I know I know they are no moral victories...

[freescooter]

I enjoyed a football game for the first time in a long time. I loved the kid playing quarterback He didn’t play a perfect game but he hung in and made throws. Honestly I can’t complain about the offensive game plan either. We were throwing on 1st down. We threw over the middle. Both tight ends made nice grabs. The defense played well and mad3 big plays. The second quarter was a disaster but in the 3rd we finally started brining some extra guys and got pressure. I also thought the loss of Peart hurt the running game. I like Mensah. He is a tough runner. His td run was basically on his own and he should have been down at least twice. Yes here were a couple of times when he cut the wrong way but I didn’t see lots of running room out there.

Over all this sort of felt like the UConn team that finished 6-6. It took a while to understand how to win. Not saying this team will win 6 in part because the schedule isn’t as easy. But I could see a good bit of progress with some a few wins coming against teams that will be favored.

 

[BlueDogs]

if edsall had balls they win that game. he coached them into a loss. credit to him for bringing the players in - but he coaches scared and thinks you can win kicking field goals.

Got to agree. Blew a critical series with 5 minutes left with turtle calls. Blew a major 3rd down with momentum on short yardage with an asinine delayed read run out of a pistol violating every principle of short yardage offense. Continued to call read runs runs for Mensah when it’s clear the kid has poor vision, is deathly slow to the hole and is even worse at the second level.

 

[whaler11]

Got to agree. Blew a critical series with 5 minutes left with turtle calls. Blew a major 3rd down with momentum on short yardage with an asinine delayed read run out of a pistol violating every principle of short yardage offense. Continued to call read runs runs for Mensah when it’s clear the kid has poor vision, is deathly slow to the hole and is even worse at the second level.

the sooner they stop trying to make mensah a thing the better

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Just got home. Loved the effort. The defense hung in real well. And the play of the QB was very encouraging.

 

[zls44]

the sooner they stop trying to make mensah a thing the better

Thompkins is only here for 1 year, use the kid more!

 

[whaler11]

Thompkins is only here for 1 year, use the kid more!

id like to see scott and oreilly. tompkins has taken a beating in both games and its hard to see him survive 12 games with that many touches.

his mac numbers make a ton of sense

 

[TheDoggPound]

if edsall had balls they win that game. he coached them into a loss. credit to him for bringing the players in - but he coaches scared and thinks you can win kicking field goals.

This is coming from the guy that told us our talent level mirrors an FCS team ad naseum now all of a sudden Edsall coached them into a loss vs a B1G team? Gotta love the BY

 

[noeynox]

This is coming from the guy that told us our talent level mirrors an FCS team ad naseum now all of a sudden Edsall coached them into a loss vs a B1G team? Gotta love the BY

Illinois was definitely on the ropes. Randy really needed at least one TD in those deep red zone trips to make it 17-0, at least. But old habits die hard. I have given up ever expecting him to coach those situations any different.

I worry about relying on FGs because those were some shaky knuckle ball FGs. Not smooth at all.

 

[whaler11]

This is coming from the guy that told us our talent level mirrors an FCS team ad naseum now all of a sudden Edsall coached them into a loss vs a B1G team? Gotta love the BY

yeah you gotta love the by... where when you have the lead and all the momentum people apologize for playing for field goals because of the perception of your team.

the only thing worse than edsall down 42-0 is edsall with a 10 pt first quarter lead

twice in his entire career he coached to win - and they beat pitt and wvu and went to the fiesta bowl. maryland was his dream job because he loves to turtle in big spots

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Good news: UConn may have found a QB. A freshman, no less. I know that must hurt RE to say. Z (I'll work on spelling later) has a gun. He attempted and made some difficult throws. And, yes he made a few mistakes in his first start. This kid might be good, or better.

Bad news: the Huskies have no running game. Mensah is to slow and can't make people miss.
Give him a parking lot space hole and, yeah, he can take it to the house, but then again, so can I (well, up until several decades plus ago).

The O line needs to improve at opening lanes for RBs. And, avoid stretches like 2nd quarter and its many sacks. The DL line needs to put pressure on QB for the entire game, not just the second half.

Finally RE needs to accept that this is a pass first team and a run simply for a xhange of pace.

 

[Brad Palmer]

Very enjoyable and entertaining game. Are we the team we saw last week vs. Wagner or the one we saw today vs. Illinois? Probably somewhere in between, but at least there's some hope based on how we played vs. a quality opponent. On to Bloomington!

 

[BugsyCT]

If we get TDs instead of FGs we're up 21-0 instead of 13-0 early 2nd qtr. That didn't stop Illinois from scoring 24 straight points once they started making plays. Not all FGs are drive throwaways.

Overall I echo what everyone else has been saying - they did well today and hung with a P5 school. Wouldn't have happened last year. The D looks competent and the offense should get better with JZ gaining experience. It was encouraging to watch.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I said it in another thread but I got a really good feeling watching this kid Zergiotis today. Kid made some beautiful passes, had some zip on his throws and had the fortitude to get passes off knowing he was going to get hit.

He's a freshman so he's going to make mistakes, be it the picks or fumble, but I absolutely loved the way he carried himself out there today and he inspired confidence in me.

We've been in a QB desert for so, so, so long. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but maybe he can be our guy?

As far as the rest of the team goes, the defense is so much better than last year, it's not even a question how much they have improved. Still not a great unit, but they were historically bad last year. Kids seem to be playing with high energy and while some missed tackles led to points on drives, I have to commend them for their effort.

