Am I Wrong To Feel Optimistic Right Now?

[Chin Diesel]

Agreed. Just like the beginning of baseball season, you better feel optimistic at the beginning of the season.

But the team did seem to make strides and I am looking forward to this season with as much optimism as I have had in a long time. I am planning some travel to away games. I will be watching some of the transfers like Jalen Mitchell, Plack, Hansen and the freshman Neider. I am hopeful that the QB situation and passing game has improved from last year.

I think a large part of my optimism is the lack of "yeah, but....." on the program.

Even last year. Optimistic?

Yeah, but there's a new staff.
Yeah, but we don't know how Roberson will perform at QB or how any of the back ups would perform.
Yeah, but we still have some unknowns on the OLine and how will Guidone mesh.
Yeah, but our kicker, who was really good in 2021, got hurt and we don't know how that position will be.
Yeah, but our 2-deep still has a bunch of freshmen and RFresh and we don't know if they're ready.


What "yeah, but...." does this roster and staff have?

Right now my only "Yeah, but" is whether they have improved enough to the point where an NCST team that curb stomped UConn last year and won the game before 1st quarter was over, now has to play their first string all game and run their offense all game.

 

[DMTCYNAW]

i am super hopeful, but also super grounded in how difficult it is to win even one football game. The only result that will reduce my enthusiasm is a blowout loss.

I can accept a close loss (< = 10 pts), and obv a win is a win. But a blowout just feels like par for the course, and more of last year (i.e. Michigan/Syracuse/NCState/Army, even - that game was more lopsided than the score indicated). Especially since NC State is not the best team we face this year. I personally cannot accept getting blown out by anyone anymore, no matter who the opponent is.

My metric is - We need be in a position to at least MAYBE win, in every 4th quarter this year. Stop getting blown out.

If we hit that, there will be more wins - my evidence for this is Fresno State/Liberty/BC games last year.

 

[cohenzone]

Don’t know if this is optimism, but this is the first time in 8 years I don’t think waiting until the final whistle will help me avoid the exiting traffic.

 

[rich1122]

We could play great or suck. But reason to be optimistic.

Lines return. Healthiest that we’ve been. RB’s are studs.

I’ve said this. Will come down to a few 54 yarders from McFadden.

 

[cohenzone]

We could play great or suck. But reason to be optimistic.

Lines return. Healthiest that we’ve been. RB’s are studs.

I’ve said this. Will come down to a few 54 yarders from McFadden.

C’mon. Hurley can’t win the close ones. Oops, wrong forum.

 

[Woof 101]

Am I Wrong To Feel Optimistic Right Now?​

H, E, double L ..... NO!
Been fooled twice myself, Bobbie red pants and RE.2. Thought Paul was done as a head coach after Cuse. Mora comes across as the most honest coach we have had. That and the same with his staff. I asked some questions at the meet and greet and got strait answers unlike the past when you were told what they thought one wanted to hear.
Mora has expressed delight in the amount of depth at every position other than linebacker. I'm all in for a good competitive season regardless of the opponent.

So I am all in. I think we have a better than punchers chance to win. And a win would create sick momentum for the team and the fanbase.

Your not alone.

 

[ZOOCONN]

I am really optimistic. All things you can analyze should support that optimism. That said my pessimistic side is looming and i am always worried. The difference this time is we have a much better foundation (coaching) than maybe we ever had.

So I am all in. I think we have a better than punchers chance to win. And a win would create sick momentum for the team and the fanbase.

This may be insane but I’m just gonna say it, if they manage to win I do not see it out of the realm of possibility that they could roll into Tennessee undefeated. If that’s the case I’ll be counting down the min till I get to Knoxville lol

 

[UConn Dan]

Ready to run thru a brick wall

 

[Hoophound]

I can’t lie. I wish we had a tune up game first, but I feel like we have a 50/50 shot to win it and I fully expect to be competitive.

If we aren’t, I’ll still believe. It just means we have some work to do. This staff is going to get the job done and put together a good record.

 

[giddyup]

doomed and waiting for n.u.t kick

At this point they are so black and blue they have lost all feeling. So, it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic.

 

[BlueandOG]

Listen, this is what's going to happen. We are going to get just under 30k at the game. We are going to score first. We are going to let them claw back into the game (and further my ulcer). Mora is going to tell them some inspirational stuff in the 4th quarter and we are going to squeak out a W.

 

[BlueandOG]

Also, I am going to drink so many 2 Conns that my son or one of his more responsible pop warner teammates will have to drive us home.

 

[Jimdish255]

It's one day and a few hours until kickoff.

Team had its best season in years last season, finished the regular season strong, retained the critical coaches on the staff, kept most of the top performers, seemingly backfilled the biggest "losses" with comparable talent, and made it through camp relatively healthy. Plenty of depth and experience on both lines. An actual QB competition between D1 QB's. What fan base wouldn't be excited knowing all that?

When was the last season you felt this good about UConn's potential? I'm not sure, but I know I feel more excited about being a UConn football fan now than any time in recent memory.

No guarantees ever. But in my flawed opinion you are not wrong. I think we see a different team this year. But to lay it all on game one might be a stretch.

Take the points.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

At this point they are so black and blue they have lost all feeling. So, it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic.

