Importance of making a bowl game

[DCUconnfan]

A while back in some thread, someone had mentioned that they spoke to S&C Coach Balis and he'd mentioned to them that getting to a bowl game is hugely important for a team to develop because of the extra practice time. With bowl potential staring us in the face, I figured I'd share this old article about the importance of it, and gaining 15 extra practices.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=5921827

Those extra 15 practices are essentially like having another spring training but with less stringent restrictions on practice with contact. With so many young players on our team, I really hope we get to a bowl this year.

With that being said, while it is very much a reward for teams that succeed, I wonder if it'll ever come about that the NCAA must allow all teams the same amount of practices in a given year.

 

[Dooley]

A bowl game (and the extra practices that come with it!) will REALLY lay a solid foundation for 2016 and beyond. Like you said, the majority of our roster consists of lower classmen. That extra month of practices will be able to bring those guys up a notch so that spring ball is more of a "fine tuning" period and summer can be used to install a "300 level" playbook.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Adding to that, it's a great "final exam" for the redshirts to see how much they have learned and to see how well they can mesh with the returning players.

There are multiple ways to approach the practices leading up to a bowl game. Sometimes the win in the bowl is the ultimate goal. Think BCS games or a game against a high caliber opponent (Papa John vs USCe). For the remainder of the bowls, it really should be on personnel evaluation for the season going forward. Outside the team itself almost no one remembers a bowl game result the next week.

 

[businesslawyer]

Adding to that, it's a great "final exam" for the redshirts to see how much they have learned and to see how well they can mesh with the returning players.

There are multiple ways to approach the practices leading up to a bowl game. Sometimes the win in the bowl is the ultimate goal. Think BCS games or a game against a high caliber opponent (Papa John vs USCe). For the remainder of the bowls, it really should be on personnel evaluation for the season going forward. Outside the team itself almost no one remembers a bowl game result the next week.

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

 

[huskypantz]

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

On the basketball side, I'm pretty sure you could hear Drummond yelling "Chief!" on one of his dunks when he was a student-athlete.

 

[Chin Diesel]

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

I guess so.

I don't have any idea where any part of your post address is anything I said in mind.

 

[Kgun7]

Bowl game practice rules almost seem like a built in way to keep the established, traditional teams ahead of the up and coming struggling teams. In pro football bad teams are rewarded with high draft picks. In college football bad teams are punished with no practice. Why can't non-bowl teams practice up until the first bowl game is played?

 

[uconnfan68]

A while back in some thread, someone had mentioned that they spoke to S&C Coach Balis and he'd mentioned to them that getting to a bowl game is hugely important for a team to develop because of the extra practice time. With bowl potential staring us in the face, I figured I'd share this old article about the importance of it, and gaining 15 extra practices.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=5921827

Those extra 15 practices are essentially like having another spring training but with less stringent restrictions on practice with contact. With so many young players on our team, I really hope we get to a bowl this year.
V
With that being said, while it is very much a reward for teams that succeed, I wonder if it'll ever come about that the NCAA must allow all teams the same amount of practices in a given year.

Going to be a huge uphill fight to make one, but one I think we get.

 

[mikedog10]

"Number one, it really hurts the development your young players," said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, whose Scarlet Knights finished 4-8 after playing in five straight bowl games in 2005-09. "You are looking at 10 to 15 practices that we miss out on."

Is he implying that even though Rutgers didn't qualify for the extra 15 practices, they were going to try to sneak a few in there anyway? I knew they were dirty cheaters!

 

[cohenzone]

Going to be a huge uphill fight to make one, but one I think we get.

I hope you're right. Houston and Temple are the best teams on the schedule this year I think. Bowling would be a pretty unexpected bonus this year.

 

[NavinRJohnson]

A while back in some thread, someone had mentioned that they spoke to S&C Coach Balis and he'd mentioned to them that getting to a bowl game is hugely important for a team to develop because of the extra practice time. With bowl potential staring us in the face, I figured I'd share this old article about the importance of it, and gaining 15 extra practices.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=5921827

Those extra 15 practices are essentially like having another spring training but with less stringent restrictions on practice with contact. With so many young players on our team, I really hope we get to a bowl this year.

