One Day ...

[uconndogs]

I still go and have a good time but it’s actually true the less you care about the score the more fun you’ll have.

At 56-17 you’ll get no argument from me.

 

[Bubba1957]

During the good years, I tried to watch or listen whenever I could and occasionally get to a game. It's only been since the Diaco years that I've been able to get season tickets. I've sat there in blowouts, wind, rain, cold and blistering heat. Watched the team decline from year one of Diaco, where talented players like Jeremy Davis sat in big situations and fake, fake field goals were "innovative" offense. There has never a time where I didn't enjoy at least some of the game experience. The anticipation, the tailgating, the fans, the band, watching interactions on the bench, seeing the prospects invited to the game and sometimes, even parts of the game itself - I find enjoyable. I think it is a great way to spend 5-8 hours. So I remain a fan for life. We are so lucky to have this experience in our backyard and I don't want it to end. The day when the team starts winning is coming and as a fan, I think it starts next game.

 

[billybud]

The best line in a while...from Whaler...

"we are castaways like Tom Hanks. And we got stuck with Chief instead of a friendly volleyball. "

Laughs in the morning are a good thing.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Moi?

Sorry. I am not from Connecticut. I don't wallow in the Scoreboard and leave at the 10:30mark of the 3rd. (you could have gotten FREE Chick-fil-a sandwiches if you left after the final whistle) I am looking for improvement. I am looking for the kids that want to hit and get better. This is entertainment ... and I refuse to sink into a funk because a very accurate top=rated QB just threw a few amazing passes to open the season. I was very disappointed, for example, with Jamar Summers ... now I am excited by Herring-Wilson and Swenson.

That game would have been far different - IMHO - if Scott hadn't fumbled. When Lorenzen played here, we often moved the chains and scored the first series. That changes tone in a game where you are challenged.

The fact you can sit there and write that the game wouldn't have been different if we didn't fumble tells me all I need to know. Your view of the program is a complete fantasy. Did you miss the fact that we only stopped UCF from scoring a TD on one drive?

Has nothing with someone's outlook, I'm a realist. I recognized that recruiting FCS players would lead to a team that performed like an FCS team. I have faith in Edsall, but for years this is what we've brought in and the records and scores speak for themselves.

 

[Pudge]

The fact you can sit there and write that the game wouldn't have been different if we didn't fumble tells me all I need to know. Your view of the program is a complete fantasy. Did you miss the fact that we only stopped UCF from scoring a TD on one drive?

Has nothing with someone's outlook, I'm a realist. I recognized that recruiting FCS players would lead to a team that performed like an FCS team. I have faith in Edsall, but for years this is what we've brought in and the records and scores speak for themselves.

This is provably wrong. Edsall proved it HCRE 1.0. Kid after kid. You can win at this level with OUR recruiting construct.

As for you and game play ... yes ... college football is about momentum. And depth. I’m not saying we would have WON if we scored driving directly down their throat ... 7-0. Nor am I saying going in at 28-17 at Half would have opened up possibilities in the second half. But we would have had some momentum

And weak knee’d guys like you would FEEL better.

 

[MKirck74]

This is provably wrong. Edsall proved it HCRE 1.0. Kid after kid. You can win at this level with OUR recruiting construct.

As for you and game play ... yes ... college football is about momentum. And depth. I’m not saying we would have WON if we scored driving directly down their throat ... 7-0. Nor am I saying going in at 28-17 at Half would have opened up possibilities in the second half. But we would have had some momentum

And weak knee’d guys like you would FEEL better.

What’s with the RANDOM caps?

 

[Hornet22]

I don’t think anybody posted that. Just that in spite of the score, some of us had a good time and dealt with a


I don’t think that’s what anybody posted or meant to post. One can deal with the disappointment of the outcome of the game and still have a good time.

Agreed. The two events are not mutually exclusive. You can be disappointed in the outcome and enjoy your time at the game. It sucked watching UCF race up and down the field. But as a pure sports fan it was amazing watching UCF race up and down the field. I appreciate good football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Even if my team is getting throttled I find time to enjoy watching really good players doing their thing. Milton and Co were precise, enthusiastic and aggressive- all the things that I aspire UConn to become. I was surrounded by friends and family and the tailgates were amazing. The pregame atmosphere was really good- weather was great and there wasn’t any nonsense in the stands (at least in my section). And yes, money was definitely spent on bringing food to the tailgate and buying more food at the half. But here’s the thing- it’s not as much the result of the outing- buried in between the beginning and end of the game lies the time spent with loved ones sharing a mutual interest- time that sadly you can never get back in life.
Looking forward to the next game!
HuskyUp!

