Defense

[NEforceUConn]

Well as we all agreed at the beginning of the season, these were difficult games that we knew we were challenged.

now the season starts to see if the dogs step up.

Seems like RE is all in, and I believe the team has fight in them. Lets hope 2 players step up and things go better going forward. For instance, maybe Beavers goes to the crossroads and plays like the kid from Bloomfield whose name escapes me right now. The very talented DE.

 

[RSTuthill]

Pretty much what we expected. The Huskies scored 21, not bad. The D got some stops. The second half of the season is coming. Couple of W's coming. Maybe 3 W's. Just wish the comments about getting to 6 would go away. Irritating and totally unrealistic.

 

[History Geek]

In the first half, I got the feeling for the first time all year more often than not they were in the right place at the right time. Still not strong enough to make a one on one tackle, but still in the right place. That got better in the second half. Yes, the (barf) Orange hung 51 on us. But now I see the light at the end of the tunnel for this defense. It’s a match lit in France and I’m standing at the other end of the Chunnel in England, but I see it.

 

[methodology]

For instance, maybe Beavers goes to the crossroads and plays like the kid from Bloomfield whose name escapes me right now. The very talented DE.

Dwight Freeney?

 

[BlueDogs]

I saw a few improvements and a few kids with some fight. There is still a gaping hole in the D up the middle and exploited unmercifully. The LBs, especially Hahn seems to me to be a real weak link on the field.

They covered the wide out screen much better and were up on the receivers much better. Fortt did a decent job. The D line is physically young and getting knocked around.. understandable. What’s not is the lack of technique on goal line D. The LBs were not attacking and filling and the lineman were not rooting and hogging for leverage...Just getting blown backwards. Still lots of standing around and not flying to the ball. I still maintain the D is terribly coached at a fundamental skill
level, although the kids seem to be getting a natural feel with game reps.

 

[Hornet22]

We were much quicker on defense and tackled better. Our offense played better too, except for the turn overs, against a very tough defense. I wonder how many points we could of put on the board against FSU? A little worried about Dixon, he took that hard hit and didn't play for the rest of the game.

He’s concussed. He was walking pretty slow after the game
I wouldn’t imagine he’ll play on Saturday

 

[Hornet22]

I saw a few improvements and a few kids with some fight. There is still a gaping hole in the D up the middle and exploited unmercifully. The LBs, especially Hahn seems to me to be a real weak link on the field.

They covered the wide out screen much better and were up on the receivers much better. Fortt did a decent job. The D line is physically young and getting knocked around.. understandable. What’s not is the lack of technique on goal line D. The LBs were not attacking and filling and the lineman were not rooting and hogging for leverage...Just getting blown backwards. Still lots of standing around and not flying to the ball. I still maintain the D is terribly coached at a fundamental skill
level, although the kids seem to be getting a natural feel with game reps.

Very good and fair analysis bud
Spot on

 

[Adios]

Syracuse was forced to punt multiple times. That is an improvement.

 

[The Viking]

We gave up almost the same amounts of points against Rhode Island as we did vs a pure offensive team like Syracuse.
How anyone wouldn’t think that isnt an improvement is baffling
Think about how good these same players will be three years from now when they are seniors.
Randy knows what he is doing.

 

[freescooter]

Marginally better maybe. I agree that the linebackers are not very good. Slow and not physical. That needs to be a priority.

 

[huskyrob1]

Just you.

Slow, bad angles and nothing creative.

Basically a scout team for walk throughs.

-Dislike-

 

[Uconnalliance]

The O and D have both shown glimpses at this point. I’d say vs 3 ranked teams as I’d count on Cuse creeping in. At some point this year both units put it together. I’m not counting us out of a bowl until the 7th loss. Granted I’m not counting out that happening very soon.

We’ve got a few dogfights in us and they will surprise one team before this season ends

 

[UCFBfan]

I only caught the second half of the game but from what I saw it gave hope moving forward. Anyone who expected us to hold Syracuse to anything under 50 is crazy. This defense just gave up 40+ to URI last week. Why anyone thought we'd hold Syracuse is beyond me.

I actually look at 51 points and think that we did improve. If you take out the first quarter, the score was 27-14. Granted Syracuse took out a lot of starters near the end. However, it was 7-7 in the second and 10-0 in the third. To me that's improvement.

I expected Syracuse to hang over 60 on us but we forced some punts and looked better then previous games. Here's to hoping it continues the upward trend moving forward!

 

[Stinger92860]

Giving up 50 points isn't an improvement, it's variance.

Not all 50 were on the D. Special teams and turnovers also contributed. I also think they have to play to the whistle and stop playing so far off the line. I saw some improvement, but they are a long way from competent as a team.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Pretty much what we expected. The Huskies scored 21, not bad. The D got some stops. The second half of the season is coming. Couple of W's coming. Maybe 3 W's. Just wish the comments about getting to 6 would go away. Irritating and totally unrealistic.

21 is not good. Left a lot of points on the field. We have the offense to score 30+ pts a game; we need to start capitalizing better and limit our turnovers.

 

[RSTuthill]

21 is not good. Left a lot of points on the field. We have the offense to score 30+ pts a game; we need to start capitalizing better and limit our turnovers.

Agreed. Not bad, but certainly not good either. The O has got to do better. Good that Washington got in for a quarter. These blowout games are probably his only chance, and yet he and the other guy are gonna be the QB's next year. If the game gets out of reach going forward, I suggest they rest Pindell and get the other guys some experience.

 

[Adios]

UConn has more tackles, combined and solo, than Syracuse. That is most definitely an improvement.

ESPN is calling us Syracuse's former Big East rival. Not all hope is lost regarding perception. It seems the AAC is doing better overall than the ACC right now. Tulane beating Wake would have helped more.

 

[Sea Goat]

Was it just me or did our defense look a little better.

Well hope does spring eternal. We did reduce our average points given up per game from 55+ to 54+. Maybe dead low tide was reached and we are 15 minutes into a flood tide. I tell you one thing - this is a fan base in search of anything positive and that, in and of itself, is a good thing!
So let's see some more positive development next week.

 

[Stainmaster]

No this d sucks and the def coordinator must go! You cannot accept this as a fan base!

We can do whatever the hell we want.

 

[Chief00]

We gave up over 50 points and I guess over 500 yards - yet there was some improvement. That’s where we are at.

 

[Jimdish255]

They're still a pack of puppies slowly learning how to hunt. They'll get bigger, faster, smarter. And we're playing a lot of them. They can only improve and we'll probably see 2 or 3 efforts before the end of the season where they cut that score in half or less. Coaches have a lot of teaching to do. Keep things upbeat during the process. It's going to be sweet for these guys when they turn it around.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

Giving up 50 points isn't an improvement, it's variance.

That's the Lacitson viewpoint.

 

[jdb50]

Being able to find a way to stop the big gainer runs between the tackles with our base D would be nice.