With that being said, while it is very much a reward for teams that succeed, I wonder if it'll ever come about that the NCAA must allow all teams the same amount of practices in a given year.

Yup...he stressed that the most. He also said that the kids are in are shape for another month. It keeps them so focused and stressed that these kids are 19-22 years old and they can lose focus real easy.

 

[husky210]

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

You wrote this on your phone didn't you? Tell tale signs of obsession are there. It auto corrects really to REally.... Stop being obsessed with Edsall....

 

[gioff23]

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

They don't? That's it, I'm leaving early next game.

 

[gioff23]

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

They don't? That's it, I'm leaving early next game.

 

[gioff23]

OUtside the team itself? REally? Who do you think the players are playing for?

"Gee, I hope I come through for my favorite Boneyard posters today." Is what not one player has ever thought when they wake up in the morning.

Wait a minute, they don't? Do you know this for a fact? That's it, I'm leaving the next game early to get a start on traffic.

 

[J187Money]

Wait a minute, they don't? Do you know this for a fact? That's it, I'm leaving the next game early to get a start on traffic.

Watch out for Nostical - hiding behind a pole like Jeff Gillooly.

 

[NorwalkHusky]

It's soooo true those extra practices will be HUUUUUUUGE (Trump voice) for 2016 much like his campaign.

MAKE UCONN FOOTBALL GREAT AGAIN!!!!!

 

[sub legacy]

They've made it this far... I wanna see them win out against consecutive ranked opponents en route to a bowl bid. That'd be a pretty significant statement to where Diaco and this program presently is. In just a few games, they could go from middling sub-500 team, to a program that's legitimately on the rise (again). Hope they take full advantage of the bye and prepare for win number six (and seven, preferably) before heading into bowl season.

 

[Chin Diesel]

For those who didn't understand my original post about coaches using the practices for the bowl games differently, this is exactly what I was referring to in my post.


http://runwayramblings.blogspot.com/2015/11/youngsters-steal-show-at-uconn-practice.html


Diaco using the bye week to rest starters, see how the scout team players are improving and building comraderie. It's a way to evaluate the long term while still trying to achieve short term goals.

If a coach is willing to do this mid-season with a bowl bid on the line, you can be sure they do it during bowl season too.

 

[Kolumbo]

I think it's a long shot to finish 6-6, but what are the chances UCONN misses out on a bowl at 6-6?

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I think it's a long shot to finish 6-6, but what are the chances UCONN misses out on a bowl at 6-6?

Low. We haven't been in a long time and we are a large state school. Plus, AAC has more tie-ins than they did last year when Temple missed a bowl (whose fanbase is notoriously bad -- far worse than ours).

 

[Chin Diesel]

Adding to that, it's a great "final exam" for the redshirts to see how much they have learned and to see how well they can mesh with the returning players.

There are multiple ways to approach the practices leading up to a bowl game. Sometimes the win in the bowl is the ultimate goal. Think BCS games or a game against a high caliber opponent (Papa John vs USCe). For the remainder of the bowls, it really should be on personnel evaluation for the season going forward. Outside the team itself almost no one remembers a bowl game result the next week.

For those who were confused as to what I was saying in the above post, this is exactly what I was referring to regarding the benefits of practices for bowls and player development as a goal above and beyond the game itself.

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-1213-20151212-story.html

"On Saturday, we had an opportunity again to put the developmental players out and have them go full speed and articulate action, offense, defense, which we wouldn't have otherwise had an opportunity to," Diaco said. "And that's guys who aren't even going to play [in the bowl game]."


"It really helps out for the game because the more reps you get here, the more you get in the game," he said. "If you're used to going 100 plays during practice and in the game you play 30-40, you're doing it at such a high level of play, so getting more playing time here is going to benefit me on the field, all of us. It's more time in the weight room, yes, but it's more time on the field, which is what a lot of the young players need right now."