Duke Post Game Thread

[WrenchFan69]

Evers misses too many open receivers or throws the ball way too late to guys that were open. We won't move the ball if that doesn't improve exponentially

He has shown he can run the ball, especially against the defenses we will come up against the rest of the season. I think we really have something with the read option we used sparingly (and wildly successfully) tonight

 

[jdb50]

Mora needs to be asked why he let Ruelas leave the program. Frankly McFadden should not have been the kicker last year. So now it is 2 years in a row with a bad kicker.

 

[cellocgg]

No moral victories. We let that get away. I dont want to hear any spin on it. Win a game.

Man forget that. Outcome was far better than anyone was expecting. Celebrate growth when you see it

Boys hung right in there and I'm proud

 

[goalline]

Listen, Listen, they tried and came up short. Duke is a decent team, but, it seems that UC hasn't figured out how to win. If they make a field goal with 5:35 on the clock and hold Duke, then a FG wins. Old Guy knows playing QB after the game is easy. I defer to those who know more about the game than I do, but if they can win next week and be 2 and 2 I would be happy....Any injury report. Thanks to all who post..

 

[JMick]

He has shown he can run the ball, especially against the defenses we will come up against the rest of the season. I think we really have something with the read option we used sparingly (and wildly successfully) tonight

Who cares if he can run. We have 3-4 other playmakers on offense who can run better. Play the guy that gets the ball in their hands.

 

[RioDog]

A mediocre team with a kicker who can hit from 47 and 53.
SMDH.

Thats it in a nutshell.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Duke is not a good football team. This was a winnable game.

They were good last year. We are a bit better this year for sure but they took a big step back, especially at QB and on the LOS.

 

[uconnbill]

The defense was on the field too much at the end of the third and fourth quarter. The offense has to do a better job with the ball and stop with the trick plays, not one worked. That is something you use maybe once a game, not four times.

 

[superjohn]

Kicking has become such a science that high schoolers are reliably hitting from 40+ now. It's weirder that we can't.

The the science it's become? College kickers miss field goals constantly.

 

[Hamms30]

Defense played far above my expectations. Wish Brinson could have got his head around on the last touchdown. I know that's how they teach DB's to play facing the receiver, but if he looked back he would have been running 100 yds the other way.

Need a kicker
Need a pass rush
No more trick plays
Need to get a PI flag. I thought Bell got pushed out of the play on the INT and Buckman got mugged, but whatever on those.
Evers may need to take about 20% off his bullets because wide open receivers are having trouble handling the ball and he's throwing wild on some pitch and catches.

 

[calamity17]

Earlier today if you told me we lose a one score game I would’ve said sign me up. After how this played out It feels like a gut punch. I’m losing faith in this coaching staff’s ability to manage a game.

 

[gsmooth]

Mora should have gone for it on 4th and 7 at the Duke 30(ish). Even if he hits the FG (very questionable) you are down with five minutes left and you're assuming Duke doesn't score and you drove down the field again.
Lot of assumptions. 7 yards isn't 17. You're a 20 point dog on tbe road. Go for it.

That call to kick the FG baffled me as well. That is what made me annoyed with the 4th trick play of the game they called on 3rd down-it was a waste of a play. Even if they run the football and get between 3-5 yards that leaves a short 4th down conversion.

 

[Palatine]

Evers is clearly not ready. He throws short passes into the ground. He is a little slow processing and pulling the trigger. He is definitely a work in progress. Once we got ahead. Duke put everything into stopping the run. They dared Evers to beat them. He didn't come close. He was completely stymied in the 4th quarter. Game. Set. Match.

The question is how fast and far can he progress. At this point, it is questionable if he gives us the best chance to win. But I think that Mora will give him a long runway.

 

[freescooter]

Duke is not a good football team. This was a winnable game.

Duke is 3-0. Maybe not pretty but still 3-0. That said this was winnable and I liked they battled back down 17-0. After Maryland it would have been easy to throw in the towel.

 

[JohnFSilver]

good game. Both teams left a lot of plays out there. Encouraged, but not happy.

