Game Week 2022 - UConn @ #12 North Carolina State (9/24/22 @ 7:30pm on ACC RSN, NESN+, YES & WatchESPN) | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Game Week 2022 - UConn @ #12 North Carolina State (9/24/22 @ 7:30pm on ACC RSN, NESN+, YES & WatchESPN)




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-> The injuries are forcing UConn to expose inexperienced players — including true freshmen such as quarterback Zion Turner and running back Victor Rosa of Bristol — to action during a challenging portion of the schedule. UConn opened with Utah State, a top 25 team last year, and the Huskies are in a stretch of three unbeaten Power Five teams.

“With a young team and a new staff, it would have been wonderful if we could have maybe ramped it up,” Mora said. “But it is what it is, and we are not going to shy away from it. For me, I would rather look at it as an opportunity to go get better, to challenge ourselves, and to see where we are.”


With NC State looming on Saturday and a home game against Fresno State the following week, Mora is monitoring UConn's mental approach.

“The challenge is every single day and with every single thing that we do,” Mora said. “We are going to prepare for our opponent and learn NC State’s schemes and what they like to do, but we have to start with taking care of ourselves. That is the challenge, that is the process. In a situation that we are in, the most important thing to do is focus on ourselves to be the best that we can be every single day, and then we will see improvement.” <-
 
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Hadn't got to that last piece of bad news. This team is going through a really bad stretch of injuries. I think they're going to fight for a few wins regardless. I'm still down a bit on the QB situation but I don't question any of the guys competitiveness. They're going to show up this week.
 
These injuries are showing that the strength of the competition is not the problem - many of them are happening in weekly practice.

I think it’s just plain bad luck. ACLs are ACLs and broken bones can happen at any level of football.

That being said, I think Mora is doing his best to handle all this the right way. Get whatever guys out there that can play. There’s still much to play for this season - developing players, mental & physical toughness, a winning attitude… all part of changing the culture. If they can get guys to step up and show promise there are still winnable games left on the schedule.
 
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Last year against Clemson there were way more Clemson players getting helped off the field than UConn. In both games they did not fold like a lawn chair. They weren’t blown off the ball on every play. I can read the scoreboard. But my point is they are fighting in their weight class but with not enough skills yet.
 
We are going through a very difficult stretch with a brutal schedule and unprecedented amount of injuries on the offensive side of the ball. I know we have witness 9 years of bad football but I hope we can focus on the positives and give Mora a fair chance before we give up on the program. I have seen a lot of good plays made by our linebackers this year. Its the strongest set of linebackers that we have seen in many years here. The defensive line has been solid. We lack size and strength at the cornerback position and teams are taking advantage of that weakness. Hopefully, future recruiting will solve that problem. On the offensive side of the ball our line as been surprisingly good. When healthy, the running backs have been also very good. The quarterback and wide receiver positions have been a mess but its hard to be successful with the amount of injuries we have had at those positions. Most of rational fans on the boneyard going into the season were expecting incremental improvement ( maybe 3 wins ) and bigger improvement the following year ( maybe 5 to 6 wins). Its been a painful beginning of the 2022 season but I think we are heading in the right direction.
 
Tdaley said:
Most of rational fans on the boneyard going into the season were expecting incremental improvement ( maybe 3 wins ) and bigger improvement the following year ( maybe 5 to 6 wins). Its been a painful beginning of the 2022 season but I think we are heading in the right direction.
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The who on the what now?
 
Tdaley said:
We are going through a very difficult stretch with a brutal schedule and unprecedented amount of injuries on the offensive side of the ball. I know we have witness 9 years of bad football but I hope we can focus on the positives and give Mora a fair chance before we give up on the program. I have seen a lot of good plays made by our linebackers this year. Its the strongest set of linebackers that we have seen in many years here. The defensive line has been solid. We lack size and strength at the cornerback position and teams are taking advantage of that weakness. Hopefully, future recruiting will solve that problem. On the offensive side of the ball our line as been surprisingly good. When healthy, the running backs have been also very good. The quarterback and wide receiver positions have been a mess but its hard to be successful with the amount of injuries we have had at those positions. Most of rational fans on the boneyard going into the season were expecting incremental improvement ( maybe 3 wins ) and bigger improvement the following year ( maybe 5 to 6 wins). Its been a painful beginning of the 2022 season but I think we are heading in the right direction.
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It is too early, with too many factors going against us, to either give up on concluding we are heading in the right direction or to conclude we are heading in the right direction. We've played one game that you can take anything meaningful from, and when we played it we thought our opponent was much better than it (so far) has turned out to be.

Patience. Because, other than talking for the sake of talking, there is nothing yet to conclude.
 
