Cochran injured

[uconndennis]

http://www.theday.com/article/20120718/SPORT07/120719701/1047

non-throwing hand...surgery this week

 

[Dann]

he will be just fine and recover 100%. he was going to rs so not a lot of harm here. not to be a dick but this could give our eventual starting qb a few more reps per practice...

 

[Carl Spackler]

he will be just fine and recover 100%. he was going to rs so not a lot of harm here. not to be a dick but this could give our eventual starting qb a few more reps per practice...

Nothing d*ckish about it. You want to compete for a job, you got to be on the field.

 

[Rumrunner]

Hopefully he comes back quickly. Now even Pasqualoni can't screw up another RS.

 

[Dann]

Hopefully he comes back quickly. Now even Pasqualoni can't screw up another RS.

he didn't screw up the nebrich rs. we had no depth so he had to try everything. also, with what nebrich has as a situation not doing a rs year allows him after this fall to transfer and use that as a rs year if he wants. i think this may happen if whitmer is anything near good because then he would be the starter for the next 2 years past this fall with the ball then going to casey/lagow. nebrich may get screwed time wise here and leave is what im saying so the non rs thing isn't a bad deal for him.

 

[Doggie Style]

Hopefully he comes back quickly. Now even Pasqualoni can't screw up another RS.

========================

Nebrich got screwed last year!!!!!!!

 

[Rumrunner]

The beauty of a RS is that it allows a coach to keep the player suited up, helmet in hand, ready ti go if the starter gets injured. Pasqualoni was never forced to play him due to depth issues.

I guess what you're saying with respect to your other point is that if Nebrich transfers he can have his new team redshirt him. Pasqualoni therefore did him a favor by not using the RS. Most coaches know how to game a medical hardship, so saving his RS made no sense.

 

[Doggie Style]

The Hartford Courant says it was a bike accident

 

[BlueMAB]

I guess what you're saying with respect to your other point is that if Nebrich transfers he can have his new team redshirt him. Pasqualoni therefore did him a favor by not using the RS. Most coaches know how to game a medical hardship, so saving his RS made no sense.

I don't think Nebrich got screwed out of a RS, I think he got screwed out of PT. I didn't see anything from McEntee that led me to believe we were better with him than Nebrich. I don't think the mistake was playing Nebrich, I think the mistake was not playing Nebrich enough.

And, anecdotally, it seems like there have been more and more denials to the medical hardship requests, including one at UConn IIRC. It seems the NCAA has tightened up the waivers because as you said, coaches were gaming the system.

 

[businesslawyer]

I don't pretend to know, and we will never know, if we would have been better last year if Nebrich (or box for that matter) had won the job instead of Johnny Mc. But the thought that Nebrich got screwed by being given a chance (even if it wasn't a big enough chance) to win the job on the field in September is somewhat bizzare.

I'm just waiting now to be designated as a Pasqualista.

 

[BlueMAB]

Apologies, if that wasn't directed at me BL, but I don't pretend to know either. I used the word think. I'll never know as much about football as Pasqualoni has forgotten (and I understand his opinion is the only one that matters) but my opinion was Nebrich made more sense due to his mobility. The pass protection was terrible and McEntee isn't as mobile as Nebrich. But I agree, saying he was screwed after being given a chance (no matter how small) to win the job is bizarre.

 

[metsfan2323]

McEntee had plenty of issues last year as QB, but he actually throws the ball very well, much better then Nebrich or anyone else on last year's team.

Nebrich's best shot for success is to run a variation of the McCummings offense, hopefully the coaches put him direct competition with McCummings for the wildcat job. Nebrich throws better then McCummings so they could throw the ball more out of the wildcat with Nebrich. The coaches were just unwilling to let Nebrich run the ball last year, maybe they thought he was too small.

It was obviously important to the coaches last year to run the pro-style offense come hell or high water, the committment to the pro-style may have even been viewed as a recruiting tool to land Whitmer. Whitmer did state that the pro-style was a priority for him when he was making his decision on where to go. Did the coaches make a decision last year to take a step back by running the pro-style attack so they could take two steps forward this year? That may very well be the case.

It sucks that Cochran got hurt. I didn't expect him to win the starting job, but I did expect him to win the back-up role.

 

[Rumrunner]

Nebrich was screwed because he was not given a chance to prove his competence.

We were constantly chided that we have no idea what goes on in practice, ergo the decision of the head coach on whom to play is based on his assessment of superior information.

Fine.

So put in a helter skelter, run in for one play, get taken out before the series was over play calling scheme, rinse, repeat.

I have no idea if it's true or not, but from the comfort of my home, he didn't play in a game sufficient for me to know if he was good or not. Maybe it's asinine to feel that rhythm, momentum, getting one's feet under oneself, etc. have no part in football, but to most it does. Nebrich might have sucked last season, or he might have been the second coming of Andrew Luck. One thing's for sure, no way can anyone here opine on his GAME playing ability beause no one, not even Pasqualoni, saw it.

