Mission (mostly) accomplished?

[Steve UConn72]

Yes, many 'yarders predicted a UConn victory. Many, I'm sure, were prognosticating from the heart, as much as from the head. And had NC State not played a near-perfect game other than a few dropped passes (no turnovers, no live ball penalties, etc.), the game could have been even closer. However, quite a few posters had some realistic goals for this tough opener - "beat the point spread," "force State to leave the first team in during the fourth quarter," "have a chance to win in the second half," etc. If those were the yardsticks for a successful opening game against one of the better teams on the schedule, I'd say the Huskies were mostly successful.

 

[Chin Diesel]

There's truth in this.

UConn looked really bad on defense last night. Yet, against a QB UConn couldn't stop, an above average P5 team had to run their offense for 4 quarters and had less than 400 yards of offense and only 24 points. In college football in 2023, you should win a bunch of games with those results on defense.

Offense is much more of a concern, especially passing game. Rosa had the big run last night but I won't be surprised if by season's end Houston and Brewton also have TD runs of more than 50 yards.

Us fans don't want to hear it this way but UConn has continued a trend from last season of beating the spread. Sharks know this and it keeps the UConn name on the radar of those who want to make money betting college football.

 

[uconnyankee]

Yeah, I’m one of those who went with heart.
Any loss is disappointing, especially when a win would have made such a statement.

There are several things to work on. Was excited by the start, but felt QB play tailed off as game went on. The side arm pass was very sweet, but was hoping for more of that. State was never threatened by air attack and they knew it. Became harder to run.

Defense just seemed slow. States QB looked like greased lightening the way he danced through defenders at will. I’m not a technical fan so maybe I’m wrong but it seemed like players kept looking for hit instead of wrapping the guy up. Too many yards after initial contact.

Next game will be telling. How the team responds, how the fans respond, and what we fixed from week 1.

Onward and upward

 

[cohenzone]

Yeah, I’m one of those who went with heart.
Any loss is disappointing, especially when a win would have made such a statement.

There are several things to work on. Was excited by the start, but felt QB play tailed off as game went on. The side arm pass was very sweet, but was hoping for more of that. State was never threatened by air attack and they knew it. Became harder to run.

Defense just seemed slow. States QB looked like greased lightening the way he danced through defenders at will. I’m not a technical fan so maybe I’m wrong but it seemed like players kept looking for hit instead of wrapping the guy up. Too many yards after initial contact.

Next game will be telling. How the team responds, how the fans respond, and what we fixed from week 1.

Onward and upward

Im not sure, but i don’t think we failed to have a first down on any series. I think our QB didn't have that many open receivers. And we had a few drops. Judgment reserved. Fun to have a close game against a good team with 7 minutes left.

 

[HCCForever]

Im not sure, but i don’t think we failed to have a first down on any series. I think our QB didn't have that many open receivers. And we had a few drops. Judgment reserved. Fun to have a close game against a good team with 7 minutes left.

We had at least two. 3 and out around 4:30 of second quarter and another late in third quarter. I just checked in ESPN game log.

 

[storrsroars]

Im not sure, but i don’t think we failed to have a first down on any series. I think our QB didn't have that many open receivers. And we had a few drops. Judgment reserved. Fun to have a close game against a good team with 7 minutes left.

There was at least one 3-and-out. Might've been two.

What I know from both my brain and heart is in watching the highlights, it was a winnable game that UConn refused to take due to stupid penalties, QB indecisiveness, poor tackling, and a way too conservative 2nd half game plan.

 

[SuperHuski]

We are lightyears from the Edsall blackhole we used to be in. We used to be bottom 5 among the 130 FBS school. Now, we're a top 60 school. Unfortunately, our first game of the season was against a top 40 school. We'll be better.

A lot of the issues on defense are solvable -- tackling, gang tackling, DBs not looking back, penalties. Our running game + oline is still really good. I'm hoping that the passing game will come along. There's a lot of repetition needed for QBs and WRs that they just haven't had yet.

With that said, we had 113 passing yards last night. We had 39 a year ago. Turner had a QB rating of 11. Fagnano, 45 (without the desperate INT, 65). NC State probably has a top 20 defense. Their DBs are the best unit on that top 20 defense.

 

[LBird33]

Mental mistakes hurt us. We may not have won the game but we practically gave NC state 7 points for free in the 3rd. Which was unnecessary

 

[JMick]

We played a C+ game and still had a chance to win it late. I think the most frustrating part is that if we played an A game, we would have a statement win that would go a long way towards changing the narrative.

