Maryland post game thread

[UConnJim]

I alluded to this in my other posts, but the bigger question(s) and comments is not UConn's NIL in comparison to the Ohio State's and Michgan's and Alabama's of the world. I think it's in comparison to the Sun Belt conference teams' NIL and the mid to lower level team NIL. Why are those mid to lower level teams in D-1A consistently better than UConn in football. I would think their NIL payments are comparable to UConn's. It can't be just the fact those teams are in a conference and UConn isn't-UConn has more resources that should offset the conference issue.

The problems UConn has are with management of the football program. End of the day, UConn hasn't invested in football. Mora and the coaching staff are making the same salary as PP and staff 11 years later. We have hired coordinators with no experience because that is what we could afford. We were slow to ramp up NIL.

I do have hope for this year even after this debacle. And, I thought starting Fagnano today was the smart play because Evers had never really played a college game or any game in 3 years. I thought bring in Evers in the Merrimack game and let him win the job during that game.

 

[jcs1228]

What does that mean?

Maryland has much better players than UConn.

At end of day it is a wide talent differential that causes these ridiculous performances.

I feel for UConn here. It took Locks 6 years to build the talent and depth we have today. You simply can’t judge UConn by today. Maryland being part of BIG$ is finally on even footing as our fans do us no favors not showing up. You have some good pieces.

 

[JohnFSilver]

If Jim Mora can’t win 5 games, can him.

Why? Stuff like this is crazy. UConn was a 20-point underdog and didn’t play well. I am not sure if they played perfect they could win.

They have a severe lack of ability.

 

[phillionaire]

There is really no excuse to not be able to field a Medicare football team here. There is just so many things working against the program.

And we’re the only program in the country that has things working against them? At some point it becomes a culture of losers that all need to be sacked.

 

[Hartford]

About what we should have expected on the road against a quality team. Plenty of wins remaining on the schedule, including next week. I see a big win against Merrimack by at least 20 points.

Merrimack is a bottom of the barrel FCS team. That win would mean nothing but a loss w

 

[UConnDan97]

I am not giving up yet. But i saw some fans on the chat giving up after the first series.

They sounded that way, but they'll be back next week.

UConn has the best fan base in the country even if we are a salty, morose bunch. We stick with all our sports through good times and bad, even if some will let their tickets go unfilled in week 5.

If there is any message I can send to the people at the Big 12, it's exactly this: we put butts in the seats for a team that has had 1 bowl appearance in 12 years. We're worth the investment...

 

[TouchdownHusky]

How about the next head coach be an offense/passing guy. Since this program went D1, the HC has been a defensive guy. Won't change the culture of UConn football until you can score - a lot of points. Throw the ball: 1st down, 2nd down, third down. Throw early in game, throw late in game. Pass the ball, Mora. And 90% percent of schollies go to offense side of ball.

 

[CJasmer]

Why? Stuff like this is crazy. UConn was a 20-point underdog and didn’t play well. I am not sure if they played perfect they could win.

They have a severe lack of ability.

Yes did not expect a win. Was not delusional like some BYers. But the team did not look very well coached. Evers was not ready for prime time but coaching staff should have known that since he has not taken a snap in 3 years. The defense scheme looks terrible given the talent level in secondary and linebackers. That is bad coaching. You need to play to your strength. Another point instead of hiring OC that actually had experience decided to promote OL coach. Was the reason because UConn did not want to pay for OC?

 

[CJasmer]

They sounded that way, but they'll be back next week.

UConn has the best fan base in the country even if we are a salty, morose bunch. We stick with all our sports through good times and bad, even if some will let their tickets go unfilled in week 5.

If there is any message I can send to the people at the Big 12, it's exactly this: we put butts in the seats for a team that has had 1 bowl appearance in 12 years. We're worth the investment...

Could surprise me given actual attendance at home games over last 10 years.

 

[Hoophound]

Why? Stuff like this is crazy. UConn was a 20-point underdog and didn’t play well. I am not sure if they played perfect they could win.

