Maryland post game thread

[UConnDan97]

They hire better coaches. Serial winners. I like Mora but he is not what you call a serial winner.

His pattern is that his best season is early on and degrades from there.

I want a serial winner, I want a zealot and a fanatic.

I'm not ready to give up on Mora yet.

From a recruiting standpoint, he was able to get a bunch of players (new and transfer) that had P5 offers; something that the last 2 guys didn't. We laid a freaking egg against Maryland, but let's see how the next few games go and whether or not the team gels together. That gel process is very much in his control...

 

[cellocgg]

This is more nonsense. The Dakotas are not at all fertile recruiting grounds and the state of Connecticut has produced much more NFL players than the Dakotas combined.

Even if you don't believe in the Dakotas their neighbors being in the Midwest definitely care about college football. Ours aren't doing us any favors

 

[Patman]

They hire better coaches. Serial winners. I like Mora but he is not what you call a serial winner.

His pattern is that his best season is early on and degrades from there.

I want a serial winner, I want a zealot and a fanatic.

You want something that is a low probability luck of the draw

 

[giddyup]

The Dakotas have rich football history and are located in great recruiting grounds. We have neither

The New England schools are at a natural disadvantage in Football compared to any other part of the country but the outsiders don't see that

Then drive there and recruit. It’s not like there are a ton of high level schools out there. This excuse is tired and BS.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[UCan3]

They hire better coaches. Serial winners. I like Mora but he is not what you call a serial winner.

His pattern is that his best season is early on and degrades from there.

I want a serial winner, I want a zealot and a fanatic.

yeah, I have to admit when I saw his press conferences prior to the season the best way to describe his demeanor was flakey.

He strikes me as someone who is getting ready to retire in a couple years and he's trying to ride it out a bit.

I don't begrudge him for this fact, by the way. Seems like a great guy to sit down and talk about what's happening. He just doesn't seem like he's gotta go and get after it,

People here, always get on Bob Diaco like he was just this pariah, and there was no upside at all to his approach to coaching. In reflection, I kinda liked his energy and craziness, and I never saw us play a better game than against Houston when he was our coach.

 

[buddy]

You completely missed my point Bubby. Of course UConn would take an invite from the ACC, all I’m saying is the Big 12 is the better option for many reasons, travel costs be damned, if an invite comes. That being said, if you don’t see how the ACC could implode and get divided up when FSU, Miami and Clemson leave, then I guess you think if UConn becomes Gonzaga East that won’t hurt the school and ALL it’s athletic programs.

I have always been anti Big East and pro power conference and remain so. However, recent events with the Big 12 and what is likely to be another bad season in football has finally burst my bubble. To think that it is possible that Merrimack will win the next game says it all about the state of the football program. I was only pointing out that left behind AAC schools have much better football and will likely be next up for the ACC, at least.

 

[Dizzy21]

Two years ago we got absolutely rolled by a few mid to lower tier ACC teams and ended up having a pretty good season. Last year we started off by hanging in there with a pretty good 9 win ACC team, that would have been better if their QB didn't get hurt mid season, and we had a horrible season. Maryland is probably going to be a good mid tier Big Ten team that is better than any of those.

Regardless, if recent history suggests anything, it is that judging how our season goes based on any particular early game against a P4/P5 opponent, may not be the best idea.

While it was a crap show, in prior years it seemed like both the technique/execution and physical talent were miles off. Even when we had the good season 2 years ago, the physical talent on the team seemed to be overcome by great game day execution. This was even the case last year when it looked like even if our players had executed perfectly, every team appeared to have more physical talent than us.

Yesterday we played a team that should have been way above us in the physical talent area and they were definitely above us in that area, but not as much as I would have expected. Our execution definitely stunk a lot of the game, but at very few points did it seem like if we executed, Maryland's physical talent would have been too much. It felt like we were surprisingly close in that area compared to where we should be.

Technique and execution are things the team can improve and physical talent is something they cannot. From my view, even though the game yesterday was not good in any way, I saw a team that has the potential to be a good team if they can execute. That is something that we have not had in years. Regardless of if it works out in the end or not, I think there is a glimmer of hope that if the team gets it together execution/technique wise, they could be a pretty decent, comfortably bowl bound team.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm not ready to give up on Mora yet.

From a recruiting standpoint, he was able to get a bunch of players (new and transfer) that had P5 offers; something that the last 2 guys didn't. We laid a freaking egg against Maryland, but let's see how the next few games go and whether or not the team gels together. That gel process is very much in his control...

That had more to do with Bobby Burton than Jim.

Jim pulled a disappearing act in the offseason.

I don't know if this is the right place for him, and vice versa.

 

[mnystrom]

Our run game supposed to be decent.it was awful. everything east west. and Why is Rosa not getting touches. He was a special freshman.

