My take on the game

[UConnJim]

I had to wait a few days to post as I didn't want my anger and disappointment to jade my post.

Things I underestimated:

The impact of not UConn playing a real football game in almost 2 years.
The experience of Fresno State with 20 of 22 returning starters including a veteran QB.
How young UConn's roster is.
I didn't realize that UConn was going not going to have 4 starters for the game. Drayton and Fortin we knew, but I didn't know about Jones and Watts the 2 starting DEs.
I didn't realize FSU's head coach has an impressive resume. He was 67-3 at Sioux Falls and won 3 NAIA championships. He was OC at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, and Indiana. And, he is 46 years old. This is the type of HC I hope UConn hires when it is time for Edsall to go.

My eyeball test:

Compared to 2019, UConn physically looked like a college football team and there was more speed on the field.
Based on the number of players who suffered heat cramps, UConn seemed to be in better shape than Fresno State, but FSU had enough depth to cover for their heat problems.

Defense:

I thought the UConn defense held up pretty well as they got no help from the UConn offense. Think about this, UConn got the ball with 4:27 left in the first half and went 3 and out with three incomplete passes. Fresno State was up 14-0 and had only gained 123 yards in 5 offensive series. UConn punted the ball back to Fresno State with 4:00 remaining. The offense had taken only 27 seconds off the clock! The last 2 UConn drives to end the first half: 5 plays, 19 yards, 1:41, 3 plays, -9 yards, 34 seconds. UConn's offensive ineptitude broke UConn's defense' back at the end of the first half and they could not recover.

Clearly, the DBs had some mixups and missed some tackles. I do think they will get better each game.

I do believe in Lou Spanos as a DC and he has a track record so I'm not giving up on the defense.

Offense:

In contrast to Spanos, I have no confidence in Frank Giufre as an OC as he has no previous experience as an OC and I have not been impressed with his schemes or play calling. And, when the OL is so important, why would you have the OL coach be the OC as well? That is on Edsall.

I'm not ready to give up on Zergiotis, but why didn't UConn bring in a transfer QB to compete for the job?

I do think UConn has more playmakers on offense than they have had in a long time. The WRs look quicker and faster and the RBs look better as well, although I think losing Drayton to injury was a real blow. The problem is Giufre is either not taking advantage of his weapons or Jack Zergiotis is not able to execute. I don't buy that the excuse that the OL didn't play well (although they didn't) and Jack Zergiotis didn't have time to make plays as you can call plays to compensate for the OL weakness like quick passes or rolling the QB out. Instead, I saw slow developing running plays and a QB in the pocket. And, I think we have TEs that can make plays, which hasn't been the case over the past few years.

If UConn is going to recover from the Fresno State loss, UConn's offense needs to materially improve. That said, I don't know if Giufre is up to the task.

Special Teams:

Don't know much as we kicked off once and didn't attempt a field goal or extra point. Punting was OK as well as kickoff returns.

The Holy Cross Game:

For me, this is the make or break game for Edsall as there is no way he can survive a loss. I don't know if he can survive a close game. The team looks like a football team now and I think there are better players with more speed and size. There is no excuse for losing to an FCS team playing their first game of the season at home.

 

[Redding Husky]

I’m all in, for now.

I’ve been a Chicago Cubs fan since 1967 and a UConn football fan since 1978. I know all about early season optimism and late season disappointment. This year may be no different.

But I’m not giving up on HCRE or the team yet. Improvement at glacial speed is still improvement. IMHO, the first half against FSU was much, much closer than the score indicated.

 

[Hornet22]

I had to wait a few days to post as I didn't want my anger and disappointment to jade my post.

Things I underestimated:

The impact of not UConn playing a real football game in almost 2 years.
The experience of Fresno State with 20 of 22 returning starters including a veteran QB.
How young UConn's roster is.
I didn't realize that UConn was going not going to have 4 starters for the game. Drayton and Fortin we knew, but I didn't know about Jones and Watts the 2 starting DEs.
I didn't realize FSU's head coach has an impressive resume. He was 67-3 at Sioux Falls and won 3 NAIA championships. He was OC at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, and Indiana. And, he is 46 years old. This is the type of HC I hope UConn hires when it is time for Edsall to go.

My eyeball test:

Compared to 2019, UConn physically looked like a college football team and there was more speed on the field.
Based on the number of players who suffered heat cramps, UConn seemed to be in better shape than Fresno State, but FSU had enough depth to cover for their heat problems.

