Could We Stop With the Pure Stupidity Please

[hardcorehusky]

While most of us loved Don Brown's attack D - that D got lit up for big plays. IF we have a great offense, we could play that Defense and outscore teams ala Cinnci or Memphis. We don't have that offense so the D has less margin for error. The reality is BYU scored 30, Navy 28, Mizzou 9, Army 17 and Nova 15. Those numbers aren't bad and to me, scoring D is the most important stat. Forcing teams to dink and dunk and not gash works for where we are now.

 

[uconnbill]

HCBD likes playing a bend don't break defense that is how Notre Dame made it to the National Champion game a few years ago. When you don't have the talent like other teams you do things to keep you in the game. That is what his game plan did. Of course getting behind and turning over the ball hurt big time as this team is not a comeback from more than a score.

 

[sdhusky]

I can be a self admitted condescending on this board myself.

Good post

 

[Nostical]

BYU may not be good. Mizzou may not be good. Navy may not be good. But they are better than us. This "we are a good team that us losing to bad teams" argument is lunacy. The fact that we have been bad and have yet to prove that we aren't still bad means we are bad. Improving, but bad.

Give me a break. I'll grant you that Navy's triple option and hall of fame QB were tough to play but we made too many mistakes on offense to win against that ball control, time consuming, mistake free, team. But we were absolutely better than both Mizzou and BYU and bumbled both games away with lousy play calling. Diaco is right to be livid. If he gets through to the coaches and players as he should, we'll be bowling in December.

 

[Stinger92860]

Seriously, though, I started this post. I called an opinion that was disproved by the facts dumb. That ought to be viewed differently than me actually calling a poster dumb. (Although I still don't get the rule that anyone with a buttcrack can call a coach dumb anonymously, and that's o.k., but someone criticizing the criticizer should be tabu.)

So yes, I can be condescending. But I don't think every opinion that differs from mine is dumb -- just some.

We gave up 569 yards total and 365 in the air. What would a poor defensive scheme by UConn have allowed? As said earlier the announcers questioned our soft coverage.

 

[businesslawyer]

We gave up 569 yards total and 365 in the air. What would a poor defensive scheme by UConn have allowed? As said earlier the announcers questioned our soft coverage.

when did the rules change so that you won based on total yards and not points?

 

[uconnfan68]

Not clear on why people are saying BYU is not a good team. They've won at Nebraska, beat Boise at home, lost by a point at 7th ranked UCLA and got smoked at Michigan. They're a good, not great, team with a nice home field advantage.

So why didn't we watch the Michigan game for some tips?

 

[J187Money]

Give me a break. I'll grant you that Navy's triple option and hall of fame QB were tough to play but we made too many mistakes on offense to win against that ball control, time consuming, mistake free, team. But we were absolutely better than both Mizzou and BYU and bumbled both games away with lousy play calling. Diaco is right to be livid. If he gets through to the coaches and players as he should, we'll be bowling in December.

On that day I grant you Mizzou. But if we played them 10 times we probably lose 7.

We are not better than BYU. We weren't last year. We aren't this year. We could have won the game if we had a few more things go our way but we aren't better than they are.

Yes I agree that we can still win 6 and go to a bowl.

But here is the thing. The coaches did make some bad decisions and the players did make some bad plays. OTOH the coaches and the players also did 100 things right in order to put us in a position where the 5 things that went wrong lost us the game instead of turning a 20 point loss into a 40 point loss. But there is no scenario where WE win by 17. Which to me means we aren't the better team.

 

[sdhusky]

So why didn't we watch the Michigan game for some tips?

Maybe Michigan has better players

 

[UconnFamily]

Edsall's D worked mostly the same way. Opportunistically attack, but grind them down, make them have a lot of 3rd downs, don't give up big plays, and hope they make mistakes. It isn't always sexy, but our best records came under this defensive strategy. Don Brown ran a different kind of D (that I think we all loved) - but it was more prone to giving up big plays, and was matched to an offense that was worse than this. I personally believe he will attack more as he continues to build trust in the unit, but he ISN'T Don Brown - so don't expect that sort of scheming.

