Playing Joseph and Walsh together in the middle

[Palatine]

The were simply unable to get a hand on Flowers. Neither had the speed or quickness to slow him down. Or even get near him. Flowers makes a lot of guys look bad. But this was a mismatch all night.

There are match ups that work for them and some that don't. The fact we were still doing this in the 4th quarter doesn't make sense. Levenberry should have been in all night.Heck, I might have played one of the safeties at LB.

It wasn't fun t watch.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I love our players, and i credit them with playing hard every game.

That being said, it's clear, that we are entirely too slow on defense, and have been for a long time. I'm sick of prototypes. I dont care if a guy looks the part. I wish they could PLAY the part.

The difference is- maybe a LB at 220lb wouldn't be able to stop an offensive player as easily...OK fine, i concede that. However, at 250lb, a player can't CATCH an offensive player !!! How many collisions are head on at equal speed in football ??? NEARLY NONE! So why do we build a defense based on that principle ??? All an offensive player has to do is take one half step to the side, or change speed a tiny bit, and the "advantage" we have in size is negated completely.

I would rather have a 220 slow up the player enough so the other 220 could come stop him, than have 2- 250's 5 yards behind chasing him (and losing ground) for 40 yards.

We are so behind the damn times. I can't stand us.

 

[UConnFranklin]

Speed wins, almost always!!!

 

[jdb50]

Add in the line dominated by defensive tackles in the 3-4 and we are left tackling air. There are many good things about what HCBD has done here but seeing Babers do what he is doing in year one at Cuse on offense shows how behind the times we are on that side of the ball as well. We need quicker O- lineman, less TE's, a faster tempo.

 

[uconnell]

It would help if our offense stayed on the field longer.

 

[uconndogs]

I read all pre-season on this board that the defense would be better than last season and it never made any sense to me. We graduated an NFL caliber safety and two good (but not NFL caliber) linebackers whom the current starters could never supplant. We do not have great play at LB. JJ is a good downhill run stopper, Diggs is coming on and Luke C. is an OK hybrid who is not a consistent pass rusher. We have had much more talented groups of LBs in the past.

That all said, this is an OK defense, but we've had much better.

 

[businesslawyer]

I love our players, and i credit them with playing hard every game.

That being said, it's clear, that we are entirely too slow on defense, and have been for a long time. I'm sick of prototypes. I dont care if a guy looks the part. I wish they could PLAY the part.

The difference is- maybe a LB at 220lb wouldn't be able to stop an offensive player as easily...OK fine, i concede that. However, at 250lb, a player can't CATCH an offensive player !!! How many collisions are head on at equal speed in football ??? NEARLY NONE! So why do we build a defense based on that principle ??? All an offensive player has to do is take one half step to the side, or change speed a tiny bit, and the "advantage" we have in size is negated completely.

I would rather have a 220 slow up the player enough so the other 220 could come stop him, than have 2- 250's 5 yards behind chasing him (and losing ground) for 40 yards.

We are so behind the damn times. I can't stand us.

It is still too early to be judging HCBD's recruiting (not in terms of rankings but in terms of how players develop over 5 years). But I fully agree with you that we are too focused on size and not focused enough on speed.

 

[businesslawyer]

Add in the line dominated by defensive tackles in the 3-4 and we are left tackling air. There are many good things about what HCBD has done here but seeing Babers do what he is doing in year one at Cuse on offense shows how behind the times we are on that side of the ball as well. We need quicker O- lineman, less TE's, a faster tempo.

I would point out that we have folks up in arms that we have too many TEs and folks up in arms that we don't play enough TEs enough. Presumably both groups are correct and the coaches should be fired for both reasons.

