Just another Manic Monday

[Carl Spackler]

So, we're one month gone and 5 games into the season. Whirlwind month. 1-4 overall, with a tight win over Stony Brook, and lots of spotty, shoddy, and occasionally flashy, football.

We're a very young, and inexperienced team, with a young and inexperienced coach. I should write "WERE" as in "WE WERE" a very young and inexperienced team, with a young and inexperienced coach. (as opposed to "We're")

Because that's really all I"ve got to question now. We played 5 games like a freshmen football team, with a new coach and new systems. That's all we're looking at. THey have positive energy, they want to win, they are engaged, they've got a dynamic, energetic leader - but they play bad football still.

So when does the "inexperience" and "youth" transition to "experience and maturity"?

Good question.

I don't think we are so grossly outmatched talent wise on the field. We just suck, at the fundamentals of football. Protecting the ball. Body position. Knowing assigments and moving with proper leverage. When you are playing on the end of a formation you step out - not in. Simple.

I am concerned though, because here comes my 5cent Lucy from peanuts psychoanalysis. This team lacks confidence. Period.

I'm looking for 2 things the rest of the way.

#1. Is to get through the first quarter without an offensive turnover and/or giving up 6 points with the defense off the field. The fact that we've done that 5 times in a row, hurts this team. You can see it. It saps the confidence. If we can go the rest of the way, without that, it will help the confidence.

#2. Is just know your assignment. Know it down. Know where to move and how, and be there. I don't care if we're getting blockers steamrolled, or tacklers run over, or get burned on coverages, or overthrow, drop balls, just be where you are supposed to be. The rest will come, it can't come, if you're not where you'are supposed to be. Confidence builds from there.


As for the state of program, union, address. It's not Diaco's fault, because it started the moment that Randy Edsall called Maryland his 'dream job', but the fanbase for UCONN, has been in decline, from a whole bunch of body blows and head shots in all directions. Bad football, though mostly, from the end of 2010 season, steady decline to now.

Until the quality of play on the field improves, and we start winning, complaining about the fans? THe stadium? Just dumb, and useless. No time for that. This past weekend, Yale, outdrew UCONN, and as I suspected, the better game was played down in New Haven. THat's how it goes. When we're good again, we'll be filling the stadium again.

As usual, the UCONN people, are way behind. It's going to do no good, to the season ticket buyers that pay full price, for UCONN to be pushing tickets at half price for a program that's sucking wind. Have to find a balance there somehow up in Storrs.

SO for Diaco, and his players, the diehards, how ever many are left, by the end of the season, will be there, and we'll be there for the playres that are going out as seniors, and for the hope of the future, but don't expect us to be in our seats, or to stay to the end, or to even pay attention to what's happening on the field.

Fans, need their confidence back too, and it comes from being confident on what you expect to see on the field.

We've got 2 games, over the entire next month.

Lot's of time to practice, to be in the right spots, know your assignment, and develop some confidence.

We'll see if they can turn this past month, from inexperience and youth, to experience and maturity - because we've got LOTS of time to practice.

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't think we are so grossly outmatched talent wise on the field. We just suck, at the fundamentals of football. Protecting the ball. Body position. Knowing assigments and moving with proper leverage. When you are playing on the end of a formation you step out - not in. Simple.

I am concerned though, because here comes my 5cent Lucy from peanuts psychoanalysis. This team lacks confidence. Period.

I agree with the highlighted portions of your statement 100%. I don't agree with those that believe we don't have the talent. We just lost by 26 points to a team that had 30 yards of combined offense in the first half, less than 50 rushing yards all game, and had the ball for 11 fewer minutes. We were not outmatched or out-talented. In fact, we've finally got the run game going again. We just make the most incredible bumbling mistakes known to man, every game, the same ways.

A boneheaded interception that leads to the first seven for the other team. False start and holding penalties that kill drives. An uncontested strip-sack. An additional boneheaded interception from a second QB. A false start on a friggin' kickoff. This isn't due to talent. This is due to missing reads and assignments, and to not paying attention to details.

The lack of confidence was evident the second the kickoff touchdown got overturned. You could feel it in the stadium, and you could see it with the kids on the field. There was a "here we go again" feeling that penetrated throughout, and it allowed Temple to look like the 90's Cowboys when they had gone most of the game looking like the Patriots against the '86 Bears.

