Maine Thoughts

[Husky25]

Put it this way: Shirreffs finished with 20 rushing attempts. Arkell Newsome had 15. That's bad. Some of that is on Shirreffs, who appears to be short on patience in the pocket.

Shirreffs admitted that only 5 of his 20 rushes had a rush option. If this is the case, Verducci actually called for at least 38 passes plays.

 

[BlueDogs]

I have to rewatch, but it seemed they tried to use it to seal off the back side on run plays with pulling guards or they used the TE to pull and play full back. Either way, our TE cannot block effectively, so this plan doesn't work. Plus, so we are no threat to throw the ball to our WR in this formation, the safeties and LBS just plowed into the box and shut down the scheme with ease. Our TEs cannot block enough to make this work, so it probably should just be abandoned for the most part.

Yeah, I think you're correct basically. You need the TEs not to just run 5 yard drag routes in front of the LBs but also take routes that split zones and get behind the LB set depth with slants, etc. Need to stretch the zone behind them and make them be responsible for what is behind and forcing them to look around. The TEs cannot be 100% blocking dummies.

 

[D/$$$]

There is no way around it, he will be flushed all year - however to make it productive - he has to keep is eyes downfield in the process. Its not an easy task, but until he makes more completions that are more than 8 yards down field, the defenses are going to stack the box, blitz and be downright aggressive. Passing is the way to punish and reign in aggressive defenses. Got to burn them.

Once he leaves the pocket, his brain focus' on gaining yards by running. he missed his only pass-on-the-run attempt......badly. If this facet doesn't improve (like now) teams will pulverize us. If he cannot pass on the move, he Has to be replaced.

 

[Husky25]

Once he leaves the pocket, his brain focus' on gaining yards by running. he missed his only pass-on-the-run attempt.badly. If this facet doesn't improve (like now) teams will pulverize us. If he cannot pass on the move, he Has to be replaced.

I'll bet he has one read on bootlegs. I have an issue with that Shirreffs doesn't seem to want to throw the ball away. It is admirable to gain yards on every play, but on the runs he loses yards, the play book is bigger for 2nd & 10 than 2nd & 14 or worse.

 

[Exit 4]

I'll bet he has one read on bootlegs. I have an issue with that Shirreffs doesn't seem to want to throw the ball away. It is admirable to gain yards on every play, but on the runs he loses yards, the play book is bigger for 2nd & 10 than 2nd & 14 or worse.

I'd be tempted to spend the next two weeks of practice doing nothing but 6-10 yard slant throws to the slot receivers and releasing TEs with the DE blitzing from all angles. He needs confidence to stand in and throw the classic blitz defeating route. It will be a long season without this release valve.

 

[D/$$$]

I'd be tempted to spend the next two weeks of practice doing nothing but 6-10 yard slant throws to the slot receivers and releasing TEs with the DE blitzing from all angles. He needs confidence to stand in and throw the classic blitz defeating route. It will be a long season without this release valve.

Agree. this will help the OL with the running game, as well as set up for the occasional down-field opportunity.

 

[noeynox]

People need to relax on Verducci. He is running exactly the offense Diaco wants here. One that minimizes risks and controls the clock. This offense is meant to compliment the defense and win tight games.

 

[businesslawyer]

Once he leaves the pocket, his brain focus' on gaining yards by running. he missed his only pass-on-the-run attempt.badly. If this facet doesn't improve (like now) teams will pulverize us. If he cannot pass on the move, he Has to be replaced.

Where do we get these loons from? He just went 16 for 23 with no picks while running for 95 yards. Is it fair to say once he started running he stopped looking downfield enough? Absolutely. But talk about replacing him if unbelievably dumb.

 

[CL82]

Where do we get these loons from? He just went 16 for 23 with no picks while running for 95 yards. Is it fair to say once he started running he stopped looking downfield enough? Absolutely. But talk about replacing him if unbelievably dumb.

Looking forward to the View from 241 on Maine. It is refreshing to see someone being critical, without being hysterical.

 

[businesslawyer]

Looking forward to the View from 241 on Maine. It is refreshing to see someone being critical, without being hysterical.

Will try to post tonight or first thing tomorrow a.m.

 

[noeynox]

Where do we get these loons from? He just went 16 for 23 with no picks while running for 95 yards. Is it fair to say once he started running he stopped looking downfield enough? Absolutely. But talk about replacing him if unbelievably dumb.

He also hit Lamelle on the run on the play that set up the winning FG.

 

[FrostyNuggets]

Was at game, re-watched on DVR, thoughts at end of first half.....

1 - Only had 1 TO left, coaching staff continues to burn timeouts early because they do not get the plays in quick enough. This has to stop, its inexcusable.

2 - Personnel grouping with 3 wide receivers & Davis was springing guys open all over the field.