This argument has been ongoing since the Fordham game. At least Cochran won't have to endure what Nebrich did.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

If PP played Nebrich and we had the same record and still missed going to a bowl game everyone would have still complained about not playing J Mc. PP was in a no win situation with the fans.

 

[pj]

It was obviously important to the coaches last year to run the pro-style offense come hell or high water, the committment to the pro-style may have even been viewed as a recruiting tool to land Whitmer. Whitmer did state that the pro-style was a priority for him when he was making his decision on where to go. Did the coaches make a decision last year to take a step back by running the pro-style attack so they could take two steps forward this year? That may very well be the case.

I doubt they'd do that for just one recruit, but I think in a strategic sense, there's a strong case for installing a pro-style attack:
1. It's easier for a school like UConn to recruit top-level pro-style QBs than mobile QBs, if only because so many schools are looking for mobile QB/athletes. A pro-style QB like Richard Lagow is available with no other offers, despite being a top talent, when similarly rated athletic QBs who could succeed at multiple positions have 20-30 offers.
2. A pro-style attack will help put marginal qbs, o-linemen, tight ends, wide receivers, all-purpose backs, and fullbacks into the pros, because NFL teams are more comfortable with players who played a similar style in college. (They only sign draftees for a few years, so if they take a long development, the benefit goes to the next team.) I think the long-run recruiting pitch is "Look how many guys we got into the pros. We can do that for you too."

I think they wanted to get their system in place. I think they'd love to have Nebrich develop as a pro-style QB who can also run the wildcat, but they're not going to shift away from their strategy because of one unproven player.

 

[businesslawyer]

Apologies, if that wasn't directed at me BL, but I don't pretend to know either. I used the word think. I'll never know as much about football as Pasqualoni has forgotten (and I understand his opinion is the only one that matters) but my opinion was Nebrich made more sense due to his mobility. The pass protection was terrible and McEntee isn't as mobile as Nebrich. But I agree, saying he was screwed after being given a chance (no matter how small) to win the job is bizarre.

Not directed at you.

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't pretend to know, and we will never know, if we would have been better last year if Nebrich (or box for that matter) had won the job instead of Johnny Mc. But the thought that Nebrich got screwed by being given a chance (even if it wasn't a big enough chance) to win the job on the field in September is somewhat bizzare.

I'm just waiting now to be designated as a Pasqualista.

This +1000 (which is how many "likes" it has already received). Look, I don't pretend to be a QB expert, nor do I pretend that Johnny Mac did great things last year, but every time....and I mean every time....that I have seen Nebrich take the field, whether it was Spring games or real games, he has looked like he was lost in space and throwing dead ducks. I kept having the same thought; "I can't believe this kid is the state of Virginia high school record holder, because he struggles to throw a spiral."

I'm not trying to dog the kid or anything. I wish him the best of luck and I hope he improves his game to the point where he proves me wrong. He's a Husky, and I don't root against Huskies (except for Washington, but huskies shouldn't be purple). But based on what I saw last year and the spring game this year, he isn't ready to be the starter. Period.

 

[UConnDan97]

McEntee had plenty of issues last year as QB, but he actually throws the ball very well, much better then Nebrich or anyone else on last year's team.

This is my opinion, 100%. Both Nebrich and McCummings struggle big-time. Once every 8 wildcat plays, McCummings will get that chance to throw to a wide open receiver or tight end (because he is tearing up the defense on the ground), and he'll miss them by about 10 feet. If he was even halfway decent under center, he wouldn't come out of the game, based on his fantastic running tools. But he can't throw. Nebrich is on the same level as him passing-wise, with less gifted running ability.

With a little better protection and a few of the many dropped balls back that McEntee threw last year, and he was an average Big East quarterback. I know that many don't want to hear that because of the results, but I watched the SNY "Power Hours" about 3 times each, and he wasn't all that bad. I fully expect him to be the backup to Whitmer this year.

 

[Husky68]

This is my opinion, 100%. Both Nebrich and McCummings struggle big-time. Once every 8 wildcat plays, McCummings will get that chance to throw to a wide open receiver or tight end (because he is tearing up the defense on the ground), and he'll miss them by about 10 feet. If he was even halfway decent under center, he wouldn't come out of the game, based on his fantastic running tools. But he can't throw. Nebrich is on the same level as him passing-wise, with less gifted running ability.

With a little better protection and a few of the many dropped balls back that McEntee threw last year, and he was an average Big East quarterback. I know that many don't want to hear that because of the results, but I watched the SNY "Power Hours" about 3 times each, and he wasn't all that bad. I fully expect him to be the backup to Whitmer this year.

