A loss is a loss, and win is a win.

[Carl Spackler]

I am hoping like hell, that our players and coaches are not nearly as pleased with the events of Saturday night, that the fans are, but people are human. It was a really fun night at the stadium, and I'm sure the players enjoyed it immensely.

But we lost. We had a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter and all the momentum in the world. We lost 24-21, after turning the ball over on downs on a 4th and 29 pass play, and Michigan kneeled on it.

That's reality. We got crushed by Towson. We crapped the bed in the second half against Maryland when the game was still in reach. We pissed away of two touchdown lead against Michigan. We are 0-3 at home to the start the season.

That's Monday's reality. What are we going to do about it? Well, we fans will bitch and complain about anything we can bitch and complain about.

But the players and coaches?

Now - they have the emotional roller coaster of going from playing at home, in front of a packed and loud stadium, on national TV with all the celebrities in attendance against a national ranked Michigan team......to playing........Buffalo, in a Buffalo.

Last time we had this kind of rollercoaster happen, we got destroyed by Western Michigan out of the gate and were down by multiple scores early, which is something that we've not been able to recover from.

The travel squad, needs to take this 2013 freak show on the road for the first time this week, and they need to find a way to play with as close to the same energy as possible that they had against Michigan at home on Saturday night primetime, to playing on the road against Buffalo.

Leaders find a way to make that happen.

The most difficult part of our season is over, as far as I'm concerned, and we're 0-3. It sucks that it is that way, but if you had told me that we'd be 1-2 right now 5 weeks ago, I wouldn't have argued - too much. The Towson loss? that one won't be forgotten. The losses to Michigan, and Maryland? Those will be talked about in the long term, but will fall by the wayside, when we match up with BYU, with Tennessee, with blue field Boise St.......but nobody is forgetting that Towson game, especially the 30,000 of us that were there.

The test now, is whether or not we can win on the road, because 5 of our next 7 games are on the road.

This team needs to know, that we the fans, are week to week with them, and they need to know, that what they experienced Saturday night, is what WINNING at UCONN can feel like.

I kept getting flashbacks to the WVU game in 2008 Saturday night. Right down to the numbers of yellow colored people in the corner of the stadium. We played a bad second half that game, all around, and went from a winnable game at half, to a blowout. We kept it close Saturday night, but the stadium was rocking back then in 2008, and again in 2009 when ranked North Carolina came in.

UCONN fans, have the reputation of rising to the occasion, when the situation is big, and the stage is set, and we delivered again on Saturday.

It's up to these players and coaches to bring us to homecoming with a win.

 

[Palatine]

I haven't seen that many cliches strung together since ABBA broke up.

 

[Carl Spackler]

LOL. It's funny, because it's true.

 

[sportsart]

When you finally realize Carl, we had no business being up 21-7 then you'll understand why some of us took in the moment and had 58 minutes of pure bliss.

Those 58 minutes helped me forget the Towson fiasco. Those 58 minutes took me away from the MD loss.

There are many games where the opposing teams do not turn the ball over and we get flat out beat. We had no business winning the WVU game we did except for the 6 TO's.

We were given gifts on Saturday night that gave us the illusion we were the better team. I enjoyed those gifts immensely and soaked up the moment like I never did before. It was the best 58 minutes I ever had at the Rent.

You can be upset we let one get away or realize we were given a gift for 58 minutes that we had no business getting.

That game had 38-7 written all over it.

Not only did we not embarrass ourselves on national TV, we showed half the country we have a big boy atmosphere for football. We also had to impress the dozens of FB and BB recruits that were in attendance.

I'm also sure we gained a few fans who had never been to the Rent before.

We don't have much to look forward to this year and many people are looking past a magical moment that took place...for 58 minutes.

You see, for 60 minutes of the Towson game and pretty much 60 minutes of the MD game I was not enjoying myself...at all. Excuse me if I took advantage of a rare moment and held on tight.

 

[PAGS]

Honestly this gave me hope for the season, I figured we'd be crushed by Michigan. I now have a renewed sense of hope that we can still pull this season out from under the rug and be slightly more competitive going into conference play. Maryland is a GOOD team this year and will be atop the ACC by season end, maybe not in the championship game but still up there. Towson is a top notch FCS team that we were under prepared for and took for granted. Every team we lost to is UNDEFEATED still...maybe they will be all season? Who knows....but this season's not over and I haven't given up on the fact we can turn it around. The AAC title is still up for grabs and we're 0-0 in conference play!

 

[Carl Spackler]

When you finally realize Carl, we had no business being up 21-7 then you'll understand why some of us took in the moment and had 58 minutes of pure bliss.

Those 58 minutes helped me forget the Towson fiasco. Those 58 minutes took me away from the MD loss.

There are many games where the opposing teams do not turn the ball over and we get flat out beat. We had no business winning the WVU game we did except for the 6 TO's.

