Help a brother out

[Skiblets]

Have never missed a home game until yesterday. Given the newness on offense (QB, RB etc) what say you about our prospects this year? I know it was Fordham but need some frame of reference here.

Thanks,
Skibs

 

[noeynox]

Too hard to base anything off of yesterday. After Vandy, though I think we will know much better. I wasn't as impressed with McCombs as some I guess. For 172 lb back, I didn't expect him to get caught from behind. He looked to me, (i'm going to get killed for this) like a good 1AA back running behind a good 1A line playing against a bad 1AA team. I thought he left yards on the field at times, but that could have been first game jitters stuff, but more telling was that at one point he had 12 carries for like 122 yds, and the rest of his carries netted him 20 more or so. I say 7-5, right now but after Vandy I'll be saying 10-2, minimum probably

Coincidentally maybe you can help me out. I found this link and I think it lists US as 5.5 point favorite on the road. I expected us to be getting 3 on the road or at best a pick em. Am I reading this correct?

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/?s=768

 

[UCDaveD]

You're reading it right. UConn -5.5 @ Vandy

 

[Chin Diesel]

Keep in mind that Vandy was only up 21-14 against Elon in the second half, got outgained by Elon for the game and only had about 310 yards of total offense.

And, oh yeah, Vandy had less than 28K for their home opener againt an FCS team with a new head coach and lots of positive press.

 

[DieHardHusky]

Well as we all know...each QB can do something different...This was Fordham...and Shoemate didn't play due to an ankle injury. McCombs certainly seems to have that ability to get outside at times and make guys miss.

 

[Sean]

You're reading it right. UConn -5.5 @ Vandy

Sooner or later, you guys will realize that the VegasInsider lines aren't real lines that anyone is allowed to bet on...just estimates put out by people who often miss.

This is one of those cases. UConn-Vandy is a Pick 'Em right now. At UConn -5.5, I would have put a ton of money on Vandy - just to dump it when the line collapsed to reality. I'm biased and do like UConn at PK but laying points would be ridiculous.

 

[UCDaveD]

Sooner or later, you guys will realize that the VegasInsider lines aren't real lines that anyone is allowed to bet on...just estimates put out by people who often miss.

This is one of those cases. UConn-Vandy is a Pick 'Em right now. At UConn -5.5, I would have put a ton of money on Vandy - just to dump it when the line collapsed to reality. I'm biased and do like UConn at PK but laying points would be ridiculous.

I never said it was a real line, I said he was reading it right. 5Dimes has the game at Pk right now.

 

[Excalibur]

Have never missed a home game until yesterday. Given the newness on offense (QB, RB etc) what say you about our prospects this year? I know it was Fordham but need some frame of reference here.

Thanks,
Skibs

We have a very, very long way to go on offense. I didn't think we looked crisp at all. The QB position is going to improve as the year goes on, but I'm pretty convinced that the running game is going to take a huge step backwards. McCombs does some good things, follows his blockers well and falls forward, but he doesn't have the breakaway speed we thought he might and can't take a huge workload. We don't know what we have with Shoemate, and we saw nothing from JJL that made me believe that he's capable of being a BCS conference-level back.

Others may be more optimistic.

 

[Kgun7]

We have a very, very long way to go on offense. I didn't think we looked crisp at all. The QB position is going to improve as the year goes on, but I'm pretty convinced that the running game is going to take a huge step backwards. McCombs does some good things, follows his blockers well and falls forward, but he doesn't have the breakaway speed we thought he might and can't take a huge workload. We don't know what we have with Shoemate, and we saw nothing from JJL that made me believe that he's capable of being a BCS conference-level back.

Others may be more optimistic.

You can't really base anything from this game. Shoemate didn't see the field, JJL was used in the wilddog, and the game plan was less than vanilla. The D barely blitzed or stunted and put nothing on film. I learned the following:

1 - McEntee can hit a crossing receiver in stride.
2 - Griffin and Delahunt can both block and catch. 2 TE sets will be huge this year.
3 - Blidi will force more action toward Gratz.
4 - Nick Williams will emerge as a weapon on offense.
UCONN -5.5 @ Vandy is not crazy ...

 

[auggie22]

agree that jjl is not ready to be productive. he is probably a great athlete, but switching from the defensive side of the ball to play RB in a BCS conference, is a difficult thing to do. it looked to me that he was standing very tall in the backfield, was not decisive hitting the hole, and showed no shiftiness. i hope that shoemate looks a lot better than he did last year, otherwise we are in trouble.