They have a severe lack of ability.

Sometimes, I can’t believe you were a sports writer. We have the easiest schedule in FBS. We have NIL money, we have very good facilities, we have a great university and we have an NFL coach. If we can’t win 5 games, we can’t win 5 games. It will speak for itself. I’m just tired of this and I’m tired of explaining to my wife why I fund it. We could have lost 50-24 and you wouldn’t be hearing a peep from me.

 

[CJasmer]

They sounded that way, but they'll be back next week.

UConn has the best fan base in the country even if we are a salty, morose bunch. We stick with all our sports through good times and bad, even if some will let their tickets go unfilled in week 5.

If there is any message I can send to the people at the Big 12, it's exactly this: we put butts in the seats for a team that has had 1 bowl appearance in 12 years. We're worth the investment...

Really? Actual attendance at home games is pretty poor. Are you saying tickets sold?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Hello Dave?, CUSA calling. About that standing offer in joining us as a football only member. Ah, we are rethinking our position on that and as such...

 

[JohnFSilver]

Sometimes, I can’t believe you were a sports writer. We have the easiest schedule in FBS. We have NIL money, we have very good facilities, we have a great university and we have an NFL coach. If we can’t win 5 games, we can’t win 5 games. It will speak for itself. I’m just tired of this and I’m tired of explaining to my wife why I fund it. We could have lost 50-24 and you wouldn’t be hearing a peep from me.thereone year of NIL one. The brand isn’t hot. Difficult to recruit.

They got one year if NIL under them.

How many of their nil portal players produced at their last stop?

That is the problem. The portal players UConn brings in are developmental still.

I am down on the team, no doubt, Very very poor performance today.

Perhaps it is just an inexperienced team and will play better in coming weeks. Actually, it better play better

 

[CJasmer]

As I watch these FBS games SEC and BIG will get all the non conference champion slots for CFP. Big 12 and ACC will only be getting in their conference champs this year.

 

[Bomber36]

I sure hope it’s because Air Force is awful.

They have no passing game whatsoever. They’re still up 14-0 in the 3rd.

 

[uconnfan68]

It is hard to find positives from the game. Defense couldn't stop them, offense was not in sync, special teams were bad, dropped passes, mental mistakes, questionable coaching decisions,... That said, I didn't like opening against a P4 school when UConn had so many new faces as I thought the offense would struggle first game, but I was surprised by how little resistance UConn's defense provided during the first 2 Maryland drives. The Merrimack game will give UConn a game to recover from this week.

Another running qb, so it looked bad from the start.

 

[CJasmer]

They have no passing game whatsoever. They’re still up 14-0 in the 3rd.

And UConn has an incredible passing attack? My guess Joe starts next week. Hopefully he can complete those dunk passes.

 

[Patman]

But there is in North Dakota and South Dakota… na, bad recruiting, bad evaluation and no coaching fundamentals.

Yes. Their fans like their schools and programs even when they struggle.

 

[gsmooth]

The problems UConn has are with management of the football program. End of the day, UConn hasn't invested in football. Mora and the coaching staff are making the same salary as PP and staff 11 years later. We have hired coordinators with no experience because that is what we could afford. We were slow to ramp up NIL.

I do have hope for this year even after this debacle. And, I thought starting Fagnano today was the smart play because Evers had never really played a college game or any game in 3 years. I thought bring in Evers in the Merrimack game and let him win the job during that game.

I have seen your posts in the past about the coaching salaries in comparison to what Cincinnati's coaching salaries are-you did some good analysis there. I think it's what you said but also not spending the money wisely as you stated with the coordinators with no experience. Akron I am sure isn't spending more than UConn on coaching salaries and they are only down 14 at halftime as #2 ranked Ohio State. Could that game end up being 50-3 at the end who knows? But Ohio State can't put in their back ups just yet. Maryland was putting in their back up QB to get him some reps in the 2nd qtr.