 

[goalline]

yeah, I have to admit when I saw his press conferences prior to the season the best way to describe his demeanor was flakey.

He strikes me as someone who is getting ready to retire in a couple years and he's trying to ride it out a bit.

I don't begrudge him for this fact, by the way. Seems like a great guy to sit down and talk about what's happening. He just doesn't seem like he's gotta go and get after it,

People here, always get on Bob Diaco like he was just this pariah, and there was no upside at all to his approach to coaching. In reflection, I kinda liked his energy and craziness, and I never saw us play a better game than against Houston when he was our coach.

How about Coach PP losing to Michigan by 3 at home I believe.

 

[JMick]

I didn't expect yesterday to be a win, but I also didn't expect to have almost no positives to speak about.

Conclusion up front:

Next Saturday might as well be the Super Bowl. Merrimack will be a tricky game, they traveled all the way to Air Force and only lost 21-6 albeit scoring on the last play of the game. If UConn lays an egg at home this Saturday then it's over. Just start the head coaching search Saturday night and make Brock the interim.

Mora needs to be throwing chairs at this point. Some people spent a ton of money on some players that are clearly not worth a bag of chips. If he throws a few bad apples off the team it wouldn't break my heart. As Hurley says: "Culture is caring". If that's the case we didn't see culture yesterday. This UConn, we aren't good at football, but we shouldn't accept performances like this from any team.


Head Coach:

I think the team looked more ready against NC State and Utah State than they did against Maryland. The difference is two new coordinators, a new defensive system (The offense looks the same but with even less effective play calling), almost 50 new guys on the roster and a coach in his third season.

This being his third season is what is most damning. Mora should be breaking people at this point. They were not ready and showed little to no energy.

Offense: I expected so much better from Sammis. And yet the bar was pretty low. He seems like an intelligent person and highly regarded. There were at least 3 instances of 3rd and 2 where we should have just run the ball and gotten a new set of downs. The line and the Running backs are the strength and experience of the offense. Instead in the first instance we went for a field goal which we had less a chance of making than a first down on 4th and 2.

You've got a rookie QB who has the weight of UConn nation on his shoulders (does he even care?) against a B1G opponent. Why increase the difficulty and put 1st downs on him? Line up under center and power the way to that 1st down. On the field goal we were easily in 4 down territory.

The knock on effect would have been a new set of downs, and if we don't score then at least the defense comes on a little fresher and we have theoretically gained some field position, maybe then the final score is a little closer.

But the biggest disappointment is the strange abandonment of the run. Where was the gashing run offense that we saw in 2022? That was supposedly Sammis. Maybe Zion Turner just was better at executing the RPO and reads than Fagnano and Evers, Who knows.

Either way, we handicapped ourselves yesterday by getting away from what should be our core competency.

Where did Cam Edwards go? Does anyone know?

Defense:

The Maryland first possession was a resounding success, for Maryland. Granted we created a fumble and I am glad we are going for that but they looked like a unit that had been practicing for two weeks maybe. Lost.

The front four was missing some Yates but looked the best of the unit but still didn't generate much of any pressure on Maryland's QBs.

The defensive backs were horrendous. This Jordan Wright character is already the most hated villain on the team in the circle of people speak with the most about. On my high school team we would have called him toast. The late hit and targeting was just poor judgement.
Before that he celebrated in the end zone for a coverage where the ball was thrown out of bounds. Are we paying this guy? I hope not.

The whole unit showed no discipline. But they looked better than the offense without looking good in any aspect.

Special Teams:

Ruelas looked great for JMU. Why did we let him go. We should have kidnapped him.

Generating some touch backs was nice. Punting was awful. Attempting to return punts is a nice idea. The new Gardner Webb kid has some wheels. Sheffield, what the hell man?

I'll be here all fall. That's all I got.

It being the third season with no system in place is one of the biggest issues.

I wonder is Sammis is overcompensating for his history as an o-line coach and doesn't want to seem like he's a pound the rock guy. Pounding the rock is fine if it's your strength. It seems like we were awkwardly avoiding run-run-pass instead of taking what the defense would give us.

I didn't actually think the effort was terrible. The team is again very undisciplined and we look out of position everywhere but I saw a lot of sprinting to the ball on defense and some effort on offense. The drops are unacceptable though.

 

[AllHusky]

I actually thought the effort was ok. We were aggressive to the ball we just did a poor job once we got there.

This is what I want to hear about. Couldn’t see game. I was horrified hearing we were going back to 3-3-5. How did it look? Any potential? Any fingerprints from the new DC showing he is going to put some psychos out there? Were we confused in our roles on D, but once we get the hang of it, maybe it works. Would like some analysis, other than how crappy we feel.

