Joe Fagnano appreciation thread | The Boneyard

Joe Fagnano appreciation thread

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Kembafan

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He deserves some serious appreciation. I’m not interested in arguing about QB controversies or who was right all along or who should admit they were wrong. And I’m not interested in tearing any other player down.

I just think Fagnano is a gamer, a darned good football player, and should be recognized as a UConn Football hero.
 
Kembafan said:
He deserves some serious appreciation. I’m not interested in arguing about QB controversies or who was right all along or who should admit they were wrong. And I’m not interested in tearing any other player down.

I just think Fagnano is a gamer, a darned good football player, and should be recognized as a UConn Football hero.
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Well said!!!
 
Man, on this board, last year, he was called the "worst quarterback in the history of UConn" who only got the starting nod because of nepotism.

I'm 100% here for the Fagnano redemption arc. I was devastated when he left Maine but thrilled to have him here at UConn. He is a competent FBS quarterback and, based on how this season has played out, he's a heck of a teammate, too.
 
Purple Stein said:
Man, on this board, last year, he was called the "worst quarterback in the history of UConn" who only got the starting nod because of nepotism.

I'm 100% here for the Fagnano redemption arc. I was devastated when he left Maine but thrilled to have him here at UConn. He is a competent FBS quarterback and, based on how this season has played out, he's a heck of a teammate, too.
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Well said.

This is a great reminder to Husky Nation that we don't always have it right and it's better to err on the side of supportive rather than negative. Fagnano was a beast today!
 
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Joey Meatballs!!

Inglorious Basterds Ok GIF
 
One thing with Joe that many people, maybe Mora too, is when he started a couple games last year and got hurt is that we were bad, really bad. And the level of badness showed when T’Quan took over..

But we had higher expectations that year, few understood how bad we were at the beginning of the season and as a result, Joe F took a lot of grief before he got hurt. Unfairly in my book.

Look at him this year. We are 7-3 because he accepted his role as backup even when he is clearly outperforming our “starter“ in nearly every metric that matters.

I like Evers. No negative comments from me.

But Joe playing Joe more than Evers against Syracuse will give us a chance to win the game next week.

UConn looks amazingly subpar when Evers can’t complete passes - the box gets stuffed and we can’t do what we do. You look at Edward’s 48 yd run… That doesn’t happen if you aren’t worried about a pass downfield. The box is stuffed, nowhere to go.

So, I appreciate Joe and I wish him to start next week.
 
There is a chicken and the egg aspect to this.
Last year's team was quantitatively bad at WR. Between transfers and injuries, the 2023 WR corps was bad. So, 2023 needed a mobile QB who could run when all the routes were covered. Joe F wasn't the QB for that team.

WR's in 2024 is a much better WR corps. A mobile QB who isn't accurate and doesn't have the patience to go through reads in the pocket isn't a good match for 2024.
Evers (if he stayed healthy) would have been a better fit for 2022 or 2023 UConn.
Fagnano wasn't a good fit for 2023 but is a better fit for 2024.
New personnel and a new OC was as much a factor as it was QB raw ability.
 
Chin Diesel said:
There is a chicken and the egg aspect to this.
Last year's team was quantitatively bad at WR. Between transfers and injuries, the 2023 WR corps was bad. So, 2023 needed a mobile QB who could run when all the routes were covered. Joe F wasn't the QB for that team.

WR's in 2024 is a much better WR corps. A mobile QB who isn't accurate and doesn't have the patience to go through reads in the pocket isn't a good match for 2024.
Evers (if he stayed healthy) would have been a better fit for 2022 or 2023 UConn.
Fagnano wasn't a good fit for 2023 but is a better fit for 2024.
New personnel and a new OC was as much a factor as it was QB raw ability.
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I agree with this take. I wonder if Sammis has seen that and would love to be a fly on the wall...has Gordy just been the Good General or do you think he's verbalized this to Mora? His offense seems to flow so much more smoothly under Joe...he HAS to know that, right?
 
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HuskiesFan1014 said:
I agree with this take. I wonder if Sammis has seen that and would love to be a fly on the wall...has Gordy just been the Good General or do you think he's verbalized this to Mora? His offense seems to flow so much more smoothly under Joe...he HAS to know that, right?
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<Shrugs shoulders>
 
HuskiesFan1014 said:
I agree with this take. I wonder if Sammis has seen that and would love to be a fly on the wall...has Gordy just been the Good General or do you think he's verbalized this to Mora? His offense seems to flow so much more smoothly under Joe...he HAS to know that, right?
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One more thing.
2022 OLine with the grad transfer from Dartmouth at C was way better than 2023 OLine with Walker and Fortin.
Hoeh has been a huge upgrade stabilizing OLine in 2024.
 
There are two things going on here. Mora is playing Evers for the good of the program. He will be here for years, so will Mora. Evers needs reps. To some degree he is being force fed them.

Fagnano has made an unexpected leap. He is clearly the better passer and now looks like the better overall QB. He is the best thing for the short term, for this year, his last.

