Pre-Snap Read on UConn

[pj]

#72: http://www.presnapread.com/no-72-connecticut/

Rather pessimistic. No mention of Michael Smith or Ryan Griffin among the receivers. Spells Jesse Joseph's name wrong. OL: "No place to go but up." Predicts 6 or 7 wins.

Key passage:

There are several questions that remain unanswered, and in a way, this sense of uncertainty surrounding this team’s coming season makes the Huskies both an intriguing contender in the Big East and a genuine threat to finish outside of bowl play for a second consecutive season. Consider the case at quarterback, for example. UConn will take an enormous step forward if Whitmer can deliver the ball down field with consistency; UConn will be an also-ran if he’s not the answer, or if the passing game continues to scuffle along its current level of mediocrity. Consider wide receiver: UConn is hoping that the two transfers lend some explosiveness to the position; if not, it’ll be more of the same. And offensive line, where health could determine whether the front makes any improvement, or the defensive line, where there’s talent but little proven production at tackle, or in the secondary, where the Huskies have a pair of talented cornerbacks whose play left much to be desired a season ago. If UConn lands its dream scenario at each spot this team can wear the Big East crown for the second time in three years.​

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Pessimistic, certainly, but at this time of year I am ravenous for analysis, and while this isn't the best analysis I've seen, it did sate my appetite for a couple of days.

 

[mattp]

for the most part i think it's a fair evaluation, although his conclusion at the end is a little silly in that in our "dream season" scenario he still has us going only 2-3 OOC. i like to think if our new offensive players work out how we're hoping, our "dream season" would include at least 4 OOC wins. he is right that we have the most question marks, but these are question marks we have every year and i'm more confident about them going into this season than i have ever been.

 

[Palatine]

If Whitmer completes 60% of his passes, it changes everything.

 

[Waquoit]

Our "dream season" would be 5 OOC wins. It's doable.

 

[Palatine]

Our "dream season" would be 5 OOC wins. It's doable.

Our dream season is 13-0.

 

[thatguyed]

If Whitmer completes 60% of his passes, it changes everything.

Half of that should come from the receivers. Not to pump Johnny Mac, who worked his butt off but really isn't up to this level of competition, but his numbers got hurt by a lot of drops. The couple of years' prior weren't very solid either for holding on to the ball.

 

[thatguyed]

Our dream season is 13-0.

And a big bowl on the east coast that some of us can even afford to travel to. P.S. I love South Beach any time of the year.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

"I think that UConn gets back into bowl play, making steady improvement at quarterback and along the offensive line, and shows some new life in its second season under Pasqualoni. But if this team gets what it hopes for, don’t sleep on UConn making a push in the BIg East."

That's pessimistic?

Outside of the "Jerry" typo...and missing M. Smith, I think it is a well thought out analysis. I was impressed that he even knew about Dez feuding with BC fans!

I also completely agree with his disagreement with PP on naming Whitmer the starter. The team needs to come into camp knowing who the QB is and Whitmer needs the time to establish himself as the leader. I hope they at least name him the starter early in camp.

 

[Sky ball]

#72: http://www.presnapread.com/no-72-connecticut/

Rather pessimistic. No mention of Michael Smith or Ryan Griffin among the receivers. Spells Jesse Joseph's name wrong. OL: "No place to go but up." Predicts 6 or 7 wins.

Key passage:

There are several questions that remain unanswered, and in a way, this sense of uncertainty surrounding this team’s coming season makes the Huskies both an intriguing contender in the Big East and a genuine threat to finish outside of bowl play for a second consecutive season. Consider the case at quarterback, for example. UConn will take an enormous step forward if Whitmer can deliver the ball down field with consistency; UConn will be an also-ran if he’s not the answer, or if the passing game continues to scuffle along its current level of mediocrity. Consider wide receiver: UConn is hoping that the two transfers lend some explosiveness to the position; if not, it’ll be more of the same. And offensive line, where health could determine whether the front makes any improvement, or the defensive line, where there’s talent but little proven production at tackle, or in the secondary, where the Huskies have a pair of talented cornerbacks whose play left much to be desired a season ago. If UConn lands its dream scenario at each spot this team can wear the Big East crown for the second time in three years.​

This was the most informative part of the article:

Arbitrary top five list

Shooting guards in the 2012 N.B.A. Draft
1. Bradley Beal, Florida.
2. Dion Waiters, Syracuse.
3. Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut.
4. Terrance Ross, Washington.
5. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt.