South Dakota State lost 44-20 at #17 Ok. State, but look at the team stats, they are close to even:

Oklahoma State 44-20 South Dakota State (Aug 31, 2024) Game Stats - ESPN

Complete team stats and game leaders for the Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. South Dakota State Jackrabbits NCAAF game from August 31, 2024 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

Is South Dakota's coaching making that much more than UConn's?

I think the reason for UConn's Football failure is less money to spend on coaching and development, which reduces the margin for error to get the coaching hires correct. And it looks like they are getting the hires wrong.

I am not going to give up on the year, unless they lose to Merrimack.

 

[Patman]

I didn't really get to watch most of the game as I was at the Pitt game. I checked in often, saw Fagnano's INT and a lot of missed tackles.

Not having seen the flow of the game, I'm looking at stats and noticed UConn gave up no sacks and only one TFL. Yet Evers didn't do squat passing - seemed he bailed to the run quite often. So my question is, were most of Evers runs designed or a result of the pocket collapsing or just a bad option scheme (I noticed many of you mentioning too many rollouts). Is the O Line decent? Were passes just off target or missed badly or thrown into coverage? Help a guy try to understand why UConn got 310 yds and only a single TD.

Btw, while Pitt was only playing Kent State, the offense looked pretty damned good, scoring 55 pts. They plucked their new OC from mighty Western Carolina.

Mostly designed. No real hurries but he usually wasn't around long enough. So yeah line held but I don't think they were asked to do a lot

 

[uconnfan68]

The 3-3-5 sucks

They need to rush 4 every time, but just not the same guy. One of the 3 lbs, or one of the 5 dbs, needs to be #4.

 

[UConnJim]

I have seen your posts in the past about the coaching salaries in comparison to what Cincinnati's coaching salaries are-you did some good analysis there. I think it's what you said but also not spending the money wisely as you stated with the coordinators with no experience. Akron I am sure isn't spending more than UConn on coaching salaries and they are only down 14 at halftime as #2 ranked Ohio State. Could that game end up being 50-3 at the end who knows? But Ohio State can't put in their back ups just yet. Maryland was putting in their back up QB to get him some reps in the 2nd qtr.

Funny you brought up Akron. Head coach is Joe Moorhead and the running backs coach is Terry Richardson. Joe is 4-20 and 2-14 in the MAC over the past 2 years. I think Ohio State's offense is struggling today with a new coordinator, Chip Kelly. They will roll Akron in the 2nd half.

 

[superjohn]

We were in the AAC and were just as booty as we are now

I bought into Mora and all his talk but I think it's safe to say he's another huge bust of a coach for us. We're totally unprepared in every single aspect of the game.

 

[phillionaire]

I bought into Mora and all his talk but I think it's safe to say he's another huge bust of a coach for us. We're totally unprepared in every single aspect of the game.

At some point you are what your record is. We’ve gotten absolutely blasted by every P5/4 team (teams we’re claiming as peers) we’ve played, outside of Boston college but they don’t count.

 

[Rich]

If you're looking for signs of life, the game was actually pretty even until Maryland kicked its second field goal in Q2. Then the avalanche started and did not stop. Those two targeting penalties hurt us on defense as well; I really hope the coaching staff lays into those guys because there's simply no excuse for that conduct.

Our roster clearly does not stack up to middle pack Big 10 team, much less whomever finishes last in that league. In fact I don't think we would have a tremendous amount of success in any of the AAC, Sun Belt, CUSA or Mountain West either. The talent just is not there and frankly neither is the coaching.

As some have stated here ad nauseum, the school has failed to invest resources in the football program commensurate with improving its lot amongst better D1 competitors (which encompasses probably 125 of the 135 or so FBS teams). Until that happens good luck winning more than a couple-three games per season if you can handle the FCS slappys.

It's why all this Big 12 talk is frankly stupid. Even with the extra TV money available, the program wouldn't be able to take advantage for what, six seasons after joining?

In the meantime UCONN in all probability would not be able to improve its talent level and so you'll enter the first B12 football season with a non-competitive group and if you think this game was bad wait until TCU beats us on our home field by 70.