Duke Post Game Thread

[UCFBfan]

You all can poo poo the moral victory idea but look what happened two weeks ago against another P4 team. We got pasted. We got down 17-0 here and looked like a repeat was on tap and all of a sudden we turned it around.

Our defense deserves tons of credit. They have grown leaps and bounds over the past two weeks and I have tons of confidence in them. The one play that I loved was in the third quarter on a blitz, #10 rushed the middle and blasted the RB to the ground and ran right over him on the way to the sack. That's anger there! I love it! I felt they played angry and it was great.

On offense, I felt like Evers was really coming into his own in that third quarter. Then he reverted back to what we saw in the first and second. I'm hoping he's still adjusting and I come back to saying how helpful Merrimack would have been for him to settle in. I was very encouraged by our run game and run blocking. I agree that the RPO has a lot of promise. However, Evers needs to fix his throws.

Overall, I wanted the win, they could have gotten the win, but they didn't get blown out. I was angry last night but this morning I'm happy with the improvement and feel real confident entertaining the weaker portion of our schedule.

 

[DawgEnjoyer]

If you think this team has a lot of FBS talent we are looking at a different roster.

I’m so tired of this…we do

This team has something like 50 players that were previously on higher level FBS teams.

We had enough talent to win today, just didn’t execute.

 

[Hamms30]

On offense, I felt like Evers was really coming into his own in that third quarter. Then he reverted back to what we saw in the first and second. I'm hoping he's still adjusting and I come back to saying how helpful Merrimack would have been for him to settle in. I was very encouraged by our run game and run blocking. I agree that the RPO has a lot of promise. However, Evers needs to fix his throws.

Way I was seeing that was, in the third quarter we had drives where we're moving the ball, we're getting chunks on running and there were no 3rd and longs. 4th quarter came along and we had some duds on play calls and wound up 3rd and long, Duke showed blitz and it seemed like Evers predetermined "they're blitzing, that must mean I have man coverage on the outside, I'll let Bell go make a play." That would have worked last week, but Duke's secondary was playing tight coverage all night. Merrimack's was not, so that safety valve he though was there, wasn't. The middle of that defense looked soft.. seemed like every time one of our receivers went in there, there were yards to be had. Maybe that's by design and Duke figured Bell would be the safety valve and rolled the safety over there as a double? I dunno, but we were throwing to the wrong part of the field on those.

 

[Scoe]

You all can poo poo the moral victory idea but look what happened two weeks ago against another P4 team. We got pasted. We got down 17-0 here and looked like a repeat was on tap and all of a sudden we turned it around.

Our defense deserves tons of credit. They have grown leaps and bounds over the past two weeks and I have tons of confidence in them. The one play that I loved was in the third quarter on a blitz, #10 rushed the middle and blasted the RB to the ground and ran right over him on the way to the sack. That's anger there! I love it! I felt they played angry and it was great.

On offense, I felt like Evers was really coming into his own in that third quarter. Then he reverted back to what we saw in the first and second. I'm hoping he's still adjusting and I come back to saying how helpful Merrimack would have been for him to settle in. I was very encouraged by our run game and run blocking. I agree that the RPO has a lot of promise. However, Evers needs to fix his throws.

Overall, I wanted the win, they could have gotten the win, but they didn't get blown out. I was angry last night but this morning I'm happy with the improvement and feel real confident entertaining the weaker portion of our schedule.

I agree with you as far as our improvement but I'm still upset about this loss. Accepting moral victories is accepting mediocrity.

 

[Gburyhusky]

The majority of the post game takes here are way off the mark because people are too focused on the qb issue so they miss the most consequential thing: we appear to have a defense that can play at a level that should allow us to win a significant number of the upcoming games. If you have a solid defense and can run the football you will win games. So I expect a successful homestand, no matter the qb.

 

[kemba]

Just too many mistakes offensively. A couple drops. Some bad missed throws. The trick plays were awful. I’ve seen some posts saying we need them because we can’t move the ball conventionally but at least 2 of them were momentum killing plays on drives we were moving the ball. And they were just poorly designed slow developing plays and when they involve subbing another qb in they alert the defense something is coming.

