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

[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 Jack Zergiotis.

 

[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.

 

[noeynox]

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

Its not taking the points on 4th down that is the issue. Its the lack of trying to put the ball in the endzone prior to 4th down that is the problem. But this has been an Edsall thing forever. The closer his team gets to the endzone the tighter the playcalling. Contrast with how Illinois played near the goal line. Now you could say we had a freshman QB making his 1st start, but history tells us he plays it the same way with 5th year senior.

 

[Nostical]

Does anyone else find it mind boggling that in a game that surpassed almost everyone’s expectations, a game where we were 3 touchdown underdogs and starting a true freshman QB, that we’re now yipping about whether we should have gone for TD’s in the first Q instead of settling for FG’s? I’m far from an advocate for conservative play calling but had we gone for the TD and failed after moving that far down the field, the letdown of having nothing to show for it might have been more harmful to team psyche than the 3 points. Confidence in Jack Zergiotis (and the next two weeks of practice with him taking all the snaps) might influence Edsall’s thinking for the next time it’s 4th and short in the red zone, but for now let’s cut him some slack and rejoice in the possibilities.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Does anyone else find it mind boggling that in a game that surpassed almost everyone’s expectations, a game where we were 3 touchdown underdogs and starting a true freshman QB, that we’re now yipping about whether we should have gone for TD’s in the first Q instead of settling for FG’s? I’m far from an advocate for conservative play calling but had we gone for the TD and failed after moving that far down the field, the letdown of having nothing to show for it might have been more harmful to team psyche than the 3 points. Confidence in Jack Zergiotis (and the next two weeks of practice with him taking all the snaps) might influence Edsall’s thinking for the next time it’s 4th and short in the red zone, but for now let’s cut him some slack and rejoice in the possibilities.

One billion percent agree with your sentiment but I think most people are frustrated that we didn’t score tds on those drives less so that we didn’t go for it

 

[Nostical]

One billion percent agree with your sentiment.

That’s a first-lol.

 

[Kolumbo]

Illinois QB is very solid, grad student, transferred from Michigan, threw an INT which put them in the hole early. But they didn't panic and came back fiercely in the 2nd quarter. Some here think we weren't aggressive enough with a freshman QB. UConn could just have easily gotten routed had it played too risky with a freshman QB.

 

[freescooter]

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

And it’s not like we didn’t take shots. On the first one Z overthrew Rose in the end zone. Another time he got sacked. Do we need to get better in the red zone? Yes. Did Edsall make a mistake taking the 3? No. Another Brown I think couldn’t stay in bounds. And what we need is better run blocking. When you can’t rely on the run game down inside the 10 it is much more difficult. As I said Mensahs score was all on him.

 

[whaler11]

Its not taking the points on 4th down that is the issue. Its the lack of trying to put the ball in the endzone prior to 4th down that is the problem. But this has been an Edsall thing forever. The closer his team gets to the endzone the tighter the playcalling. Contrast with how Illinois played near the goal line. Now you could say we had a freshman QB making his 1st start, but history tells us he plays it the same way with 5th year senior.

thank you. this is painful.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

What people aren't understanding is that while we can feel hopeful going forward in taking a big picture point of view with an improved defense, possibly finding a QB, and some playmakers at receiver, on Saturday during the game, we shouldn't be coaching for a feel good outcome where we cover the spread, but to win the damn game.

We've seen countless times where Edsall gets into no turnover, field position, and we have to hope for points on defense to win. In college football in 2019 you're not going to win games that way.

I know a lot of you feel better tonight because we "only" lost by 8 points, but to me, I'd rather have lost by 20 due to some more aggressive play and at least gone down swinging instead of running Mensah and Thompkins into the back of our online all afternoon.

 

[BugsyCT]

What people aren't understanding is that while we can feel hopeful going forward in taking a big picture point of view with an improved defense, possibly finding a QB, and some playmakers at receiver, on Saturday during the game, we shouldn't be coaching for a feel good outcome where we cover the spread, but to win the damn game.

We've seen countless times where Edsall gets into no turnover, field position, and we have to hope for points on defense to win. In college football in 2019 you're not going to win games that way.

I know a lot of you feel better tonight because we "only" lost by 8 points, but to me, I'd rather have lost by 20 due to some more aggressive play and at least gone down swinging instead of running Mensah and Thompkins into the back of our online all afternoon.

Were we playing to cover the spread, or playing to stay in the game to give us a chance to win later? We were down by one score in the 4th quarter. Would it have been better to be down by 20 in the 4th after taking more chances in the 1st qtr but failing and have 2-3K people left in the stands? That would really have been better?

I'll grant you that those 3rd down & short calls leading up to the FGs were not good calls. I think they both were run sweeps that got snuffed out. But you have to have the athletes to be able to throw caution to the wind all the time to make big plays. We had a freshman QB making his first start. He had his moments and throws a nice ball but also committed some ill-advised turnovers that young players make.

If you think we lost this game because of choosing 1st qtr FGs instead of TDs, then I don't what to tell you. Some of you seem to have the need to cherry-pick things to be disappointed about.

If we lost because of anything it was because we got hit in the mouth 2nd quarter and didn't hit back the rest of the half.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Were we playing to cover the spread, or playing to stay in the game to give us a chance to win later? We were down by one score in the 4th quarter. Would it have been better to be down by 20 in the 4th after taking more chances in the 1st qtr but failing and have 2-3K people left in the stands? That would really have been better?

I'll grant you that those 3rd down & short calls leading up to the FGs were not good calls. I think they both were run sweeps that got snuffed out. But you have to have the athletes to be able to throw caution to the wind all the time to make big plays. We had a freshman QB making his first start. He had his moments and throws a nice ball but also committed some ill-advised turnovers that young players make.

If you think we lost this game because of choosing 1st qtr FGs instead of TDs, then I don't what to tell you. Some of you seem to have the need to cherry-pick things to be disappointed about.

If we lost because of anything it was because we got hit in the mouth 2nd quarter and didn't hit back the rest of the half.

I don't see many people lamenting the fact we didn't go for TDs on 4th downs as opposed to kicking the FGs. I think it was the conservative nature of the play calling that led up to the FGs and continued into the 2nd quarter that was puzzling.

You are absolutely correct that we were in a position to tie to the game come the final drive and for that the team deserves kudos for their effort all afternoon, but when we had the lead, had the momentum, I would have liked to see us open it up more. It's like when Edsall has any lead he treats it like an end of game situation and tries to run clock.