Offense MUST produce immediately

[gopher2]

or we will be 0-6 out of the gate.

Villanova may not score a lot but they will put points on the board. Another 223 yard, 12 point performance by the offense a la Stony Brook will not be enough.

The D may struggle with the option against Army and Navy. The O will need to possession the ball and score touchdowns - I would say at least 3 against Army and 4 against Navy to win these games. At least. A tall order for last year's O.

Missouri, BYU, UCF - all on the road - all nearly certain loses without a greatly improved offensive performance.

I'm looking forward to the season but can the offense come through early so we land at 3-3, maybe 4-2 by midseason, instead of the dreaded 0-6?

 

[Jimdish255]

Sorry couldn't help myself. And it's Saturday night. But you're totally right.

 

[formerlurker]

 

[gopher2]

Funny. I should have specifically asked if anyone thinks the offense will improve enough to avoid 0-6 in the title. Obviously.

 

[SubbaBub]

This will always be the go to, IMO.

Sorry couldn't help myself. And it's Saturday night. But you're totally right.

 

[Palatine]

Where was this advice four years ago?

 

[WestHartHusk]

I just hope we use more than one cadence all season (http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball/index.ssf/2015/07/syracuse_football_offense_cadence.html).

 

[UConnDan97]

In other breaking news, you MUST hit all of the numbers to win the Lotto...

 

[BlueDogs]

I think we stick with the low scoring "rope a dope" strategy and lull them into a stupor.

 

[weyuo]

Sherriffs should be an improvement over Whitmer as he actually has played Div1 ball albeit limited before coming to Storrs where Whitmer came from community college. The O-line should be improved from last year as everyone on the planet knows that was the weakest link. It cost Foley his job and Cummings his O-coordinator gig. If the O-line isn't the most improved unit on the team this year I'll be surprised but..... Cummings, Verducci & Diaco need to bring in some higher caliber O-linemen if they want to compete in the top 25 and that should be the #1 priority.

 

[ktuck911]

or we will be 0-6 out of the gate.

Villanova may not score a lot but they will put points on the board. Another 223 yard, 12 point performance by the offense a la Stony Brook will not be enough.

The D may struggle with the option against Army and Navy. The O will need to possession the ball and score touchdowns - I would say at least 3 against Army and 4 against Navy to win these games. At least. A tall order for last year's O.

Missouri, BYU, UCF - all on the road - all nearly certain loses without a greatly improved offensive performance.

I'm looking forward to the season but can the offense come through early so we land at 3-3, maybe 4-2 by midseason, instead of the dreaded 0-6?

You get the proverbial Stone Cold Steve Austin response on how our offense needs to start out the season (see below). We should take Army this time around.. Zero excuses.. If our OL takes control of the line of scrimmage (which would be inexcusable if they don't IMO). and our D has seen them in action.. We're just a bigger football team up front with a little game experience now. no surprises.. NAVY's a different animal... they are just so disciplined with their play, and they have better talent... They'll give us some trouble... I see no worse than 2-4 going into the USF game...

 

[ktuck911]

I think we stick with the low scoring "rope a dope" strategy and lull them into a stupor.

Unfortunately I think you're right... but wins are most important right now, no matter how we get them...

 

[Confident Carl]

or we will be 0-6 out of the gate.

Villanova may not score a lot but they will put points on the board. Another 223 yard, 12 point performance by the offense a la Stony Brook will not be enough.

The D may struggle with the option against Army and Navy. The O will need to possession the ball and score touchdowns - I would say at least 3 against Army and 4 against Navy to win these games. At least. A tall order for last year's O.

Missouri, BYU, UCF - all on the road - all nearly certain loses without a greatly improved offensive performance.

I'm looking forward to the season but can the offense come through early so we land at 3-3, maybe 4-2 by midseason, instead of the dreaded 0-6?

If we go 0-6, I am going to recommend to the Athletic Department that we take on Women's Football (The Heck with FCS mens's) and become the dominant Women's program's in both football and basketball. If the girls wear uni's like those below we are sure to sell out the Rent! Could be a real money maker!

 

[freescooter]

Carl
They were on Rutgers schedule but the Ruts dropped them. Too tough.

 

[Redding Husky]

I disagree. The offense doesn't need to be Air Coryell (for you old timers). They just need to move the chains a little and not turn the ball over five times like against SMU.

If we didn't shoot ourselves in the foot last year, we would have been 5-7 or 6-6.

 

[Husky25]

Anyone see the movie, "Let It Ride" with Richard Dreyfus and Jennifer Tilly about the really good day at the horse track? This thread reminds me of a line in that movie where the crooked gambler tells the jockey to "Go fast and win."

 

[whaler11]

Sherriffs should be an improvement over Whitmer as he actually has played Div1 ball albeit limited before coming to Storrs where Whitmer came from community college. The O-line should be improved from last year as everyone on the planet knows that was the weakest link. It cost Foley his job and Cummings his O-coordinator gig. If the O-line isn't the most improved unit on the team this year I'll be surprised but..... Cummings, Verducci & Diaco need to bring in some higher caliber O-linemen if they want to compete in the top 25 and that should be the #1 priority.