Coaches have to play the best players. He owes it to the team. Otherwise the coach will be playing favorites. Evers has been dinged up this year and he is hurt again. So the decision to start Joe against Syracuse is easy and obvious. But Evers will have a bye week to heal. The question is which road does Mora take? Does he continue to prioritize the program or does he prioritize winning tomorrow?
 
Coaches have to determine if there is a QB controversy. I trust Mora's decision as to who will start in the QB position. I will support whoever that is. I also believe that we should treat SU as a litmus test to what a bowl game may look like. As a fan two points: 1) I want to see the Huskies play them hard. 2) As a fan I know who i want to be the QB. But as a fan of this team right here right now - I trust in Mora. He is our coach so win - lose or draw, play each week like it is the last week - the last game! Whoever starts, we cheer them on. But they are away and we wont be their 12th man. They are there grinding it out and we will be where? As fans we watch - we want the "W" and we want a program that shows we will build on our success but these two are not mutually inclusive. So take our wins - take our losses and know next year we will play a different schedule. For now its one last week. I have been all in - this season and very pleasantly surprised! But the players and coaches only look at the next competition. Briefly look back at what went wrong last week and then its forward looking. Love the Mora Approach.
 
Kembafan said:
He deserves some serious appreciation. I’m not interested in arguing about QB controversies or who was right all along or who should admit they were wrong. And I’m not interested in tearing any other player down.

I just think Fagnano is a gamer, a darned good football player, and should be recognized as a UConn Football hero.
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He should be starting. Enough said!
 
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Maybe Mora hasn't been starting Fagnano as a secret weapon for Cuse? Didn't he say like last interview he didn't want to give away too much in the tapes
 
BIG kudos to JF- true team player who is setting an incredible example. It speaks to character and toughness and enough talent to back those up in a way that lifts the whole team. Future coach?
 
Interested to see what Mora does here. Evers with a bye week will be fine to play against Syracuse, so whatever decision is made should be a football decision. The injury didn't look too serious but don't know if there was anything official diagnosed/made public.
 
Here are some interesting Fagnano stats.

JF leads FBS QBs with >100 throws in TDs/Pass attempt. 11.8% of his pass attempts have been TDs. #2 is BC's Castellanos at 11.2%.

JF is ranked 5th in QB rating on ESPN for QBs who have thrown 100 or more passes. He is behind Dart of Ole Miss, Rourke of Indiana, Howard of Ohio St., and Ward of Miami.

Hard not to play him.
 
I'll say something that might get laughing emojis but I think Fagnano could be an nfl qb. A 7th rounder/FA it's not out of the realm of possibility. There are a lot of bad qbs and Fagnano obviously has experience being a backup and coming into games off the bench. If Tim Boyle and Tommy Devito can be on nfl rosters so can Joe Fagnano.
 
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Purple Stein said:
Man, on this board, last year, he was called the "worst quarterback in the history of UConn" who only got the starting nod because of nepotism.

I'm 100% here for the Fagnano redemption arc. I was devastated when he left Maine but thrilled to have him here at UConn. He is a competent FBS quarterback and, based on how this season has played out, he's a heck of a teammate, too.
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^^^ This.
 
I think Joe completely saved that game and deserves a ton of credit last night. That said, he made some plays that could have gone either way. I feel he still forces some throws. That last TD was thrown into triple coverage. Amazing catch and places well by Joe but that could have been disastrous.

I'm at the point of the season that whoever will get us wins I want to play. If we need to play Evers and Joe, so be it. I just wanna keep winning and at this point I'm not sure if Joe would be the full answer but he looks a lot better right now.
 
Palatine said:
There are two things going on here. Mora is playing Evers for the good of the program. He will be here for years, so will Mora. Evers needs reps. To some degree he is being force fed them.

Fagnano has made an unexpected leap. He is clearly the better passer and now looks like the better overall QB. He is the best thing for the short term, for this year, his last.

Coaches have to play the best players. He owes it to the team. Otherwise the coach will be playing favorites. Evers has been dinged up this year and he is hurt again. So the decision to start Joe against Syracuse is easy and obvious. But Evers will have a bye week to heal. The question is which road does Mora take? Does he continue to prioritize the program or does he prioritize winning tomorrow?
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We play today. We win today. Das it.

There is no tomorrow.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but one thing I noticed when Fagnano entered the game was that the attitude and body language of the WR corps notably improved. When Evers was in, his missed throws elicited visible signs of frustration within the unit. Once Joe came on, they seemed more engaged, unphased and upbeat despite the occasional miss. It looked to me like they clearly trust him more, and I think that made a big difference between winning and losing.
 
PlayItLeo said:
Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but one thing I noticed when Fagnano entered the game was that the attitude and body language of the WR corps notably improved. When Evers was in, his missed throws elicited visible signs of frustration within the unit. Once Joe came on, they seemed more engaged, unphased and upbeat despite the occasional miss. It looked to me like they clearly trust him more, and I think that made a big difference between winning and losing.
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Yup. Saw that too.
 
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