Putterman: UConn football players, coaches lament failure to handle in-game adversity

[mikedog10]

UConn football players, coaches lament failure to handle in-game adversity

Some highlights from the article:

“One bad thing and guys start to hang their heads,” receiver Kyle Buss said Saturday. “Instead of worrying about the next play and what they’re supposed to do on the next play, they’re sulking about the previous play. And then it just continues to happen play after play, and before we know it, we’re down 30 points.”

“We’ve just got to have a tougher mindset and a tougher mentality,” Pindell said Wednesday. “We can’t let adversity hit us. One person sees that, then it’s like a domino effect. You can’t show emotion [when things go wrong], you’ve just got to be able to respond.”

Several recent UConn games have followed a similar pattern: The Huskies score early, hold steady for a quarter or two, then collapse either just before or after halftime on the way to a loss (often by a wide margin). Against Cincinnati on Sept. 29, UConn scored first and then didn’t record another point, falling 49-7. Against Memphis the week after, the Huskies were tied until late in the first quarter on the way to a 45-14 defeat. After hanging on for all 60 minutes against South Florida, UConn blew a 14-3 lead to UMass in a 22-17 loss.

But Saturday’s game at Tulsa might have been the most stark example of the pattern. At the end of the first quarter, UConn led 10-0 having scored on consecutive drives while holding the opposing offense in check. After Tulsa picked up 7 points on an eight-play 75 yard drive, the Huskies responded with a field goal. But back-to-back Golden Hurricane touchdowns, back-to-back UConn punts and Pindell’s poor throw just before the half left the Huskies down two scores. Things fell apart further in the third quarter, when Tulsa notched three touchowns and held UConn scoreless.

The consensus among UConn players and coaches seems to be that the Huskies reacted poorly when they fell behind, hanging their heads and losing composure.

“We came out, shut them out in the first quarter, got a touchdown on offense, and we were like ‘OK, we’re feeling good, feeling good,’ ” defensive coordinator Bill Crocker said Wednesday. “And then all of a sudden, it’s almost like sometimes we’re waiting for something to happen, and then it did, and then it’s like ‘OK, we gave it our best.’ We’ve got to be able to fight through that and be a little bit mentally tougher than we’ve been.”

 

[Palatine]

They need to worry abut real things like DB unable to turn their heads and locate the ball, like DL beating their blocks, like LB finishing their tackles.

Yeah, it would be great to be mentally tougher. It's more important to play sound football. That would give them something to count on when things go south.

 

[Dooley]

This is exactly what I was worried about before the season started. The schedule was so tough in the front half. I was hoping to see competitive improvement in the second half. Fighting through adversity, staying mentally tough, competing until the very end. That hasn't happened yet. That's what is most disappointing about 2018. Seeing the same loser habits, body language, and lack of fire continue to show on the field and sidelines in every game.

 

[Life Is Good]

This is exactly what I was worried about before the season started. The schedule was so tough in the front half. I was hoping to see competitive improvement in the second half. Fighting through adversity, staying mentally tough, competing until the very end. That hasn't happened yet. That's what is most disappointing about 2018. Seeing the same loser habits, body language, and lack of fire continue to show on the field and sidelines in every game.

I agree. They need to get some fresh blood in there and see what they can do. There could be some surprises.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

They need to worry abut real things like DB unable to turn their heads and locate the ball, like DL beating their blocks, like LB finishing their tackles.

Yeah, it would be great to be mentally tougher. It's more important to play sound football. That would give them something to count on when things go south.

It almost sounds as though you’re coming around to the possibility that the players we have just might not be good enough.

 

[BlueDogs]

They need to worry abut real things like DB unable to turn their heads and locate the ball, like DL beating their blocks, like LB finishing their tackles.

Yeah, it would be great to be mentally tougher. It's more important to play sound football. That would give them something to count on when things go south.

Exactly. Confidence follows success, and success comes from execution, and execution comes with good teaching, training and practice.

 

[tduconn]

They need to worry abut real things like DB unable to turn their heads and locate the ball, like DL beating their blocks, like LB finishing their tackles.

Yeah, it would be great to be mentally tougher. It's more important to play sound football. That would give them something to count on when things go south.

Didn't RE midseason suggest that some players didn't even know how to play football. Sounded almost like he felt he had to go back to the beginning to teach basics they should have learned in midget or HS football.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Edsall created a big recruiting problem for himself by voicing that winning isn’t important this year, after the UMass debacle.

He’s only gotten 7 verbals as it is for 2019. And, as he’s reminded the world, it’s not easy to recruit to UConn because of being in the AAC, lack of local talent hotbed, not being a P5, etc.

So how does going winless against Div 1A help the recruiting cause? If potential recruits were able to witness a turnaround in the 2nd half of the season, then maybe they’d be more likely to consider UConn than they are now.

It’ll be a miracle after this disastrous season if Randy can bring in any quality recruits, never mind in the large numbers that are needed to right this ship.

I’m afraid that in totally ripping down and rebuilding, while ignoring winning, that the cure (recruiting better players) has been rendered unattainable.

 

[UCFBfan]

I’m afraid that in totally ripping down and rebuilding, while ignoring winning, that the cure (recruiting better players) has been rendered unattainable.

Does anyone truly believe he's ignoring winning?? I know he made that comment, but come on.

He's working with what he has, and what he has are a huge group of frosh who shouldn't be seeing the field this early in their career. I'm not sure how he's supposed to make them quality starters in a few months.

I also think it's really dumb, and too soon, to claim that any of these frosh are not D1 level recruits. They've played 9 games and had a fall training camp. That's it....if anyone really thought we'd win more, you need to lay off the Blue Kool aid.

I'm not sure how we will end up with recruiting. This season sure won't help. I'm also frustrated with our lack of improvement through the season. The defense is an abomination.

I'm not trying to say RE is not at fault for some of this. What I do believe is that he clearly is trying to win. I also believe it's asinine to think you can judge a players quality from 9 games of their true frosh season.