D. Brown was probably the best defensive coordinator we had. Our defense was ranked 9th in the country his second year at UConn. Brown at this point has Boston College ranked as the #1 defense in the country. Hopefully Diaco can implement some nice blitzes and not play so conservative.

 

[uconnfan68]

Maybe Michigan has better players

I'm sure they do. However, there wasn't any good reason to do the opposite of what worked for them. And while I'm at it... why do the coaches insist on playing BS under the center for most of the game? Do they think the play-action is keeping people from rushing in? At least he can see people coming if he's further back, although that may not be true based on some of his throws or judgments.

 

[willie99]

a bend but don't break strategy, the OP is right, it kept us in the game

any Pat's fan knows what that type of defense looks like

being conservative on D is not our problem, it's coach's late game gambling on special teams that's putting the nail in the coffin

 

[willie99]

He never does. He's an attorney so he's always right.

This team is awful. There has been zero progress. One close game against an overrated Mizzou team is no basis for excitement. The offense is inept, the defense is terrible (see Navy and BYU).

BYU lost 31-0 to Michigan. Not like they can move the ball on anyone.

post of the year candidate

it's hard to get so many things wrong with so few words, quite an accomplishment

 

[businesslawyer]

In fairness, he

post of the year candidate

it's hard to get so many things wrong with so few words, quite an accomplishment

In fairness, he i correct that I am an attorney. And that I am always right.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

In fairness, he

In fairness, he i correct that I am an attorney. And that I am always right.

Didn't we go ever this one a few weeks back where you asked if one of us would tell the 'always right' part to your wife?

 

[businesslawyer]

Didn't we go ever this one a few weeks back where you asked if one of us would tell the 'always right' part to your wife?

If any of you tried to tell her, you had as much success as we had yesterday picking up Safety blitzes, because incredibly she still doesn't recognize it. LOL.

 

[RedStickHusky]

HCBD likes playing a bend don't break defense that is how Notre Dame made it to the National Champion game a few years ago. When you don't have the talent like other teams you do things to keep you in the game. That is what his game plan did. Of course getting behind and turning over the ball hurt big time as this team is not a comeback from more than a score.

exactly, he wanted someone to be burning clock and figured it wasn't gonna be us...

 

[Whale22]

With all due respect (now I can say whatever I want), the criticism of the overall defensive strategy is dumb. The bottom line is that playing at Provo against a team with more talent than us, we had held them to 13 points in 50 minutes despite not being able to generate even a scintilla of offense. Yes, they made mistakes. It's much harder to move in the red zone than all over the field, and that's especially true with a frosh QB who is learning. We kept everything in front of us and it worked fine. You can't play tight man coverage all day if your pass rushers aren't fast enough to bother the QB once he leaves the pocket.

Honestly, so much to be concerned about and people are talking about the part of the game plan and effort THAT WORKED AND GAVE US A CHANCE TO WIN.

I'll do a 241 later, but this team, overall, is where we hoped it would be after 5 games -- a record of 2-3, and having played the losses tough enough that there is hope that we can beat some teams now that we start the conference schedule. Yeah, I HATE losing as well, especially having stayed up until 2 a.m. to lose. But there is no reason for anger to make anyone stupid.

Let me start with I have never played the game but have played hockey all my life. I have always wondered this. I agree with you on your point the game plan worked in that they did not press. But how come in football they don't mix up the coverage a bit. Purely an informational question. In hockey, it rarely happens as well, but the really top coaches may have one line for a couple shifts mix up the forecheck just to mess with the opposing team. Do teams ever say press the WR all game and then suddenly drop back in coverage to throw off the QB? Or is the game too complex to mess around like that? Honest question not nitpicking on the coaching whatsoever. Just something I noticed and maybe it is just a UConn trait over the years to keep things simple but I rarely see a game plan change for a bit and then go back.