Um Whitmer started at Illinois.

Granted they were a productive 9 snaps... but BS played a total of 9 snaps and they were against Richmond.

 

[ktuck911]

Um Whitmer started at Illinois.

Granted they were a productive 9 snaps... but BS played a total of 9 snaps and they were against Richmond.

BS has been a part of this team for a year now. He's been thru everything with everybody that went thru it last year... IMO, big difference from CW who came in as a JUCO savior... Here's hoping he can steer this ship on offense and help get us enough Ws to go bowling

 

[UConnDan97]

Um Whitmer started at Illinois.

Granted they were a productive 9 snaps... but BS played a total of 9 snaps and they were against Richmond.

I was going to argue this exact same point, but I feel like I've been defending Whitmer for years and I'm experiencing runner's fatigue.

Believe me, I want Shirreffs to be the greatest thing since sliced bread and I hope he is. But the bottom line is that we need a properly functioning offensive line and a coherent offensive gameplan to win games. Whitmer was certainly good enough to win games. But he had a hard time doing that whilst running for his life, or even better yet, as a wide receiver getting concussed...

 

[SubbaBub]

BS has been a part of this team for a year now. He's been thru everything with everybody that went thru it last year... IMO, big difference from CW who came in as a JUCO savior... Here's hoping he can steer this ship on offense and help get us enough Ws to go bowling

Whitmer's problem was a lack of protection and a lack of a running game than left him in obvious passing downs which caused too many interceptions and a lot of three and outs.

I don't see how a new signal caller is going to change that on its own.

Running backs fumbling away touchdowns on the opening drives doesn't help in that regard either.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I think it really starts and ends with the O-Line. If the O-Line improves, we can establish a running game, open up the play actions, give ourselves a bit of pass protection. It's enormous. If that doesn't improve, I'm not sure Shirreffs' mobility is gonna be enough to produce any vast improvement.

That being said, we have a lot of people coming back so I think we at least have a chance. Though years of UConn football have dulled my ability to even approach optimism about a new season.

 

[UConnDan97]

I think it really starts and ends with the O-Line. If the O-Line improves, we can establish a running game, open up the play actions, give ourselves a bit of pass protection. It's enormous. If that doesn't improve, I'm not sure Shirreffs' mobility is gonna be enough to produce any vast improvement.

That being said, we have a lot of people coming back so I think we at least have a chance. Though years of UConn football have dulled my ability to even approach optimism about a new season.

Every year, I approach with extreme optimism because every year I'm able to convince myself that our offensive line will become that of the 90's Cowboys. It clearly means I'm drinking the right stuff. And everything that you've said about opening up play-actions, pass protection, and improving the running game is spot on.

For the Whitmer-haters out there, consider this: There were numerous games where he was the leading rusher on the team, sacks included. He was indeed a mobile quarterback. Shirreffs' mobility will have to be that of Walter Payton to improve our offense if the OLine doesn't get their stuff straight...

 

[Srqhusky]

It would be monster improvement if we can get from 120th in offenseive output to the 80s. I would be very pleased if we could accomplish this and play some solid defense

 

[weyuo]

I'm not a Whitmer hater(if that was aimed at me). I saw the guy running for his life right along with everyone else. My point was that H-O-P-E-F-U-L-L-Y Sherrifs coming from the ACC(as opposed to Whitmer who transferred over from junior college) along with what SHOULD be an improved O-line can produce more than what was going on last year, win the games they should win and maybe a couple no one expects them to. Just hoping Sherrifs brings more skill to the table and the guy that follows him brings even more.

But........ the offense is already 2 important pieces down(McQuillan, Crozier) and fall practice hasn't even started yet so who the heck knows what to expect.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm not a Whitmer hater(if that was aimed at me). I saw the guy running for his life right along with everyone else. My point was that H-O-P-E-F-U-L-L-Y Sherrifs coming from the ACC(as opposed to Whitmer who transferred over from junior college) along with what SHOULD be an improved O-line can produce more than what was going on last year, win the games they should win and maybe a couple no one expects them to. Just hoping Sherrifs brings more skill to the table and the guy that follows him brings even more.

Why do you keep qualifying the two QB's with credentials? Furthermore, why do you continue to give Whitmer the wrong credentials? Whaler has already corrected you on this and yet you continue to propogate the error to support some sort of fake evidence that Shirreffs is coming from a better place. Whitmer was a 4-star recruit and the #19th ranked pro-style QB in the nation when the Illini signed him. Shirreffs was a 2-star, unrated kid at even his state level, with only one other D-1 offer (UAB).

Look, I hope the kid comes out like gangbusters. But stop typing bogus stuff as the reason why he SHOULD be better than Whitmer, because quite frankly, there is no reason yet to believe that...