3 - 1:20 left, 1st & 10 @ 50yd line - Sheriffs had Thomas wide open going vertical down the numbers....and under threw him to the wrong shoulder. A well placed throw would have been six. As an added bonus, Gresh's commentary on the play was simultaneously contradicted by the video replay he was talking over, it was a Tim McCarver special. One of many Tim McCarvers uttered by Gresh last night.

4 - 1:03 2d-10 @40yd line - Thomas wide open in left flat, there was literally nobody within 25 yds of him, and Sheriffs missed the throw. Worst case scenario, the YAC would have put the ball inside the 10.

5 - 3d-10...Sheriffs tucked and ran for 0 yds, leaving 47 seconds on 4th & 10 with no timeouts.

For this drive, its on the coaches for not having timeouts left in the well, but not the play calling.

 

[Pudge]

Ha ... how can you say anything about a WR not with a #5?

WHO the hell knows what we got in Mayala or Beals? We saw enough last year to think ... a long time now ... that they can play. Neither saw a ball. I simply can't understand how you can knock those two.

As for the Spread guy? We ain't running that. That isn't anywhere near a UConn practice field until 2020. You can roll that around your egghead all you want; it's not coming. We can run a Stanford/NE Patriots type Offense ... Verducci (IMHO) didn't come close last night to my vision of what we should be doing. Myers and Bloom are playmakers. Shirreffs impressed; but, we need some downfield attack that actually has potential. And my memory of the long gone Edsall era, we USED to move the chains in the first quarter. bump bump bump FIRST DOWN ... bump bump bump FIRST DOWN. Lorenzen was good at that. I felt we were too into "establishing our rush game will" or something. Just make football easy FV.

 

[huskyblooz]

Chief.
Diggs was another guy who had good and bad moments. He was badly out of position on several running plays and got beat at least twice on passes. On the other hand he made a few really good plays including the sack late.

Yes Diggs made some big plays, but he's lucky he wasn't flagged a few times. Celebrate with your teammates. Don't be about yourself.

 

[freescooter]

Sherriffs wasn't perfect and yes he missed some throws but every quarterback misses some. And he is a run first guy. Just have to accept that. Generally those guys are serviceable but don't win championships but I don't think we expected that this year anyway. He played fine and better than fine over the final drive. And as I said last night if everyone else played btw like he does it wouldn't be as frustrating to watch this team.

 

[Excalibur]

Was at game, re-watched on DVR, thoughts at end of first half.....


3 - 1:20 left, 1st & 10 @ 50yd line - Sheriffs had Thomas wide open going vertical down the numbers....and under threw him to the wrong shoulder. A well placed throw would have been six. As an added bonus, Gresh's commentary on the play was simultaneously contradicted by the video replay he was talking over, it was a Tim McCarver special. One of many Tim McCarvers uttered by Gresh last night.

4 - 1:03 2d-10 @40yd line - Thomas wide open in left flat, there was literally nobody within 25 yds of him, and Sheriffs missed the throw. Worst case scenario, the YAC would have put the ball inside the 10.

First ball was off, but absolutely should have been caught. Second throw was horrendous.

 

[uconnphil2016]

On the fumble return for the TD, who was it that missed their blocking assignment? I've watched highlights from ESPN that show the play, but it's too blurry to make out who whiffed on the block

 

[Tdaley]

Was at game, re-watched on DVR, thoughts at end of first half.....

1 - Only had 1 TO left, coaching staff continues to burn timeouts early because they do not get the plays in quick enough. This has to stop, its inexcusable.

2 - Personnel grouping with 3 wide receivers & Davis was springing guys open all over the field.

3 - 1:20 left, 1st & 10 @ 50yd line - Sheriffs had Thomas wide open going vertical down the numbers....and under threw him to the wrong shoulder. A well placed throw would have been six. As an added bonus, Gresh's commentary on the play was simultaneously contradicted by the video replay he was talking over, it was a Tim McCarver special. One of many Tim McCarvers uttered by Gresh last night.

4 - 1:03 2d-10 @40yd line - Thomas wide open in left flat, there was literally nobody within 25 yds of him, and Sheriffs missed the throw. Worst case scenario, the YAC would have put the ball inside the 10.

5 - 3d-10...Sheriffs tucked and ran for 0 yds, leaving 47 seconds on 4th & 10 with no timeouts.

For this drive, its on the coaches for not having timeouts left in the well, but not the play calling.

I haven't rewatched the game yet, but I did notice last night the Lemelle was wide open a several plays but Shirreffs never even look to his side side of the field. Of course, I couldn't tell whether or not Shirreffs had enough time to go his second option on any of those plays (assuming that Lemelle was a designed second option for any of those plays).

 

[huskymedic]

On the fumble return for the TD, who was it that missed their blocking assignment? I've watched highlights from ESPN that show the play, but it's too blurry to make out who whiffed on the block

Appears Thomas didn't get enough on the chip block...

 

[Exit 4]

Appears Thomas didn't get enough on the chip block...

