Realistic Season Expectations? What Metrics Define Success

[Stinger92860]

Beating the Vegas over/under for wins, but winning 3-4 games would be nice. Great would be a suprisingly competitive team at 5 or more wins.

 

[SubbaBub]

Beating the Vegas over/under for wins, but winning 3-4 games would be nice. Great would be a suprisingly competitive team at 5 or more wins.

I must confess I'd be disappointed with 3 wins or less. Not sure how I'd feel about 4. I'd be very happy with 5 or more.

 

[NowInStorrs]

The eye test will be big. Just be more competitive. It'd be nice if most games weren't over in the second quarter. Looking at the schedule, I think 3 wins is pretty realistic. More than that would be very encouraging to me. Mostly though, let's just go out there and hang with some teams. Make things interesting at the end with a chance to pull out a win.

Side note: If we start the year off 1-5 but the one win is over Syracuse, I'd be fine with that.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'll go with a similar theme I wanted to see last year.

This season will be a success if opponents have their first team offense and first team defense on the field in the fourth quarter running their offense and scheming on defense.

In other words, just being competitive for 60 minutes will be a success. Do that for all 12 games and there will be a few wins sprinkled in there.

 

[Tdaley]

There are 5 "must wins"- games that a competent FBS team with full scholarships should win.
CCSU, FIU, Ball State, UMass, Army.

Then there are 4 "might wins" games this team could steal if everything goes right.
Utah State, Cuse, BC, Liberty

Then there are 3 no chance beatdowns, Michigan, Fresno State and NC State.

Success is measured by how many we win from Group 1 and if we can steal one win from Group 2.

Your opinion of the relative opponent strength is not the point so don't bother.

Army was 9-4 with a bowl win over Missouri last year. I would not consider them a must win game. Maybe a might win game.

 

[uconnfan68]

I just want them to be noticeably better, and hopefully competitive. I want to see a real team, with a solid coaching staff. I want us to look and act like we belong.

 

[Palatine]

Army was 9-4 with a bowl win over Missouri last year. I would not consider them a must win game. Maybe a might win game.

Who thinks Army had better overall talent?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Who thinks Army had better overall talent?

Everyone who watched the game.

But only if you define talent as speed, strength and having football knowledge to play your position well .

Army skill position players were light years better than UConn

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Everyone who watched the game.

But only if you define talent as speed, strength and having football knowledge to play your position well .

Army skill position players were light years better than UConn

Had 15 different ball carriers. They were using kids off their intramural flag football teams in the second half.

 

[Stinger92860]

I must confess I'd be disappointed with 3 wins or less. Not sure how I'd feel about 4. I'd be very happy with 5 or more.

Years of optimism followed by poor play has me tempering expectactions. I believe Mora gets us to 7-8 wins eventually, but it may take a few more recruiting classes.

 

[Buffett10]

People are really underestimating how much firepower Utah St lost on the offensive side of the ball. They won’t be close to the team they were last yr

 

[NYtoCT]

Visible improvement on both sides of the ball and something UConn football fans haven't seen in many years - a competent game day coaching staff
Win one game they aren't supposed to and win the low hanging fruit

I’d love to see more sacks, QB pressures, TFL, and interceptions. Will that happen? I have no clue, but those are metrics where we desperately need improvement.

 

[Viet Vet]

There are 5 "must wins"- games that a competent FBS team with full scholarships should win.
CCSU, FIU, Ball State, UMass, Army.

Then there are 4 "might wins" games this team could steal if everything goes right.
Utah State, Cuse, BC, Liberty

Then there are 3 no chance beatdowns, Michigan, Fresno State and NC State.

Success is measured by how many we win from Group 1 and if we can steal one win from Group 2.

Your opinion of the relative opponent strength is not the point so don't bother.

You underestimate Army. They should be in your "might win" category.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I’d love to see more sacks, QB pressures, TFL, and interceptions. Will that happen? I have no clue, but those are metrics where we desperately need improvement.

Looking forward in seeing how the 3-4 defense plays out with the new linebackers being brought in along with Hardy and possibly the freshman Branch.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I’m hoping for a fairly big jump offensively. We got good wr’s, and some definite promise at rb. And all the qbs we brought in plus what we have coming back if healthy have athleticism and talent. The line is nowhere near where it needs to be but hopefully the qb play can cover up some of that. We’re going to be playing an inexperienced qb and probably have to deal with a lot of mistakes too but I want to see a big jump in moving the ball and by the end of the year feeling like we’re some help on the o-line and another year of development by the qbs away from having an offense that can win a lot of games.

Defense I’d expect improvement to be more incremental and be a little further away from a big jump unfortunately. Just want us to be better than we’ve been and get some good news recruiting

Adding Stewart to the Oline can only help, maybe a lot.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

You underestimate Army. They should be in your "might win" category.

Took the words right out of my mouth. I’m thinking a very scoring game though.

 

[Guru13]

Adding Stewart to the Oline can only help, maybe a lot.

I’m not sure by a lot, especially with not having any game experience and wasn’t on the two deep at his former school. I necessarily don’t think our O-line is as bad as most people think with the exception of having probably the worst center I’ve seen last year that you could clearly tell could not hold a block for more than a second and was a liability. He was a “transfer” who was brought to plug a hole but had no experience in the D1 level so it was a hit or miss and our freshmen center wasn’t ready but at least played better. At least this year we have three guys on the line who at least have started and played significant snaps in their college careers and are the most experienced and oldest on the line. Our offense is having a different look all around in scheme and play calling. We should wait till the first half of the season to give a proper assessment of the team.

