Football poll

[ShakyTheMohel]

I am on the "yes" side. Football season just wasn't the same for those who played and UConn's independent status would have made their schedule a joke.

But I am curious what others think now that the season is over.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Yes. Using UMass as example who lost money to score a total of what? 12 points in 4 games? I don't see how that helps improve next season.

 

[uconnfan68]

I am on the "yes" side. Football season just wasn't the same for those who played and UConn's independent status would have made their schedule a joke.

But I am curious what others think now that the season is over.

As an independent in a year where only in-conference games were being prioritized, it was the only reasonable choice.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I am surprised to see the poll results so far...if you had read this board the last few months you would have predicted the opposite of what we are seeing.

 

[pepband99]

I am surprised to see the poll results so far...if you had read this board the last few months you would have predicted the opposite of what we are seeing.

Lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing, from a select few "special" posters.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I am surprised to see the poll results so far...if you had read this board the last few months you would have predicted the opposite of what we are seeing.

As an independent in a year where only in-conference games were being prioritized, it was the only reasonable choice.

@uconnfan68 hit it on the head. It was the right call based on the circumstances of UConn's indepdendent status and and being a public university in CT.

Overall, I say it was the right decision to play football nationally and the numbers bear that out. Was it a normal season? No.

But every week there was a full slate of games to watch from 11am-midnight across the country.

 

[formerlurker]

I am on the "yes" side. Football season just wasn't the same for those who played and UConn's independent status would have made their schedule a joke.

But I am curious what others think now that the season is over.

You just summoned our village idiot. He'll post his nonsense soon enough.

 

[Chin Diesel]

In terms of cancelling the season for player safety and health, player improvement and team development, it was a disastrous call.

You get better by playing and seeing those plays on film. Practicing against only the same group of players for 20 months straight doesn't make you better.

Every team is lifting weights, every team is practicing. Eventually you need to show something on the field.

 

[freescooter]

@uconnfan68 hit it on the head. It was the right call based on the circumstances of UConn's indepdendent status and and being a public university in CT.

Overall, I say it was the right decision to play football nationally and the numbers bear that out. Was it a normal season? No.

But every week there was a full slate of games to watch from 11am-midnight across the country.

Disagree On the national scene. The Big 10 and PAC should have stuck to their guns. Plus they wouldn’t have been embarrassed when their champ got smoked by Alabama...karma is a b!tch

 

[Chin Diesel]

Disagree On the national scene. The Big 10 and PAC should have stuck to their guns. Plus they wouldn’t have been embarrassed when their champ got smoked by Alabama...karma is a b!tch

You can say the "should have" but they didn't an no one cares and it didn't make a difference. Point is whatever amount of football they played it was done and done safely enough for the players to play games.

OSU could have played 25 games and would have gotten smoked. Last 3 champs- Bama, LSU, Clemson were clearly the best teams the season they won the championship and no reshuffling of regular season scheduling or playoff formats would have made much of a difference.

 

[Bongo Fury]

It was a weak decision. It was right financially and hopefully it will pay off this year and the future. On to 2021.

 

[Ldandy]

With eligibility not being effected by playing this season, if something reasonable (5-6 games) could have been put together then they should have at least tried.

When the team takes the field against Fresno State in September 2021 they will not have played an actual college football game since Nov 2019. Think about that. Think about the deficit in reps for a team and coaching staff that desperately need experience. All the weightlifting and motivational speeches in the world won’t make up for that lost opportunity.

I hope that the school is finally ready to move on from the 2.0 experiment when Randy wins 3 games and gets blown out in the others. That said he’ll probably blame Covid for robbing the team of development time and explain that they’re actually close to breaking through. A few more recruiting classes to get his players in should do the trick...

 

[npignatjr]

Did save the coaching staff from getting fired for a year and they got paid.

 

[uconntailgater]

I understand the reasoning for canceling the season. A couple of games against UMass, maybe Army, buffalo would have been nice. Travel would have been by bus and could have reduce the exposure. It’s all water under the bridge now. Looking forward to 2021.

 

[mike012]

We should have kept the option available. We would have games against byu and a few others. If we looked as bad as UMass at this point, we should consider canceling next season anyway.

 

[ktuck911]

I chose yes, but it toggled to "no" when I hit the Cast the vote button. they made the right decision. plain and simple... Now let's make stuff happen in 2021... Time to play...

 

[Adios]

If the NYT declared us national champions for 2020, we made the right move.

 

[Hornet22]

In terms of cancelling the season for player safety and health, player improvement and team development, it was a disastrous call.

You get better by playing and seeing those plays on film. Practicing against only the same group of players for 20 months straight doesn't make you better.

Every team is lifting weights, every team is practicing. Eventually you need to show something on the field.

Simply put UConn didn’t have the depth to withstand the effects of Covid. There were teams that had to dig into their coffers to field teams because of contact tracing and were competitive.

I think that point is getting lost here. In some positions we would have had walk ons taking the field during the season. It would have been a bad look.
Overall I really feel the health of the team was important to this staff but I also believe intuitively they knew the roster couldn’t hold.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

It's interesting to see the poll results...it appears there is a vocal minority on here that are creating a false perception.

Maybe I have mis-read this board....but if you had asked me before this poll if UConn fans agreed with cancelling the football season, I would have said no. Obviously it's just a message board poll...but this minor data point says the overwhelming majority of UConn football fans were ok with cancelling the season.

 

[Kolumbo]

UConn is only one of three programs to not play a single game (ODU, New Mex State). It just left the best G5 football conference. I think it was OK to cancel when it did because many other programs followed suit. But UConn should have tried to play at least a few games against Army/UMass/Liberty/Anyone if at all possible once other conferences decided to play.

UConn's last victories going back to 2018 are against UMass, Wagner, and URI. This is not a program with the clout to absorb a year off.

 

[Hornet22]

UConn is only one of three programs to not play a single game (ODU, New Mex State). It just left the best G5 football conference. I think it was OK to cancel when it did because many other programs followed suit. But UConn should have tried to play at least a few games against Army/UMass/Liberty/Anyone if at all possible once other conferences decided to play.

UConn's last victories going back to 2018 are against UMass, Wagner, and URI. This is not a program with the clout to absorb a year off.

Seems like they absorbed it to me. Last season is where it belongs- in the past. The team is looking towards 2021.

 

[Kolumbo]

Seems like they absorbed it to me. Last season is where it belongs- in the past. The team is looking towards 2021.

I think you need to define what "absorb" is. Maybe you have the crystal ball no one else has and can see all the victories and recruits coming to Storrs.

 

[Hornet22]

I think you need to define what "absorb" is. Maybe you have the crystal ball no one else has and can see all the victories and recruits coming to Storrs.

I for one don’t think not playing steered recruits away from Storrs. To be fair, we held on to some really good recruits during this crazy year- some who were targeted by other programs who attempted to poach.

As for wins and losses, the jury is still out of course. But I’m not going to necessary attribute victories or losses to not playing this season. What I do know is that physically this team should be far superior than they were when they last took the field. Yes, our opponents will be as well so it will all come down to what it always does when two teams meet- who is better prepared and who executes the best.