Mission (mostly) accomplished?

[CONN78SEJ]

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.

That part of the game could have been very different if Rosa just cruises in to the end zone. The 15 yard penalty on the kick was bad enough but the next 15 yarder a couple minutes later seemed to feed on the first stupid mistake. We basically rolled out the red carpet right down to the 20 yard line.

 

[ThabeetDown]

My biggest question is did enough of the casual fans have a good enough time to come back for FIU? That will be the true deciding factor if last night was a success.

 

[KembaKek]

My only thing with this game is it did not feel like a hard-fought loss. Just felt like they managed to keep it within 10

 

[uconnric]

My only thing with this game is it did not feel like a hard-fought loss. Just felt like they managed to keep it within 10

Really don't agree. We fought hard. Really a defensive struggle and neither team was able to consistently generate any offense. Except for missed tackes (Armstrong was pretty slippery) defense played well. Our offense kept them on the field for long periods of time, but we're used to that.

 

[KembaKek]

Except for missed tackes (Armstrong was pretty slippery) defense played well. Our offense kept them on the field for long periods of time, but we're used to that.

The slippery defense and 3-and-out offense is pretty much made it feel a lot less hard-fought even if it was so.

 

[gioff2323]

We all saw diff things as I was very disappointed with the D. Had NC State punted on 4th or left the ball in the qbs hands, this could’ve gotten out of hand.

The O was meh. Agree 100% with the stupid gadget calls - killed mo, and were frankly embarrassing. Most, they reeked of desperation.

The staff seemed unwilling or unable to adjust during the game.

We need Jackson to step up, the dbs to move closer to los, the OL to create more push and protection and the players to play cleaner. It’s game 1, but if anyone thought we could win this game in 2d half, I need to drink your cocktail of choice.

The plus is the reality of how low we were. It’s easy to forget what a sh1tshow this was 2-3 years ago. We are making strides. Hanging with this team (on the scoreboard) feels like a so- so moral victory. This is a walk, not a run, back to winning games like this, but I’m worried the P5 lockout will really start impacting recruiting and scheduling. We need to move with more of a sense of urgency.

 

[DRW]

Not insignificantly, no injuries reported (as of now). Though Joly's head sure bounced hard off the turf.

 

[NE Football]

We will know how good NC St is after next week. We will know how good BCU is tomorrow

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Really don't agree. We fought hard. Really a defensive struggle and neither team was able to consistently generate any offense. Except for missed tackes (Armstrong was pretty slippery) defense played well. Our offense kept them on the field for long periods of time, but we're used to that.

I didn’t see North Carolina State missing a lot of tackles, just us. As for our defense playing well despite many missed tackles, does Geritt Cole pitch well when he can’t throw strikes?

 

[uconntailgater]

I attended the game last evening and it was fantastic to see a large crowd. The weather was great and people were into the game. NC State was the better team. The game was fun to watch and the team is much improved. there was a reason why we lost to them by such a large amount last year. NC State simply had better athletes but we played very well and were in it in the fourth quarter.

The next two games are important. We win those two games and we’re back in business. The Duke game will be tough at home. After that we only have one really tough game (Tennessee). Our goal this year should be 7–5 or 8-4.

Jim Mora has this team on the right track and we have to trust the process and NC State still had better skilled players and their offensive line impose their will.

it was a great atmosphere last evening, and the game was fun to watch as we were in it till the end. After a decade of futility last night was a joy to watch. We are headed in the right direction and I’m looking forward towards the rest of the season.

 

[uconnric]

I didn’t see North Carolina State missing a lot of tackles, just us. As for our defense playing well despite many missed tackles, does Geritt Cole pitch well when he can’t throw strikes?

Yes the defense played well

 

[Rocktheworld]

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.

If I could put things in one word I would say the team looked undisciplined. Things can turn around for sure. But the team seemed a little too happy about themselves after the first drive; those two consecutive terrible penalties; the horrific tackling; and the killer DPI penalties. I’m not questioning the kids’ effort, but it just didn’t look good on D.

Luckily most of that should be easy to clean up.

But going further, did we see any real defensive adjustments? I get that they didn’t want to give up a big play, but that just let Armstrong bleed us dry. Wonder how many times we blitzed. Meanwhile, their adjustments essentially shut us down after our first drive. If it weren’t for a single great Rosa run, the score looks far worse.

 

[UCPharma11]

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.

Which of our players injured the bc state player on the kickoff return? Was that Cale Millen???

 

[Hogoff]

If I could put things in one word I would say the team looked undisciplined. Things can turn around for sure. But the team seemed a little too happy about themselves after the first drive; those two consecutive terrible penalties; the horrific tackling; and the killer DPI penalties. I’m not questioning the kids’ effort, but it just didn’t look good on D.

Luckily most of that should be easy to clean up.

But going further, did we see any real defensive adjustments? I get that they didn’t want to give up a big play, but that just let Armstrong bleed us dry. Wonder how many times we blitzed. Meanwhile, their adjustments essentially shut us down after our first drive. If it weren’t for a single great Rosa run, the score looks far worse.

I think the scheme was fine. We got a lot of pressure on Armstrong, but we couldn’t seem to wrap him up. Tackle better and the outcome of that game would have been a lot different. I’m not saying we would have won, but it would have felt like we had a chance.

 

[huskymedic]

Which of our players injured the bc state player on the kickoff return? Was that Cale Millen???

True freshman DB Isiah Davis

 

[Rocktheworld]

I think the scheme was fine. We got a lot of pressure on Armstrong, but we couldn’t seem to wrap him up. Tackle better and the outcome of that game would have been a lot different. I’m not saying we would have won, but it would have felt like we had a chance.

Fair enough

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think the scheme was fine. We got a lot of pressure on Armstrong, but we couldn’t seem to wrap him up. Tackle better and the outcome of that game would have been a lot different. I’m not saying we would have won, but it would have felt like we had a chance.

There's a two sides of the coin with that.

For the past several years teams were so better with talent and schemes they just went up and down the field at will.

UConn seems to have solved that problem.

Thursday night UConn got out tougher. NC St ran through tacklers and got so many yards after contact.

And yet, overall UConn made stops, held them to 24 points and under 400 yards. Good tackling, and turning around when balls are thrown probably lowers that score to under 20 points.

 

[giddyup]

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.

NCState had better, faster athletes but it didn’t kill us although it didn’t help that A^S^hole Charlton kept on trying to beat their edge of their D and it’s wasn’t happening all night.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

NCState had better, faster athletes but it didn’t kill us although it didn’t help that A^S^hole Charlton kept on trying to beat their edge of their D and it’s wasn’t happening all night.

Wow, Dude. Slow your roll. That take is WAY over the top. Big fan? If you are that surprised that our rebuilding O can beat a P5 and established D, then maybe you're the A*S^hole. Come back to Earth.

 

[ScottVib]

The outcome isn't what I hoped for, but is what I expected. A competitive game against a top 40(ish) team. I said it in another thread, if NC State is #4 in the ACC; UConn is #6/7. The DLine got pressure, but the tackling at the second level was bad. NC State's defense was their strength and their DBs were expected to be the strongest unit of that defense, so while I don't think the WR were good, we'll see if they can get separation next weekend against a much weaker defense.

To beat a more talented team you typically need to play a clean game and win the turnover battle. UConn did neither and despite that was still in the game, they just couldn't get the big play needed. Here's hoping that at least half the people who showed up for the opener come back and join the other 20k of us who'd've been there anyways at the game on 9/16. Hopefully a 3:30 kickoff gets folks through their kids' activity commitments and into the lot with enough time to have a beer and head on in.