 

[coachcap]

The Huskies teams of the last few years were FBS teams in name only. I want to see improvement to the point where they actually look like they belong playing that caliber of football. I will say this: Coach Mora has been a breath of fresh air in his attention to detail, use of the transfer portal, & ability to keep the recruiting class almost intact as well as add a few surprise additions. W-L record? That's anyone's guess. I just want to see competence on the playing field with a chance to win late into the fourth quarter.
Am looking forward to hearing Coach Mora at Kinsman next Monday evening. His public persona is telling the truth, not smoke & mirrors.

 

[KingLurk]

I'm trying to look beyond wins and loss totals... If I am looking at any "over-achieving" wins it would be wins over any of BC, Syracuse or Fresno State (they lost a ton and also were not the same team the end of the year - Utah State is a far-less winnable game). I don't expect wins over any of those teams and I don't expect them to beat Army either.. Realistically, CCSU and UMass are games they need to win "or else we are in trouble", FIU is a "should win" and Ball State and Liberty are winnable but splitting those two is not awful...

Here's the metrics I'm looking at:

1. Same starting quarter back final 6 games - someone takes job.
2. 10 points more per game on offense than last year. Offense was second to last in FBS last year at 15 points per game. 25 is realistic.
3. Rush defense gives up 20 or fewer rushing TDs (gave up 25 last year). While I think the defense will be better just from not being on the field all game, they lost a ton on the defensive line. That first half vs. Clemson gave me goosebumps of what could be at UConn defensively in the front (until they were on the field too much and gassed).
4. The final four games - 3 at home, 1 bus-ride away... UMass should be a win but Army will be a horrible matchup for UConn's defense, and BC and Liberty should be fighting for bowl games in "must-wins" for both schools. If all four of these games are competitive and winnable, I'm saying this is a success.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I’m not sure by a lot, especially with not having any game experience and wasn’t on the two deep at his former school. I necessarily don’t think our O-line is as bad as most people think with the exception of having probably the worst center I’ve seen last year that you could clearly tell could not hold a block for more than a second and was a liability. He was a “transfer” who was brought to plug a hole but had no experience in the D1 level so it was a hit or miss and our freshmen center wasn’t ready but at least played better. At least this year we have three guys on the line who at least have started and played significant snaps in their college careers and are the most experienced and oldest on the line. Our offense is having a different look all around in scheme and play calling. We should wait till the first half of the season to give a proper assessment of the team.

Do you have anything better to do than start a pis Sing contest over one of the best pickups Coach Mora has had here? BTW, I said “maybe” and you said “I don’t know”. CA. I saw the kid play in HS at New Canaan, he’s a terrific OL.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

There are 5 "must wins"- games that a competent FBS team with full scholarships should win.
CCSU, FIU, Ball State, UMass, Army.

Then there are 4 "might wins" games this team could steal if everything goes right.
Utah State, Cuse, BC, Liberty

Then there are 3 no chance beatdowns, Michigan, Fresno State and NC State.

Success is measured by how many we win from Group 1 and if we can steal one win from Group 2.

Your opinion of the relative opponent strength is not the point so don't bother.

Lol. A competent FBS team we are not..yet at least.

Could read hundreds of posts since 2010 that read exactly the same.

 

[shizzle787]

Yeah, I hope the first half doesn't scare away new fans or those who might make the jump back, if the L's start pilling up. The new energy around the program/ Mora seems good but it's still a real tough 1st half schedule. 1-5 is completely realistic based on opponents and last years records. I'd just like to see a competent looking offense who can extend drives with more 3 and outs on D.

Aug 27, at Utah St................(11-3)
Sept 3, CCSU.........................(4-7)
Sept 10, Syracuse.................(5-7)
Sept 17, at Michigan ...........(12-2)
Sept 24, at NC St...................(9-3)
Oct 1, Fresno St......................(10-3)
Oct 8, at FIU..........................(1-11)
Oct 15, at Ball St.....................(6-7)
Oct 29, Boston College............(6-6)
Nov 5, UMASS.......................(1-11)
Nov 12th, Liberty....................(8-5)
Nov 19, at Army.....................(9-4)

We should beat CCSU. I think our other best chance at a win in the first half of the season is Syracuse. We absolutely have to beat FIU and Ball State. It doesn't matter how bad the program gets, we should not be losing to C-USA, MAC, or Sun Belt schools. UMass is a must win. 4 wins IMO would be a success. Beat who you are supposed to beat: CCSU, Ball State, FIU, and UMass. Anything on top of that is gravy.

 

[huskysupporter]

Do you have anything better to do than start a pis Sing contest over one of the best pickups Coach Mora has had here? BTW, I said “maybe” and you said “I don’t know”. CA. I saw the kid play in HS at New Canaan, he’s a terrific OL.

Didn’t sound like he was starting an argument, just stating his opinion. The fact that Stewart didn’t make the two deep does bring up some questions. Doesn’t mean he won’t be a significant contributor, but it is more than reasonable to have reservations about his impact.

 

[huskysupporter]

CCSU should be a victory but I don’t see any definites on the schedule.

I am looking for improved play and by improved play I mean keeping games close. Will also be watching Coach Moras recruits and who he brought over in the portal.

 

[DoctorWho85]

We absolutely have play makers on offense to keep this team in most games this year. The defense lost several key starters, but we have Mitchell who I think will step up his game this year, Durante Jones who is by far and away out best DB and is going to be a star for us, we have a couple LB's that transferred in that make the LB's a strong group and the DL should still be relative stout even with out Travis this year. We absolutely had a 7-5 teams last year had our star 2 receivers not got hurt, had Tyler started from the get go and didn't get hurt and we had an OC like Mazzone the whole year.

13-0 and snubbed for the playoffs.