Realistic Season Expectations? What Metrics Define Success

[BigTenFan]

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

Army players tough and smart- That's what you want from West Point cadets

 

[Samoo]

I had assumed that he was joking with his comment. The air is very thin at 4,500 ft. At 8,000 ft you may need an oxygen tank.

It's not that bad, I lived at 8000 for three years and newcomers would get winded on stairs and have headaches but no one needed oxygen. 4500 feet is lower than Denver.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It's not that bad, I lived at 8000 for three years and newcomers would get winded on stairs and have headaches but no one needed oxygen. 4500 feet is lower than Denver.

How easily will a team that spent the summer in Storrs Ct adapt to 4,500 ft elevation? The football players will do a lot of running in short bursts, not climbing stairs.

 

[freescooter]

1. A loss, even a bad one at UState won’t mean much. I sort of wish we opened with Central but such is the life of an Indy. Building as the season progresses will be important, and I think the back end of the schedule is much more manageable than the front, which makes that more feasible.

I was struck by 1 comment by Mora though. He has said a few times that he expects to be better than last year as he has been at other places. This is a guy who has won at a very high level so he knows what he is talking about.

 

[Palatine]

I don't think this will happen, but if we get smacked by Utah St- say 45-0. What will be your reaction to Mora and the season?

I would not be surprised if we give up 45 points. We been led to expect that.

I would be upset if we do not reach the end zone. It's way too easy to score in college football to be so inept on offense.

 

[weyuo]

A successful season is one where you play in a post-season game. Anything less is not a successful season. So what a lot of you guys are proposing is a "shows improvement" season or better yet, a "reasonable expectation" season. It really bothers me when you guys claim 3 or 4 wins is successful. It's not. It only means you didn't suck as bad as last year.

For me this upcoming season reasonable expectations would be better ball movement on offense. Getting the ball out of the backfield a lot faster than in previous years. More sustained drives. A much better third and short percentage. More pressure on the opposing QB. I also reasonably expect at least 4 wins and the reason being that guys are coming in(Portal Power!!) with college ball experience already. You just got a guy, admittedly from community college but that still trumps a kid just out of high school. The guy is a 6'2" 205lb db who's already played at some type of college level. Not a 5'10" 175lb true freshman that still needs to adjust to college life before even thinking about football.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

A successful season is one where you play in a post-season game. Anything less is not a successful season. So what a lot of you guys are proposing is a "shows improvement" season or better yet, a "reasonable expectation" season. It really bothers me when you guys claim 3 or 4 wins is successful. It's not. It only means you didn't suck as bad as last year.

For me this upcoming season reasonable expectations would be better ball movement on offense. Getting the ball out of the backfield a lot faster than in previous years. More sustained drives. A much better third and short percentage. More pressure on the opposing QB. I also reasonably expect at least 4 wins and the reason being that guys are coming in(Portal Power!!) with college ball experience already. You just got a guy, admittedly from community college but that still trumps a kid just out of high school. The guy is a 6'2" 205lb db who's already played at some type of college level. Not a 5'10" 175lb true freshman that still needs to adjust to college life before even thinking about football.

So you are predicting an unsuccessful season?

 

[CTBballfan243]

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 are smoking some good stuff if you think UConn has 5 must wins on the schedule. I will consider the season a huge success if the team shows improvement each week, limit injuries, and win 2 games.

 

[hank970]

If Mora bombs, re-hire Randy. He'd pick up the phone and say yes before you could finish dialing his number. Or maybe try Luke Fickell. As many here have suggested, he's just itching to leave Cincy.

 

[weyuo]

So you are predicting an unsuccessful season?

I'm not predicting anything. I'm saying based on the upgraded coaching staff(and I believe Mora is much better suited for the head coaching job than Edsall was) and the recruiting so far they should win at least 4, the offense should be able to move the ball more and we should be able to see more pressure on the opposing QB. Does 4 wins amount to a successful season. No. Anything less than a bowl game is not a successful season. Can they get there? Anything is possible but my gut says at least 4 and we'll see what happens from there.

 

[hardcorehusky]

A coaching staff of Nick Saban, Bill Belichick and Vince Lombardi can't take this team and go from 1 win to 8-10 wins in 1 year. This is a rebuilding job from the ground up. It will take Mora into year 3 to get this where he wants to.

