How UConn football coach Jim Mora views meeting with Syracuse: ‘Never been a big rivalry guy’ (Mike Anthony)

[huskymedic]

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->“My philosophy is they don’t matter,” Mora said. “I’ve never been a big rivalry guy. Every game is just another opportunity to go out and compete and play to win. I think if you ride the up and down wave of, oh, this is a rivalry, got to get up, and the next week it’s not a rivalry game and you’re not up, you become an inconsistent football team.

“So that’s not going to be my mindset. Hopefully that’s not going to be our players’ mindset. There should never be added motivation. ... There should always be the same amount of motivation, which is as much motivation that you can muster.” <-

-> “I always discern between how I feel internally and how our fans feel because it’s always important to acknowledge how they feel, and what it means to them,” Mora said. “Because we’re not just playing for ourselves. We’re playing for our students, we’re playing for our administration, we’re playing for our alumni, we’re playing for the people of this state.

“So, yeah, I recognize the importance of it. We want to go out there on Saturday and do everything we can to win this dang game and make our fans proud and give them some bragging rights. Internally, that cannot be our motivation. But, absolutely, I recognize that.” <-

 

[huskymedic]

Alternate access link here <<

-> So what this is, essentially, is a fun matchup in the moment rather than a rivalry, a regional matchup that figures to bring more people and electricity to the stadium, if a good amount is generated by the visitors. As of Friday morning, there were 23,044 tickets sold, that should rise some, and the tailgating scene should be epic. It’s a chance for the Huskies to move forward toward their realistic goals for this season. <-

-> The better the Huskies play against Syracuse, the more the bar is raised. Higher aims will come, and rivalries of some sort perhaps will sprout. In the meantime, make no mistake, this is a significant game, rivalry or not.<-

 

[BlueandOG]

I love Coach but think he missed the mark with this. The Dan Hurley video was the better approach. Yes, we hate Syracuse. We are not rivals now, but we have history. Coach should have juiced the emotion rather than squash it.

The best line of Hurley's video: "The gates will be locked...and we'll be waiting for you." NICE!!

 

[TheDrifter75]

I love Coach but think he missed the mark with this. The Dan Hurley video was the better approach. Yes, we hate Syracuse. We are not rivals now, but we have history. Coach should have juiced the emotion rather than squash it.

The best line of Hurley's video: "The gates will be locked...and we'll be waiting for you." NICE!!

Something should be made of the gates being locked before the start of every game, that was a great line!