Ball State Post Game Thread

[Alum86]

Brutal in person. Good size crowd just waiting to erupt and instead were treated to a paint drying clinic. Fagnano underthrowing bell time and time again and throwing behind other targets. Left early to watch the Mets lose another critical game. Watching second half rn and am glad I did.

Soto. Call strike 3. Gotta swing.

 

[Gburyhusky]

Glass half full perspective: (1) They are entertaining; (2) They haven't been blown out and have been in every game; (3) Bell and Edwards are outstanding offensive weapons; (4) respectable crowd.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Soto. Call strike 3. Gotta swing.

UConn alum Poulin stepping up for the nats!

 

[Buffett10]

My first eyes on a game this year, all radio so far. Defense totally unqualified to play at this level. Those who saw Syracuse, I assume we looked different? In what way? Could we tackle, did we have a rush, good schemes??

Unqualified to play at this level? You mean the same uconn team that went to Syracuse and held them to 6pts going into the 4th. Then you mean that same Syracuse team going to Clemson today and hanging 31 points on them. Are we great? No.. Can we beat Clemson? No probably not. Are we terrible? ABSOLUTELY not. This team could easily be 4-0 right now. Really should be 4-0.. but typical uconn fans no different then the basketball side. You guys literally have to win every game or the team is terrible. Smh. Support the team.

 

[ATLDYKA]

Mills didn’t dress today.. DL Trent Jones is still out. Our depth across the board is a problem.

Thanks medic, I was going to ask if Mills was hurt. Before we write off the defense, lets gets Mills back as I believe he is our best defensive player and brings the leadership and attitude we are missing. Also, when is Jones due back? Plug him in the middle and maybe the run defense gets a lot tougher. Need those 2 guys back.

 

[ArtTheFan]

To me, the Defense is Very Offensive. 3-3-5 is not what I'd want. I know we lost some good D players from last year. I'm not giving up!!

 

[Bongo Fury]

Recruiting is a crapshoot. The best aren’t going to UConn. Like picking stocks, it’s often better to be lucky than good. UConn’s best to out effort teams that underestimate them like almost happened at Cuse.

 

[Purple Stein]

Sammis is baffling with some of his play calling. At times it’s sheer stupidity. Why he refuses to exploit the middle of the field is beyond be. Why he rolls out Fagnano cutting the field in half and making him throw on the run (a weakness) is ridiculous. Why he keeps running the useless wideout screen especially into the short side of the field is another dummy maneuver. He stalls a lot of drives with stupid calls.

I really don't understand why Sammis insists on rolling out Fagnano. At least 3 times today -- maybe 4?

He is a pocket quarterback. Ball State was not getting a ton of pressure.

Why roll him out when you know he struggles to throw on the move?

 

[Viet Vet]

We MAY go 8-5 given our weak schedule, but this is a boring, uninspiring, mundane team to watch, let alone root for. I have lived 66 of my 77 years here in Connecticut, yet if I were not a UConn grad (1974) I might question my ongoing support.

I will always bleed National Flag Blue, but the quest for mediocrity is a frustrating journey.

 

[CTBasketball]

The goal should be to become bowl eligible. I don’t care how we do it.

Today, as horrendous as it was, was a step in the right direction towards that goal.

 

[rich1122]

They scared me even with a 2TD lead.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The defense collapses at the end of every game (and overtime).

That's call fatigue. They have holding teams, other than Delaware to less that 14 points. The Offense is building leads, which would make the opponents 1 dimensional and easier to defend.
Even this game, they held them to 10 points for most of the game, but we couldn't pull away. Defenders get tired, too. Defense isn't our biggest problem. In 4 games, they have given up less than 3 scores through 3 damn quarters. What more are they supposed to do?

 

[ZooCougar]

That's call fatigue. They have holding teams, other than Delaware to less that 14 points. The Offense is building leads, which would make the opponents 1 dimensional and easier to defend.
Even this game, they held them to 10 points for most of the game, but we couldn't pull away. Defenders get tired, too. Defense isn't our biggest problem. In 4 games, they have given up less than 3 scores through 3 damn quarters. What more are they supposed to do?

You can't be serious.

This defense can't get off the field on third down to save its life.

 

[Viet Vet]

Unqualified to play at this level? You mean the same uconn team that went to Syracuse and held them to 6pts going into the 4th. Then you mean that same Syracuse team going to Clemson today and hanging 31 points on them. Are we great? No.. Can we beat Clemson? No probably not. Are we terrible? ABSOLUTELY not. This team could easily be 4-0 right now. Really should be 4-0.. but typical uconn fans no different then the basketball side. You guys literally have to win every game or the team is terrible. Smh. Support the team.

