Waquoit
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That was so bogus. It reminded me of arena football.
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That was so bogus. It reminded me of arena football.
ctchamps
We are UConn!! 6 >>>1!
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Great thread. It wasn't just the win that I'm celebrating. The top ten FCS teams would beat a lot of lower level FBS teams and Nova has the potential to be a top ten FCS team.
Lot of great points.
I'd add that UConn made terrific defensive adjustments in the second half which, barring a good kick off run and a wtf penalty could have kept a terrific offensive team from putting any points on the scoreboard. Most of Nova's total yardage came in the second quarter.
In my novice viewpoint a defensive adjustment was made to deemphasize the focus on the pass and focus on the run. Part of that adjustment was changing the emphasis on Stewart's play. In the first half he was assigned the role of a pass rusher which put him at a disadvantage to miss the angles. I don't believe there was one play in the second half where that was the case. He was either playing man for man with one of the backs or assigned the role of following Robertson. I believe the Nova offensive ability was negated by UConn's defensive adjustment.
Lot of great points.
I'd add that UConn made terrific defensive adjustments in the second half which, barring a good kick off run and a wtf penalty could have kept a terrific offensive team from putting any points on the scoreboard. Most of Nova's total yardage came in the second quarter.
In my novice viewpoint a defensive adjustment was made to deemphasize the focus on the pass and focus on the run. Part of that adjustment was changing the emphasis on Stewart's play. In the first half he was assigned the role of a pass rusher which put him at a disadvantage to miss the angles. I don't believe there was one play in the second half where that was the case. He was either playing man for man with one of the backs or assigned the role of following Robertson. I believe the Nova offensive ability was negated by UConn's defensive adjustment.
Dooley
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Agree with every single thing on your list. Kicking off down 5 with 1:45 left and only 2 TOs was one of the most puzzling coaching decisions I've seen. And G-Damm it, when we have the ball inside the opponent's 35 yard line, we should ALWAYS go for it on 4th and short. Punting for a net of 15-whatever yards is not worth it.
One thing I'd add is that the depth chart for RB should not be 1 and 1A any longer. It should read: 1- Ron Johnson; 2 - Arkeel Newsome. We have our new Donald Brown here.
Carrezola reminds me so much of Mike Vrabel, it's scary. Even has the left arm sleeve too. I thought he was the best player on D too.
I understand Villanova's logic with not onside kicking and it may have worked if they had stopped Johnson on third down. The onside kick is a low percentage play. If they fail with the onside kick UConn gets the ball around midfield. If they hold UConn to a three and out , Uconn punts and Nova most likely gets the ball with 1:10 deep in their own territory. If they had stopped Johnson on third down and Uconn punts Nova more likely gets the ball closer to midfield with 1:10 left. With the clock stopping on first downs, 1:10 in college is a lot longer than in the NFL. I think he was playing percentages. UConn is not an offensive juggernaut so he was guessing the odds of stopping UConn on a three and out was greater than recovering an onside kick and he was probably correct.
whaler11
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They only had 2 time outs right? That leaves them less than 30 seconds and none left. Realistically 20 seconds and they need 7.
Three time outs I guess - but I'm pretty sure they only had 2.
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With less than 3 timeouts, it's a bad gamble. If we get stopped on third down we could have run the clock down under one minute. The third down snap occurred at 1:27. Figure 4 seconds for the play, and :39 before we snap it for the punt, and :08 for the punt play itself. They would have had less than :45 on the clock when they got the ball back, needing a touchdown.
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They only had two because they had to burn one when Robertson lost his helmet.
There was 1:27 with the clock stopped before the third and one. If Johnson is stopped, Nova uses their final time out and UConn punts with around 1:20 left. Here is how it could have went: 1st down- clock is not running at start from change of possession then after the play 25 seconds run, 2nd down- Nova calls time out after play, 3rd down- Time out , 4th down punt. .
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whaler11
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I don't think they had a time out left to use on third down....
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They burned their last one on second down.
My bad I was thinking of another series. There was a Nova fan behind me yelling for a timeout. So If Uconn punts Nova gets the ball around mid field with around 50 seconds. If the punt is not blocked. After all the blocks last year I am gun shy on kicks.
whaler11
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Clock is 40 seconds. Best case is 55 seconds less - 35 seconds would have been the max and probably 25/30.
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The question on Newsome is if he can run between the tackles at 5 ' 7". Diaco seemed to try it a few times, though, its obvious that Johnson is option 1 and DeLorenzo is Option 2 when it comes to North/South running. The screen he scored on was a thing of beauty as as soon as he cleared the first line, he just exploded and on TV it was easy to see he was going to score. Having a QB who can move and throw while moving will also help out the offense as they won't be able to 100% focus on the RB. Do need to get the WR's more involved; but, I did like the play of the TE's a lot.
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One thought on defense, could they have been getting ready for Army in this game, especially with a good runner like Robertson under center? Playing against an option team like Army requires more disciple, gap coverage, etc. and less aggressiveness. Being over aggressive against an option team will leave holes, holes that can be exploited. Maybe the defense, which clearly has talent, will be let loose against a more traditional offense like Missouri and BYU?
Exit 4
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I have seen enough. Newsome is unlikely to be a between the tackles runner. He looked the same as last year when given the ball in a straight inside run play. He needs the ball in space and just a couple inside plays to keep it all honest.
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1. Offensive line gave up 1 sack.