Updated Depth Chart and UConn Game Notes for Wolfpack uploaded in OP above ^^
 



Alternate access link here <<

-> For Turner, who is steadily gaining confidence in the game plan, Mora’s message is important.

“(Our offensive line is) doing a great job right now, I have to be better for them. They’re giving me time back there. I have to be way better for them, shooting the ball down the field or even if it’s the little short passes to get our offense in a rhythm,” he said. “I have to get us going.”

Preparing for an NC State defense he expects to come “take guys’ heads off” while also flying around the field to the ball, Turner knows the offensive execution has to be much better than it was on Saturday.

“Coming here, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Turner said. “It’s gonna be hard to turn things around and it’s not going to happen the first week or the second week, it’s gonna take time. Now that I’m in the starting role I have to get the chemistry going, get everything flowing in the pass game, the run game, everything. Right now at practice we’re locked in, working hard for our opponent this week.

“We’re coming out with a chip on our shoulder.” <-
 
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I like the kid's attitude. He needs to get better and we aren't winning this game anyway. Take the cuffs off and let him try to find the limits of good judgement.

The play calling wasted the opportunities in the Michigan game.
 
I'm liking this JM hire more and more... simply because of his passion for the program that he shares not only with the team, but with the fans as well. And, the fact that you can tell he doesn't like to lose. Sure the digs at Edsall 2.0 and Spanos are obvious indications, but the fact that he shows how PO'd he gets (on the sidelines... that energy... love it!) then, he's got enough in him to speak without getting like his dad in front of the mic (Playoffs?!?!? Playoffs???? you get my drift) after losing ... He has enough in him to dial it back a bit, but keeping that passion as well...
He believes we can get good sooner .. it's gonna be interesting to see how we finish out this year... The Husky Revolution is in full effect...
 
ktuck911 said:
I'm liking this JM hire more and more... simply because of his passion for the program that he shares not only with the team, but with the fans as well. And, the fact that you can tell he doesn't like to lose. Sure the digs at Edsall 2.0 and Spanos are obvious indications, but the fact that he shows how PO'd he gets (on the sidelines... that energy... love it!) then, he's got enough in him to speak without getting like his dad in front of the mic (Playoffs?!?!? Playoffs???? you get my drift) after losing ... He has enough in him to dial it back a bit, but keeping that passion as well...
He believes we can get good sooner .. it's gonna be interesting to see how we finish out this year... The Husky Revolution is in full effect...
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I am with you on this. I like how Mora said that he was disappointed but not discouraged.

This was his response about doing things the right way during the press conference yesterday. When the reported asked him the question, he first said "that's a good question. Can you give me a second to answer?" He took no more than a second and then was very thoughtful with his response. Here it is:

For Mora, the “right way” starts with creating a culture and sticking to it.

“You commit to a way of doing things – not necessarily offense, defense, special teams – but a way the building operates. The level of the standard you set for everything that you do with regard to everybody that touches your program, and you never, ever, ever, one time compromise that standard,” Mora said. “It means that your attitude, your work ethic, your approach, your commitment is never influenced by anything other than trying to be best. You cannot ever be influenced by circumstance – circumstances don’t matter. That’s what losers do; losers let their circumstances dictate their effort and their attitude, winners don’t.”
 
SubbaBub said:
I like the kid's attitude. He needs to get better and we aren't winning this game anyway. Take the cuffs off and let him try to find the limits of good judgement.

The play calling wasted the opportunities in the Michigan game.
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Embrace the suck.

His perspective of saying he knew it would be hard and he still came here is nice to hear. Seeing some on field improvement will be nice to see.
 
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HCCForever said:
I am with you on this. I like how Mora said that he was disappointed but not discouraged.

This was his response about doing things the right way during the press conference yesterday. When the reported asked him the question, he first said "that's a good question. Can you give me a second to answer?" He took no more than a second and then was very thoughtful with his response. Here it is:

For Mora, the “right way” starts with creating a culture and sticking to it.

“You commit to a way of doing things – not necessarily offense, defense, special teams – but a way the building operates. The level of the standard you set for everything that you do with regard to everybody that touches your program, and you never, ever, ever, one time compromise that standard,” Mora said. “It means that your attitude, your work ethic, your approach, your commitment is never influenced by anything other than trying to be best. You cannot ever be influenced by circumstance – circumstances don’t matter. That’s what losers do; losers let their circumstances dictate their effort and their attitude, winners don’t.”
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Don't know about anybody else, but I like this kinda culture shock a little better than the past decade
 
What happened to Fitzgerald? Maybe I missed it, but wasn’t he on the 2 deep for this weekend?
 
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