Mine hiked up north after PP and never came back down. Last year I thought I felt them descending. Maybe this year my Aria won't be soprano.

 

[Austin316]

Reason to be optimistic:

We rank 6th in the country in overall returning production and 2nd overall in offensive production. Mora is a defensive minded coach. I think we have reasons to be optimistic on defense although 39th isn’t bad.

80% overall (6th)
98% offense (2nd)
71% defense (39th)

Source:

College football rankings: ESPN's 25 teams with the most returning production

 

[Hey Adrien!]

It's one day and a few hours until kickoff.

Team had its best season in years last season, finished the regular season strong, retained the critical coaches on the staff, kept most of the top performers, seemingly backfilled the biggest "losses" with comparable talent, and made it through camp relatively healthy. Plenty of depth and experience on both lines. An actual QB competition between D1 QB's. What fan base wouldn't be excited knowing all that?

When was the last season you felt this good about UConn's potential? I'm not sure, but I know I feel more excited about being a UConn football fan now than any time in recent memory.

All I can say is this is the most excited I’ve been for an opening night in years.

Hoping I can watch with my football obsessed 12 year old nephew today, who’s a Clemson fan but lives in CT. Gotta convert him!

 

[RedStickHusky]

LET'S GO!

 

[CL82]

I am cautiously optimistic. Like all of us, this team has broken my heart for too many years. I think we will be dramatically improved, but, even the last year was an enormous improvement, we still have a long way to go. It takes more than a year to shake off a decade worth of suck.

Still though, our roster is upgraded. Our coaching staff is improved and it looks like the fans are coming back to the Rent. That's a whole lot to feel good about. When you add to that a truly inspirational leader in Jim Mora, you can see why we are all feeling confident.

NC State is a tough first test. I'm excited to see how we do.

 

[Punkbo]

I woke up feeling awesome this morning. We went so many years wondering if PP, Diaco or Edsall 2.0 had the chops to get our teams prepared for the season. Unlike those years, I’m 100% confident that Coach Mora will have our guys ready for battle. The players’ ability to execute will ultimately determine the outcome, but I feel great about this season. It all begins tonight. Let’s go Huskies!!!

 

[SuperHuski]

I'm excited!!

We beat some really good teams last year with second, third, and fourth string depth on offense. Our defense was that good and seemingly only gotten better. Our oline is top 30 in the country last year. They're bigger, stronger, hungrier this year.

We were 9-3 against the spread. 3-2 when we were 15+ points underdogs. 5-1 when we were at home. The team we're playing today, lost to Boston College at their own stadium last year! Yet we're somehow 15 points underdog in our house who lost to a team we beat.

Remember Fresno St last year? They barely lost to a top 10 Oregon St team and won the Mountain West against Boise St. They finished the year #24 on the AP poll.

Liberty was #19 on the AP poll when we beat them.

So what I'm saying is, ranked teams were 0-2 against us at the Rent. We are a ranked team's worst nightmare!!

 

[BlueMAB]

We were 9-3 against the spread. 3-2 when we were 15+ points underdogs. 5-1 when we were at home. The team we're playing today, lost to Boston College at their own stadium last year! Yet we're somehow 15 points underdog in our house who lost to a team we beat.

Strange to mention their loss to BCU but not mention they beat us 41-10 (31-3 at halftime) in a blowout that could have been much worse.

The line is fair, but I think UConn covers.

 

[SuperHuski]

Strange to mention their loss to BCU but not mention they beat us 41-10 (31-3 at halftime) in a blowout that could have been much worse.

The line is fair, but I think UConn covers.

Hmm, what's strange to me is being negative in a thread about optimism. That's a fun party game.

My larger point, which seems to be missed, is that we're been a bigger underdog before and we won. We won a lot of games last year where experts and even our OWN fans dismissed our chances of winning. It would be nice if that changed, you know?

 

[HuskyHawk]

I feel pretty good. Some very good returning players, more time in the system and healthy QBs who have played in college before. Some tough games, but I expect UConn to be competitive tonight against a good NC State team.

 

[businesslawyer]

I think a large part of my optimism is the lack of "yeah, but....." on the program.

Even last year. Optimistic?

Yeah, but there's a new staff.
Yeah, but we don't know how Roberson will perform at QB or how any of the back ups would perform.
Yeah, but we still have some unknowns on the OLine and how will Guidone mesh.
Yeah, but our kicker, who was really good in 2021, got hurt and we don't know how that position will be.
Yeah, but our 2-deep still has a bunch of freshmen and RFresh and we don't know if they're ready.


What "yeah, but...." does this roster and staff have?

Right now my only "Yeah, but" is whether they have improved enough to the point where an NCST team that curb stomped UConn last year and won the game before 1st quarter was over, now has to play their first string all game and run their offense all game.

This. The only questions are how much better will we be, and how do we translate being better into more wins. But the roster, compared with the post-injury roster we were looking at at 1-4, is absolutely better and deeper.

 

[Mora4Prez]

I feel pretty good. Some very good returning players, more time in the system and healthy QBs who have played in college before. Some tough games, but I expect UConn to be competitive tonight against a good NC State team.

I feel good too. My only worry is that a lot of our wins last year did have an element of luck to them. I hope we can replace that with an improved passing game and increased morale.