 

[whaler11]

What’s with the RANDOM caps?

It’s easier to take UConn to the Fiesta Bowl than solve that question.

 

[RSTuthill]

I loved Union College football. UCLA at the Rose Bowl. And I love bands.

UConn's band is exceptional this year. Certainly in the Top Ten if they had such rankings.

Dutchmen vs. Engineers is always a great matchup. Nothing wrong with small college football. NESCAC, Liberty League all of those. Played by players whom regular students would sit next to in advanced classes. (The smell of wintergreen on Monday morning would tell the story.) Not to mention that Union won the national D-1 hockey championship not long ago, too.

 

[RSTuthill]

I need to see a competitive game to have fun. We left when the UCF lead got to 32 or something early in the second half. So I am one of the guilty ones. But the game was not competitive by then and we had seen enough to know that all the happy HS about the freshmen beating out the more experienced players was pretty much just that. Edsall needs a bowl appearance in 2019 and playing the frosh is probably the only way that is gonna happen. We had also seen enough to be somewhat encouraged in some ways.

We will go to the URI game and then decide what to do for the rest of the season factoring in business travel. This schedule does have one advantage in that if games are out of reach from the beginning. you might as well play them first even though as a learning experience they probably have dubious value. The important games are those in which UConn has a fighting chance and getting any kind of experience prior to those is probably a good thing. The film, at least, should exaggerate the flaws in UConn's play and make it easy to identify issues.

Hope UConn comes out of ID with no injuries.

 

[Pudge]

Real forward thinking

1. Pindell needs to stay healthy
2. We should expect far better play from the OLine. Van de Mark & Peart & DeGeorge are key players on this team. They’ve got to play better than an average grade.
3. We can’t turn the ball over. Ever. We could have 3 more scores against better teams.
4. I’m very disappointed in the LBs. Sterling played better than my expectations. No one else. Swenson - still not a LB in my head - plays well and is a very valued piece. Terry looks the part ... but doesn’t measure up for me.
5. DL is a big weekly Work-in-process
6. Tarbutt ... keep it up. I have confidence that you might have the best leg in the FBS UConn era.
7. KR? Where’s Bobby Diaco!
8. I like to watch Buss. Go Shenendehowa.
9. Suddenly. Improved UConn and a confident healthy UConn has a USF, UMASS, Tulsa, SMU, ECU, Temple juggernaut. You can’t Blue Sky that? Cincinnati is better; Boise is Wowow; Memphis is Memphis; Syracuse with Babers and the Oregon Kid is formidable. But we need to get far better because we can overachieve if WE improve weekly. I hate the winnable game conception ... but this schedule opens up. If we can stay healthy and develop

See. As you age, you can be optimistic. You don’t have to cry after being routed. And FREE Chick-fil-A

 

[Pudge]

UConn's band is exceptional this year. Certainly in the Top Ten if they had such rankings.

Dutchmen vs. Engineers is always a great matchup. Nothing wrong with small college football. NESCAC, Liberty League all of those. Played by players whom regular students would sit next to in advanced classes. (The smell of wintergreen on Monday morning would tell the story.) Not to mention that Union won the national D-1 hockey championship not long ago, too.

My Dad was President/Dean of the affiliate Pharmacy college. Yes. There were delivery of amphetamines to D3 Football.

(Kidding ... maybe)

 

[ConnHuskBask]

This is provably wrong. Edsall proved it HCRE 1.0. Kid after kid. You can win at this level with OUR recruiting construct.

And weak knee’d guys like you would FEEL better.

I love Edsall and thought he was never fully appreciated while here.

But let's make one thing clear. Edsall finished with a winning record in conference two times. The 2007 and 2010 teams that shared conference titles.

So, if everything goes right, you have a coach who can develop talent (Edsall) youre able to compete against your peers but more often than not your looking at .500 ball against comparable programs.