I was able to watch that clip on super slow and noticed the following:
i) The FB totally whiffed on the blitzing corner.
ii) The FB also missed on the DE/LB who came down the line and pursued Newsome thanks to the play action.
iii) The TE stayed in to block, so with play action + FB blocking + a TE blocking you are left with only the two WR as options
iv) The WR on the bottom was running in double coverage. Wasn't going to be an easy play.
vi) Noel Thomas had just an LB to beat had the ball gone to him. Had he adjusted is route to a square out it would have been a TD as the left side was totally vacant. A sophisticated NFL team could be expected to make that adjustment in game/at the line of scrimmage, probably not reasonable here.

Bottomline, I don't think we can win with plays that have a FB, RB and TE bottled up leaving the QB with just two WR options.

 

[uconnflyer88]

Yes, yes, yes. The Oline was creating some seams and holes, not nearly as dominant as they should have, but they were present. They closed quickly with fill because the box was stacked. Newsome in particular is actually terrible getting to the LOS. RJ was attacking the LOS and did a decent job. His problem starts 2 yards after the LOS - he misses the counter- flow holes and just goes downhill and the breaks outside. I try and keep in mind this is game 1, but the inability to run against a middling FCS defense is very disconcerting.

Agree a lot of times the hole was there (very small, but there), but he (Newsome) seemed to search from contact instead of using quickness to avoid it. Bro, you're 5'7" (if that) and 115 lbs soaking wet....you're not going to run over middle linebackers

And it kind of ruins the Thunder and Lightning combo if both RBs are trying to be Thunder

 

[uconnflyer88]

Once he leaves the pocket, his brain focus' on gaining yards by running. he missed his only pass-on-the-run attempt.badly. If this facet doesn't improve (like now) teams will pulverize us. If he cannot pass on the move, he Has to be replaced.

If you go back to the play to Brian Lemelle (final one of the game), he missed a wide open WR running a post after the Safety committed hard to Sherrifs scrambling....I know it didn't matter and make the easy completion to win the game, but it just goes to show that he is zeroing in on WRs and not seeing the whole field....it will hurt us when we start playing higher level caliber secondaries

 

[huskymedic]

I was able to watch that clip on super slow and noticed the following:
i) The FB totally whiffed on the blitzing corner.
ii) The FB also missed on the DE/LB who came down the line and pursued Newsome thanks to the play action.
iii) The TE stayed in to block, so with play action + FB blocking + a TE blocking you are left with only the two WR as options
iv) The WR on the bottom was running in double coverage. Wasn't going to be an easy play.
vi) Noel Thomas had just an LB to beat had the ball gone to him. Had he adjusted is route to a square out it would have been a TD as the left side was totally vacant. A sophisticated NFL team could be expected to make that adjustment in game/at the line of scrimmage, probably not reasonable here.

Bottomline, I don't think we can win with plays that have a FB, RB and TE bottled up leaving the QB with just two WR options.

The RB was Johnson.
The other person in the backfield was Tyler Davis (who was /TE) who took a dive and then got up and was suppose to be the primary receiver in a TE screen as Gresh pointed out in clip.
My "guess" is Thomas' assignment was to engage/chip CB and drag across middle. Not knocking speedy Goode off balance/path gave Sheriff no chance because he was looking down to sell the PA/Handoff to Thomas.

Seemed to be a designed gadget play at arguably the wrong time with shaky execution(but so was the Anderson TD pass against Houston),

 

[bobbyinaz]

I was able to watch that clip on super slow and noticed the following:
i) The FB totally whiffed on the blitzing corner.
ii) The FB also missed on the DE/LB who came down the line and pursued Newsome thanks to the play action.
iii) The TE stayed in to block, so with play action + FB blocking + a TE blocking you are left with only the two WR as options
iv) The WR on the bottom was running in double coverage. Wasn't going to be an easy play.
vi) Noel Thomas had just an LB to beat had the ball gone to him. Had he adjusted is route to a square out it would have been a TD as the left side was totally vacant. A sophisticated NFL team could be expected to make that adjustment in game/at the line of scrimmage, probably not reasonable here.

Bottomline, I don't think we can win with plays that have a FB, RB and TE bottled up leaving the QB with just two WR options.

Or, you could say, we kept our FB, RB & TE in to block and the QB still got blown up. Probably not going to win with that type of execution, either

 

[Exit 4]

Or, you could say, we kept our FB, RB & TE in to block and the QB still got blown up. Probably not going to win with that type of execution, either

Yep - the FB had to pick up one of those blitzers and even then, it wasn't going to be a great play against that D unless Sherriffs makes a nice connection to Thomas or there was enough time to throw the corner fade to Hergy near the endzone.

I think what they expected was for the corner to follow Thomas leaving the FB to pick up one blitzer or if no blitz, for the FB to run the seam route. Meanwhile Thomas looks to get open in the middle with the LB pulled forward by the play action. It was a fantastic call by the Maine D.