Defense:

I thought the UConn defense held up pretty well as they got no help from the UConn offense. Think about this, UConn got the ball with 4:27 left in the first half and went 3 and out with three incomplete passes. Fresno State was up 14-0 and had only gained 123 yards in 5 offensive series. UConn punted the ball back to Fresno State with 4:00 remaining. The offense had taken only 27 seconds off the clock! The last 2 UConn drives to end the first half: 5 plays, 19 yards, 1:41, 3 plays, -9 yards, 34 seconds. UConn's offensive ineptitude broke UConn's defense' back at the end of the first half and they could not recover.

Clearly, the DBs had some mixups and missed some tackles. I do think they will get better each game.

I do believe in Lou Spanos as a DC and he has a track record so I'm not giving up on the defense.

Offense:

In contrast to Spanos, I have no confidence in Frank Giufre as an OC as he has no previous experience as an OC and I have not been impressed with his schemes or play calling. And, when the OL is so important, why would you have the OL coach be the OC as well? That is on Edsall.

I'm not ready to give up on Zergiotis, but why didn't UConn bring in a transfer QB to compete for the job?

I do think UConn has more playmakers on offense than they have had in a long time. The WRs look quicker and faster and the RBs look better as well, although I think losing Drayton to injury was a real blow. The problem is Giufre is either not taking advantage of his weapons or Jack Zergiotis is not able to execute. I don't buy that the excuse that the OL didn't play well (although they didn't) and Jack Zergiotis didn't have time to make plays as you can call plays to compensate for the OL weakness like quick passes or rolling the QB out. Instead, I saw slow developing running plays and a QB in the pocket. And, I think we have TEs that can make plays, which hasn't been the case over the past few years.

If UConn is going to recover from the Fresno State loss, UConn's offense needs to materially improve. That said, I don't know if Giufre is up to the task.

Special Teams:

Don't know much as we kicked off once and didn't attempt a field goal or extra point. Punting was OK as well as kickoff returns.

The Holy Cross Game:

For me, this is the make or break game for Edsall as there is no way he can survive a loss. I don't know if he can survive a close game. The team looks like a football team now and I think there are better players with more speed and size. There is no excuse for losing to an FCS team playing their first game of the season at home.

My sentiments exactly. I highlighted the exact sequence you mentioned late in the second quarter after we forced them to punt on 4th and 18 and got the ball back with a little over 4 min to go.

Wish there was a way to double like a post.

 

[Exit 4]

In contrast to Spanos, I have no confidence in Frank Giufre as an OC as he has no previous experience as an OC and I have not been impressed with his schemes or play calling. And, when the OL is so important, why would you have the OL coach be the OC as well? That is on Edsall.

Agree with much, particularly this statement. Edsall needs to make a change the Offensive coaching. Change the play caller. There are changes they can make behind the scenes that dont have to become public fodder as to how they run the program on game day.

I'm not ready to give up on Zergiotis, but why didn't UConn bring in a transfer QB to compete for the job?

Twitter stalkers will note that this staff looked into a lot of QBs over the past winter/spring and even this august and struck out over and over. Its not easy to recruit QB talent when you dont have the right people in the QB centric coaching positions; the OC and QB coach. This is on Edsall.

The Holy Cross Game:

For me, this is the make or break game for Edsall as there is no way he can survive a loss. I don't know if he can survive a close game. The team looks like a football team now and I think there are better players with more speed and size. There is no excuse for losing to an FCS team playing their first game of the season at home.

Very hard to disagree. He'll still have 10 more games to right the ship, but it certainly would against the odds.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I had to wait a few days to post as I didn't want my anger and disappointment to jade my post.

Things I underestimated:

The impact of not UConn playing a real football game in almost 2 years.
The experience of Fresno State with 20 of 22 returning starters including a veteran QB.
How young UConn's roster is.
I didn't realize that UConn was going not going to have 4 starters for the game. Drayton and Fortin we knew, but I didn't know about Jones and Watts the 2 starting DEs.
I didn't realize FSU's head coach has an impressive resume. He was 67-3 at Sioux Falls and won 3 NAIA championships. He was OC at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, and Indiana. And, he is 46 years old. This is the type of HC I hope UConn hires when it is time for Edsall to go.

My eyeball test:

Compared to 2019, UConn physically looked like a college football team and there was more speed on the field.
Based on the number of players who suffered heat cramps, UConn seemed to be in better shape than Fresno State, but FSU had enough depth to cover for their heat problems.