How does the confidence and attention to detail get fixed? I'm not sure, but I think it will only come from getting a win that we didn't expect to get. Shock someone like a Cincy, or an ECU, or a UCF. Shock someone that we are heavy underdogs to. And then breathe some life back into the team. That's what it's going to take to shake off the bugaboos. But I'm just not sure how long we'll have to wait to get a win like that. Maybe the bye-week is coming at the most opportune time...

 

[Carl Spackler]

I agree with the highlighted portions of your statement 100%. I don't agree with those that believe we don't have the talent. We just lost by 26 points to a team that had 30 yards of combined offense in the first half, less than 50 rushing yards all game, and had the ball for 11 fewer minutes. We were not outmatched or out-talented. In fact, we've finally got the run game going again. We just make the most incredible bumbling mistakes known to man, every game, the same ways.

A boneheaded interception that leads to the first seven for the other team. False start and holding penalties that kill drives. An uncontested strip-sack. An additional boneheaded interception from a second QB. A false start on a friggin' kickoff. This isn't due to talent. This is due to missing reads and assignments, and to not paying attention to details.

The lack of confidence was evident the second the kickoff touchdown got overturned. You could feel it in the stadium, and you could see it with the kids on the field. There was a "here we go again" feeling that penetrated throughout, and it allowed Temple to look like the 90's Cowboys when they had gone most of the game looking like the Patriots against the '86 Bears.

How does the confidence and attention to detail get fixed? I'm not sure, but I think it will only come from getting a win that we didn't expect to get. Shock someone like a Cincy, or an ECU, or a UCF. Shock someone that we are heavy underdogs to. And then breathe some life back into the team. That's what it's going to take to shake off the bugaboos. But I'm just not sure how long we'll have to wait to get a win like that. Maybe the bye-week is coming at the most opportune time...

Oh come on man, you're better than that. Confidence is simple. It comes from knowing your job cold, and trusting that the guy next to you, knows his job cold. That only happens when you practice, and drill, over and over - on fundamentals. We cannot develop the confidence we need, when we are rotating players the way we have through the first month of the season. There isn't enough practice time. We'll see what happens this month, because they've got the opportunity to run basically 2, and almost 3 weeks of basic camp training again. We'll see what the caochign staff can accomplish with the players, and how the players can eat it up and use it.

THe next home game, is Nov. 1. With the amount of practice time, we've got, having had 7 games to play by then, the inexperience and youth, thing? Well - we'll see where we're at then.

Confidence comes from practice. Winning games, develops swagger.

 

[UConnDan97]

Oh come on man, you're better than that. Confidence is simple. It comes from knowing your job cold, and trusting that the guy next to you, knows his job cold. That only happens when you practice, and drill, over and over - on fundamentals. We cannot develop the confidence we need, when we are rotating players the way we have through the first month of the season. There isn't enough practice time. We'll see what happens this month, because they've got the opportunity to run basically 2, and almost 3 weeks of basic camp training again. We'll see what the caochign staff can accomplish with the players, and how the players can eat it up and use it.

THe next home game, is Nov. 1. With the amount of practice time, we've got, having had 7 games to play by then, the inexperience and youth, thing? Well - we'll see where we're at then.

Confidence comes from practice. Winning games, develops swagger.

What you're describing is not confidence. It's competence. Competence comes from practicing something over and over again until you can't get it wrong. Confidence comes from when the developed competence gets you the desired result. And right now we are lacking in both. But I see the competence in a lot of areas of the field, some of the time. Hell, I even see the swagger!!! The defense definitely had the swagger in the first half.

But when the second half overturn of the touchdown happened, what happened to that defensive swagger? That's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about the confidence. The idea that, "We're gonna get this back, no problem." The idea that, "I can trust that my teammates will get their end of the bargain held up, so I just need to hold up mine." We didn't see that confidence for a good 7 minute stretch of the third quarter, and it broke the game and the team. That's what I mean by confidence. And that confidence only gets solidified by a good result. We are in desperate need of a good result...