A lot of good fb minds here.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I have always been anti Big East and pro power conference and remain so. However, recent events with the Big 12 and what is likely to be another bad season in football has finally burst my bubble. To think that it is possible that Merrimack will win the next game says it all about the state of the football program. I was only pointing out that left behind AAC schools have much better football and will likely be next up for the ACC, at least.

If you want to base your opinion on one away game against a very good Maryland team then I have to say you sound more like a trouble maker than a true UConn football fan.

 

[ZooCougar]

This is what I want to hear about. Couldn’t see game. I was horrified hearing we were going back to 3-3-5. How did it look? Any potential? Any fingerprints from the new DC showing he is going to put some psychos out there? Were we confused in our roles on D, but once we get the hang of it, maybe it works. Would like some analysis, other than how crappy we feel.

A lot of good fb minds here.

The system wasn't the problem. Seemed like lots of 4-2-5. We were rushing 4 generally.

 

[ZooCougar]

If you want to base your opinion on one away game against a very good Maryland team then I have to say you sound more like a trouble maker than a true UConn football fan.

It's year three and we look just as bad against these teams as we did during Randy Redux.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Skyler Bell is awesome and I’m sure today he’s wondering why the hell he came here

 

[Bobol]

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

Before the season started I had dark the Kool-Aid and believed that this season UConn would produce a credible D1 football program, however after yesterdays showing I have lost faith in Mora.

Understand that Mora has put together a creampuff of a schedule. If he can’t win 7 games agains the clowns he has scheduled then he should be dismissed.

The below link ranks UConn’s 2024 schedule as being the #107 pot of 134 FBS team.

2024 Strength of Schedule For All 134 FBS College Football Teams

The season is almost here, and we've updated our college football strength of schedule for the 2024 season. The results at the top are eye-opening.

collegefootballnetwork.com

 

[ZooCougar]

Skyler Bell is awesome and I’m sure today he’s wondering why the hell he came here

Hoping he will be a matchup problem for some of these teams and he can make some space.

 

[AllHusky]

The system wasn't the problem. Seemed like lots of 4-2-5. We were rushing 4 generally.

I knew Hank Hughes and Todd Orlando fairly well when they coached with Randy 1.0. Nice guys, great guys. However, with those guys I always felt there was a screw that maybe wasn’t fully tightened, or a chip that could flip easily, they could smile and punch you in the face. Thought their defenses played with a bit of that edge. Kids knew they would be yanked by their face mask for mistackling.
Jay Hoffman was Calhoun’s strength Coach, played FB at D3 St John’s, DL, and got a cup of coffee with both the Jets and the Eagles. He said to me in this wicked Brooklyn accent( Brighton Beach I think)
“These guys in the NFL are animals. Ya gotta want to hear somebody’s bone break when you tackle them.”

We need some of that mean nasty craziness on D to go with a good fundamentals.

 

[tiger paw]

Angry-Embarrassed- Frustrated-Depressed
1. Kiss B12 invite good bye
2. Do not schedule any more games with B1G -SEC
3. Both O-Line + D-Line overmatched.
4. QB situation even more muddled
5. Lost count of missed tackles
1 missed FG
1 shanked punt
1 fumbled punt return
2 ejected for targeting
Looks exactly like past 10 years. Maryland is a very good offensive team. Big difference in the talent level.

 

[Hoophound]

I knew Hank Hughes and Todd Orlando fairly well when they coached with Randy 1.0. Nice guys, great guys. However, with those guys I always felt there was a screw that maybe wasn’t fully tightened, or a chip that could flip easily, they could smile and punch you in the face. Thought their defenses played with a bit of that edge. Kids knew they would be yanked by their face mask for mistackling.
Jay Hoffman was Calhoun’s strength Coach, played FB at D3 St John’s, DL, and got a cup of coffee with both the Jets and the Eagles. He said to me in this wicked Brooklyn accent( Brighton Beach I think)
“These guys in the NFL are animals. Ya gotta want to hear somebody’s bone break when you tackle them.”

We need some of that mean nasty craziness on D to go with a good fundamentals.

There’s something missing. I thought the new coordinators might have it, an old school nastiness mixed with modern style. They look the part on paper. The jury is still out.

We played a much better opponent and we are a rebuild in progress. They can turn this around in a season or two but we’ll need to see progress over the coming games. Losing to Merrimack would be inexcusable and I think it is completely on the table as of today. If we beat them convincingly, at least we’ll know we aren’t a lost cause against the weak FBS teams on our schedule.

 

[uconnfan68]

There's still probably more kids playing Football in the Dakotas than CT lol, and the Midwest has a large Football culture

They don't play Football up here, and NE is almost always last in recruiting talent

There are more teams in CT than both Dakotas. There are a lot of private schools in CT (and New England), that I’m not even counting. Do the Dakotas have those schools?