We are still light-years ahead of where we were a few years ago.

 

[SubbaBub]

Played poorly and still hung with a decent team. Win the games against bad teams and steal one more and we'll be OK.

Liked:
Our ability to run the ball with 3 backs
Quick reads the QB
Short yardage defense (non-QB scramble)
General playcalling on both sides of the ball.
Pass coverage mostly held up, just need to finish the pass rush.
Hung with a team who smoked us last season.


Didn't like:
Poor tackling, especially the LBs
TOercommitting on fakes and misdirection
The gadget plays, we don't need them and suck at executing them.
QB's arm/accuracy
WR hands
Stupid penalties/poor officiating
Short kickoffs
Kick converage both punt and KO.

Learn, improve and move on.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Yeah, I’m one of those who went with heart.
Any loss is disappointing, especially when a win would have made such a statement.

There are several things to work on. Was excited by the start, but felt QB play tailed off as game went on. The side arm pass was very sweet, but was hoping for more of that. State was never threatened by air attack and they knew it. Became harder to run.

Defense just seemed slow. States QB looked like greased lightening the way he danced through defenders at will. I’m not a technical fan so maybe I’m wrong but it seemed like players kept looking for hit instead of wrapping the guy up. Too many yards after initial contact.

Next game will be telling. How the team responds, how the fans respond, and what we fixed from week 1.

Onward and upward

I was too, felt it was time to give Roberson a shot in the 2nd half. Someone with serious legs and a passing arm. I’m almost thinking he’s still hurt?

Way too many missed tackles on defense. Thought Jackson Mitchell could have done better, I mean where was he when our defensive line was playing patty cake with Armstrong? The guy rushed for almost 100 yards. We could have won this game with just a few tweaks on offense and defense.

 

[Scoe]

Not gonna lie im pretty pissed about this loss and it’s been a long time since I have felt this way. I would say that is a good thing it means we expect not hope but expect to beat a team a team like NC State.

Last season was hope this season is about expectations, I do think next year we will see the difference in talent we’re getting there.

 

[cohenzone]

There was at least one 3-and-out. Might've been two.

What I know from both my brain and heart is in watching the highlights, it was a winnable game that UConn refused to take due to stupid penalties, QB indecisiveness, poor tackling, and a way too conservative 2nd half game plan.

Which team do you think had overall more speed? That the game was within reach says a lot about the strides we are taking. As i said, judgment reserved.

If the second interference penalty is one of the 2 you are talking about i’d like to watch the replay. From my angle it looked more like our guy didn’t hit the receiver but was maybe face guarding. But our guy was between me and the receiver so i couldn't tell And I was 55 yards away.

The hit out of bounds that led to the scary several minutes happened across the field so i could’t tell how bad the play was by our guy.

How about Rosa’s speed for a bigger kid. He kept out running tackling angles.

I thought it was a decent game to watch. We aren’t quite world beaters and as an independent i am not sure what our ceiling is. Of course we all want wins, but that was far from a total shiite show.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Played poorly and still hung with a decent team. Win the games against bad teams and steal one more and we'll be OK.

Liked:
Our ability to run the ball with 3 backs
Quick reads the QB
Short yardage defense (non-QB scramble)
General playcalling on both sides of the ball.
Pass coverage mostly held up, just need to finish the pass rush.
Hung with a team who smoked us last season.


Didn't like:
Poor tackling, especially the LBs
TOercommitting on fakes and misdirection
The gadget plays, we don't need them and suck at executing them.
QB's arm/accuracy
WR hands
Stupid penalties/poor officiating
Short kickoffs
Kick converage both punt and KO.

Learn, improve and move on.

We’ll have another chance at an upset against Duke at the Rent later. Hope they clean some of the weaknesses up by then.

Georgia St seems to have a good offense after scoring 42 so maybe that’ll be a good tester game.

 

[superjohn]

Yes, many 'yarders predicted a UConn victory. Many, I'm sure, were prognosticating from the heart, as much as from the head. And had NC State not played a near-perfect game other than a few dropped passes (no turnovers, no live ball penalties, etc.), the game could have been even closer. However, quite a few posters had some realistic goals for this tough opener - "beat the point spread," "force State to leave the first team in during the fourth quarter," "have a chance to win in the second half," etc. If those were the yardsticks for a successful opening game against one of the better teams on the schedule, I'd say the Huskies were mostly successful.