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Oh come on man, you're better than that. Confidence is simple. It comes from knowing your job cold, and trusting that the guy next to you, knows his job cold. That only happens when you practice, and drill, over and over - on fundamentals. We cannot develop the confidence we need, when we are rotating players the way we have through the first month of the season. There isn't enough practice time. We'll see what happens this month, because they've got the opportunity to run basically 2, and almost 3 weeks of basic camp training again. We'll see what the caochign staff can accomplish with the players, and how the players can eat it up and use it.

THe next home game, is Nov. 1. With the amount of practice time, we've got, having had 7 games to play by then, the inexperience and youth, thing? Well - we'll see where we're at then.

Confidence comes from practice. Winning games, develops swagger.

All well and good Carl but point blank, and there's no dancing around this any more, we don't have kids on the OL who are capable of playing at this level. I hate to say that because by all accounts they're great kids and great embassadors for the university, but they can't play. And until that gets fixed we're going to struggle.

As for confidence, nobody around me saw a flag on the 2nd half kickoff. There was a general feeling that maybe something will click now and the football Gods have shown pity on us. When it was called back, there was nothing we could all do but laugh. It felt like we were being trolled by the entire world. Can you imagine how the kids must have felt? Was not shocked at all by the play in the 3rd quarter.

In the 4th, my son wanted to go sit behind the UConn bench. I figured why not. Sat there in the front row. Body language was terrible. Casey was trying his best to keep guy's heads up. No bounce in their step. This is going to be a long hard grind. I've been critical of some of the things Diaco has done and said, but we have no other choice than to give this time. It's not all his fault.

 

[UConnDan97]

As for confidence, nobody around me saw a flag on the 2nd half kickoff. There was a general feeling that maybe something will click now and the football Gods have shown pity on us. When it was called back, there was nothing we could all do but laugh. It felt like we were being trolled by the entire world. Can you imagine how the kids must have felt? Was not shocked at all by the play in the 3rd quarter.

This ^^^

 

[Wildgopher]

All well and good Carl but point blank, and there's no dancing around this any more, we don't have kids on the OL who are capable of playing at this level. I hate to say that because by all accounts they're great kids and great embassadors for the university, but they can't play. And until that gets fixed we're going to struggle.

As for confidence, nobody around me saw a flag on the 2nd half kickoff. There was a general feeling that maybe something will click now and the football Gods have shown pity on us. When it was called back, there was nothing we could all do but laugh. It felt like we were being trolled by the entire world. Can you imagine how the kids must have felt? Was not shocked at all by the play in the 3rd quarter.

In the 4th, my son wanted to go sit behind the UConn bench. I figured why not. Sat there in the front row. Body language was terrible. Casey was trying his best to keep guy's heads up. No bounce in their step. This is going to be a long hard grind. I've been critical of some of the things Diaco has done and said, but we have no other choice than to give this time. It's not all his fault.

I saw the flag go flying, then us recovering the fumble. My wife said "why aren't you going crazy?", and I told her I saw the guy go offside and the TD won't count, and she plopped back into her seat.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Confidence comes from knowing your job. You only develop that through practice. We are a young team, that hasn't had a lot of practice. We've got the opportunity to do a whole bunch of practice in the 5 weeks before the next home game.

I haven't lost any bit of confidence in Diaco to get a job done, I've just been completely at odds with this system he's come up with of rotating so many young players.

If after the next 5 weeks, at homecoming, we are still so completely lost on the field, with the opportunity we've got to get better now, this month, then it might be time for an intervention on this plan the rookie coach has developed.

The reality, is that with a team that is as raw, and young, as this team was in August - by November, you should see some serious improvement, it's expected, and should really not be that difficulty, for professionals being paid 6 and 7 figure salaries to get a team as bad fundamentally as we are, to be being playing competent football, especially when they are young and have positive attitude. What gets hard is pushing it from a level of competence to being elite. But we aren't at 400 level coaching yet.

So - the first month is over, and 2-3, would have been nice, 3-2 or better? Amazing. But we're 1-4, with 7 to go. better than 0-5, but not anywhere near good enough.

Got to get better every day, every week.

It comes from practice. This I won't waiver on - confidence comes from knowing your job, cold. That only comes from practice. This team is not confident at all on the field. Any perceived "swagger" is just kids trying to be brave.

Bye weeks are a great opportunity to get back to running a training camp.