 

[Dizzy21]

I'm not predicting anything. I'm saying based on the upgraded coaching staff(and I believe Mora is much better suited for the head coaching job than Edsall was) and the recruiting so far they should win at least 4, the offense should be able to move the ball more and we should be able to see more pressure on the opposing QB. Does 4 wins amount to a successful season. No. Anything less than a bowl game is not a successful season. Can they get there? Anything is possible but my gut says at least 4 and we'll see what happens from there.

You just explained what you consider a successful season and then said that wouldn't be a successful season.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

You just explained what you consider a successful season and then said that wouldn't be a successful season.

I am glad someone else saw the contradiction.

 

[giddyup]

I want to see them competitive in those mid tier games. BC, Syracuse for example. That will be telling. I expect them to lose but if they could keep it under 3 tds in those games I actually see that as positive progress.

The problem with last season was that not only were they destroyed in some games, they were getting destroyed by 3rd stringers and walk ons in the second halves of some of those games. That was what was most discouraging.

My hope is Mora has some new blood ready to go and he is molding some competitive football players. This season can go off the tracks in a hurry without some early positive outcomes.

 

[weyuo]

Ok, You obviously don't understand the difference between a successful season and reasonable expectations for this season. A successful season is one in which you play in the post season. I reasonably expect this team to win 4, possibly more. Is that simple enough for you to understand? My God.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

A coaching staff of Nick Saban, Bill Belichick and Vince Lombardi can't take this team and go from 1 win to 8-10 wins in 1 year. This is a rebuilding job from the ground up. It will take Mora into year 3 to get this where he wants to.

If Scott Frost can take an 0-11 team (under George O’Leary) to 13-0 (and a legitimate claim to the National Title) in two years, then I think Coach Mora and his staff (with some luck) can take UConn to a successful season in his first year. I’m hoping with some luck, 5 or 6 wins. Only three wins, which many on this board are predicting, would be a disappointment in my view.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Honestly, at this point I just want the first play from scrimmage to not be a busted handoff. And then go from there.

Remember the year when UConn fumbled the opening kickoff more than once and the other team recovered with a scoop and TD?

 

[pepband99]

A successful season is one where you play in a post-season game. Anything less is not a successful season.

Given we have no postseason guarantee, despite any number of wins, this is an interesting theory.

 

[noeynox]

A coaching staff of Nick Saban, Bill Belichick and Vince Lombardi can't take this team and go from 1 win to 8-10 wins in 1 year. This is a rebuilding job from the ground up. It will take Mora into year 3 to get this where he wants to.

While logic says your right, our last 3 rebuilding jobs, never got past the blueprint stage. Never even poured a foundation.

The right coach at least gets things trending in the right direction right away. I believe Kansas with Lance Leopold beat Texas year 1. 8 to 10 wins is pipe dream, but improvement should be easy to spot. If we're squinting to see bright spots, it's a problem.

 

[nycscooby]

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.

I was at West Point last year watching 42-0 Army…at the half. People here are unrealistic. We have no established QB and question marks almost every where. We were very far from competitive last season. I have great faith in Coach Mora, not sure about most of the staff yet. If we get to 3 wins this season and we are competitive in most of the rest and we find a QB, I would be content.

 

[Buffett10]

A successful season is one where you play in a post-season game. Anything less is not a successful season. So what a lot of you guys are proposing is a "shows improvement" season or better yet, a "reasonable expectation" season. It really bothers me when you guys claim 3 or 4 wins is successful. It's not. It only means you didn't suck as bad as last year.

For me this upcoming season reasonable expectations would be better ball movement on offense. Getting the ball out of the backfield a lot faster than in previous years. More sustained drives. A much better third and short percentage. More pressure on the opposing QB. I also reasonably expect at least 4 wins and the reason being that guys are coming in(Portal Power!!) with college ball experience already. You just got a guy, admittedly from community college but that still trumps a kid just out of high school. The guy is a 6'2" 205lb db who's already played at some type of college level. Not a 5'10" 175lb true freshman that still needs to adjust to college life before even thinking about football.

So that 6-7 season under Bobby was a successful season?

 

[Palatine]

I was at West Point last year watching 42-0 Army…at the half. People here are unrealistic. We have no established QB and question marks almost every where. We were very far from competitive last season. I have great faith in Coach Mora, not sure about most of the staff yet. If we get to 3 wins this season and we are competitive in most of the rest and we find a QB, I would be content.

