Improvements to take the next step

[Nostical]

Actually, BS is afraid to throw the ball

Actually, Verducci is too. So far the best suggestion for a turnaround came from our former QB Michael Nebrich: "Verducci needs to go. That offense is like watching DeLeones all over again!"

 

[Stainmaster]

Actually, Verducci is too. So far the best suggestion for a turnaround came from our former QB Michael Nebrich: "Verducci needs to go. That offense is like watching DeLeones all over again!"

This is really tactless and classless of you. As was posting the parents' comments trashing the coaches.

 

[FDNY99]

Actually, Verducci is too. So far the best suggestion for a turnaround came from our former QB Michael Nebrich: "Verducci needs to go. That offense is like watching DeLeones all over again!"

You have jumped the Shark with this one Nos...it's really hard to take anything you say from "your sources" without snickering anyway after the way you called the Maryland coaching search. You should stick to tailgating with the players parents and being buddy/buddy with them and keep their comments and those of your's that they influence to yourself. You used to bring a lot of insight to this board...now it has become non-sensical BULLS**T!

 

[Nostical]

This is really tactless and classless of you. As was posting the parents' comments trashing the coaches.

Get real. Nebrich posted that comment himself on Facebook for all to see. Players and former players are all over Twitter with their comments. Opinions are just that--opinions. None are any more correct than any others. Not mine, not Palatine's, not Whalers, not yours---no ones.
And for the record I didn't identify anyone else.

 

[Nostical]

You used to bring a lot of insight to this board.

I did?

 

[FDNY99]

Get real. Nebrich posted that comment himself on Facebook for all to see. Players and former players are all over Twitter with their comments. Opinions are just that--opinions. None are any more correct than any others. Not mine, not Palatine's, not Whalers, not yours---no ones.
And for the record I didn't identify anyone else.

You can't look at anything that happens with this team with a non-objective view anymore Nos...it's tainted by your friendship/loyalty to the players parents.

 

[FDNY99]

I did?

Actually yeah you did.....I thought you provided a lot of positive stuff here.

 

[uchusky32]

What I can't understand is why we cant find a QB? Hell there are better QBs playing 1AA. I mean since Dan O we haven't had a QB that could consistently hit the side of a barn from 20ft.

 

[noeynox]

What I can't understand is why we cant find a QB? Hell there are better QBs playing 1AA. I mean since Dan O we haven't had a QB that could consistently hit the side of a barn from 20ft.

We had Cochran for 5 games. Cody Endres smoked his way out of the equation. Other than that, its been bad. Frazer and Lorenzen were okay but in terms of accuracy all but Cochran and to a lesser extent Endres have been dreadful. The long pass to Thomas yesterday should have been 6.

 

[Nostical]

You can't look at anything that happens with this team with a non-objective view anymore Nos...it's tainted by your friendship/loyalty to the players parents.

It depends on the topic--as with everyone else on this board. You're right about one thing. I'm first and foremost for the players. And the parents who sacrifice for them. But here's what you may not want to believe. When I say we have talent and coaches can get in the way--I believe it.

 

[FDNY99]

It depends on the topic--as with everyone else on this board. You're right about one thing. I'm first and foremost for the players. And the parents who sacrifice for them. But here's what you may not want to believe. When I say we have talent and coaches can get in the way--I believe it.

I'll give you that...

 

[Stainmaster]

It depends on the topic--as with everyone else on this board. You're right about one thing. I'm first and foremost for the players. And the parents who sacrifice for them. But here's what you may not want to believe. When I say we have talent and coaches can get in the way--I believe it.

Well the rest of us are first and foremost for the program. Not the players, coaches, or the AD staff.

 

[Nostical]

Well the rest of us are first and foremost for the program. Not the players, coaches, or the AD staff.

So what or who exactly constitutes the program then, if not the players, coaches, AD, and staff? The ticket takers and LAZ parking crew?

 

[uchusky32]

So what or who exactly constitutes the program then, if not the players, coaches, AD, and staff? The ticket takers and LAZ parking crew?

The uniform?

 

[Stainmaster]

Let me put it this way. Nostical roots for the team because of who the individual players on the team are, because he likes their moms and dads. The rest of us root for the team because we are fans of UConn Husky athletics above all else. We have a tremendous amount of affinity and respect for the players themselves, but we cheer first and foremost for the "UConn" on the front of the jersey, not the name that is on the back of the jersey. Our fandom stems from us having a deep feeling of "love and care" (to paraphrase HCBD) for the university's football team as a whole -- not from our personal relationships with the players and their parents.