 

[SubbaBub]

There is a pattern here. Not a developing pattern but a definitive one.

After BYU, the defense has improved. Still making mistakes but that's all they are and the overall result is actually pretty good considering.

The turnovers, the penalties, the missed assignments, losing the one on one battles, and generally not doing the job up front has not improved one iota. That isn't on the players as much as it is the coach. Find something, anything that your roster can execute.

 

[Carl Spackler]

All well and good Carl but point blank, and there's no dancing around this any more, we don't have kids on the OL who are capable of playing at this level. I hate to say that because by all accounts they're great kids and great embassadors for the university, but they can't play. And until that gets fixed we're going to struggle.

As for confidence, nobody around me saw a flag on the 2nd half kickoff. There was a general feeling that maybe something will click now and the football Gods have shown pity on us. When it was called back, there was nothing we could all do but laugh. It felt like we were being trolled by the entire world. Can you imagine how the kids must have felt? Was not shocked at all by the play in the 3rd quarter.

In the 4th, my son wanted to go sit behind the UConn bench. I figured why not. Sat there in the front row. Body language was terrible. Casey was trying his best to keep guy's heads up. No bounce in their step. This is going to be a long hard grind. I've been critical of some of the things Diaco has done and said, but we have no other choice than to give this time. It's not all his fault.

I disagree Jimmy. I see players that are completely unsound fundamentally. Tackles taking the wrong steps to start a play on the end of a formation. Guards and tackles that simply aren't bending their knees enough and getting low enough. We've worked real hard on strength and conditioning for this program in the past 9 months - what about flexibility? I see players on the offensive line, especially in the run, game, that when they actually are in good football position, and get off the snap and hit somebody they're supposed to hit - they can play.

pass protection? This is where we are completely broken down, because pass protection involves more than just the 5 guys up front, and we have no confidence, because we have players that still don't know their assignments, and players that are just fundamentally unsound in getting their feet moving, yet staying grounded enough to hit somebody.

Every single one of our lineman, could use whole bunch of time in boxing gym.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I disagree Jimmy. I see players that are completely unsound fundamentally. Tackles taking the wrong steps to start a play on the end of a formation. Guards and tackles that simply aren't bending their knees enough and getting low enough. We've worked real hard on strength and conditioning for this program in the past 9 months - what about flexibility? I see players on the offensive line, especially in the run, game, that when they actually are in good football position, and get off the snap and hit somebody they're supposed to hit - they can play.

pass protection? This is where we are completely broken down, because pass protection involves more than just the 5 guys up front, and we have no confidence, because we have players that still don't know their assignments, and players that are just fundamentally unsound in getting their feet moving, yet staying grounded enough to hit somebody.

Every single one of our lineman, could use whole bunch of time in boxing gym.

Ummmm, so essentially what you're saying is that they can't play. These aren't 17 year old kids we're talking about. I'll give Crozier and Rutherford a pass. Personally I think we've burned redshirts unnecessarily this year. But Levy, Cruz, Mateas, Samra, Knappe, Gifford......they are what they are. Can they improve? Sure. How much they can improve, and if that will be enough to turn them into competent (not good, just competent) players is the million dollar question.

 

[Palatine]

We don't try to win. We evaluate. We take vitamin D. We try to improve.

I strongly disagree there isn't enough talent to beat Temple or USF on this team.

They are in disarray because the coach has made it clear that winning is not his priority. He plays lots of players, great. He starts a QB who has proven he can't generate points. He doesn't scheme to protect the young offensive line.

The cupboard is bare. I heard that when we had 11 NFL players starting for us. There are teams with far less talent playing much better than us.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Ummmm, so essentially what you're saying is that they can't play. These aren't 17 year old kids we're talking about. I'll give Crozier and Rutherford a pass. Personally I think we've burned redshirts unnecessarily this year. But Levy, Cruz, Mateas, Samra, Knappe, Gifford.they are what they are. Can they improve? Sure. How much they can improve, and if that will be enough to turn them into competent (not good, just competent) players is the million dollar question.

Until the players can actually line up in decent football position, as a unit, get their assignments right as a unit, and then get engaged, you can't say that we are under-talented or not good enough. The reality, is that we have been improving in run blocking, when we can actually line up as a unit, and be fundamentally sound off the snap.