If that's UConn's ceiling with these type of players, then so be it. Your insistence that we don't need better players in the program is bizarre.

Yes, I guess a weak kneed fan like me would prefer we don't get be by 40 points on our home field. Weird.

 

[gtcam]

Real forward thinking

1. Pindell needs to stay healthy
2. We should expect far better play from the OLine. Van de Mark & Peart & DeGeorge are key players on this team. They’ve got to play better than an average grade.
3. We can’t turn the ball over. Ever. We could have 3 more scores against better teams.
4. I’m very disappointed in the LBs. Sterling played better than my expectations. No one else. Swenson - still not a LB in my head - plays well and is a very valued piece. Terry looks the part ... but doesn’t measure up for me.
5. DL is a big weekly Work-in-process
6. Tarbutt ... keep it up. I have confidence that you might have the best leg in the FBS UConn era.
7. KR? Where’s Bobby Diaco!
8. I like to watch Buss. Go Shenendehowa.
9. Suddenly. Improved UConn and a confident healthy UConn has a USF, UMASS, Tulsa, SMU, ECU, Temple juggernaut. You can’t Blue Sky that? Cincinnati is better; Boise is Wowow; Memphis is Memphis; Syracuse with Babers and the Oregon Kid is formidable. But we need to get far better because we can overachieve if WE improve weekly. I hate the winnable game conception ... but this schedule opens up. If we can stay healthy and develop

See. As you age, you can be optimistic. You don’t have to cry after being routed. And FREE Chick-fil-A

Pudge - I applaud your optimism and while I don't agree 100% it's better than reading what are apparent grown ups blasting 18 yo s on their 1st game performance
As far as being sanctimonious? nah I don't see you being that way but that's easy for some to say as a come back at you
Do you, I or 99% of fans like the fact that UConn has been totally outplayed in so many games these past few years? No
But I realize that HCRE has a huge hill to climb and people like the idiot former AD Warde, current dolt AD David Benedict and the last HC BD have created a huge mess
This year will suck but I have the feeling not as bad as last year - their performance Thursday against a really good team was far better than last year vs Maine. That was echoed by fellow 25 plus year season ticket holders whom I have shared the same section at the Rent and at Memorial. Did they all stay until final whistle? No but there was less dissatisfaction and despite the rout, a feeling of things will be getting better. A lot of positive talk and I would never accuse any of them to be sanctimonious
UConn needs football to be good to get out of this AAC that is bad for nearly every sport but football and perhaps baseball.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Real forward thinking

1. Pindell needs to stay healthy
2. We should expect far better play from the OLine. Van de Mark & Peart & DeGeorge are key players on this team. They’ve got to play better than an average grade.
3. We can’t turn the ball over. Ever. We could have 3 more scores against better teams.
4. I’m very disappointed in the LBs. Sterling played better than my expectations. No one else. Swenson - still not a LB in my head - plays well and is a very valued piece. Terry looks the part ... but doesn’t measure up for me.
5. DL is a big weekly Work-in-process
6. Tarbutt ... keep it up. I have confidence that you might have the best leg in the FBS UConn era.
7. KR? Where’s Bobby Diaco!
8. I like to watch Buss. Go Shenendehowa.
9. Suddenly. Improved UConn and a confident healthy UConn has a USF, UMASS, Tulsa, SMU, ECU, Temple juggernaut. You can’t Blue Sky that? Cincinnati is better; Boise is Wowow; Memphis is Memphis; Syracuse with Babers and the Oregon Kid is formidable. But we need to get far better because we can overachieve if WE improve weekly. I hate the winnable game conception ... but this schedule opens up. If we can stay healthy and develop

See. As you age, you can be optimistic. You don’t have to cry after being routed. And FREE Chick-fil-A

Sterling? he was ineffective to be kind. Terry? He had the most opportunities to make plays and he is making the same mistakes after four years. Just disagree with you on the those points Pudge.

 

[Pudge]

Last year was Holy Cross

I know. It’s painful to sit and see the pinball Scoreboard. And looking back at previous first games ... only BYU seemed to be as formidable. I don’t know how good that UCF team is. I am certain at Milton is pretty damn great. Then I watched his backup speed like the roadrunner 70 yards.

