Keys to Success(remaining 6 games)

[metsfan2323]

He'd be about 5th on my list behind TW, DG, SM and BWW.

I would bet that Yawin Smallwood disagrees with you. Yawin is a great pass rusher, for some reason Hank never noticed that.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I would bet that Yawin Smallwood disagrees with you. Yawin is a great pass rusher, for some reason Hank never noticed that.

I would take that bet.

 

[freescooter]

I sort of agree with Carl on a lot of this. this is a very undisciplined football team and I don't think that gets fixed anytime soon. But in my view the defense is not great but it is probably adequate under most circumstances. Remember we've scored 10 and 9 points on offense the last 2 weeks. Last 3 games we've scored 10, 9, 12 and and given up points on offense in each of those games. Think of that for a second. Our offense not only doesn't score points, but gives them up. We've had opposing defenses score points against us in 4 of 6 games and in the Michigan game we turned it over at our 12, which is effectively the same thing. So you're not only putting it all on the defense, you're putting them in a hole every game. Almost like you are starting down 7 at kickoff. As far as the offense is concerned, Boyle is not even close to ready. I'm not sure that you get any benefits from playing him this year vs. not playing him. My sense is that it was a mistake made mainly in hopes that he somehow sparks the offense, but if it was it sure didn't work. I disagree with Carl that by playing he'll necessarily improve. I didn't see any real improvement at Cincy, arguably he regressed as far as being in command of the offense and pocket presence. His numbers were ok, but the Bearcats were more or less playing a prevent in the 2nd half, yet still had a couple of picks and but for Foxx's effort would have had another pick-6.

 

[BlueDogs]

D Line needs to be shuffled. Linebackers need to get active with more blitz and definitely need to get more aggressive. DBs are not covering well and only cure is to reduce time in the pocket .
O line needs to be able to handle blitzes and stunts - the message needs to be zero sacks, and if that means tackling your guy you do it. Why? Because the mission has to be you will do everything and anything to protect your QB. If you get beat you sit the next series until we find guys who want to protect the QB. If you miss your assignment, you sit.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I sort of agree with Carl on a lot of this. this is a very undisciplined football team and I don't think that gets fixed anytime soon. But in my view the defense is not great but it is probably adequate under most circumstances. Remember we've scored 10 and 9 points on offense the last 2 weeks. Last 3 games we've scored 10, 9, 12 and and given up points on offense in each of those games. Think of that for a second. Our offense not only doesn't score points, but gives them up. We've had opposing defenses score points against us in 4 of 6 games and in the Michigan game we turned it over at our 12, which is effectively the same thing. So you're not only putting it all on the defense, you're putting them in a hole every game. Almost like you are starting down 7 at kickoff. As far as the offense is concerned, Boyle is not even close to ready. I'm not sure that you get any benefits from playing him this year vs. not playing him. My sense is that it was a mistake made mainly in hopes that he somehow sparks the offense, but if it was it sure didn't work. I disagree with Carl that by playing he'll necessarily improve. I didn't see any real improvement at Cincy, arguably he regressed as far as being in command of the offense and pocket presence. His numbers were ok, but the Bearcats were more or less playing a prevent in the 2nd half, yet still had a couple of picks and but for Foxx's effort would have had another pick-6.

On correcting the fundamentals/discipline concept - I disagree - that is a very quick fix, from a good coaching staff. The difficulty in fixing something like that is if you have problematic players and need to clean house on your roster because of that.

I don't believe that to be the case at all with the UCONN roster, I think these guys are hungry for the discipline and focus it takes to win.

And as far as the rest of your assessment, people see different things and have different opinions. I think we got a much more true look at where Boyle is as a true freshmen against that cincy defense, on the road, and in the situation we ended up in on the scoreboard than we did at home against USF.

I'm still quite pleased with it and the potential he's got.

 

[thatguyed]

Not that we deserve any respect but we're posted as 23 point dogs on Saturday.

 

[freescooter]

D Line needs to be shuffled. Linebackers need to get active with more blitz and definitely need to get more aggressive. DBs are not covering well and only cure is to reduce time in the pocket .
O line needs to be able to handle blitzes and stunts - the message needs to be zero sacks, and if that means tackling your guy you do it. Why? Because the mission has to be you will do everything and anything to protect your QB. If you get beat you sit the next series until we find guys who want to protect the QB. If you miss your assignment, you sit.

Bluedog, I agree in theory, but I'm concerned that by halftime we'll be playing the tuba guys from the band at the tackle positions. We've already seen what the backup tackles can do and it isn't pretty. On the other hand, maybe the tuba guys won't do any worse...