 

[DoctorWho85]

To me it appeared to me Joseph's job was to spy Flowers and I thought he did that fairly well. Walsh always seemed a step behind. I wanna see Luke blitzing more and Leavenberry more in the middle

 

[UConnDan97]

To me it appeared to me Joseph's job was to spy Flowers and I thought he did that fairly well. Walsh always seemed a step behind. I wanna see Luke blitzing more and Leavenberry more in the middle

To me, the biggest issue that we have in containing running QBs is not the speed of the spy. It's the speed of the DEs. Carrezola did as nice a job as could be asked of him, but we don't have that Trevardo type anymore on the end; the former track star that bulked up a little and then kills you on the edge with his speed. Holding that edge forces the running QB to stay up the middle into the teeth of the defense.

We need to find 1 or 2 of those types of ends to stop suffering against the run- first QBs, in my opinion...

 

[Chief00]

Agree we need defensive ends. How many teams though have linebackers to match Flowers speed? Let's be real, he is very special.

 

[UCFBfan]

I thought the team actually did well with initial containment. They just couldn't tackle him for anything. They had him in the backfield almost trapped and then Flowers just blew out of it and made plays. I agree that he's like Ward Jr for Houston and just a really good player.

I thought the Defense looked good for the first time against a mobile QB with their initial containment and read on the play. They just couldn't execute and finish off the play and instead Flowers ran wild. Not sure what the reason for this was but it was a start. Plus, the defense must have been completely gassed by the end of the third quarter and 4th quarter.

 

[Chief00]

In sports when you play a really great player sometimes you just have to acknowledge it.

 

[uconnbill]

Walsh and Joseph are both two down backers. They are better on the run but Flowers is not your usual quarterback running the ball. I like Diggs a lot and think he has the speed to play against these types UConn just needs more like him at linebacker

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

It is still too early to be judging HCBD's recruiting (not in terms of rankings but in terms of how players develop over 5 years). But I fully agree with you that we are too focused on size and not focused enough on speed.

I'm not necessarily blaming recruiting (at least not BD's)...yet. Some players are even still PP's iirc. The RS Seniors had 2 years with the stupid twins before BD & co. got here.

But like you said, the focus needs to change. I hope he sees what's happening and puts an emphasis on either putting the players we have in better spots, or getting new ones that can get to those spots quicker.

Here's a question... What is wrong with the possibility of Watkins, Hahn, or Terry putting on 15 pounds and playing OLB ? I'm genuinely asking. Obviously some guys can't handle the weight, but is it doable ???

Maybe it's an insane question, but at this point, anything sounds better than doing what we're doing.

 

[uconnfan68]

I would point out that we have folks up in arms that we have too many TEs and folks up in arms that we don't play enough TEs enough. Presumably both groups are correct and the coaches should be fired for both reasons.

It's never that simple. ;^)
I do think we have a number of good ones, and can't understand why they don't see more passes.

 

[Palatine]

It's not recruiting. It's playing two run stuffers, guys who move forward well and play mostly between the tackles, against a guy with the kind of wheel that Flowers has. It would have made more sense to play one or the other and bring in an extra safety or DB and play him in the box.

 

[Exit 4]

Agree we need defensive ends. How many teams though have linebackers to match Flowers speed? Let's be real, he is very special.

Flowers is a superior talent, there is no doubt about it. Very few teams will find a way to contain that running ability. If USF is vulnerable, its with their D and with Flowers throwing interceptions.

I don't blame the coaching at all on this loss. I'm strangely comfortable with it, because Flowers is just special...case closed. Oh, well - yes I could start to get angry about the blitz protection, but I have nothing new to add. Our RBs are inconsistent at the blitz pick up, BS has a slow delivery on this throw and has to throw with both feet planted and often there is no outlet receiver or BS cannot see over our tall OL.

 

[freescooter]

I would point out that we have folks up in arms that we have too many TEs and folks up in arms that we don't play enough TEs enough. Presumably both groups are correct and the coaches should be fired for both reasons.

That's not what people are saying and what's more, you know it. We have several tight end with ability to catch the ball yet we rarely throw to them. We play 2 and 3 of them which limits our ability to certain things that you do when you when you have 2 more wide outs. It is about effective use of tight ends. We can play nothing but tight ends if we use them effectively.