 

[Pudge]

Sterling? he was ineffective to be kind. Terry? He had the most opportunities to make plays and he is making the same mistakes after four years. Just disagree with you on the those points Pudge.

I haven’t RE-watched the game. I did watch Terry & Swenson. I liked the latter. Sterling jumped into my view a few times. Other? I have hope for Kevon Jones who’s athletic with size. But this is crying for one - a Lutrus & Bama arrived together - and I didn’t see that.

 

[RSTuthill]

My Dad was President/Dean of the affiliate Pharmacy college. Yes. There were delivery of amphetamines to D3 Football.

(Kidding ... maybe)

I was referring to oil of wintergreen liniment.

 

[Pudge]

I love Edsall and thought he was never fully appreciated while here.

But let's make one thing clear. Edsall finished with a winning record in conference two times. The 2007 and 2010 teams that shared conference titles.

So, if everything goes right, you have a coach who can develop talent (Edsall) youre able to compete against your peers but more often than not your looking at .500 ball against comparable programs.

If that's UConn's ceiling with these type of players, then so be it. Your insistence that we don't need better players in the program is bizarre.

Yes, I guess a weak kneed fan like me would prefer we don't get be by 40 points on our home field. Weird.

I’ll agree somewhat.

The more compelling immediate issue is the AAC today is more challenging than the 2007 Big East. Except for WVU. Big names that we could beat ... brought in the attendance. We could crunch SMU in Late October; to my view, it won’t feel as good as carving up Syracuse under Greg Robinson.

I don’t know how to debate the Recruiting argument. The kids EDSALL chooses and gets excited about are recruiting wins I trust (now) far more than Disco Diaco or PP. Will we get a Dillon or one of the great Cheshire Academy athletes that went ND or Michigan? Only at the margins.

I suppose I’m more thrilled to see a NR not ranked Scott Lutrus from Brookfield play like a high 3. Jon Wholley, though, needs to develop like Todd Orlando - and that’s a great question not near answered.

 

[noeynox]

I love Edsall and thought he was never fully appreciated while here.

But let's make one thing clear. Edsall finished with a winning record in conference two times. The 2007 and 2010 teams that shared conference titles.

So, if everything goes right, you have a coach who can develop talent (Edsall) youre able to compete against your peers but more often than not your looking at .500 ball against comparable programs.

If that's UConn's ceiling with these type of players, then so be it. Your insistence that we don't need better players in the program is bizarre.

Yes, I guess a weak kneed fan like me would prefer we don't get be by 40 points on our home field. Weird.

Edsall 1.0, did recruit a lot of next level talent. BUT... we were BCS. A lot different to get kids to come up north and pass up on MAC and Conferece USA level recruits when you're one rung up the ladder from them. We no longer have that luxury. I admit I do like what k have seen so far from the young players but this isn't the same job he left recruiting wise. Makes no sense to pretend otherwise.

 

[Scrutineer]

That’s awesome guy who doesn’t go to games that doesn’t leave.

Sit through 2011-2018 and then show us in year 9 you still sit to the end of boring 56-17 games.

Do it with kids. Do it in bad weather. Do it when you’ve got to get up in the morning. Do it when you’ve got to get to a youth football or soccer game. A lot of schools opened last week.

Here’s the thing. The people subjecting them to sitting there until the end of uncompetitive blowouts are the idiots.

Lose the first two 120-40 and yeah who wouldn’t give up one of the last nice Saturdays to watch UConn embarass themselves against URI.

I only spent $720 on tickets this year and at 14-0 I was questioning why I even spent that much.

Hey, maybe those of us who stay until the end of bad games are idiots, or maybe we're just diehard fans looking for any glimmer of hope after having seen success in the past. In our case, we sat through lots of awful basketball games in the 80's hoping kids like Marc Suhr would turn into Mike Gminski or Corny Thompson. We're such idiots we were excited to win the Wednesday night game at the Big East Tournament.

We did it for five years from Binghamton, NY (4 hour drive each way for weekend games) and seven more from near Albany, NY (2 hour drive each way) on work nights and weekends from the late 70's to the late 80's. After that it was only 45 minutes to Hartford and an hour plus to Storrs from Western Mass.

Lots of late night drives in snow, but it worked out (over too much time perhaps) in spite of all the bad calls from Higgins, Burr and Sylvester, so we were thrilled with most of the years from 1988 to 2014.