 

[Palatine]

Keys to Success(remaining 6 games)

1. Pass Rush

2. Pass Rush

3. Pass Rush

4. Pass Rush

5. Pass Rush

6. Pass Rush

 

[huskymedic]

Keys to Success(remaining 6 games)

1. Pass Rush

2. Block Pass Rush

3. Pass Rush

4. Block Pass Rush

5. Pass Rush

6. Block Pass Rush

fixed ....

 

[metsfan2323]

fixed ....

That's the season in a nutshell, our QB is under constant assault and our opposition's QB has all day to throw. That's a recipe for 0 - 6.

 

[freescooter]

Um, we've scored 12, 10 and 9 offensive points in the last 3 games. Our offense...our offense has given the other guys scores or virtually scores (cincy returned INT to the 2). I'm not arguing that our defense is great by any means, but with even a mediocre offense we'd be fine. Think about the turnovers we had Saturday. One in the endzone. One returned 47 yards to the 2 yardline, and one returned 87 yards that due to a great play by Foxx wasn't a pick 6 but that moved us from the Cincy 25 to our own 20. They didn't score, but we lost 55 yards on the play! If you ask your defense to not only pitch a shut out, but have the offense put them in the hole every game, giving up points rather than scoring them, I don't care how good your D is. It isn't going to work. You can't win games if you can't score points and you definitely can't win games if you not only cannot score but actually give the opponent points. We have basically spotted the opponent 7 points in 4 of the 6 games we played. Could our pass rush have been better? Sure. Can our coverage be better? Absolutely. But with just a bad offense this team plays enough defense to be 3-3 or better. We can rush the passer all day long. If the offense can't score and the offense gives the other guy points, we're not winning the game. Cincy was just a better team. We probably weren't beating them under any circumstances. On the other hand, we held South Florida to 6 points and under 250 yards total offense. But we gave up 7 when we were on offense and only scored 10. Try as you might, you just can't put that on the defense. You can't play much more effective defense than that.

Our problems are on the offensive side of the football. Our defense isn't great but to pretend that the huge problems are on that side is nuts. I don't get, have really never completely gotten the love Weist gets on this board. Same with Boyle. Weist has been bad as OC. I'm willing ot give him a pass as head coach given the circumstances. Boyle has potential, but that's it. His actual performance has been pretty bad. Neither of those falls on the defense.

 

[NickyNewark]

I sort of agree with Carl on a lot of this. this is a very undisciplined football team and I don't think that gets fixed anytime soon. But in my view the defense is not great but it is probably adequate under most circumstances. Remember we've scored 10 and 9 points on offense the last 2 weeks. Last 3 games we've scored 10, 9, 12 and and given up points on offense in each of those games. Think of that for a second. Our offense not only doesn't score points, but gives them up. We've had opposing defenses score points against us in 4 of 6 games and in the Michigan game we turned it over at our 12, which is effectively the same thing. So you're not only putting it all on the defense, you're putting them in a hole every game. Almost like you are starting down 7 at kickoff. As far as the offense is concerned, Boyle is not even close to ready. I'm not sure that you get any benefits from playing him this year vs. not playing him. My sense is that it was a mistake made mainly in hopes that he somehow sparks the offense, but if it was it sure didn't work. I disagree with Carl that by playing he'll necessarily improve. I didn't see any real improvement at Cincy, arguably he regressed as far as being in command of the offense and pocket presence. His numbers were ok, but the Bearcats were more or less playing a prevent in the 2nd half, yet still had a couple of picks and but for Foxx's effort would have had another pick-6.

I'm not claiming to be an expert but if you've got a QB with the "it" factor the only way to really learn is in the line of fire.I loved the potential I saw in the young man in flashes and without the drops and a little help everyone would be raving about him!I think we'll be glad we got him this real experience this year later in the season and next year.At least we'll know what we have next year at QB and try and shore up the OL and WR positions and get the running game going to open up the passing game!

 

[noeynox]

When he comes back, I'd love to see Graham Stewart utilized on passing downs as maybe an under sizes edge rusher on,the DL. There is no,doubt his talents should be utilized but right now I like Vann and ashiru at lb more.

 

[BlueDogs]

Bluedog, I agree in theory, but I'm concerned that by halftime we'll be playing the tuba guys from the band at the tackle positions. We've already seen what the backup tackles can do and it isn't pretty. On the other hand, maybe the tuba guys won't do any worse...