 

[SubbaBub]

BYU was a better team is different from we could have won that game as it unfolded. Unfortunately, a boat with holes in the hull no matter how small still sinks. We know what are holes are and on any given play they can be plugged up. It is another thing to keep them plugged for an entire voyage. One or two breakdowns will sink an entire unit. We've seen it in all three phases and from the sideline.

We were kept in the game because BYU also had some very leaky moments. The defense we were playing was not the Edsall bend but don't break. If you give up 7 yards a play that is Monty Python style "run away, run away" only when we are backed up to our own endzone with nowhere else to run (defend) do we take a stand. Last night we picked up a few turnovers, they missed FG's, they made FG's, dropped a few TD's and they scored a few TD's. The "scheme" is to not get burned deep make them earn it and hope for a mistake. However we are playing so soft we look like Lupis from the Bad News Bears standing in the back corner of the batter's box.

The zones were way too soft, or they aren't taught how to close. IDK, but it isn't working. We want to limit possession because we avoid getting run over. We've actually one pretty well at this. The 3 and outs on O are way down. The pass rush is almost not existant but the DL is better at getting off blocks and is getting an occasional push. The LB's are not making enough plays and get dragged for too many yards after contact.

The OL film this week will be brutal. False steps, missed assignments, lack of physicality, slow off the ball, it will all be there. I don't know how you fix it because the basic techniques are basic. Can you break them down further? On one play, I saw Levi, with a DE lined up wide take a step inside??? and by the time he recovered Shirreffs was on his back. If you know its a pass play, who do you think is going to block the weak side end rush? It's almost never the back. Did he not see there was no TE standing next to him. I've also seen Knappe try to block a rusher with his shoulder, no hands up??? The rusher bounced off his shoulder and made a bee line to the QB and a sack. I've never seen anything like it? Forget the rush up the middle, it's too depressing to discuss.

 

[Rocktheworld]

The announcers thought our strategy was dumb and said it repeatedly during the game. I'm not saying they were right but it was a legitimate opinion held by guys who cover games for a living.

I look forward to you defending the opinions of Dan Patrick all basketball season. I've started the popcorn now because I am going to need a lot of it.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

this was an 1115 am Saturday start for me -- best kickoff time ever

Congratulations. You finally got one on us.

 

[whaler11]

Michigan has given up 7 points in the their last 15 quarters - so yeah I guess just do what they do makes sense. It is probably that simple.

 

[hardcorehusky]

This is college - you can't go from soft zone to pressing corners with the same personnel and have it work. Had our corners pressed, and with our lack of consistent pass rush- that would have been an unmitigated disaster. Michigan has the athletes to play the scheme to an ex-NFL coach's standards. We aren't Michigan.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Michigan has given up 7 points in the their last 15 quarters - so yeah I guess just do what they do makes sense. It is probably that simple.

I can't speak for the size of Michigan's corners as I don't follow their program but I do know that Hadley, Williams & Summers (the three corners who were on the field for the bulk of our defensive plays) are not the specimens that Wreh-Wilson and Gratz were. While I believe each has positives, they do not appear to have the physicality to play press coverage (which the announcer continually stated they should) and considering the size of BYU's receivers this could have been a recipe for disaster.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

This is college - you can't go from soft zone to pressing corners with the same personnel and have it work. Had our corners pressed, and with our lack of consistent pass rush- that would have been an unmitigated disaster. Michigan has the athletes to play the scheme to an ex-NFL coach's standards. We aren't Michigan.

I agree fully and I am convinced that once the younger (we have plenty of sophomores seeing significant minutes) players become more developed and fully accustomed to the system, our defense will become more aggressive. At the moment, the worst thing our team can face is giving up a quick score (as we are incapable of matching that).