It's really an insult to the players out there on the field, to say they aren't good enough to compete with the level of competition we're playing. I find that distasteful. They haven't shown that to be the problem at all.

They've shown that they are just a bad fundamental football team, that is expected with the youth on the roster, and the constant change in coaching over the past 3 seasons.

It's on the coaching staff, to get the practice and preparation into a new gear, and for the players to accept it, and start showing it on the field.

What kills me, is that I keep feeling that Diaco is shooting himself in the feet, by setting up this system to rotate so many players.

We have got to tighten up the rotation and lineup and get to practicing, REALLY practicing. It's the only way to get better, or this mess will continue to the end of the season, and nobody will really develop strongly.

I'd rather have 25-35 strong players by the end of the season, to build with to go into next season, rather than 65-85 medium to low players, to build with.

 

[ZooCougar]

Until the players can actually line up in decent football position, as a unit, get their assignments right as a unit, and then get engaged, you can't say that we are under-talented or not good enough. The reality, is that we have been improving in run blocking, when we can actually line up as a unit, and be fundamentally sound off the snap.

It's really an insult to the players out there on the field, to say they aren't good enough to compete with the level of competition we're playing. I find that distasteful. They haven't shown that to be the problem at all.

They've shown that they are just a bad fundamental football team, that is expected with the youth on the roster, and the constant change in coaching over the past 3 seasons.

It's on the coaching staff, to get the practice and preparation into a new gear, and for the players to accept it, and start showing it on the field.

What kills me, is that I keep feeling that Diaco is shooting himself in the feet, by setting up this system to rotate so many players.

We have got to tighten up the rotation and lineup and get to practicing, REALLY practicing. It's the only way to get better, or this mess will continue to the end of the season, and nobody will really develop strongly.

I'd rather have 25-35 strong players by the end of the season, to build with to go into next season, rather than 65-85 medium to low players, to build with.

Diaco isn't shooting himself in the foot. He amputed both feet to preclude that from happening.

 

[Palatine]

I'd rather have 25-35 strong players by the end of the season, to build with to go into next season, rather than 65-85 medium to low players, to build with.

Those are not the choices. And if the coach has given up on 50 players, imagine what that does to the moral of the team.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Those are not the choices. And if the coach has given up on 50 players, imagine what that does to the moral of the team.

That's horse crap. All I'm talking about is developing a starting lineup to the point of being fundamentally competent on the field, and strong enough to actually start to exert their will on the field, from start to finish. Doing that isn't giving up on 50 other players. It's building a a winning team, and relying on your other 50 players, to be frigging motivated, and working hard, in practice and preparation to be retdy, , when it's their turn to get their number called.

Whatever the hell Diaco is doing to develop a team, I've never seen before. It's pretty ambitious to think you can take as many young players as we've got, and develop them all the same time.

 

[HuskyHawk]

We don't try to win. We evaluate. We take vitamin D. We try to improve.

I strongly disagree there isn't enough talent to beat Temple or USF on this team.

They are in disarray because the coach has made it clear that winning is not his priority. He plays lots of players, great. He starts a QB who has proven he can't generate points. He doesn't scheme to protect the young offensive line.

The cupboard is bare. I heard that when we had 11 NFL players starting for us. There are teams with far less talent playing much better than us.

Winning is not a priority? What a load of crap. They took the opening drive, and drove most of the length of the field, playing tough football. The defense dominated Temple the entire first half. You don't think he's trying to win? If anything, what I saw validated what he did at USF. The entire game yesterday, and most of Temple's points came down to UConn mistakes on offense. There was a blowout on the scoreboard, but not on the field.

I will agree it is time for Whitmer to go, and for the offense to be simplified to protect Boyle. I predict that even a little success will reduce the pressure, and force teams to play us differently.

 

[Carl Spackler]

There is only one way to fix the confidence and attention to detail problem we have - and that is practice and preparation. The game wasn't nearly as bad as the final score indicated, what the game demonstrated, is simple - bad football when the pressure is on to perform.

The final score of the game, and the second half, the first half too- reflects the simple confidence problem we have to perform when the pressure is on and the screws are being turned. It's a tough spot to be in, but things have a way of happening if you have a certain kind of faith in order out of chaos.

