of Todman and Caulley. But at some point the offense needs to show a little imagination, more than one flea flea on an opening drive to take advantage of these upgrades. The offense is still afraid to throw the ball over the middle of the field. That has to end.

I am mildly disappointed at the 5 pole. And, at this point, I am immune to Diaco's rap.

 

[whaler11]

So here's my take, since it seems to bring out a high degree of incredulity among the doubters. I'm not saying our "talent" is always equal to all of our opponents, but there are lots of teams that play and win with "lesser talent"--and talent is largely often perceived, not measurable. Sometimes it's motivation or effort, and the more highly "talented" kid doesn't exert enough will. Sometimes it's "schemes" or surprising play calls--i.e., coaching --or fewer mental mistakes. Based on all of those criteria, plus the ebb and flow of any particular game, one can make a fairly valid assessment as to whether we " didn't belong on the same field" or " had a great chance to win" or "gave the game away", etc.
I stand by my assessment that we "should have beaten Mizzou (that's not even debatable) and BYU (despite the statistical discrepancy)". The only team that was demonstrably better --via schemes and execution--was Navy--and we still had our chances with better play calling and execution on just a few key offensive plays.
Bottom line, we have a team that can play with and defeat any of our remaining opponents. None of them have greater "talent" than we do. There are certain opposing players that need to be stopped in order for us to prevail, but that's where the schemes and coaching strategies come in. Therefore, based on my reasoning, we should be favored against UCF--not underdogs. We're certainly as talented. We'll be highly motivated (especially Andrew Adams). And we're finding ways to use our talent better. We learned a lot from these past few games. Our coaches are ready to up their game. Our players were just chastised about keeping their heads (and feet) In the game. Our best days are ahead of us. We will win on Saturday.

Every week you make the same comments about the line - who is favored and who is going to win.

To date, you've been wrong more often than you've been right.

Instead of considering your reasoning might just be a tad biased - again you've declared the market wrong.

You've also lost the difference between a fact and an opinion. It can certainly be debated that UConn 'should' have won the Missouri game.

It's also a bizarre stance that a team that outgained it's opponent 530-230 didn't 'execute' better.

Your position also puts you in an odd place. If UConn's players are as talented as say Cincinnati, Temple and Houston - the results to date would mean the coaching staff is doing and awfully poor job.

 

[SAMCRO]

People posting BYU was not a more talented/better team than UConn were not watching the same game. BYU played awful, tons of dropped balls and stupid penalties on their part. They physically manhandled us on both sides of the ball, and that game was not nearly as close as the 17 point loss it was. The fact we had a chance to win mid-4th quarter had more to do with their mistakes, than us not winning had to do with our mistakes.

This said, 5 games in, 2-3, exactly where most of us thought we'd be. The real indicator of how far UConn has evolved will be how we do these next 2 games.
- @UCF (a down team that has either already quit or on the verge of quitting. Really important to jump out to an early lead Saturday. Do that, and they will collapse onto themselves)
- USF (a team in a similar position as us. won the game they should have won, played FSU closer than most thought they would, hung in with Memphis until the end, just can't seem to get over the hump and get that upset win)

In 2 weeks we will know how improved this team really is....Gun to my head I'd say we come out of this stretch 2-0 and improve to 4-3.

 

[businesslawyer]

2-3 was expected. It shows no real improvement. We barely scraped by Army and Nova. This team like many UConn teams before it, plays to the bottom of their potential.

There is still plenty of time to have a good season. If the offensive line can lift their game just a little, we are much stronger at QB and have a dynamic RB in the mode of Todman and Caulley. But at some point the offense needs to show a little imagination, more than one flea flea on an opening drive to take advantage of these upgrades. The offense is still afraid to throw the ball over the middle of the field. That has to end.

I am mildly disappointed at the 5 pole. And, at this point, I am immune to Diaco's rap.

Even for you that is outrageously stupid. And I don't use that phrase lightly.

Last year, we needed a punt return TD to beat a STony Brook team that wasn't nearly as good as the 'Nova team that we outplayed. Last year, we lost to Army by 2 TDs -- we didn't beat them in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score. Last year, we weren't in our game with BYU at home in the 4th quarter, much less on the road. Last year, while we played decently against Boise, we didn't have a chance to win the game at the end at home like we would have on the road.

Tell you what -- last year we went 1-7 in the league. Are you ready to bet that we won't do better than that this year, because I will bet that we will. Loser doesn't post on the cesspool for a month.

Put up or stfu.

 

[TKs]

To get to 6 wins we have to go 2-1 at home (USF,EC & Hou) & 2-2 0n the road (@UCF,Cinn,Tulane & Temple). 2-1 at home is doable, 2-2 on the road will be tough considering we're 4-19 on the road since the Fiesta.

 

[businesslawyer]

My bad -- I was trying to compare the Mizzou loss with the Boise loss, but mistyped and it's too late to edit it apparently.

So any guesses as to how Palatine will explain not accepting my wager?

 

[CTMike]

Assuming two teams play mistake free : the more talented team will win. Similarly, if we need the other team to make a ton of mistakes just for us to hang around : we are not as talented. Talent gives you larger margin for error - more talented teams can make mistakes that would break less talented teams.