We were given gifts on Saturday night that gave us the illusion we were the better team. I enjoyed those gifts immensely and soaked up the moment like I never did before. It was the best 58 minutes I ever had at the Rent.

You can be upset we let one get away or realize we were given a gift for 58 minutes that we had no business getting.

That game had 38-7 written all over it.

Not only did we not embarrass ourselves on national TV, we showed half the country we have a big boy atmosphere for football. We also had to impress the dozens of FB and BB recruits that were in attendance.

I'm also sure we gained a few fans who had never been to the Rent before.

We don't have much to look forward to this year and many people are looking past a magical moment that took place...for 58 minutes.

You see, for 60 minutes of the Towson game and pretty much 60 minutes of the MD game I was not enjoying myself...at all. Excuse me if I took advantage of a rare moment and held on tight.

Don't misunderstand me at all art - I went home happy on Saturday night. Very happy. I get that luxury though, because I'm a fan. I'm guilty as charged for enjoying myself in a loss. It's important to realize though, that it's Monday now, and we've got another game, and we are not going to have the benefits of the external sources of motivation that we had last week.

and FWIW - we WERE up 21-7. We were not down 38-7. Same thing with Maryland. Yes - they had 500 yards of offense, but it was 20-13 late in the third quarter, and we had the ball on offense.

In the words of William Munny, 'deserve' got nothing to do with it. We weren't able to pull the right triggers to end the game in our favor. The coaches have to coach, and the players have to play. They have to learn how to win on the field. We are at that point now, we have to learn how to close out games again.

We don't have consistency on offense, and we need it. You get that by establishing an offensive system that isn't going to change, and then practicing it to perfection, and then using it effectively when you need it in games. There are always two sides to this story.

 

[Carl Spackler]

also: I don't buy this stuff about we shouldn't have been in this position, or that position, if not for the turnovers, this....that........

What happens, happens. IF they don't turnover the ball we don't have a chance? Sure maybe so, but they DID turn the ball over.

If we didn't beat West Virginia in OT in 2010, with the turnovers and the decision to punt that probably was the final nail in the coffin for their coach (RIP)....for real....RIP, would you still have said we didn't deserve to be in that position? I think not - because the difference is that we WON!!!

I actually have a lot to look forward to this season. We have a homecoming game, I'm going back to Dallas, for I hope a win against SMU, we have a top ranked Louisville team coming to Rentschler, to hopefully knock down at the knees again. The most difficult part of the season is argueably behind us (aside from what I've talked about - being able to find a way for the team to take the same emotion and energy they had Saturday night, and bring it on the road to play in a vacuum)

IMNSHO, doing that - what I just said is a lot harder than blocking and tackling,a nd if they CAN find a way to play with that emotion and passion, regardless of the environment, we can still make the post season.

Week to week. Right now, it's Buffalo. We got to beat this team next Saturday. Deserve has got nothing to do with it.

Both teams want the same thing every week, the only difference is who has worked harder and wants it more. we need to really get disciplined and focused in practice on offense so that every player on offense is doing the right things on game day. The rest of the team has progressed very well since week 1 and needs to maintain that as well.

And I'll be done with my cliché's now. I'll stick to football, I actually really enjoy having espn3, because you can go to the games and the film doesn't lie.

It's not going to mesh well with anyone's views of the team around here right now, but the film doesn't lie. The opportunities are there, adn were there, and no reason to think they won't be every week, the players didn't get it done. They get another shot next week.

 

[Nostical]

When you finally realize Carl, we had no business being up 21-7 then you'll understand why some of us took in the moment and had 58 minutes of pure bliss. Those 58 minutes helped me forget the Towson fiasco. Those 58 minutes took me away from the MD loss. There are many games where the opposing teams do not turn the ball over and we get flat out beat. We had no business winning the WVU game we did except for the 6 TO's.
We were given gifts on Saturday night that gave us the illusion we were the better team. I enjoyed those gifts immensely and soaked up the moment like I never did before. It was the best 58 minutes I ever had at the Rent.
You can be upset we let one get away or realize we were given a gift for 58 minutes that we had no business getting.That game had 38-7 written all over it.
Not only did we not embarrass ourselves on national TV, we showed half the country we have a big boy atmosphere for football. We also had to impress the dozens of FB and BB recruits that were in attendance.
I'm also sure we gained a few fans who had never been to the Rent before. We don't have much to look forward to this year and many people are looking past a magical moment that took place...for 58 minutes.
You see, for 60 minutes of the Towson game and pretty much 60 minutes of the MD game I was not enjoying myself...at all. Excuse me if I took advantage of a rare moment and held on tight.

Great post!

 

[zls44]

Now - they have the emotional roller coaster of going from playing at home, in front of a packed and loud stadium, on national TV with all the celebrities in attendance against a national ranked Michigan team......to playing........Buffalo, in a Buffalo.

That's gotta be one really big Bison.

*rimshot*