Defense:

I thought the UConn defense held up pretty well as they got no help from the UConn offense. Think about this, UConn got the ball with 4:27 left in the first half and went 3 and out with three incomplete passes. Fresno State was up 14-0 and had only gained 123 yards in 5 offensive series. UConn punted the ball back to Fresno State with 4:00 remaining. The offense had taken only 27 seconds off the clock! The last 2 UConn drives to end the first half: 5 plays, 19 yards, 1:41, 3 plays, -9 yards, 34 seconds. UConn's offensive ineptitude broke UConn's defense' back at the end of the first half and they could not recover.

Clearly, the DBs had some mixups and missed some tackles. I do think they will get better each game.

I do believe in Lou Spanos as a DC and he has a track record so I'm not giving up on the defense.

Offense:

In contrast to Spanos, I have no confidence in Frank Giufre as an OC as he has no previous experience as an OC and I have not been impressed with his schemes or play calling. And, when the OL is so important, why would you have the OL coach be the OC as well? That is on Edsall.

I'm not ready to give up on Zergiotis, but why didn't UConn bring in a transfer QB to compete for the job?

I do think UConn has more playmakers on offense than they have had in a long time. The WRs look quicker and faster and the RBs look better as well, although I think losing Drayton to injury was a real blow. The problem is Giufre is either not taking advantage of his weapons or Jack Zergiotis is not able to execute. I don't buy that the excuse that the OL didn't play well (although they didn't) and Jack Zergiotis didn't have time to make plays as you can call plays to compensate for the OL weakness like quick passes or rolling the QB out. Instead, I saw slow developing running plays and a QB in the pocket. And, I think we have TEs that can make plays, which hasn't been the case over the past few years.

If UConn is going to recover from the Fresno State loss, UConn's offense needs to materially improve. That said, I don't know if Giufre is up to the task.

Special Teams:

Don't know much as we kicked off once and didn't attempt a field goal or extra point. Punting was OK as well as kickoff returns.

The Holy Cross Game:

For me, this is the make or break game for Edsall as there is no way he can survive a loss. I don't know if he can survive a close game. The team looks like a football team now and I think there are better players with more speed and size. There is no excuse for losing to an FCS team playing their first game of the season at home.

Definitely hanging in there until they went up 21. Broke it right there. Down 14 at halftime would have felt pretty good considering.

 

[businesslawyer]

I admire anyone who could perform any rational analysis on that laughable performance. The only thing I could have said is we sucked and we better be a better team than we showed Saturday.

 

[pepband99]

In contrast to Spanos, I have no confidence in Frank Giufre as an OC as he has no previous experience as an OC and I have not been impressed with his schemes or play calling. And, when the OL is so important, why would you have the OL coach be the OC as well? That is on Edsall.

1000% this. It's not like our OL got to an even respectable level during his OL coach tenure, why promote him?

Even worse, it's a pretty damned bad look when the HC calls out your position specialty for poor play, and you're also running the whole offense. If we saw signs of life here, i would say get a dedicated OL coach, but anything approaching positivity is more likely to be a dead cat bouncing.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The HC had previously offered 150k of his salary to keep an OC.

 

[Hoophound]

I find it hard to believe people are blaming Giufre for play calling. We’ve been watching Edsall offenses for years. This is his offensive scheme of choice. Sure, blame OL play on Giufre, but I assure you that’s what Edsall is doing. He’s telling Giufre his 7th grade offense isn’t working solely because of the OL, and that’s Giufre’s fault. That’s simply not the case. The offense is moving too slow. Tempo allowed us to move the ball with Lashlee. Edsall hates it.

Edsall is delusional. He said Steven Krajewski didn’t do any better than Jack Zergiotis when he came in. That’s complete bs. Steven Krajewski barely missed too long balls in tight coverage and had a TD throw broken up by pass interference. He also was able to see better in the chaos because he’s 3” taller. His short passes were on target and in stride. I’m sure Steve really appreciates Randy’s assessment of him in 3 minutes of play.

 

[freescooter]

That game was a total disaster. But I tend to agree with The analysis. I have been a fan of Z since his first game, but to play like he did, to throw for 61 yards, is just not acceptable. It wasnt the offense. He missed open guys down field that could have made a difference. We were down 14-0 he missed a wide open Ross. Hits that and suddenly the whole game changes.