We only had football tickets from 2000 to 2011 and thought the games were more fun than basketball because the fans were so into the games. Saw enough in one year of Pasqualoni to move away. Not the actual reason.

Everyone is different, and it sounds like you have lots of pressures with kids, etc. so maybe it would have been better to take a year off, donate the $720 for a tax deduction or give the tickets to some youth organization, and get ready for the banner year next year will be.

 

[whaler11]

Hey, maybe those of us who stay until the end of bad games are idiots, or maybe we're just diehard fans looking for any glimmer of hope after having seen success in the past. In our case, we sat through lots of awful basketball games in the 80's hoping kids like Marc Suhr would turn into Mike Gminski or Corny Thompson. We're such idiots we were excited to win the Wednesday night game at the Big East Tournament.

We did it for five years from Binghamton, NY (4 hour drive each way for weekend games) and seven more from near Albany, NY (2 hour drive each way) on work nights and weekends from the late 70's to the late 80's. After that it was only 45 minutes to Hartford and an hour plus to Storrs from Western Mass.

Lots of late night drives in snow, but it worked out (over too much time perhaps) in spite of all the bad calls from Higgins, Burr and Sylvester, so we were thrilled with most of the years from 1988 to 2014.

We only had football tickets from 2000 to 2011 and thought the games were more fun than basketball because the fans were so into the games. Saw enough in one year of Pasqualoni to move away. Not the actual reason.

Everyone is different, and it sounds like you have lots of pressures with kids, etc. so maybe it would have been better to take a year off, donate the $720 for a tax deduction or give the tickets to some youth organization, and get ready for the banner year next year will be.

You seem to get everyone is different but that you can still judge people who don’t sit through the games when you yourself don’t do it.

And I was there until the end - I just can’t take people criticizing people who leave. The games suck.

Donations aren’t tax deductible and Marc Surh was a sophomore during the dream season.

 

[uconnbill]

UCF might be one of the top teams in the country with their offense.
So this game I give them a do over and I hope to see a better game next week at Boise State but that blue turf is tough to play well on for vitsiting teams

 

[Pudge]

I don't know why I stay to the end of games; I just do.

Person preferences in choice is a weird dynamic and uniquely the equation of 23,000 different individual stories. We - in part - are not P5 (as many yearn to be) because WE don't have this tradition of solid fervent fans who come early, stay late and spend big dollars. Yankee conference games did not prepare us for the way the Game changed. I like the games. I can't type "... that score leaves me dejected". My mindset does include the view that Football (Basketball, Baseball, Hockey - UConn sports) are development of young talented men. I will be disappointed far more in late October if we don't see a far better UConn team. I do think I'd rather have seen that Thursday UCF performance than barely win against Holy Cross. I understand the good feeling of a win. However ... I do want to win this AAC ... or just compete to win the conference.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I’ll agree somewhat.

The more compelling immediate issue is the AAC today is more challenging than the 2007 Big East. Except for WVU. Big names that we could beat ... brought in the attendance. We could crunch SMU in Late October; to my view, it won’t feel as good as carving up Syracuse under Greg Robinson.

I don’t know how to debate the Recruiting argument. The kids EDSALL chooses and gets excited about are recruiting wins I trust (now) far more than Disco Diaco or PP. Will we get a Dillon or one of the great Cheshire Academy athletes that went ND or Michigan? Only at the margins.

I suppose I’m more thrilled to see a NR not ranked Scott Lutrus from Brookfield play like a high 3. Jon Wholley, though, needs to develop like Todd Orlando - and that’s a great question not near answered.

The AAC in 2018 is a bigger challenge for UConn in the fact they we no longer have the Big East BCS bid and are by and large up against teams in fertile recruiting areas whose profile is actually elevated by the AAC. I still think the competition was better in the 8 team Big East top to bottom.

While the top of the league, as you mention, is probably just as good as the old Big East (maybe aside from a few of the WVU Pat White teams), the bottom third of the AAC is way worse than what we faced in the Big East.

It's going to be hard for UConn to compete with UCF and Houston going forward, but the fact were stuck at the bottom with ECU, Tulane, and SMU is a real indictment of how far we've fell.