 

[FDNY99]

Let me put it this way. Nostical roots for the team because of who the individual players on the team are, because he likes their moms and dads. The rest of us root for the team because we are fans of UConn Husky athletics above all else. We have a tremendous amount of affinity and respect for the players themselves, but we cheer first and foremost for the "UConn" on the front of the jersey, not the name that is on the back of the jersey. Our fandom stems from us having a deep feeling of "love and care" (to paraphrase HCBD) for the university's football team as a whole -- not from our personal relationships with the players and their parents.

That is EXTREMELY well put @Stairmaster !!! @Nostical ... @Stairmaster hit the nail right square on the head!!!!

 

[weyuo]

Improvements to take the next step:

• Like to see what Tyler Davis brings to the table next Spring. He's 2 inches taller and has been in the system about the same amount of time as Sherriffs. Hasn't had the opportunity to work with the starters as much but still would like to see him push for playing time. If Sherriffs takes another whack to the noggin I would hope the backup production is better than what there was this year. Boyle and Anderson got lucky on that trick play vs Houston.
  
• Crozier comes back so it'll be interesting to see who can hike and block better at center. But that center position and the guys on either side have to put defenders on their backs on running plays and form a wall on passes. What was going on out there this year is the #1 reason the Huskies struggled.
  
• D needs to tighten it up on the opposing receivers.
  
• Not enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
• Special teams needs to improve and was pleased that they corrected the point after low kick problem.

 

[jdb50]

I don't want our DE's to gain any weight in the offseason, I want them to get quicker. Carrezola is heavy enough. When the QB breaks out of the pocket we need to have some ability to put pressure on and catch him. That was a glaring deficiency yesterday. The same for our O-line. Our guards need to be quick enough to not get beat as often, get to the spot to get leverage, maybe pull to block and block downfield. We need less brontosauruses and more lions at every position. We also need another running back. A quarterback who can make quick reads, and is confident enough in his ability to fire the ball in there is mandatory or we will be lucky to make a Bowl.

 

[Nostical]

That is EXTREMELY well put @Stairmaster !!! @Nostical ... @Stairmaster hit the nail right square on the head!!!!

Well its interesting you feel that way but Stairmaster's comment is probably the most inaccurate I've seen on this board. No one roots harder for the front of the jersey than I do. Period, end of discussion.

 

[FDNY99]

Well its interesting you feel that way but Stairmaster's comment is probably the most inaccurate I've seen on this board. No one roots harder for the front of the jersey than I do. Period, end of discussion.

Yeah...tend to differ with you there...I'd say that any of the hardcore season ticket holders that spend there time on here root just as hard if not harder. But there you go again tooting your own horn. Thanks for letting us in on that little bit of info there Nos. I look forward to your next installment of the Boneyard Page Six insider post from you with gossip from the kids or the parents. It should prove to be a riveting read. Maybe you can also tell us a story about MD from your GREAT sources down there.

 

[CTMike]

Well its interesting you feel that way but Stairmaster's comment is probably the most inaccurate I've seen on this board. No one roots harder for the front of the jersey than I do. Period, end of discussion.

 

[weyuo]

I don't want our DE's to gain any weight in the offseason, I want them to get quicker. Carrezola is heavy enough. When the QB breaks out of the pocket we need to have some ability to put pressure on and catch him. That was a glaring deficiency yesterday. The same for our O-line. Our guards need to be quick enough to not get beat as often, get to the spot to get leverage, maybe pull to block and block downfield. We need less brontosauruses and more lions at every position. We also need another running back. A quarterback who can make quick reads, and is confident enough in his ability to fire the ball in there is mandatory or we will be lucky to make a Bowl.

agree 100%. Less dinosaurs and more lions!

 

[Nostical]

I'd say that any of the hardcore season ticket holders that spend there time on here root just as hard if not harder.

I'll accept that you root just as hard for the front of the jersey as I do. But not harder.

 

[FDNY99]

I'll accept that you root just as hard for the front of the jersey as I do. But not harder.

Fair assessment...I think that applies to anyone else on here as well.

 

[ktuck911]

If anything on defense we need, it's an edge rusher.. That bend but don't break defense we run, with lack of a consistent offense, is gonna keep us at a .500 winning percentage at best, in our conference alone...

 

[Chin Diesel]

Another angle to remember with the bend but don't break philosophy.

Soft defense is less stressful on the defenders and allows them to play more plays. An aggressive defense requires more rotation of defenders and that requires depth.