LOL. Cant disagree on that.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Um, we've scored 12, 10 and 9 offensive points in the last 3 games. Our offense...our offense has given the other guys scores or virtually scores (cincy returned INT to the 2). I'm not arguing that our defense is great by any means, but with even a mediocre offense we'd be fine. Think about the turnovers we had Saturday. One in the endzone. One returned 47 yards to the 2 yardline, and one returned 87 yards that due to a great play by Foxx wasn't a pick 6 but that moved us from the Cincy 25 to our own 20. They didn't score, but we lost 55 yards on the play! If you ask your defense to not only pitch a shut out, but have the offense put them in the hole every game, giving up points rather than scoring them, I don't care how good your D is. It isn't going to work. You can't win games if you can't score points and you definitely can't win games if you not only cannot score but actually give the opponent points. We have basically spotted the opponent 7 points in 4 of the 6 games we played. Could our pass rush have been better? Sure. Can our coverage be better? Absolutely. But with just a bad offense this team plays enough defense to be 3-3 or better. We can rush the passer all day long. If the offense can't score and the offense gives the other guy points, we're not winning the game. Cincy was just a better team. We probably weren't beating them under any circumstances. On the other hand, we held South Florida to 6 points and under 250 yards total offense. But we gave up 7 when we were on offense and only scored 10. Try as you might, you just can't put that on the defense. You can't play much more effective defense than that.

Our problems are on the offensive side of the football. Our defense isn't great but to pretend that the huge problems are on that side is nuts. I don't get, have really never completely gotten the love Weist gets on this board. Same with Boyle. Weist has been bad as OC. I'm willing ot give him a pass as head coach given the circumstances. Boyle has potential, but that's it. His actual performance has been pretty bad. Neither of those falls on the defense.

Weist might be a good head coach someday but it won't be at UConn.
Nick Sabin wouldn't help this team unless he brought the OL with him.

 

[freescooter]

Weist might be a good head coach someday but it won't be at UConn.
Nick Sabin wouldn't help this team unless he brought the OL with him.

I'm inclined to agree with this. Anyone who thought that any coach taking over this wreck at mid-season was going to quickly turn things around was dreaming. On the other hand, I don't think Weist has exactly cleared a pretty low bar so far. I don't buy the "quarterback is a freshman" excuse. If he isn't the answer, and I don't think he is quite honestly, he really shouldn't have been put in there. That was a desperate move that likely cost us the USF game and could well cost us others. Kid should still be redshirting. And unless the decision was made by Warde, which it may well have been, it was a bad decision. You don't waste a guy's future by playing him when he isn't really ready. If it was Warde's decision, I hope Weist got something in return.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I'm inclined to agree with this. Anyone who thought that any coach taking over this wreck at mid-season was going to quickly turn things around was dreaming. On the other hand, I don't think Weist has exactly cleared a pretty low bar so far. I don't buy the "quarterback is a freshman" excuse. If he isn't the answer, and I don't think he is quite honestly, he really shouldn't have been put in there. That was a desperate move that likely cost us the USF game and could well cost us others. Kid should still be redshirting. And unless the decision was made by Warde, which it may well have been, it was a bad decision. You don't waste a guy's future by playing him when he isn't really ready. If it was Warde's decision, I hope Weist got something in return.

Dude - here you go again with this. Why? Are you just being a pain in the rear? You do realize who the alternatives to playing Boyle right now are right? What makes you think Boyle isn't ready? Did Whitmer do a lot better? Are you familiar with the concept of risks/benefits? If Boyle doesn't make sense to you at QB, please explain to the rest of us why another option would make better sense. Do you want to see Cochran out there? The other freshmen? Put Whitmer back in? What?

How in the hell is playing Boyle and his redshirt decision on Warde Manuel?

I think you need to lay off the sauce for a bit.

 

[freescooter]

Dude - here you go again with this. Why? Are you just being a pain in the rear? You do realize who the alternatives to playing Boyle right now are right? What makes you think Boyle isn't ready? Did Whitmer do a lot better? Are you familiar with the concept of risks/benefits? If Boyle doesn't make sense to you at QB, please explain to the rest of us why another option would make better sense. Do you want to see Cochran out there? The other freshmen? Put Whitmer back in? What?

How in the hell is playing Boyle and his redshirt decision on Warde Manuel?

I think you need to lay off the sauce for a bit.