Evers did get into a rhythm in spurts. Hopefully we see improvement week to week from him and the coaches do a better job of putting him into situations to be successful.

Defense mostly played well and finally got a turnover which changed the game.

Special teams, kicking continues to be a disaster. The offsides on the punt was inexcusable and even though the defense got a stop after the extra time Duke had the ball cost us a chance to get more points before the half .

Overall this game brought us back to what the preseason expectations were imo. Maryland raised red flags that this year could be another disaster. Merrimack we looked more dominant than expected. This game we hung in there and if we did a couple things better could have won. A lot of winnable games coming up so need to bounce back quick

 

[temery]

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

stop with that moral victory crap. UConn was expected to lose a blowout and lost a close game.

what did you think the score would be?

 

[NEforceUConn]

Way I was seeing that was, in the third quarter we had drives where we're moving the ball, we're getting chunks on running and there were no 3rd and longs. 4th quarter came along and we had some duds on play calls and wound up 3rd and long, Duke showed blitz and it seemed like Evers predetermined "they're blitzing, that must mean I have man coverage on the outside, I'll let Bell go make a play." That would have worked last week, but Duke's secondary was playing tight coverage all night. Merrimack's was not, so that safety valve he though was there, wasn't. The middle of that defense looked soft.. seemed like every time one of our receivers went in there, there were yards to be had. Maybe that's by design and Duke figured Bell would be the safety valve and rolled the safety over there as a double? I dunno, but we were throwing to the wrong part of the field on those.

Excellent post.

Any comment on some of our DBs? I thought 1 of them was a turnstile. Correctable?

 

[zls44]

I didn't love Mora's statement (he should not have brought it up in the presser), but I agreed with Diaz' instructions to his team. If you slide there, you guarantee a win. If you score, there's a small chance the other team can get the ball back, score, recover an onside kick, and score again.

That exact thing happened to the Cleveland Browns a couple of years ago. Nick Chubb could have slid inside the 5 against the Jets with 1:55 left and Cleveland up 24-17, enabling the Browns to run out the clock with three kneel-downs (Jets had no timeouts). Instead, he opted to score the TD, putting the Browns up 30-17 (they missed the extra point). The Jets got the ball back, scored a TD in two plays, recovered the onside kick, and wound up winning the game 31-30 with a second TD. Utter, utter heartbreaking loss for the Browns.

I agree with what Diaz did in that the game is over, but Mora saying that is so soft.

Jim, you’re glad he did it because the score looks better. We aren’t stupid.

 

[ynm99]

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

We lost to Duke 41 -7 at home, a year ago. We just lost by only 5 points at Duke. After the Maryland game, no one was expecting it to be this close.

 

[Bongo Fury]

You all can poo poo the moral victory idea but look what happened two weeks ago against another P4 team. We got pasted. We got down 17-0 here and looked like a repeat was on tap and all of a sudden we turned it around.

Our defense deserves tons of credit. They have grown leaps and bounds over the past two weeks and I have tons of confidence in them. The one play that I loved was in the third quarter on a blitz, #10 rushed the middle and blasted the RB to the ground and ran right over him on the way to the sack. That's anger there! I love it! I felt they played angry and it was great.

On offense, I felt like Evers was really coming into his own in that third quarter. Then he reverted back to what we saw in the first and second. I'm hoping he's still adjusting and I come back to saying how helpful Merrimack would have been for him to settle in. I was very encouraged by our run game and run blocking. I agree that the RPO has a lot of promise. However, Evers needs to fix his throws.

Overall, I wanted the win, they could have gotten the win, but they didn't get blown out. I was angry last night but this morning I'm happy with the improvement and feel real confident entertaining the weaker portion of our schedule.

I only listened on the radio but that turnover touchdown really helped when down 17-0.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Just a reminder that Evers was a foot on the line from taking the lead in the 4th quarter of this game. I don't know if he's the best QB that we can field, but I know he gave us a chance to win. This Nick vs Joe stuff is getting tired.

The coaching staff sees them both every day, and at some point, you've gotta trust their call. The team is noticeably getting better. We're not there yet, but it's giving me faith in the staff that they're doing the right things...