Now I get why Edsall doesn’t want to make a change right away. But I think if we don’t move the ball and score points in the first half, he must make it. I agree too that I don’t understand why we didn’t land a quarterback through the portal or from JUCO.

I must say though that I love all the pining for Lashlee. He was here 1 year. We weren’t good and had Edsall not stepped in, and changed quarterbacks, we lose to Holy Cross.

 

[Hoophound]

That game was a total disaster. But I tend to agree with The analysis. I have been a fan of Z since his first game, but to play like he did, to throw for 61 yards, is just not acceptable. It wasnt the offense. He missed open guys down field that could have made a difference. We were down 14-0 he missed a wide open Ross. Hits that and suddenly the whole game changes.

Now I get why Edsall doesn’t want to make a change right away. But I think if we don’t move the ball and score points in the first half, he must make it. I agree too that I don’t understand why we didn’t land a quarterback through the portal or from JUCO.

I must say though that I love all the pining for Lashlee. He was here 1 year. We weren’t good and had Edsall not stepped in, and changed quarterbacks, we lose to Holy Cross.

You think Edsall stepped in to replace Pindell? Ultimately, yes, but starting Pindell starting was all Randy.

Second, I’m the one referencing Lashlee the most and I’m not pining for him, I’m using him as a reference point. He moved the ball easily with TERRIBLE players. We are clearly bigger, faster and more talented now and we can’t do squat.

The point is that people blaming Giufre, the talent or anything else are missing the point. Lashlee showed us how to move the ball, and he did it with an awful team and an awful OL. Randy ran him out of dodge and screamed at him to slow down. Randy didn’t understand that it’s better to lose in a shootout than a shutout. This is a Randy problem. He doesn’t value offense.

 

[ktuck911]

Twitter stalkers will note that this staff looked into a lot of QBs over the past winter/spring and even this august and struck out over and over. Its not easy to recruit QB talent when you dont have the right people in the QB centric coaching positions; the OC and QB coach. This is on Edsall.

Funding funding funding... I don't believe this is all on Edsall because of it... BUT, he still could've made a better choice there (OL/OC) instead of moving guys around from within because our budget was non-existent I don't believe a veteran OL coach (as old as me) can all of a sudden become an OC at this level of college football. HS rules don't work here... .... same said for a coach that keeps getting from different positions (WR, RB and now QB)... You can't play around with important coaching areas like that.

Now, with that said, hopefully Frank and Mike proves us all wrong... Give us a reason shut up and not just ride with you with uncertainty...

 

[ktuck911]

BTW, shout out to @UConnJim on this solid initial post...

You gotta decompress, think about things entirely before giving a truly valid response. That was tough to watch, score wise, but there were definitely variables in place, things done for us to build on...

 

[UConnJim]

I find it hard to believe people are blaming Giufre for play calling. We’ve been watching Edsall offenses for years. This is his offensive scheme of choice. Sure, blame OL play on Giufre, but I assure you that’s what Edsall is doing. He’s telling Giufre his 7th grade offense isn’t working solely because of the OL, and that’s Giufre’s fault. That’s simply not the case. The offense is moving too slow. Tempo allowed us to move the ball with Lashlee. Edsall hates it.

I disagree. Go back and look at how UConn used to run the ball during Edsall 1.0. Running plays developed quickly with the RB hitting the hole fast. Giufre's running plays (as are his passing plays) are slow developing and are giving the defense more time to react. There is a difference between running plays quickly (Lashlee) and running plays fast.

Watch Donald Brown, Jordan Todman, and Terry Caulley hit the hole. It looks nothing like what we saw on Saturday. The OL did not have to hold their blocks very long.

 

[Hoophound]

I disagree. Go back and look at how UConn used to run the ball during Edsall 1.0. Running plays developed quickly with the RB hitting the hole fast. Giufre's running plays (as are his passing plays) are slow developing and are giving the defense more time to react. There is a difference between running plays quickly (Lashlee) and running plays fast.

Watch Donald Brown, Jordan Todman, and Terry Caulley hit the hole. It looks nothing like what we saw on Saturday. The OL did not have to hold their blocks very long.