I would agree if I just looked at the final score but they didn't pass the eye test to me last night. I guess it's good that we somehow kept it that close but outside of the first drive, Rosa smoking everyone on that second half run, and the short yardage D looking pretty stout I didn't really see anything I liked.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Played poorly and still hung with a decent team. Win the games against bad teams and steal one more and we'll be OK.

Liked:
Our ability to run the ball with 3 backs
Quick reads the QB
Short yardage defense (non-QB scramble)
General playcalling on both sides of the ball.
Pass coverage mostly held up, just need to finish the pass rush.
Hung with a team who smoked us last season.


Didn't like:
Poor tackling, especially the LBs
TOercommitting on fakes and misdirection
The gadget plays, we don't need them and suck at executing them.
QB's arm/accuracy
WR hands
Stupid penalties/poor officiating
Short kickoffs
Kick converage both punt and KO.

Learn, improve and move on.

You were pleased with the offensive playcalling???

 

[ZooCougar]

Nope. Not quite.

Charlton got his transfer QB. He had the spring, he’s supposedly familiar with the system. But Charlton coached like he didn’t trust him.

It’s just bizarre.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

Georgia State gave up 35 points to RI. If Fagnano doesn't have a good next week, we may have an OC problem. Last year's excuse was injuries... this year's first game excuse was NC State's defense.

No excuses next week...the offense needs to score points...not just play not to lose.

 

[storrsroars]

Which team do you think had overall more speed? That the game was within reach says a lot about the strides we are taking. As i said, judgment reserved.

If the second interference penalty is one of the 2 you are talking about i’d like to watch the replay. From my angle it looked more like our guy didn’t hit the receiver but was maybe face guarding. But our guy was between me and the receiver so i couldn't tell And I was 55 yards away.

The hit out of bounds that led to the scary several minutes happened across the field so i could’t tell how bad the play was by our guy.

How about Rosa’s speed for a bigger kid. He kept out running tackling angles.

I thought it was a decent game to watch. We aren’t quite world beaters and as an independent i am not sure what our ceiling is. Of course we all want wins, but that was far from a total shiite show.

UConn lost by 10. And that was after essentially gifting NC St a TD due to a stupid celebration that led to great field position for NC St, and then compounded with PIs.

If it's a 3 point or 6 point deficit going into the final UConn drive, I might be more willing to let some things slide.

 

[SubbaBub]

You were pleased with the offensive playcalling???

Call and execution are different things. We mixed it up enough to not be entirely predictable and aside from the goofball gadgets kept it simple to avoid mistakes. That's the best we can expect from the staff, the players need to complete more passes.

 

[cohenzone]

UConn lost by 10. And that was after essentially gifting NC St a TD due to a stupid celebration that led to great field position for NC St, and then compounded with PIs.

If it's a 3 point or 6 point deficit going into the final UConn drive, I might be more willing to let some things slide.

It’s up to the coaches to decide what needs fixing. I’d go crazy watching games if I have to critique everything. It was a competitive game with 7 left against a good team. And yes Rosa screwing around hurt them for sure . Of course it was also at the end of a perfect play. From my point of view it was only entertainment and not a horrible display. I‘m at a point in my life where having fun at a game is all that matters. Went 8 years of UConn football with no fun at all. Hopefully the season will be fun with plenty of Ws.

 

[ZOOCONN]

Im not sure, but i don’t think we failed to have a first down on any series. I think our QB didn't have that many open receivers. And we had a few drops. Judgment reserved. Fun to have a close game against a good team with 7 minutes left.

We had a couple 3 and outs

 

[UConnRock]

Spreads are getting smaller and we are still beating the spreads. That is improvement, but Ws are much nicer. Fagnano was exactly what I expected. He looked like an upper tier FCS QB with lots of experience, but limited physical ability. Which is why he was an FCS QB in the first place. Hopefully the team was impressive enough in person to keep the fans coming back to the Rent and we can get back to the game atmosphere that was present so many years ago.

 

[GoConn]

We climbed the ESPN Power Index despite loss: 2023 College Football Power Index - ESPN

Disappointed we lost, but we def are improved over last season. This is a moral victory

 

[uconnric]

There's truth in this.

UConn looked really bad on defense last night.

Ah no.