We have FIVE calendar weeks before the next home game. We have only 2 games to play in that time, both on the road. There is plenty of time, to practice, and prepare, to develop the confidence in our ability to play an entire 4 quarters of football well.

It's really, now, time for Diaco to earn his money as a head coach, and show that he can indeed coach a football team to success, because there is no reason, given the amount of time we have mid-season, now, the low level we are coming from, that in the next month, to practice and prepare with this young team, that we should not finish, this season, much, MUCH stronger than we started it.

 

[Carl Spackler]

What you're describing is not confidence. It's competence. Competence comes from practicing something over and over again until you can't get it wrong. Confidence comes from when the developed competence gets you the desired result. And right now we are lacking in both. But I see the competence in a lot of areas of the field, some of the time. Hell, I even see the swagger!!! The defense definitely had the swagger in the first half.

But when the second half overturn of the touchdown happened, what happened to that defensive swagger? That's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about the confidence. The idea that, "We're gonna get this back, no problem." The idea that, "I can trust that my teammates will get their end of the bargain held up, so I just need to hold up mine." We didn't see that confidence for a good 7 minute stretch of the third quarter, and it broke the game and the team. That's what I mean by confidence. And that confidence only gets solidified by a good result. We are in desperate need of a good result...

A good result, meaning a win, is a not a singular thing, it's the accumulatrion of hundreds, if not thousands, of little things that happen with good results. We're disagreeing on words really though only. Confidence, to me, is simply knowing your job, and being able to repeat it, with success, consistently. That's individual confidence. Team confidence builds up when the individuals in the group, recognize their own confidence, in others around them. We aren't anywhere near that yet, and winning a game, will not fix that.

Let's start with confidence, that when our OL's. and DE's and OLB's, and ILB"s, and RB's, and FB's, and TE's, and DB's - can all take their first step, within a play call, and do it right. We are not even at that level yet.

 

[UConnDan97]

A good result, meaning a win, is a not a singular thing, it's the accumulatrion of hundreds, if not thousands, of little things that happen with good results. We're disagreeing on words really though only. Confidence, to me, is simply knowing your job, and being able to repeat it, with success, consistently. That's individual confidence. Team confidence builds up when the individuals in the group, recognize their own confidence, in others around them. We aren't anywhere near that yet, and winning a game, will not fix that.

Let's start with confidence, that when our OL's. and DE's and OLB's, and ILB"s, and RB's, and FB's, and TE's, and DB's - can all take their first step, within a play call, and do it right. We are not even at that level yet.

Well, yeah, we're disagreeing on the definition of words primarily. And to that point, "confidence" is simply a belief. It's a belief that if you do A, then B will happen. Don't get me wrong; I believe that the competence part needs to be worked on (clearly!), but there is a huge loss of confidence that the team is feeling. The only way that gets fixed is when they see that doing A gets them a nice B...

 

[UConnJim]

I agree about the lack of confidence, but I don't think the coaching plan has helped develop confidence. The plan to rotate players is, in my mind, a confidence killer. The OL has to operate as one and have a high level of trust in one another. How can they do that when they are being rotated? This is why veteran offensive lines are best.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I agree about the lack of confidence, but I don't think the coaching plan has helped develop confidence. The plan to rotate players is, in my mind, a confidence killer. The OL has to operate as one and have a high level of trust in one another. How can they do that when they are being rotated? This is why veteran offensive lines are best.

I've hammered that point long enough. I don't get it, I don't agree with it, but that doesn't mean it can't work. It's certainly slow progress though. It's the plan though, and we're sticking with it. So, the issue is making it work.

we've got a great opportunity in front of us, to get better. The schedule was tough out of the gate, with 5 games in 29 days, and a young team, and first time coach. It showed, and we are 1-4 now out of it.

We've now got 2 games, over the course of 34 days and homecoming against UCF on the 35th day.

It's show me time, for Coach Diaco and his system. As far as I'm concerned, the game on Nov. 1, needs to be much, MUCH better than any of the games we've seen through September at Rentschler.

 

[ktuck911]

Couldn't resist. A WEBE 108 (107.9 on the FM dial) special:

 

[Carl Spackler]

Suzanna Hoffs is hot, and Hazy Shade of Winter is still one of my all time favorite recordings.