 

[ZooCougar]

Not a bad read. At this level, you live and die by the performance of your QB. There is a ceiling when you all you have is a decent defense and an above average rushing attack.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I didn't think it was unfair at all.

 

[whaler11]

How could anyone possibly complain about that. They didn't name every receiver on the team - oh no. It's better analysis than you see from the media here in CT. Here half the papers don't even bother with unimportant things like'road games'.

It also gets pretty stupid quick to say that every teams's dream season is undefeated. No "&$@.

 

[freescooter]

I thought that was a pretty accurate reflection of where we are.

 

[pj]

No complaints, and it's not unfair. But I'm more optimistic than he is. I see 8-4 as a successful season because we have 4 probable losses with NC State, @USF, @Louisville, @Rutgers and 4 other competitive games, but 9-3 or 10-2 are not out of the question if everything breaks our way. I think we're much improved over last year, and he re-ranked us #79 last year and has us #72 this year -- not much difference.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Past head coaches at tomorrow’s program share their last names with the following products or people: an agricultural corporation, a 1980s talk-show host, an indispensable component of your printer, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, a famed author of children’s books and an actress who won a Golden Globe in 1957.

Interesting when i read Purdue's information...about Connecticut. Who were they??

 

[PUPPY4]

This is getting monotonous, just because Coach hasn't called a press conference doesn't mean we don't have a starter at QB.
The team knows who the starter is, let's give them some credit, they are getting a solid college education.
Everything about this team and the season is going to be new, except the goals, that's to win the BE and a BCS Bowl.

I always look forward to getting new things, and I'm looking forward to the new Huskies and a new season!

 

[whaler11]

Past head coaches at tomorrow’s program share their last names with the following products or people: an agricultural corporation, a 1980s talk-show host, an indispensable component of your printer, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, a famed author of children’s books and an actress who won a Golden Globe in 1957.

Interesting when i read Purdue's information...about Connecticut. Who were they??

Dole, Donahue, Toner, Knowles, Brady, Ingalls, Mansfield

 

[BlueMAB]

"I think that UConn gets back into bowl play, making steady improvement at quarterback and along the offensive line, and shows some new life in its second season under Pasqualoni. But if this team gets what it hopes for, don’t sleep on UConn making a push in the BIg East."

That's pessimistic?

Outside of the "Jerry" typo...and missing M. Smith, I think it is a well thought out analysis. I was impressed that he even knew about Dez feuding with BC fans!

I also completely agree with his disagreement with PP on naming Whitmer the starter. The team needs to come into camp knowing who the QB is and Whitmer needs the time to establish himself as the leader. I hope they at least name him the starter early in camp.

I agree with most of that. I disagree on Whitmer needing to be named the starter in order to establish himself as the leader. I think he establishes himself as a leader by winning the job. I think the team is better off in the long run if all QBs are given a fair chance, one (hopefully Whitmer) wins the job outright, and the rest of the team (at least the offense) will respect him and the process. Handing it to him without it being earned can negative repercussions on other units.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Dole, Donahue, Toner, Knowles, Brady, Ingalls, Mansfield

Thanks....I guess I should've looked at the past coaches that we had... (but they didn't mention a defunct car company as a former coach)

 

[jbdphi]

For a guy who covers every single FBS team (124 teams this year), I think Paul does an impressive job on each team that he profiles / ranks. The challenge for anyone who does a ladder ranking that includes the Big East is that our conference, for better or for worse, is just not particularly predictable, even more so now that WVU is out of the picture. As Paul states, UConn could be a Big East Champion this year and could also win just 4 games.

I know everyone on this site is either expecting or aspiring for the former and not the latter but an independent observer is correct to point out both possibilities. He's right, we need a lot of things to turn out right for us to be successful but there is certainly a chance that could happen.

And for G-d's sake, could the season please start?????

 

[HuskyDogArt]

For a guy who covers every single FBS team (124 teams this year), I think Paul does an impressive job on each team that he profiles / ranks. The challenge for anyone who does a ladder ranking that includes the Big East is that our conference, for better or for worse, is just not particularly predictable, even more so now that WVU is out of the picture. As Paul states, UConn could be a Big East Champion this year and could also win just 4 games.

I know everyone on this site is either expecting or aspiring for the former and not the latter but an independent observer is correct to point out both possibilities. He's right, we need a lot of things to turn out right for us to be successful but there is certainly a chance that could happen.

And for G-d's sake, could the season please start?????

True... I just hope we don't lose to UMass, or we might be in for a long season!!

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The write-up seemed fair to me. I do hope a starter is decided by the halfway point of practice. In my experience, teams gell faster when they know who will play QB.