A very nice day. Fun game. (long)

[Palatine]

Beautiful weather. Too beautiful. Sunburn beautiful. Nice tailgate. Always looking for an excuse to smoke a cigar. Bumped into a few Boneyarders under the scoreboard at halftime. As usual, in person it is a very nice group of folks.

The mismatched offensive lines gave the game a sloppy feel. The center snap was also an issue. It needs to get cleaned upped. Plenty of time for that.

It became much less of an issue when CW was getting rid of the ball quickly. He certainly looked head and shoulders above the other QBs. The other QBs were clearly bothered by the lack of pass protection. It hurt Nebrich the most. He took numerous sacks that might have been positive plays if he wasn’t wearing a red shirt. Cochrane had his moments. He was the only one that took a downfield shot but he overcooked Mike Smith. Johnny Mac could have used more time as well.

The running backs were affected by the same thing. An occasional hole would be produced off tackle but there was nothing inside especially for the white team who had to contend with Stevens and Wirth. Jesse Joseph was a flat out terror. If he is still hurting, I can’t imagine him completely well. Tim Wilman had a nice game tipping a pass that was intercepted and finding a fumble in a crowd for another TO. I could probably just name all the defensive linemen. But remember, part of their success was playing against a group having problems with cohesion.

Our fullbacks and TE looked good, McQuillan looked natural catching the ball although Lee ripped a long reception away form him. Osiecki looks like the second coming of Sherman. All the TEs found space in the secondary.

I didn’t watch a lot of LB play. Sio did have a couple of big sticks.

Blidi is becoming a shut down corner. I can imagine putting him on one guy and rolling our coverage the other way. Mack had a god day. So did Stephenson. Lee flashed at safety.

Nick Williams is primed to have a big year. He did a great job finding the sticks on third down and he is a handful in the open field. Phillips looks to be the first 4-star player who plays like a four star in UConn history (apology to Lorenzen). It was nice to watch him come out of his beaks in pre-game warm ups. Very natural player. Plays bigger than his size, uses his body well. Nice hands. We need a burner to round out the group. Could be Smith although we don’t think of him that way. Foxx looked capable. Jones is another natural athlete as he learns not to try to do too much, he will get better and better.

Some odds and ends. Jimmy Bennett will be fully healthy by the fall. He looked imposing on the sidelines without any gear. Dalton Gifford passes the eye test. The dude is huge. Not many penalties. Surprising considering the time of year and the split squad. The team stayed on the field for a half hour after the game to mix with the fans. Nice touch.

 

[huskyblooz]

Pros: Phillips, Osiecki, Stephenson, Wirth, Whitmer and Wagner (MVP).
Cons: OT, linebackers were disappointing, OG, Whaler11, center, actually I thought there were TOO many penalties and the offensive line, sunburn.

I had a few brief conversations with some of the guys, because my kids wanted autographs. We've got some very mature players.
Mateus is genuine, Whitmer is humble & Casey doesnt act like a kid who should be going to his senior prom.

 

[buckley503]

Brought the boys, 4 and 6, and we had a great time. Having the band and cheerleaders gave it some life.

Agree on Whitmer.

And I know I am old when we went down on the field and you saw these kids up close and you realize that they are just that, kids. They were humble and accomodating.

Again, thought the day itself was great. Will worry more about football come September.

 

[Dann]

great post pal, i agree with most. i think uconns making more of a effort of making this day fan friendly each year, its working. agree on the qbs and i guess i left the rent most worried about our oline. not just them snapping the ball and protecting the qb, but i'm worried they are working on those alot and were banking on lyle and crew to just be good. they can't just be good like last year unless our oline gets better and blocking...

 

[whaler11]

Pros: Phillips, Osiecki, Stephenson, Wirth, Whitmer and Wagner (MVP).
Cons: OT, linebackers were disappointing, OG, Whaler11, center, actually I thought there were TOO many penalties and the offensive line, sunburn.

I had a few brief conversations with some of the guys, because my kids wanted autographs. We've got some very mature players.
Mateus is genuine, Whitmer is humble & Casey doesnt act like a kid who should be going to his senior prom.

No way i should be listed ahead of the centers.

 

[huskypantz]

Sio had a couple of big hits - and he let everyone know about it.

It will be interesting to see if we can get more matchups with Williams vs linebackers in coverage. If Phillips/Smith etc can command some attention on the outside/deep, that will free up the short middle for him to roam.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

LB coverage was lacking, but remember they weren't allowed to play zone, so the Offense had an advantage knowing the coverage they would see each play.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I agree with Paltine less than half the time, but this is one of those rare occurrences. I have the same observations. Sloppy on the OL due to injuries and mixed matched units. They didn't have enough bodies as guys were switching colors. It is the #1 concern, by far, going into camp.

Make no mistake, if the OL plays as bad as they did, we won't win 4 games. But this post is a lot closer to reality than Whaler's rant.

 

[huskysupporter]

We really need to remember that two starters were out on the O Line. As I said in an earlier post, I am extremely concerned about depth at OL, but I think the starters will be fine. The big issue is whether Bennet will be ready for the season.

Gus Cruz needs to be in the starting lineup somewhere. That's what I took from the OL performance.

Nick Williams needs to be the slot guy in 3 wides. He has trouble locating the ball on deep passes, but he has a world of potential catching the swing passes and short throws. THe key is the qb getting him the ball in stride. Like what I saw of Shakim Phillips. A lot. Ran very good routes, and wouldn't be surprised at all if he becomes the # 1 receiver. Mike Smith looked rusty. Geremy Davis and Tebucky Jones showed glimpses of what they could do.