I hope you’re right. If that’s the case it should be an easy fix. But my guess is they’ve been running this offense all summer And Randy approved.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

i don't get the absolute mania here over the game. going in, we were reasonably expected to lose big time. we lost big time.
i agree that until halftime, and with all the conditions precedent like we haven't played in forever, the team has a pantload of freshman and sophs across the starting lineup, and then toss in hot feet, the odds of winning a game where we're expected to not win, by 3 or 4 td's, was silly. but for some easy tosses that should have been made, i thought the first half showed reasonable ball.
now, we're reasonably expected to win the next one. i expect to win the next one. winning is the only thing, and point differentials only mean sumthin to gamblers, not me.
lots of good input on this thread, except the 'fire coach' stuff. way, way too early for that conversation. we're not bama, and not reasonably expected to be so.
im stickin with coach, cuz i mostly saw this,

 

[UConnJim]

I hope you’re right. If that’s the case it should be an easy fix. But my guess is they’ve been running this offense all summer And Randy approved.

I'm not confident Giufre can make the adjustments.

 

[Bongo Fury]

1000% this. It's not like our OL got to an even respectable level during his OL coach tenure, why promote him?

Even worse, it's a pretty damned bad look when the HC calls out your position specialty for poor play, and you're also running the whole offense. If we saw signs of life here, i would say get a dedicated OL coach, but anything approaching positivity is more likely to be a dead cat bouncing.

What’s Mike Foley doing?

 

[Forte]

You think Edsall stepped in to replace Pindell? Ultimately, yes, but starting Pindell starting was all Randy.

Second, I’m the one referencing Lashlee the most and I’m not pining for him, I’m using him as a reference point. He moved the ball easily with TERRIBLE players. We are clearly bigger, faster and more talented now and we can’t do squat.

The point is that people blaming Giufre, the talent or anything else are missing the point. Lashlee showed us how to move the ball, and he did it with an awful team and an awful OL. Randy ran him out of dodge and screamed at him to slow down. Randy didn’t understand that it’s better to lose in a shootout than a shutout. This is a Randy problem. He doesn’t value offense.

This! Edsall's post game stated his strategy was basically to hold onto the ball .... not score points.... simply hold onto the ball and run clock out. Edsall is all about game management at the expense of talent at both the skill and coordinator positions.

 

[Palatine]

You think Edsall stepped in to replace Pindell? Ultimately, yes, but starting Pindell starting was all Randy.

Second, I’m the one referencing Lashlee the most and I’m not pining for him, I’m using him as a reference point. He moved the ball easily with TERRIBLE players. We are clearly bigger, faster and more talented now and we can’t do squat.

The point is that people blaming Giufre, the talent or anything else are missing the point. Lashlee showed us how to move the ball, and he did it with an awful team and an awful OL. Randy ran him out of dodge and screamed at him to slow down. Randy didn’t understand that it’s better to lose in a shootout than a shutout. This is a Randy problem. He doesn’t value offense.

So true, Rany wants no one on the staff who is a threat to replace him.

 

[RSTuthill]

I disagree. Go back and look at how UConn used to run the ball during Edsall 1.0. Running plays developed quickly with the RB hitting the hole fast. Giufre's running plays (as are his passing plays) are slow developing and are giving the defense more time to react. There is a difference between running plays quickly (Lashlee) and running plays fast.

Watch Donald Brown, Jordan Todman, and Terry Caulley hit the hole. It looks nothing like what we saw on Saturday. The OL did not have to hold their blocks very long.

Also played with a blocking fullback quite often, Anthony Sherman as the prime example. Running downhill from the snap means twice the velocity at the moment of impact and four times the energy.

 

[UConnJim]

This! Edsall's post game stated his strategy was basically to hold onto the ball .... not score points.... simply hold onto the ball and run clock out. Edsall is all about game management at the expense of talent at both the skill and coordinator positions.

He meant they wanted to be able to chew up clock which they did a poor job of at the end of the first half. They did have 2 wide open receivers on deep routes that Jack Zergiotis missed badly so they did try for some big plays. In my view, the offensive play calling should have done more to help the OL.

 

[tjhusky]

Can someone give a good reason why we hold the ball up at eye level for our backs and the D to confirm where we are running?

No deception at all the QB doesn’t even fake after the handoff. He just watches the hole close up and the runner get dragged down.

I seriously have seen midget football teams that only run but you never know where the ball is or where it is going.

The D knows where we are going just about every play, running or passing

 

[SubbaBub]

If we showed any kind of offensive or defensive clout, I'd say depth was the #1 issue, but I can't say that.

All I can say, is that the work in the weight room, while clearly visible, didn't pay off in results unless you only count the first 15 minutes.

Still.looked slow at the point of attack on both sides of the ball, other than Ross.