You really believe Army was ahead 42-0 on talent?

 

[kemba]

So that 6-7 season under Bobby was a successful season?

That season is a good example of why it’s not all or even mostly about win total at this point. Record wise it looked like diaco had us going in the right direction. But he got that record by playing an ultra conservative style designed to avoid getting blown out and hope to win the turnover battle and catch some breaks to win games. A style that isn’t sustainable and has a low ceiling. And he did it while he was recruiting fcs level players.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

A successful season is one where you play in a post-season game. Anything less is not a successful season.

My friend, you do know that everything is relative?

 

[nycscooby]

You really believe Army was ahead 42-0 on talent?

It was men versus boys.

 

[Husky68]

I was at West Point last year watching 42-0 Army…at the half. People here are unrealistic. We have no established QB and question marks almost every where. We were very far from competitive last season. I have great faith in Coach Mora, not sure about most of the staff yet. If we get to 3 wins this season and we are competitive in most of the rest and we find a QB, I would be content.

With no offensive scheme, OL that looked like blocking was a four letter word and some type of death wish on 3rd and short play calls, still had range of 0 to 5 wins possible.

Could have won all the following (or lost all) with a few better plays (or players):

Win Yale 21-15
HC 28-38
Wyoming 22-24
Vanderbilt 28-30
UMass 13-27

So an astoundingly poorly put together team that had every reason to pack it in was out classed in 7 games but were in 5 games.

Not sure what others are seeing, I'm expecting to see that red pants and HCRE2.0 were as bad as their records showed and that simple improvements (i.e. not incompetent coaching) will get UConn competitive and with what I see as improved personnel UConn will look like a FBS team.

I expect to win at least 4 games and coulda/shoulda results in 3 to 4 more games.

 

[DansArmy]

Don’t be a national laughing stock, that’s the bar. Just be a normal bad team and give signs of hope. Anyone who thinks Mora is turning a roster that’s mainly high FCS level talent (not including new transfers) into a bowl team overnight has had far too much kool-aid to drink. Year 3 is probably the first time it’ll be fair to expect a bowl game.

 

[Guru13]

Don’t be a national laughing stock, that’s the bar. Just be a normal bad team and give signs of hope. Anyone who thinks Mora is turning a roster that’s mainly high FCS level talent (not including new transfers) into a bowl team overnight has had far too much kool-aid to drink. Year 3 is probably the first time it’ll be fair to expect a bowl game.

I’m not understanding why some people still think we have a high FCS level talent when we were beating out other G5 schools/P5 schools. I wish someone made a spreadsheet of how many of our kids were offered by FBS programs. You forget that Edsall literally turned the roster around by kicking a lot of Diaco FCS kids out and bringing in players that actually had FBS schollys. If we truly have a high level FCS roster, wouldn’t you think that Mora will bring in a bunch of players from the Transfer portal that were either on the 2 deep or didn’t play at all in a FBS program to UConn? Where Edsall went wrong was not replacing the FCS kids he kicked out with FBS kids who were juniors and seniors from the transfer portal. Because he did not do that, it led to a downfall of being one of the youngest teams in the nation with FBS kids who aren’t/weren’t ready to see the field their first 2 years. You can’t expect to field a competitive team with a bunch of freshmen/Rs-freshmen and sophomores to compete at a high level with other schools who have veteran players that are junior and seniors.

 

[Jimdish255]

With no offensive scheme, OL that looked like blocking was a four letter word and some type of death wish on 3rd and short play calls, still had range of 0 to 5 wins possible.

Could have won all the following (or lost all) with a few better plays (or players):

Win Yale 21-15
HC 28-38
Wyoming 22-24
Vanderbilt 28-30
UMass 13-27

So an astoundingly poorly put together team that had every reason to pack it in was out classed in 7 games but were in 5 games.

Not sure what others are seeing, I'm expecting to see that red pants and HCRE2.0 were as bad as their records showed and that simple improvements (i.e. not incompetent coaching) will get UConn competitive and with what I see as improved personnel UConn will look like a FBS team.

I expect to win at least 4 games and coulda/shoulda results in 3 to 4 more games.

You Da' MAN! That's the fighting spirit we need!
A winning season is successful.
5 wins acceptable.
4 a bit disappointing.
3 WTH have we done?
2 Chase Benedict out of town.
1 shut down the program.
Bowl Game everybody gets a rai$e.