JMac was a major part of the protection problem, slow reads, froze under rush, runs like a 290 lb center carrying a 350 lb nose guard down the field. He was about 100th in QB efficiency rating in the FBS. I think each BE team had a few dropped balls, there were not many Crabtrees in the BE last year. To say he was an average BE QB, there were 8 teams in the BE, give me the 3 or 4 he was better than last year. The Uconn QB Passing efficiency was 113.2 and the other teams in the league were 151.2, 134, 131.2, 124.4, 122.6, 118.2, 117.2; yeah JMac was an average BE QB (and these ratings don't even take into consideration how bad a runner he was).

 

[BlueMAB]

I'll never be confused for Shane Day, but playing QB is more than throwing a tight spiral. Eli Manning doesn't exactly throw perfect spirals.

 

[UConnDan97]

JMac was a major part of the protection problem, slow reads, froze under rush, runs like a 290 lb center carrying a 350 lb nose guard down the field. He was about 100th in QB efficiency rating in the FBS. I think each BE team had a few dropped balls, there were not many Crabtrees in the BE last year. To say he was an average BE QB, there were 8 teams in the BE, give me the 3 or 4 he was better than last year. The Uconn QB Passing efficiency was 113.2 and the other teams in the league were 151.2, 134, 131.2, 124.4, 122.6, 118.2, 117.2; yeah JMac was an average BE QB (and these ratings don't even take into consideration how bad a runner he was).

So you are telling me that JMac's rating is 113, and that there are other QB's in the conference with ratings like 117, 118, 123, and 124....and I'm wrong??? My comment was that if the protection was slightly better and if the dropsies weren't as bad, he would have been considered average. How am I wrong again??

By the way, he was very slow with the decisions and getting out of the pocket, but McCummings and Nebrich were no faster getting out of the pocket either (when it wasn't a designed run play). The play that stands out in my mind was the play where McCummings held the ball for about 6 seconds and didn't move, and finally he was crunched from behind and fumbled the ball. We recovered it, thankfully, and went on to score the touchdown and win the game (I want to say that it was the Syracuse game). So again, how am I wrong??

 

[UConnDan97]

Just in case you think I was kidding about the Syracuse sack on McCummings (you have to scroll down to the fourth quarter on the right hand side to see the sack):

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/video?gameId=313090041

Not that one play makes the man. But again, this happened with EVERY UConn quarterback all year last year, not just one guy...

 

[junglehusky]

This +1000 (which is how many "likes" it has already received). Look, I don't pretend to be a QB expert, nor do I pretend that Johnny Mac did great things last year, but every time....and I mean every time....that I have seen Nebrich take the field, whether it was Spring games or real games, he has looked like he was lost in space and throwing dead ducks. I kept having the same thought; "I can't believe this kid is the state of Virginia high school record holder, because he struggles to throw a spiral."

I'm not trying to dog the kid or anything. I wish him the best of luck and I hope he improves his game to the point where he proves me wrong. He's a Husky, and I don't root against Huskies (except for Washington, but huskies shouldn't be purple). But based on what I saw last year and the spring game this year, he isn't ready to be the starter. Period.

I'm with you. I was hoping Nebrich would get a chance at more playing time, maybe a few series strung together, towards the end of the season, but didn't really see anything in the time he did play that would have indicated he'd outperform the other QBs. Especially: McCummings who did show improvement over the course of the season and was more productive when running. I'm sure Palatine disagrees though. Looking back at the end of the season, my guess is that the coaches just weren't willing to hand the reins over to a kid who was less experience, less confidence and (again, I'm guessing here) less rapport with his teammates. He does have time to work on his game, his vision of the defense, and hopefully get to show his stuff and prove us wrong.

 

[HuskyFan16]

If PP played Nebrich and we had the same record and still missed going to a bowl game everyone would have still complained about not playing J Mc. PP was in a no win situation with the fans.

I think the fact that J Mac was a walk on might have kept people on Pasqualoni's side had things played out like you said. Now on the other hand I still dont know why there wasnt more clamoring for Blaise Driscoll .

 

[businesslawyer]

So you are telling me that JMac's rating is 113, and that there are other QB's in the conference with ratings like 117, 118, 123, and 124....and I'm wrong??? My comment was that if the protection was slightly better and if the dropsies weren't as bad, he would have been considered average. How am I wrong again??

By the way, he was very slow with the decisions and getting out of the pocket, but McCummings and Nebrich were no faster getting out of the pocket either (when it wasn't a designed run play). The play that stands out in my mind was the play where McCummings held the ball for about 6 seconds and didn't move, and finally he was crunched from behind and fumbled the ball. We recovered it, thankfully, and went on to score the touchdown and win the game (I want to say that it was the Syracuse game). So again, how am I wrong??

If you only take the "throwing" aspect of being a QB, JMac throws the ball well enough to be a Big East QB. The decision making part of being a Big East QB, and the ability to move in and out of the pocket, lagged behind the pure throwing. They are likely to be improved this fall. By how much -- who knows.