Its too bad our OLine has been awful

[bmayuc]

Because Whitmers huge weakness is his happy feet/inability to keep his eyes down the pitch.

Give him time, the kid can sling it.

 

[Palatine]

Give Whitmer more pine.

He missed a TE wide open in the endzone. (among his many awful plays) Never saw him. We kick a FG.

 

[spsct]

Give Whitmer more pine.

He missed a TE wide open in the endzone. (among his many awful plays) Never saw him. We kick a FG.

Oh Christ, dude... He does 10 things right and one thing wrong and you want to bench him...
Instead of belly aching about Chandler, just spend your time on our atrocious offensive line and we can maybe get somewhere.

 

[gars44]

it is atrocious. #60 doesn't even block on some plays. Can't blame Whitmer for everything.

 

[Montaleno]

Give Whitmer more pine.

He missed a TE wide open in the endzone. (among his many awful plays) Never saw him. We kick a FG.

Lighten up Francis!!!

 

[CL82]

It is a shame. We're a decent OL away from being a dramatically better team. That a can of Biletnikoff's glue for the receivers.

 

[gopher2]

The condition of the o line is why I think the Whitmer vs Boyle thing is rather moot. If we can't get the running game going neither of them is going to accomplish much and if it's Boyle back there, our future QB may regress instead of develop over the rest of the season.

 

[huskymedic]

HCDB:

“We just have to continue to get better up front. They’re working hard, they’re trying hard and pouring their hearts out.We have a lot of young players in that lineup.When you think about the future and you read the names on the depth chart and you look all the way to the right and see all the eligibility left; that’s got to be pretty exciting for UConn Country. There is a learning curve there though and they have a lot of work to do. It’s not easy to play in that front. It’s challenging.But you can see improvement today from the first half to the second half. We surrendered six sacks in the first half and only two in the second half. So you can see improvements even as the game went on."

 

[tense50]

I saw more good than bad from the o line today. I think Whitmer makes trouble for both the o line and himself because of his happy feet. But the kid is tough, always looking for the most yds. he can get on any play he takes off and runs with the ball. O line needs to do a better job of protecting him. Knappe had a so so first game. Got beaten bad on a couple of plays by a much quicker d lineman but showed a lot of toughness when staying on his block.

 

[noeynox]

There is a reason the OL looked better the last three games of the season and even the SMU game. Whitmer's eyes get diverted to the rush and the play is essentially over. Yeah, he pulls a play out once in a while that way, but usually that is a losing proposition. Whitmer is tough as nails though. He has taken a pounding since he has been at UConn and time after time he bounces back. He almost didn't have enough arm to throw it out the back of the endzone one time under pressure. USF has to be looked at as a winnable game now that the pre season is over.

 

[UConnDan97]

HCDB:

“We just have to continue to get better up front. They’re working hard, they’re trying hard and pouring their hearts out.We have a lot of young players in that lineup.When you think about the future and you read the names on the depth chart and you look all the way to the right and see all the eligibility left; that’s got to be pretty exciting for UConn Country. There is a learning curve there though and they have a lot of work to do. It’s not easy to play in that front. It’s challenging.But you can see improvement today from the first half to the second half. We surrendered six sacks in the first half and only two in the second half. So you can see improvements even as the game went on."

This.

This is the only reason that I will refrain from bashing the OLine today. They're young, working hard, and will improve in the future. And to those on this thread and others that are still bashing Whitmer's performance (irrationally, I might add), I would encourage you to watch a replay of the game. Whitmer was the reason we were within 3 points in the fourth quarter. You can't have less than 50 yards rushing during the game and allow umpteen sacks, and then turn around and blame the guy with the 125 QB rating for the game. Even Joey Galloway agreed that he had an excellent game...

 

[BoatShow]

Whitmer makes things as hard for the OLine as they do for him. Loves to just hang around in the pocket and acts surprised when he's sacked after standing around for 5 seconds.

 

[uconnfan68]

Whitmer makes things as hard for the OLine as they do for him. Loves to just hang around in the pocket and acts surprised when he's sacked after standing around for 5 seconds.

He obviously can't hear me screaming for him to throw it.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I saw more good than bad from the o line today. I think Whitmer makes trouble for both the o line and himself because of his happy feet. But the kid is tough, always looking for the most yds. he can get on any play he takes off and runs with the ball. O line needs to do a better job of protecting him. Knappe had a so so first game. Got beaten bad on a couple of plays by a much quicker d lineman but showed a lot of toughness when staying on his block.

So so is being a bit generous. I believe he has a very high upside but there is quite a bit of development necessary.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm curious as to which is the actual issue, is it that Whitmer has happy feet and leaves the pocket to early or that he waits too long to move from the pocket? He's been accused of both in this thread.