The coach knows more than us. Let evers play. More upside.

 

[Griggs]

Hurts because it was such a winnable game, but a 5 point loss is way better than I expected

Have to pick up some wins the next few weeks

Actually a 12 point loss. Duke gave up TD at the end.

 

[REB1094]

Actually a 12 point loss. Duke gave up TD at the end.

Still good with me. Here's what I said on Monday:

So pretty much:

1. If we win, send us to the NFL and we’ll win the Super Bowl
2. If we lose by 2 scores, REALLY good forward progress
3. If we lose by 3 scores, I’m cautiously ok with it as long as it’s 35-14 and not 21-0
4. If we lose by 4+ scores, uh oh…..

 

[ddent68]

Evers is already showing improvement. He was a couple of drops away from a pretty decent game and another step up in development. Play calling hurt us a couple of times and no kicking game I think was our ultimate doom. Defense got their s@it together and impressed me.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Actually a 12 point loss. Duke gave up TD at the end.

it wasn't a 12 point loss. Seems like you took Duke to cover. Lol

 

[JohnFSilver]

Evers is already showing improvement. He was a couple of drops away from a pretty decent game and another step up in development. Play calling hurt us a couple of times and no kicking game I think was our ultimate doom. Defense got their s@it together and impressed me.

No more FGs. Outside 37 yards go on 4th down if it is under 10 yards to readhThis is a thing Mora is gonna have to understand. There is no competent kicking game.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Evers is already showing improvement. He was a couple of drops away from a pretty decent game and another step up in development. Play calling hurt us a couple of times and no kicking game I think was our ultimate doom. Defense got their s@it together and impressed me.

Sounds like he has the physical tools but needs to build some confidence.

 

[goalline]

Old Guy walking down memory lane. Michign wins by 3 2913 UC up late in the game. I can't remember the coach but I think he got fired. would do cartwheels today if we lost to Michigan 24......21. Memory lane might make a good thread for some to post their favorite game.

No more FGs. Outside 37 yards go on 4th down if it is under 10 yards to readhThis is a thing Mora is gonna have to understand. There is no competent kicking game.

There must be a soccer player on campus who can make 45 yard field goals...If not recruit a Rugby player from Australia who can. Unacceptable that UC does not have someone they can rely on to kick a FG. It is a crucial part of FB.

 

[Dizzy21]

Game performance is the result of a hundred things and one of those things is luck. Judging who you should start based on one particular game performance is something bad coaches do. Judging it based on the variety things a coach knows leads to consistent game performance is what good coaches do. Bad QBs have insanely great games and great QBs have insanely bad games or bad stretches of games. The starter should be based on the person who is doing the things day in and day out that lead to winning games. I imagine that is what Mora is doing here and I imagine he is confident in the things he knows lead to good performance over time.

 

[SuperHuski]

Like most of you have said, this was a winnable -- statement-making game -- that resulted in a lost which was frustrating. But, my takeaway was the huge amount of growth shown by the players and program overall.

Positives:
- Nick Evers is getting reps and gaining experience. He had a QB rating of 17 against Maryland. 59 against Duke. Some of you will say that Duke isn't a good team, but he was playing against Duke's defense which is currently 18th in the country. Duke's defense was stout with strong tackling. You saw how many TD-saving tackles were made against us. I would also be extremely hesitant on using the eye-test on Evers, because again, it's only his second game. Both of which came against P4 schools.

- Good-to-Great oline play. Yesterday was the first time that our QB was sacked. In general, we have a really good passing oline. Same with Evers, they will get better as they get more reps. Sammis has a three year track record of producing good-to-great, NFL-caliber, olines. I'm actually concerned that a P4 school will poach him to be their next oline coach. Keep in mind that this year, he had to rebuild the entire interior. I wonder if Mora gave him the OC promotion to keep him at UConn because maybe a P4 school did come calling...

- The Defense. Some had a lot of hesitation about the 3-3-5. But we actually didn't spend much time in 3-3-5. There was a lot of 4-2-5 or 4-3-4. This is so refreshing to see -- a defense that confuses the offense. Steve Addazio said during the broadcast how often UConn mixes up their schemes. Matt Brock is doing an excellent overall job here. They will get better too with more reps. Overall, tackling is better too.