Think of a parrallel of playing zone defense in basketball vice man to man.

Tying this all together, the lack of good offensive line play means few drives that suck up clock time, means defense has to be on the field for more plays, means a team needs lots of depth on defense or conserve energy on defense.

You can't decide to play an aggressive attacking defense in a vacuum. It has to be complemented by the other parts of the team. There is no free money.

 

[ktuck911]

Another angle to remember with the bend but don't break philosophy.

Soft defense is less stressful on the defenders and allows them to play more plays. An aggressive defense requires more rotation of defenders and that requires depth.

Think of a parrallel of playing zone defense in basketball vice man to man.

Tying this all together, the lack of good offensive line play means few drives that suck up clock time, means defense has to be on the field for more plays, means a team needs lots of depth on defense or conserve energy on defense.

You can't decide to play an aggressive attacking defense in a vacuum. It has to be complemented by the other parts of the team. There is no free money.

good assessment... with pups like Freemon, Parker (hopefully he moves back to OLB/DE), Lawley, Atkins.. this should lighten the burden a bit on the edges one would think.. get these guys in a rotation, and hope they can all contribute and help keep our defense fresh... without a pass rush (along with the consistency of the offense) it's that much harder to win games.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Lastly, coaching on offense. Im sick of the playingnot to lose type football. Thats an awful way to play FBS level football when you have to prove your worth. We cannot afford to play like that on offense. If we don't have the players to play BIGGER than we need to start working a little harder recruiting wise....or get coaches that can come in and make it happen. Even FCS level opponents defenses we played against kept at least 8 men in the box on us. Imo, embarrassing and unacceptable.

So true. UConn needs to get players and coaches that can play offense the way it's played everywhere else in college football.

 

[SubbaBub]

Coaching-Clock management clock management , clock management. We need to seriously open up an offense it seems every team in FBS even FCS has one except us.

Players
Oline, Oline, Oline its pretty sad that a defensive player (Graham Stewart) is the one who is the reason we scored our only TD today.

WR,TE- Need to make plays, its gotten better but guys other then Noel Thomas have to step up.

RB-Improve the depth chart

QB play- Sherrifs needs to develop a qb clock, be a better decision maker and work on his accuracy, he's one tough qb though. Our Qb depth needs to be addressed asap, I'm sorry but Boyle shouldn't be any higher then 3rd string on our depth chart.

Defense- We need to wrap up on tackles, lets be honest the turf tackled Davis on that one conversion near the end. The D still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.

Special Teams- God awful and thats being nice, too many 10-30 yard punts.

The to do list is still quite lengthy. The OL gets all the scorn, but the LB didn't pressure the QB at all which is why you run a 3-4 in the first place. They also need to cover better and get to the ball carrier quicker. They were markedly better at both this season, but like the team overall, it won't be good enough going forward. The WR/TE need to cut down on the drops. I have no idea where we are at RB given the linen issues. I think both main guys are slow for this level, but they don't need to be speedy if they can hit the hole.

I think Shirreffs holds on to the QB job. He needs to get over the shell shock and work on delivering the ball on time and on target. Tuck and run can't be the first option even if it was put best weapon. He took a number of sacks, pressures, when he didn't need to take them.

On D, the DL need to get a little more push up the middle. Too many runners were met after a 2-3 yard gain. I'd like to see more press coverage, but the results speak for themselves. Maybe just mix it in more liberally.

We will need something out of the return game. If not a home run threat than at least a solid possession catch guy that can get enough hidden yards to flip field position occasionally.

Overall, I think the team needs another off season in the weight room and the film room. The size is still their, need to add power and recognize the reads and keys a bit faster.

 

[EJHarrington]

I feel we have NFL talent at WR (Thomas), RB (Newsome), and possibly TE (Myers). I also like the way Beals looked when he was out there. We could use a tall WR to step up.

The obvious need is OL improvement. It was better this year but still not near close to being good enough. Until the OL improves, a QB like Shirriefs who has ability to make plays out of chaos in the pocket even though he has a below average arm is probably the best choice. Once the OL improves, we then need to find a gunslinger at QB.

We need a punt return game. Until we get the OL fixed we are going to have to play similar to how we did this year (i.e., conservative, close to the vest, keep games close). Having a punt return game could win us one-two games a year that we would otherwise lose.

Game management needs improvement. There were way too many times the plays did not come in fast enough from the sideline.

Overall, a positive year and step back to respectability. My expectations are sky high for next year because I believe Diaco will get the OL figured out.