2. We had 1 fluke turnover that shouldn't have happened.
3. There wasn't any self inflicted penalties like offsides, false starts or delay of game. Though there were the 2 Personal fouls.
4. Almost held Villanova to under 300 yards of total offense.
All and all was very impressed at how clean of a game we played. There was the blocked XP, holding call and those 2 personal penalties but outside that we were very disciplined.
2. We had 1 fluke turnover that shouldn't have happened.
3. There wasn't any self inflicted penalties like offsides, false starts or delay of game. Though there were the 2 Personal fouls.
4. Almost held Villanova to under 300 yards of total offense.
All and all was very impressed at how clean of a game we played. There was the blocked XP, holding call and those 2 personal penalties but outside that we were very disciplined.
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OK where's the fried dough truck?
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The fried dough truck is usually parked behind the scoreboard.
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If we open -7.5, you'll drop a bomb?whaler11 said:
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He had some very nice inside runs last year. One against UCF, for 19 yds right down to the goal line. Johnson will get the bulk of the inside work and rightfully so, but Newsome just needs a crease and he will cause havoc for defenses.
UCFBfan
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All great points so far. I'll just add that I was just happy to see this team finally come out of the locker room after halftime and not fold up shop. They easily could have reverted to their previous 3 year demeanor and gotten down on themselves after they ended the 2nd quarter with a turnover deep in 'Nova territory. Instead, they came out and scored on their first drive after the half. THAT was one of the best things I saw from this team. They picked each other up and came out ready to win.
Don't wanna get too ahead of myself and get my hopes really up but this was a great sign of things to come either this year or beyond. BS is the real deal it seems and his break out of that sure sack was impressive!
Don't wanna get too ahead of myself and get my hopes really up but this was a great sign of things to come either this year or beyond. BS is the real deal it seems and his break out of that sure sack was impressive!
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RedStickHusky
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Great post Whaler. I'm also encouraged that we rolled out something that looked like a football team but there are still some things to work on. With the o-line, it looked like nova played straight up on the first drive and we were able to get hats on people and push them... very positive. When Nova adjusted to running slants to the strong side, it was little more challenging whether foot quickness or mental quickness I don't know, but it should be something they can work on. Pass blocking was pretty good throughout, BS pocket presence / awareness really helps there, as CW was good at moving into pressure. I did not see all five guys getting blown up on every play which was the norm at the start of last season -- I'm sure a lot of that is Balis. We're going to be able to run a lot more offense this year with better line play.
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Couple more thoughts after watching on DVR
Javon Hadley did a real good job in run support on a few occassions where Robertson scrambled.
Junior Joseph really struggled covering backs out of the backfield. He's relatively new to playing standing up. That is something to keep an eye on going forward.
Campeni forced the fumble on the crucial 4th down play, by pushing the center into the QB before they completed the snap exchange. He really is a beast at the point of attack. Like a mini Wilfork.
The OL missed a few assignments which led to negative plays or hits on Shirrefs, but overall look light years ahead of last year. Hope they keep improving.
Javon Hadley did a real good job in run support on a few occassions where Robertson scrambled.
Junior Joseph really struggled covering backs out of the backfield. He's relatively new to playing standing up. That is something to keep an eye on going forward.
Campeni forced the fumble on the crucial 4th down play, by pushing the center into the QB before they completed the snap exchange. He really is a beast at the point of attack. Like a mini Wilfork.
The OL missed a few assignments which led to negative plays or hits on Shirrefs, but overall look light years ahead of last year. Hope they keep improving.
jbdphi
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Also saw the replay yesterday and agree with most of the OP - the only thing I'll add is that while our passing game worked against Nova, we don't seem to be close to operating at the 200 level yet. We were most effective on the quick throws out to the flats (either to WR or TE). Outside of these short throws (and the one screen to Newsome), we had one seam route to Myers which almost went for a TD, one deep ball to Thomas which was incomplete and one out route which was complete and one or two balls in the middle to Bloom.
It's tough to have faith in the passing game if we aren't able to throw the ball in the middle on more complex patterns like crossing routes, etc. to our WRs. I realize this requires QB time to throw but it is a required capability when playing a more complete defense who can press corners and take away the quick throws. Hopefully the passing game was a result of what Nova gave us and not due to our inability to do more.
It's tough to have faith in the passing game if we aren't able to throw the ball in the middle on more complex patterns like crossing routes, etc. to our WRs. I realize this requires QB time to throw but it is a required capability when playing a more complete defense who can press corners and take away the quick throws. Hopefully the passing game was a result of what Nova gave us and not due to our inability to do more.
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Marriner made a few effective blocks on the first drive.
LBs overall did not have a good game. Believe Joseph thought Vann had the RB on their first TD. Thought Vann should have stopped Robertson on the second. Stewart failed on the 4th and 2 after Campenni plugged up the intended hole. Nice trip up on Robertson though. Other issues mentioned beforehand, hope for progress.
Middle is stout, I initially thought Campenni was a reach for a scholarship but he is a real gem.
Parroting Whaler on the OL.
Any opinion on team speed?, quick feet?
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Our LB play will be essential to success against Army. They will be under the microscope. I see a need for taller, leaner quicker players at those positions, however Cherry was listed at 245 and he was very quick out there for Nova. Pass coverage by this group is a concern. Our tackles on O need quicker feet. Knappe still is to high and struggles to keep the rusher in front of him but it is early. Our DB's made some nice plays on the ball and that was nice to see.
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