I realize he isn't Joe Montana. I also realize that a) his ceiling is nowhere near as high as any of the other three scholarship QBs who were available for practice until Casey's retirement and b) there is little time remaining for him to improve. That said, he was far from the biggest culprit today and his returning for this football season benefited the program far more than any fifth year senior I can recall. We would be up the creek if we were down to Boyle a walk-on and a couple of position players moved to QB because they played that position in HS.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm curious as to which is the actual issue, is it that Whitmer has happy feet and leaves the pocket to early or that he waits too long to move from the pocket? He's been accused of both in this thread.

I realize he isn't Joe Montana. I also realize that a) his ceiling is nowhere near as high as any of the other three scholarship QBs who were available for practice until Casey's retirement and b) there is little time remaining for him to improve. That said, he was far from the biggest culprit today and his returning for this football season benefited the program far more than any fifth year senior I can recall. We would be up the creek if we were down to Boyle a walk-on and a couple of position players moved to QB because they played that position in HS.

I'll try to be the first to answer this. Whitmer has exhibited happy feet in games at times. Whitmer was NOT suffering from happy feet today. He was under siege. And not only was he under siege, but he kept countless drives alive with his feet. It seemed like every big play he hit on was on roll-outs. His ability with his feet was a big part of why we were still in this game late...

 

[noeynox]

I'm curious as to which is the actual issue, is it that Whitmer has happy feet and leaves the pocket to early or that he waits too long to move from the pocket? He's been accused of both in this thread.

I realize he isn't Joe Montana. I also realize that a) his ceiling is nowhere near as high as any of the other three scholarship QBs who were available for practice until Casey's retirement and b) there is little time remaining for him to improve. That said, he was far from the biggest culprit today and his returning for this football season benefited the program far more than any fifth year senior I can recall. We would be up the creek if we were down to Boyle a walk-on and a couple of position players moved to QB because they played that position in HS.

Agree on all your points about Whitmer. It's just that... the back breaking turnover is coming with him. Its just a matter of time. Think the game at Western Michigan. Not talking about the strip sack fumble td, no it was INT at the goal line when he threw it behind Nick Williams. I'll always admire his toughness. On way play today where he scrambled to his right, he got hit on the hip as he threw it out of bounds and the back of his head bounced off the turf like a basketball. Got up like nothing, while I was thinking, dear lord, not another concussion.

 

[huskysupporter]

This is the worst performing o line since our jump to 1A. I can't believe I am saying that after watching last year's product.

 

[noeynox]

I'll try to be the first to answer this. Whitmer has exhibited happy feet in games at times. Whitmer was NOT suffering from happy feet today. He was under siege. And not only was he under siege, but he kept countless drives alive with his feet. It seemed like every big play he hit on was on roll-outs. His ability with his feet was a big part of why we were still in this game late...

Both TDs were when he stood in the pocket and delivered a confident throw, so.... but then again so was the INT but that was telegraphed as was his TD to Davis. Kid is what he is. I don't blame him for anything. His toughness is unmatched in my eyes.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

While a couple were not available for the entire season, there were four major components of last year's line (Bennett.Greene, Friend, Bullock) who are no longer here. We lost quite a bit of experience due to graduation.

 

[UConnDan97]

Both TDs were when he stood in the pocket and delivered a confident throw, so.... but then again so was the INT but that was telegraphed as was his TD to Davis. Kid is what he is. I don't blame him for anything. His toughness is unmatched in my eyes.

Good point on the TD's (especially the Davis TD which came out very early in his hands). I was thinking more about the plays like the 25 yarder that he hit Davis with on the scramble early, or even the moments where he got big chunks of yardage / first downs with his legs...

 

[sportsart]

This is the worst performing o line since our jump to 1A. I can't believe I am saying that after watching last year's product.

This OL has performed horribly and performed terrific. New blood on the line learning a new offense.....not done over night.

I've seen enough good to believe they will get better. Especially vs the mid to lower half of the AAC.

 

[noeynox]

Dan, like I said I don't knock the kid because he is a tough SOB, who has a ton of heart. He wasn't the reason we lost today, but that pick today was the perfect example. We get the ball down three 11 minutes to go with all the momentum. He locks onto Foxx and throws a terrible int. The back breaking turnover is always lurking with him. It just is.

 

[UConnDan97]

To put a little more perspective on Whitmer's legs today:

If you take away the yardage lost from the 8 sacks, Whitmer would have finished with 33 yards on 4 carries. That would have put him second in rushing on the team, only 10 yards behind DeLorenzo. If anyone thinks that his "happy feet" were a problem today, they aren't good at locating problems...

 

[HomeKing93]

Even with the problems on the OL, I thought against SB and today we should have run more in the 2nd half. Of course, our backs need to hold on to the ball as well.