 

[History Geek]

The anti-Evers posts on here are nuts. Evers is the guy based on this performance and I think he is going to get better.

 

[Kemba429]

In the end, im more than content with the result. Could we have not gone for that field goal? Yes. Could we have managed our personnel better? Yes. Could we have managed the game better? Yes. But, we have an upward trajectory and are seemingly getting better each week. In previous years I couldnt fathom being close to a big road win, and a comeback win from down 17 at that.. Dont give up, and dont slam the staff. Change doesnt happen overnight, especially with the magnitude of UConn football “recent” history. Ill always love this team, even if were 0-12. But to have optimism, to see it coming to fruition, and to see people believe in it.. That just makes it that much better when it comes. Cant wait to see the rest of this season, and what the future holds. Lets keep it going.

 

[UConnDan97]

The jump the defense has made since week 1 is very impressive

I think Coach Brock might be the real deal. Looking forward to next week...

 

[Hoophound]

Evers doesn’t see anyone but Bell. He wasn’t good, he just wasn’t awful. I don’t see how anyone could possibly think he’s the answer. 15/29 for 135 yards and 1 INT. He also had 4 near picks and many of his throws were a mile off the mark.

 

[UConnDan97]

They were good last year. We are a bit better this year for sure but they took a big step back, especially at QB and on the LOS.

Bro, their QB is why they won the game...

 

[JMick]

The the science it's become? College kickers miss field goals constantly.

In 2006, 94 teams averaged 50% or better on field goals. Last season, 129 teams averaged 50% or better.

In 2006, 41 teams averaged 75% or better. Last year it was 62. That's nearly half of all division one football hitting 3 out of 4 field goals.

 

[uconnbill]

Evers had talent but needed work in the pocket throwing the ball. He can run but needs a pocket presence

 

[Hoophound]

Brock is a bright spot. I had high hopes for Sammis to be sneaky good. He comes off as a great football guy, but he seems to be learning. He’s a little better than Charlton though. At least the plays don’t take 5 minutes to develop in the backfield like they used to.

 

[BugsyCT]

We played bad, then we played good, then we played bad and lost.

We found out more about this team tonight. They can compete against decent FBS teams. Now they need to learn how to play well enough to win against those teams.

Evers is still a question mark to me. Mora still thinks he's the best QB on the roster, yet his touch on passes is very suspect. His running ability helped get us back in it in the 3rd qtr, but he has to be a consistent passer if we're going to be able to win games.

We have FAU at the Rent next week to start our long home stand. They'll be tough. Hope we got some confidence from the last couple games and can put together a winning streak.

 

[History Geek]

Evers had talent but needed work in the pocket throwing the ball. He can run but needs a pocket presence

I agree with that. I think it will come.

 

[Punkbo]

Disappointed, but not distraught. I’m numb to the losses at this point. I love UConn football and glad that we were competitive tonight, but it’s so hard to keep the same passion which I had in the early years with a roster full of transfers (Old guy yelling at the clouds). I’m happy to cheer for guys like Cam Edwards and I think we’ll win a lot of games this year. Go Huskies!

 

[LoyalFanCT]

if we can win six or seven this year that would be fine

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Am I angry that we didn't pull this game out? Abso-F#%&ing-lutely.

Am I encouraged with what our prospects as a program may be? Hell F#%&ing yes!

We need to add talent, we need our players to develop and we need to become more cohesive as a team. For the first time in longer than I can remember each of those things seems attainable.

 

[superjohn]

In 2006, 94 teams averaged 50% or better on field goals. Last season, 129 teams averaged 50% or better.

In 2006, 41 teams averaged 75% or better. Last year it was 62. That's nearly half of all division one football hitting 3 out of 4 field goals.

Why are you using 2006?

 

[jdb50]

We have 6 winnable games at home coming up. The coaching staff has decided to roll with Evers and he will determine how the season goes. We are all left hoping he has a quick learning curve. We had 14 points on offense tonight. I'm not seeing it.