Should be, could be, might be…..but aren’t.

 

[Jaydumo20]

Keep thinking we should be 4-0

Congrats to the coach and team for the win. One week at a time

I was thinking the same exact thing. People can laugh but if we won those 2 very winnable games we'd be forgiving the defense and talking bowl games.

 

[uconnbaseball]

It’s not the defense as a whole. The back 8 is mostly fine and I like our DC.

We have the worst defensive line in all of college football. That’s not an exaggeration. They are absolutely horrible and are killing this team single-handedly.

 

[Redding Husky]

In the old days, we’d be undefeated (2-0-2).

 

[superjohn]

re: bell - did anyone else feel like we ran nothing but screens?
Screens work when they're not expected. Sammis makes them feel like they're a dive up the middle lol
14 for 103 yards is laughable. I said in the game chat that doing that over and over is going to get him hurt against real defenses.

Bell deserves to be on a better team with better coaching. I really hope he makes the NFL.

 

[superjohn]

Unqualified to play at this level? You mean the same uconn team that went to Syracuse and held them to 6pts going into the 4th. Then you mean that same Syracuse team going to Clemson today and hanging 31 points on them. Are we great? No.. Can we beat Clemson? No probably not. Are we terrible? ABSOLUTELY not. This team could easily be 4-0 right now. Really should be 4-0.. but typical uconn fans no different then the basketball side. You guys literally have to win every game or the team is terrible. Smh. Support the team.

Did you just compare UConn football to UConn basketball in terms of winning and expectations from fans?

 

[freescooter]

We MAY go 8-5 given our weak schedule, but this is a boring, uninspiring, mundane team to watch, let alone root for. I have lived 66 of my 77 years here in Connecticut, yet if I were not a UConn grad (1974) I might question my ongoing support.

I will always bleed National Flag Blue, but the quest for mediocrity is a frustrating journey.

We have one of the top performing offenses in the country, a running back who can break a long one at any time and a really talented receiver. Every game except Central has come down to the last minute. Two went to overtime. It isn’t like we are playing 6-3 games. What the heck do you need to not be boring?

 

[How Sway?!]

I think it's pretty evident now that we whiffed in the portal this past off-season, at least defensively.

Mora keeps comparing it to NFL free agency but with free agency you are looking at players who have played at the same level you are and so there is more certainly in what you are getting. With the portal, you are often projecting how their limited stats and video will translate to your level unless you are going for top level talent, which we obviously aren't.

I feel we need to emphasize HS recruiting more and treat the portal as a place to plug the gaps. We've been averaging 13 HS recruits and 20+ transfers the last few years. Something more 50/50 or 60/40 should be the goal imo

 

[KryHavok]

What more are they supposed to do?

Make critical stops on 4th down, not give up penalties that result in 1st down, and most seriously NOT give up a touchdown after we score a touchdown! We can score more this season compared to past seasons, but if we can't make defensive stops when needed, we're going to get outscored like the last 2 weeks. Today's game should not have been close.

 

[AllHusky]

Unqualified to play at this level? You mean the same uconn team that went to Syracuse and held them to 6pts going into the 4th. Then you mean that same Syracuse team going to Clemson today and hanging 31 points on them. Are we great? No.. Can we beat Clemson? No probably not. Are we terrible? ABSOLUTELY not. This team could easily be 4-0 right now. Really should be 4-0.. but typical uconn fans no different than the basketball side. You guys literally have to win every game or the team is terrible. Smh. Support the team.

As I said, first time seeing with my own eyes. I was hopeful that the Yard was exaggerating because we had such high hopes for the season and what went on at Syracuse actually may have raised expectations. No, no exaggeration. Can’t tackle, look confused, disorganized. Twice with Game on line we were doing a Chinese fire drill when ball was snapped. I’ve watched UConn FB for 40 years, and it looks like this is bottom 5 D. Not much Chutzpah across the board.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

You can't be serious.

This defense can't get off the field on third down to save its life.

They weren't great, but at the end of he day they aren't giving up points early (accept against Deleware). The same thing is happening to Miami against Florida right now. If you hold a team and inferior team to 2 TDs or less for most of the game, and it is still close...they other team will score eventually because your defense gets tired and frustrated. It isn't hard to see.

 

[Devland]

My theory on defensive schemes is any scheme will work if you have the proper players to run that scheme. You determine who your most disruptive players are and you choose a scheme that features those players. I am not sure we have any disruptive players on our defense. We should at least try different schemes to see if possible some players start to flourish in a different scheme.