Dude,

Here's the thing. Boyle clearly showed he isn't ready. Offensive output in 2 games was 10 points and 9 points. He had 3 picks, one in the endzone. One returned 50 yards to the 2 yard line. one returned 87 yards and but for a great play by Fox was a pick 6. He got sacked 8 times. Now some of that is on the line, but even his head coach said part of it is on Boyle. He shows some skills, but he isn't ready for this level of football and playing him now isn't going to get us any wins this year, probably cost us a game,actually and it wastes a year of eligibility. For what? "to get valuable experience?" Please. if you aren't playing to win, you shouldn't bother showing up. We might just as well cancel the rest of the season. Up to me I'd go with Whitmer. He might not be any better, but he's surely no worse and using him isn't wasting a year of eligibility on a lost cause. Now we have the worst of all worlds. We have a quarterback who isn't very good at this point AND we wasted a year we could have had when he will be ready. As we used to say, nice play Shakespeare. Personally, I actually think Whitmer is better right now than Boyle. In 2 years, maybe even in a year, Boyle has way more upside. But right now Boyle isn't ready. I think the decision to use him was a desperate move by Pasqualoni, that Weist didn't countermand in part because he is in a similar position...he needed something dramatic to happen to keep the head coach job and he threw the kid out there hoping against hope that a miracle happens. It didn't. As palatine likes to say, it is about productivity. Boyle "produced" 10 points and 9 points. He's given away almost as many. More if you count turnovers deep in the other guy's end. Two worst offensive outputs of the season. Finally, Weist doesn't give a damn about getting Boyle experience. Why would he? Odds were at best very long that he's be back under any circumstances. So he took a huge risk that ultimately is potentially damaging to the program long term in hopes of getting a miracle. Or Warde told him it was ok and he should do it in order to protect the gate. Or maybe he did it on his own. But in any case, it didn't work.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Dude,

Here's the thing. Boyle clearly showed he isn't ready. Offensive output in 2 games was 10 points and 9 points. He had 3 picks, one in the endzone. One returned 50 yards to the 2 yard line. one returned 87 yards and but for a great play by Fox was a pick 6. He got sacked 8 times. Now some of that is on the line, but even his head coach said part of it is on Boyle. He shows some skills, but he isn't ready for this level of football and playing him now isn't going to get us any wins this year, probably cost us a game,actually and it wastes a year of eligibility. For what? "to get valuable experience?" Please. if you aren't playing to win, you shouldn't bother showing up. We might just as well cancel the rest of the season. Up to me I'd go with Whitmer. He might not be any better, but he's surely no worse and using him isn't wasting a year of eligibility on a lost cause. Now we have the worst of all worlds. We have a quarterback who isn't very good at this point AND we wasted a year we could have had when he will be ready. As we used to say, nice play Shakespeare. Personally, I actually think Whitmer is better right now than Boyle. In 2 years, maybe even in a year, Boyle has way more upside. But right now Boyle isn't ready. I think the decision to use him was a desperate move by Pasqualoni, that Weist didn't countermand in part because he is in a similar position...he needed something dramatic to happen to keep the head coach job and he threw the kid out there hoping against hope that a miracle happens. It didn't. As palatine likes to say, it is about productivity. Boyle "produced" 10 points and 9 points. He's given away almost as many. More if you count turnovers deep in the other guy's end. Two worst offensive outputs of the season. Finally, Weist doesn't give a damn about getting Boyle experience. Why would he? Odds were at best very long that he's be back under any circumstances. So he took a huge risk that ultimately is potentially damaging to the program long term in hopes of getting a miracle. Or Warde told him it was ok and he should do it in order to protect the gate. Or maybe he did it on his own. But in any case, it didn't work.

People think I'm nuts.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

First, understand that success is not wins and losses. These are, IMO, the changes in personnel and strategy we need to implement ASAP to salvage some meaning/success out of this season. We need to evaluate talent, develop an identity, and fight.

1. Boyle has looked composed, productive, and in command on whole. Play him every snap. Let him learn how to lead and how to improve. TB is this team's future. He will become the face of the program. He will upgrade this offense.

2. Delorenzo is the #1 TB, and gets 20 carries/game. McCombs gets 4-7 carries in a backup/spot duty only. Only when Delorenzo needs a breather. Reasoning: Do I even need to say it? Delorenzo scrapes out consisently tough yards, but also has shown the wiggle/burst/vision to get the ball to the boundary and create chunk yardage. He deserves a shot to carry the load. Max deserves a shot, yes. But the RB situation doesn't get solved til you get a Todman, Brown, Dixon, Caully type back and that's also not Max.

3. An extension of #1, but lets pound the rock. The backs with size averaged 6-7 YPC last week but we went away from it. This accomplishes two things: First, allows chances to run time, and provides the offensive line some protection in that the DE/LBs can't pin their ears back and get after the QB. As I said winning is less important that building an identity for the team. Lets be the aggressors on the LOS and get nasty on the ground. So never mind that this is how UConn got into this predicament. College football is about exciting offenses, not ground and pound. Boyle looks to be one of the few legit BCS-esque talents. Last thing UConn needs to continue with is to stay boring on offense. Throw the ball, throw the ball, then throw it somemore.

4. Defense needs to take more chances. Lets put our LBs in the offensive backfield with some blitzes, and see if our CBs can press on the opponents WR. At the very least it takes the initiative from the offense. Yep.

I think if we follow those basic steps, it will go a long way to settling us down and setting us up for success moving forward...

Gosh, so wish we had gotten Mike Leach.