I have zero worries about McCombs. He looked fine on his early runs.

Again, wish we could combine the talents of Frank and Osieski. Frank displayed stone hands but great blocking. Osieski showed great receiving skills and so so blocking.

Feel a lot better about TE, we have several talented players here.

I remain concerned about LBer coverage.

I am not concerned about the front 4. I am not concerned about run defense. I like what I saw from the secondary.

If Whitmer plays within the system and doesn't make dumb decisions like the INT in the end zone, this team can be really good.

The only positive from Cochran was the way he controlled the huddle. Impressive for a kid who should still be in high school. We know his rep as a relentless worker, so a RS year will do wonders.

 

[uconndogs]

Nice post Pal. I have been to or seen every spring game and there was much more positive to take away from this one than there has been from most. My take:

• Whitmer is our QB. I cannot imagine that what we witnessed yesterday is not a clear indication of a superior skill set over his compeition and he has a nice set of wheels as well. P wanted everyone focused and working for the summer, but I would be stunned if Whitmer is not under center for the Minutement.
• The patchwork O lines exaserbated the lack of depth we have on the O line in general. If Masters does not come back healthy for the summer or if we get a rash of injuries we could be in a lot of trouble. If Bennet can get and stay healthy that would be a huge help to secure that left side. I thought Mateas looked fine and he was a key pick-up.
• Receivers looked as good I can ever remember heading into a season. William has got to improve his hands out of the slot. He's too dangerous to ignore there, but the drops are killers.
• The McQuillen kid is an athlete. Not sure where he ultimately fits in, because I'm not sure if he can be an effective blocking TE at his size.
• This defense will be very good. To my eye they were told to not blitz yesterday (or hardly at all anyway) and so the LB play was so-so. But, this group has two lock-down corners and a group of safeties that are as athletic as we have ever had at those positions. Joseph and Trevardo will have HUGE years. We will lead the Big East in INTs. Mark it down.
• We have no power running game with this offense that I can see.

 

[CTMike]

Nice post Pal. I have been to or seen every spring game and there was much more positive to take away from this one than there has been from most. My take:

• Whitmer is our QB. I cannot imagine that what we witnessed yesterday is not a clear indication of a superior skill set over his compeition and he has a nice set of wheels as well. P wanted everyone focused and working for the summer, but I would be stunned if Whitmer is not under center for the Minutement.
• The patchwork O lines exaserbated the lack of depth we have on the O line in general. If Masters does not come back healthy for the summer or if we get a rash of injuries we could be in a lot of trouble. If Bennet can get and stay healthy that would be a huge help to secure that left side. I thought Mateas looked fine and he was a key pick-up.
• Receivers looked as good I can ever remember heading into a season. William has got to improve his hands out of the slot. He's too dangerous to ignore there, but the drops are killers.
• The McQuillen kid is an athlete. Not sure where he ultimately fits in, because I'm not sure if he can be an effective blocking TE at his size.
• This defense will be very good. To my eye they were told to not blitz yesterday (or hardly at all anyway) and so the LB play was so-so. But, this group has two lock-down corners and a group of safeties that are as athletic as we have ever had at those positions. Joseph and Trevardo will have HUGE years. We will lead the Big East in INTs. Mark it down.
• We have no power running game with this offense that I can see.

Agree with everything but reserving judgement on the last point, due to point number 2.

 

[mattp]

not only were 2 starters out, but overall we probably had to go about 4 deep, so a lot of these guys aren't pencilled into back up much less start.

i rewatched my taping of it, and i had some impressions that were a little different than live. our running game looked better the second time. we ran very rarely, which i like anyway since we're trying to figure out or QB, and we had a lot of negative yardage plays that counted against the running game. McCombs looked fine running the ball on first and second downs and that's really what i care most about. after him nobody really stood out although lorenzo had a nice run. if nothing else our RB situation almost has to be better than last year since we return everyone and added a few guys.

i really like the QB rotation. it gave us as good a chance as we could have hoped for to compare them all on an even playing field. when the OLine gave them time they all looked decent, but Whitmer clearly stood out. i think P did right by making it an even race up until now, but now it's time to get everyone acclimated to Whitmer as the starter.

our defense looks good, granted our Oline helped them, but i'd say the game allayed any concerns i may have had about our Dline. our secondary seems to have strengthened and i've never had to worry about our LBs and i think this might be our best group.

overall i think our defense will be good to great, and i think Whitmer will be able to move the team, so we should have a successful season. 8-4 give or take a game

 

[SubbaBub]

At the risk not meeting this threads minimum word count, I'd argue the defensive performance was a sign to blitz less this year, when it appeared to burn us badly last year.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dann]

At the risk not meeting this threads minimum word count, I'd argue the defensive performance was a sign to blitz less this year, when it appeared to burn us badly last year.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

i think were going to blitz even more this year than last if thats possible...year 2 on d will be even better than year 1 i think.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There was no blitzing allowed in the spring game. All that the lack of blitzing demonstrated was that the players know how to follow the rules.

 

[husky10]

On the defensive side I liked what I saw from David Stevenson at CB. made some solid plays and makes me confident that we have someone to come in if one of the starters goes down or for nickle packages. could even see him taking the job away from gratz who has a knack for getting burned