Special teams actually concerns me a ton. Maybe punting was just an off day, but for a team that relies on field position, 30 yarders isn't going to cut it. The field goal kicker scares the hell out of me too. You don't get points for style but as I said in the chat, Tim Wakefield throws a straighter ball.

All in all, there were a lot of signs for improvement and things to build on. But make no mistake, Illinois isn't a good team and that game was sitting there for the taking. Would have been huge to walk away with a win, but maybe we build some confidence and have Zergiotis get two full weeks with the starters and see what happens in Bloomington.

 

[Scrutineer]

You mean like the second half adjustments?

You need to get off your high horse and stop you constant BS

We get it, you don't like Edsall

The team gave up 7 points in three quarters so stop alibiing for Edsall.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

lotsa talk here about the value of field goals..hmm, lets ask them.

Scoring summary
Plays Yards TOP NE LAR Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score 2 10:29 7 39 3:29 NE 42-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski 3 0 3 2:11 10 42 4:22 LAR 53-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein 3 3 4 7:00 5 69 2:49 NE Sony Michel 2-yard touchdown run, Gostkowski kick good 10 3 4 1:12 9 72 3:05 NE 41-yard field goal by Gostkowski 13 3

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I've been saying for a while that Edsall's plan was for 2020. I hated what that meant for the years in between, but he knows how to do the long game pretty well. We're seeing that start to blossom in 2019. And you can easily see how this team could look really good next year.

Let's just hope the rebirth doesn't happen too late...

When you make your prediction for next season, will predict 4-0?

 

[UConnDan97]

When you make your prediction for next season, will predict 4-0?

I'm still waiting to get clarification if a 4-0 team is bowl eligible...

 

[whaler11]

I'm still waiting to get clarification if a 4-0 team is bowl eligible...

Yes. The LAZ Bowl. tickets are free and parking is $100.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Illinois was definitely on the ropes. Randy really needed at least one TD in those deep red zone trips to make it 17-0, at least. But old habits die hard. I have given up ever expecting him to coach those situations any different.

I worry about relying on FGs because those were some shaky knuckle ball FGs. Not smooth at all.

I agree, I'm just pointing out the inconsistencies in Whaler's postings. Just last week we belonged in a close game vs Wagner because our 247 recruiting classes are last in the AAC and we brought in players from Div II... fast forward 10 days and he's saying Edsall, behind a freshman QB coached us into a loss against a very talented B1G team..

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

??

Yeah...posted that before I saw he picked JZ.

 

[whaler11]

I agree, I'm just pointing out the inconsistencies in Whaler's postings. Just last week we belonged in a close game vs Wagner because our 247 recruiting classes are last in the AAC and we brought in players from Div II... fast forward 10 days and he's saying Edsall, behind a freshman QB coached us into a loss against a very talented B1G team..

its only inconsistent if you dont remember i killed edsall for not being willing to be aggressive against an nec team.

 

[TheDoggPound]

its only inconsistent if you dont remember i killed edsall for not being willing to be aggressive against an nec team.

Yeah you're consistent on that, but that doesn't address anything I pointed out.. how do you go from being a peer to Wagner in terms of talent to Edsall coached us into a loss vs a very talented Illinois team in the span of 10 days? Either we had the greatest week of practice or maybe moreso you were just being overly hyperbolic in your assessment of the teams talent level? Not cool from the self proclaimed 'realist'

 

[whaler11]

Yeah you're consistent on that, but that doesn't address anything I pointed out.. how do you go from being a peer to Wagner in terms of talent to Edsall coached us into a loss vs a very talented Illinois team in the span of 10 days? Either we had the greatest week of practice or maybe moreso you were just being overly hyperbolic in your assessment of the teams talent level? Not cool from the self proclaimed 'realist'

my god really? when you are up 7-0 and 10-0 and have the ball you play to win by scoring touchdowns.

its literally the job - during the game what can I do to improve my chances of winning

edsall went turtle and was down by half and never threatened to win after being up 13-0.

 

[Samoo]

An area we needed to to better at today was on first down. Feels like we got sacked on almost every first down.

That does mean we were passing on 1st down...

 

[bmayuc]

We played meaningful football into the 4th quarter. We have a Quarterback. Our Defense made plays.

This is all I want out of this team. Great job to the fellas, and to the coaches. UConn Football, maybe not as dead as some would have you believe.

 

[BlueDogs]

The only benefit of the doubt I give Edsall is he has a freshman under center in his fist game so it would be normal to tend towards conservative play calling. That said, he philosophically plays to avoid the big mistake rather than reach for a big play. There was some really piss poor play calling at times when we could have stuck a dagger in them.

 

[zls44]

We played meaningful football into the 4th quarter. We have a Quarterback. Our Defense made plays.

This is all I want out of this team. Great job to the fellas, and to the coaches. UConn Football, maybe not as dead as some would have you believe.

We really aren't asking for much. Just be competitive and interesting. Take risks.

 

[metsfan2323]

We really aren't asking for much. Just be competitive and interesting. Take risks.

Yeah, take risks, like when Diaco went for the TD against Missouri . Some of you are complete mental cases with your armchair quarterbacking. Those field goals were absolutely appropriate at the time and not why we lost the game. Take risks, he took a risk against Wagner and it nearly cost us the game.

 

[FillTheRent]

Yeah, take risks, like when Diaco went for the TD against Missouri . Some of you are complete mental cases with your armchair quarterbacking. Those field goals were absolutely appropriate at the time and not why we lost the game. Take risks, maybe you should take a hike.

I agree. You absolutely take the points from field goals in those situations.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

What a wonderful game!! Randy lost his mom yesterday? I'm sorry about his loss, but the team surprised me. I think we might be better than I even thought.