I think our results so far are exactly reflective of where our talent is. 2-3 with chances to win in 2 out of those 3 losses. We still need better teams to make more mistakes than us for us to have a chance to win.

 

[Tdaley]

Our talent level is starting to improve but we have a long ways to go. Can anyone name one player on our offensive line that is even a little bit above average ? NOT ONE!! Its a far cry from those Edsall teams that always had at least one stud lineman. People have to be patient. Our defense is making great strides. On offense we have a good quarterback and a stud wide receiver. Our best players are made up of mostly sophomores. Things are slowly getting better but fans have to accept the fact that we are not there yet and a 5 and 7 record would still be a good year.

 

[Palatine]

Even for you that is outrageously stupid. And I don't use that phrase lightly.

Last year, we needed a punt return TD to beat a STony Brook team that wasn't nearly as good as the 'Nova team that we outplayed. Last year, we lost to Army by 2 TDs -- we didn't beat them in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score. Last year, we weren't in our game with BYU at home in the 4th quarter, much less on the road. Last year, while we played decently against Boise, we didn't have a chance to win the game at the end at home like we would have on the road.

Tell you what -- last year we went 1-7 in the league. Are you ready to bet that we won't do better than that this year, because I will bet that we will. Loser doesn't post on the cesspool for a month.

Put up or stfu.

Did you even read my post? I know everyone is stupid, but you really don't refute anything in my post. We scraped by Army and Nova.

Yes, Army beat us last year but they were better last year, and as I said, we are better at QB this year. BTW, Nova just lost to Penn. Also last year, Diaco dumped he season. He didn't play to win. He judged games by how many players he was able to play. He didn't even game plan against BYU. And did we really play better against BYU this year? They played worse with a worse QB and beat us just as badly.

I also said, in my post which you apparently didn't read, that a minor upgrade in OL play could have a big impact on this year. It's not out of the question the line jells or communicates better. They would have a positive ripple offense on the offense. So what did I say that was so stupid? That the offense has little imagination? You disagree with that? Good grief.

To my eyes, I haven't seen any improvement. I'm not saying it can't happen. But as Bill Parcells says, "You are what your record says you are." But I suppose Parcells is stupid.

 

[NYUConn]

I'm ok with where we are right now. This week is going to be very difficult though and if we can't pull out a W, I'm not sure if a bowl is in our future.

UCF is winless, but they definitely have some talent on that team. They are looking at this game as probably one of their best opportunities left to get a win on the season.

UConn is coming off a late collapse and is hitting the road for another long trip. Between Provo and Orlando in the period of 7 days the Huskies will have taken 3 flights of close to 6,000 miles total. That's not easy.

This is probably the biggest game of the season and I really hope the team can rise to the challenge.

 

[SubbaBub]

To get to 6, I expected to beat Nova, Army, USF, Tulane and two of Navy, ECU, Houston, or Temple. Or 3-2 or 2-3 by this point.

Given that Houston and Temple appear to be playing better than advertised, especially Temple, that unprepared loss to Navy really hurts.

Given how close to a win Missouri was and to a lesser extent BYU, we may have missed out on our best chance at a bowl game. I think we may need to have 6 locked up before the Houston game to make it. I always had ECU as a toss up swing game to get 7 wins or replace a WTF loss.

That means winning 4 of the next 5 or at least 3 of the next 5 and stealing on of the last two.

That was the expectation, today I hope we go into those last two games with some hope.

Saturday may very well be the verdict on any resurrection story this season.

 

[Nostical]

Between Provo and Orlando in the period of 7 days the Huskies will have taken 3 flights of close to 6,000 miles total. That's not easy.

I know that's the conventional take, but these are young, vital, athletes who can't use that in any way as an excuse. I don't believe it is anyway. They flew in comfortable planes, ate well and have had quite a few days to get re-acclimated to the eastern time zone. Now, if they had endured a two day cross country bus trip in a cramped vehicle with a faulty bathroom--I'd agree with you.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

My bad -- I was trying to compare the Mizzou loss with the Boise loss, but mistyped and it's too late to edit it apparently.

So any guesses as to how Palatine will explain not accepting my wager?

In an election year? No chance Pal will throw away his moral obligation to start a Hillary thread every single day.

 

[tzznandrew]

To get to 6, I expected to beat Nova, Army, USF, Tulane and two of Navy, ECU, Houston, or Temple. Or 3-2 or 2-3 by this point.

Given that Houston and Temple appear to be playing better than advertised, especially Temple, that unprepared loss to Navy really hurts.

Given how close to a win Missouri was and to a lesser extent BYU, we may have missed out on our best chance at a bowl game. I think we may need to have 6 locked up before the Houston game to make it. I always had ECU as a toss up swing game to get 7 wins or replace a WTF loss.

That means winning 4 of the next 5 or at least 3 of the next 5 and stealing on of the last two.

That was the expectation, today I hope we go into those last two games with some hope.

Saturday may very well be the verdict on any resurrection story this season.