- Langston Hardy - He really seems like a man playing with boys out there. Our LB corps as a whole has been solid. No Mitchell-like standout, but last year it was Mitchell having to do all the work himself. Now we have at least three above-average LBs.

- TE TDs. Back to back week. I'm not sure if we had one all of last year.

Negatives:
- The play calling. This is one of those things that experience will help a ton. Sammis needs reps the same way that Ever needs reps. I've been privy to being on the sidelines in many HS football games. It's eye-opening some of the discussions and thought process that goes into calling plays. What defender they want to attack, what mismatches they want to exploit, what schematic weaknesses they see. This is a very dynamic process because the personnel, the scheme, the score, the clock, etc. are all constantly changing. And you have roughly 35 seconds to take all of this in. It's not really something you can pick up right away. But we are impatient as a fan base, so I get the frustration here. That's why up-tempo is such a great tool. You're freezing the defense (personnel, scheme, mismatches) to eliminate a lot of the variables.

- Trick Plays. The goal of a trick play is to cause confusing by misdirection or novelty. However, you can achieve confusing the defense by having one formation with a lot of options. Show a run formation, but then pass the ball. It's really that simple. But it can get more nuance. Like having the same starting pass formation, but having the receiver running different route trees. Then layering in stuff like crossing patterns or pre-snap motions. Watch how the Chiefs do this. Watch often they do play-action. The worst way to do it IMO, is to start in a new formation, that probably gets like 3-5 practice reps a week. Or to have two quarterbacks where one of them takes up a skill position. What a waste to be quite frank.

- Special Teams. I'm starting to wonder about our special teams coach. It's been three years and I'm seeing consistent special teams mental mistakes.

- Dropped passes. Nuff said.

Not so bad:
- Blown coverages. I know Chadwick (Fr) and Brinson (So) were burned a few times, resulting in TDs. But it was really interesting to me how often we left them alone with no safety help. This shows a ton of confidence in the DBs as shutdown corners. They went against the 1s and 2s. Jordan Moore on Duke avg 116 yard on 9 receptions his first two games. He had 5/73 against Chadwick. Guys, we have some good, young corners. I'm absolutely loving that we have personnel that can play man now. It really frees up the front seven to be more aggressive.

 

[superjohn]

1 - it is not a dumb question, it is a question posed to bring the discussion back on point.

2 - obviously you refuse to answer.

One guy (Newton) was highly successful at a lower level program, was an all-league performer and moved up to the highest level in the college game. He had a triple double in his third game at UConn. The other guy (Evers) never saw the field starting out at the highest level in the college game then moving down where he never saw the field and then moving down again to the lowest level of fbs.

 

[Patman]

I didn't love Mora's statement (he should not have brought it up in the presser), but I agreed with Diaz' instructions to his team. If you slide there, you guarantee a win. If you score, there's a small chance the other team can get the ball back, score, recover an onside kick, and score again.

I have to think zls is being sarcastic. I was surprised up front thinking that scoring was better but i forgot that at that point you just seal the win

 

[LIUCHusky]

Why do you have to trust their call?

Because they know a heck of a lot more about football than any of us.

 

[freescooter]

I just don't get how some people don't think an experienced FCS QB can perform at the FBS level. And, Fagnano's stats at UConn show he is a capable QB and has played against NC State and Maryland. Look at Matt Sluka at UNLV. Transferred from FCS Holy Cross to FBS UNLV and UNLV is 3-0 with wins at Houston, at Kansas, and an FCS at home.

Right now, Fagnano is the better QB as he is more experienced and he sits in the pocket. Evers is inexperienced and tends to roll out of the pocket which decreases his passing accuracy. I'm sure Evers looks really good in practice as he is physically talented, but he needs to perform better during games and improve his feel for the game. I have to believe that the coaches think he will improve which is why he is starting.

Sure FCS qbs can play at the FBS level. Just like they can play in the NFL. the problem is that it is a minority who can make that jump. Stuka is a grad student. His 2 worst passing games were against Army and BC though in both he did a lot with his legs. I think a case could be made that he was a better quarterback than Fagnano, too