Right. Progress isn't linear, so I'm still sort of expecting a WTF loss. Especially since our OL doesn't protect Sheriffs, and so I don't know how many points the team will generate. Even a bad team like UCF can beat us if we can't get points. Right now, too much is on the defense. I really do think, though, if we can get a line that will hold, our offense will score points.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

So here's my take, since it seems to bring out a high degree of incredulity among the doubters. I'm not saying our "talent" is always equal to all of our opponents, but there are lots of teams that play and win with "lesser talent"--and talent is largely often perceived, not measurable. Sometimes it's motivation or effort, and the more highly "talented" kid doesn't exert enough will. Sometimes it's "schemes" or surprising play calls--i.e., coaching --or fewer mental mistakes. Based on all of those criteria, plus the ebb and flow of any particular game, one can make a fairly valid assessment as to whether we " didn't belong on the same field" or " had a great chance to win" or "gave the game away", etc.
I stand by my assessment that we "should have beaten Mizzou (that's not even debatable) and BYU (despite the statistical discrepancy)". The only team that was demonstrably better --via schemes and execution--was Navy--and we still had our chances with better play calling and execution on just a few key offensive plays.
Bottom line, we have a team that can play with and defeat any of our remaining opponents. None of them have greater "talent" than we do. There are certain opposing players that need to be stopped in order for us to prevail, but that's where the schemes and coaching strategies come in. Therefore, based on my reasoning, we should be favored against UCF--not underdogs. We're certainly as talented. We'll be highly motivated (especially Andrew Adams). And we're finding ways to use our talent better. We learned a lot from these past few games. Our coaches are ready to up their game. Our players were just chastised about keeping their heads (and feet) In the game. Our best days are ahead of us. We will win on Saturday.

You seem like a nice enough guy and you're clearly a great UConn fan. But it's just impossible to take you seriously on here anymore. You're simply too biased, have been wrong more than you've right, and things you say seem to fly in the face of reality.

That said, I'll have whatever you're having. I hope you're half right.

 

[whaler11]

I know that's the conventional take, but these are young, vital, athletes who can't use that in any way as an excuse. I don't believe it is anyway. They flew in comfortable planes, ate well and have had quite a few days to get re-acclimated to the eastern time zone. Now, if they had endured a two day cross country bus trip in a cramped vehicle with a faulty bathroom--I'd agree with you.

LOL - someone should tell NFL teams the same thing. They don't even gave to bother with school and travel like that is a huge challenge.

 

[junglehusky]

I don't even like Diaco and I think this team is light years ahead of last year. We were within a boneheaded coaching decision from having a chance to beat BYU and Missouri in the 4th. I expected both games to be epic blowouts before the season started.

Diaco is clearly doing something right in practice, but he could use a gray hair on staff to stop his emotional impulses to try something crazy at key moments.

 

[businesslawyer]

Did you even read my post? I know everyone is stupid, but you really don't refute anything in my post. We scraped by Army and Nova.

Yes, Army beat us last year but they were better last year, and as I said, we are better at QB this year. BTW, Nova just lost to Penn. Also last year, Diaco dumped he season. He didn't play to win. He judged games by how many players he was able to play. He didn't even game plan against BYU. And did we really play better against BYU this year? They played worse with a worse QB and beat us just as badly.

I also said, in my post which you apparently didn't read, that a minor upgrade in OL play could have a big impact on this year. It's not out of the question the line jells or communicates better. They would have a positive ripple offense on the offense. So what did I say that was so stupid? That the offense has little imagination? You disagree with that? Good grief.

To my eyes, I haven't seen any improvement. I'm not saying it can't happen. But as Bill Parcells says, "You are what your record says you are." But I suppose Parcells is stupid.

So your theory is that if you yell loud enough we might not realize that you aren't willing to bet that we won't be better in conference than last year? Yeah, that might work.

 

[Vuce]

Youth may be a large part of that, but I think o-line play (sometimes it's o-line break downs and sometimes it's lack of confidence in the o-line taking away options) is the bigger issue.

This, this and this! I think back to Edsall's teams and for the most part they were solid on O line and D line. We had issues at the skill positions. Now, I think HCBD is actually recruiting the skill positions pretty well (we will see I guess) but until we have better/more consistent play at the line of scrimmage, the results will be uneven at best.

 

[Palatine]

So your theory is that if you yell loud enough we might not realize that you aren't willing to bet that we won't be better in conference than last year? Yeah, that might work.

Not sure I really understand your comment. I hope to God that we pick it up and play better. I never bet against the Huskies. That's what you are asking me to do. Sorry, no sale. I hope they win every game.

As I said, the offensive line will have to play better for them to improve. That is the key. But I don't wear Diaco colored glasses. I believe my own eyes. I believe what I see.

And I have not seen the improvement that you believe exists. I see confusion on the sideline, coaches that can't get the play to the huddle on time. I see the same good defense and poor offense. I see the same huge mistakes at winning time. And I think that people who compare this year to last year conveniently forget that Diaco dumped last season. Well, of course, it's better than last year when we had 2 wins and didn't game plan. That ain't the bar.

There's no joy in this assessment. But it's honest. It's reality based. I always have optimism for the future. I always think we're going to win. But I can't ignore our performance or our record.