Rewatching Uconn WMU

[fortebleedsblue]

The number one thing that comes out to me is the team played at half speed and half effort. Looking at their expression players look like they are bored, half asleep and not taking their opponent seriously. Not sure why seeing as how WMU beat them last year. Maybe its the atmosphere... Its even more evident during the replays when you see passes that should have been tipped but a half effort by line backers allows completed passes... the safety taking their time going after deep coverage, the nick williams kick off where he barely extends his arms with half the effort causing the ball to just fall and hit the ground, WR's catching the ball and not grinding for extra yards.. its everywhere. This happens to the best of programs... look at Va Tech struggle against FCS teams. Its hard for teams to get excited by no name programs and lack luster atmospheres .. let alone the current play calling. Further evidence that Warde better be on the phones hunting for higher caliber games. This program needs it now more than ever.

BTW really like what I see out of Whitmer... accurate, mobile in the pocket and not afraid to take a hint.. I think that got over shadowed by the loss. Deleone needs to scrap the wild crap and cut McCombs runs in half. Take away half our runs and go to a hurry u offense... let Whitmer do his thing and get in rhythm. Doing that will open up the running game for McCombs who's more of a shiftier rb. Or am I missing something here?

 

[pj]

I agree about the emphasis on passing. We'll get a lot more yards passing than running, and the percentages of positive plays probably won't be much different with a well designed passing attack given the personnel we have. 60% of our plays should be passes, 40% runs. We were close to that ratio against WMU (56% pass / 44% run) but only because we were playing from behind. It should be the normal ratio.

 

[ZooCougar]

I believe that a big problem with the offense is mentality and organization. At the NC State game, on a big thrid down after a time out we still struggled to get the right players on the field. That is not a sign of a well organized team.

We need to increase the tempo and play like we are behind every game.

 

[CodyJ.]

I noticed the OL getting good push in the first quarter. but the rest of the game it wasnt there. was this an adjustment by WMU or our guys getting tired or what??

 

[uconndogs]

I think there was a let down after the emotional win over Maryland the prior week and dealing with the illness going through the team. We're not talented enough to have those let downs and beat solid teams like WMU, especially on the road.

Couple that with a offense that is more complicated than nuclear fussion and you have a challenge on your hands.

 

[defense]

There's no doubt the players were not into the game. But I place the majority of the blame on the coaches. The players could not have been much higher after the MD game and all signs pointed for a letdown at WM- (road game, 10,000 fans). Yes, they should have been self motivated because WM smacked us at home last year. However, a good coach would have recognized this and should have made a valiant effort to inspire the players. Another example of Coach P being lackluster.

 

[ruskin]

Rewatched the first half closely to try to see where the offensive f-ups were. I don't think effort was so much the problem as we were flat-out outcoached.
Case in point, pass protection: Two of the four sacks I saw WMU straight up beat the UConn guy. But the other two came when we deviated from two-tight and WMU sent more guys to the left side than we had blockers. Guys came in untouched because everyone was occupied. Maybe WMU coaches guessed right, who knows? But one thing that could help in those situations is shorter drops and quicker release, which is easier said than done, or bubble screens. The other thing that actually was encouraging that WMU made a ton of last-second shoestring tackles to stop big gains.
Defensively, the one thing that stuck out is Garter managed to stay a step ahead of our rush with quick release/short drops. If our pass rushers had adjusted their paths even slightly (a less bowed route) we might have been able to hit the QB more. And the conversion on 3&15 was a real killer, no surprise.
It was noted earlier than the color guy was as displomatically as he could criticizing our offense for a lot of stuff (Wildcat, lack of screens, etc). He'd always preface a criticism with PP "is a great coach, but". Heard that phrase a lot, unfortunately. To Zoo's point, we are seeing the same sideline disorganization we saw last year as far as getting in plays quickly, especially during the switch to and from wildcat.

 

[businesslawyer]

There's no doubt the players were not into the game. But I place the majority of the blame on the coaches. The players could not have been much higher after the MD game and all signs pointed for a letdown at WM- (road game, 10,000 fans). Yes, they should have been self motivated because WM smacked us at home last year. However, a good coach would have recognized this and should have made a valiant effort to inspire the players. Another example of Coach P being lackluster.

It sucks that I keep having to come to the defense of P and his staff, but none of us have any reason to think they didn't do everything they could. Players are sometimes flat for a game, and almost always the blame for that is on the players.

 

[noeynox]

The first three posts in this thread are spot on. It is clear as day Whitmer has ability as a passer. This is not Bones, DJ, or the post injury Lorenzen throwing the passes. AND if you're only going to use one running back, and a very small one at that, why the hell are you trying to hammer him up the middle play after play? Try to get him in space more, the way to do that is PJ states. Run pass ratio of 60 to 40, in favor of the pass will make them have to loosen things up in the box. Of course the oline has to play better, and that may require as discussed before a simplyfying of the blocking schemes.
You're going to have to live with the occasional Whitmer blunder/int. Going conservative as all hell is not going to get you where you want to be at anyways.

I still believe this team could go on a major run. The talent is there, and the defense will have more good days than bad, but the loss of Jennings, and Joseph, probably turned the defense from one that was postentially great, to just good. Going to need more from the offensive side just because of those injuries. Can this staff get the most out of the talent here? We will find out in short order as Big East play gets underway.

 

[NutmegState]

The first three posts in this thread are spot on. It is clear as day Whitmer has ability as a passer. This is not Bones, DJ, or the post injury Lorenzen throwing the passes. AND if you're only going to use one running back, and a very small one at that, why the hell are you trying to hammer him up the middle play after play? Try to get him in space more, the way to do that is PJ states. Run pass ratio of 60 to 40, in favor of the pass will make them have to loosen things up in the box. Of course the oline has to play better, and that may require as discussed before a simplyfying of the blocking schemes.
You're going to have to live with the occasional Whitmer blunder/int. Going conservative as all hell is not going to get you where you want to be at anyways.

I still believe this team could go on a major run. The talent is there, and the defense will have more good days than bad, but the loss of Jennings, and Joseph, probably turned the defense from one that was postentially great, to just good. Going to need more from the offensive side just because of those injuries. Can this staff get the most out of the talent here? We will find out in short order as Big East play gets underway.

Noey, the last time we won two games in a row, was November/December of 2010.

 

[ASweet3781]

What does it say about this staff and their preperation if our team, which did not go to a bowl last season, is asleep against a team that it lost to last season?

When we are trying to get that 6th win against a Cincinnati at the end of the year like we had to last year we are gonna wish we we're awake for Western Michigan.

 

[gars44]

The number one thing that comes out to me is the team played at half speed and half effort. Looking at their expression players look like they are bored, half asleep and not taking their opponent seriously. Not sure why seeing as how WMU beat them last year. Maybe its the atmosphere... Its even more evident during the replays when you see passes that should have been tipped but a half effort by line backers allows completed passes... the safety taking their time going after deep coverage, the nick williams kick off where he barely extends his arms with half the effort causing the ball to just fall and hit the ground, WR's catching the ball and not grinding for extra yards.. its everywhere. This happens to the best of programs... look at Va Tech struggle against FCS teams. Its hard for teams to get excited by no name programs and lack luster atmospheres .. let alone the current play calling. Further evidence that Warde better be on the phones hunting for higher caliber games. This program needs it now more than ever.

BTW really like what I see out of Whitmer... accurate, mobile in the pocket and not afraid to take a hint.. I think that got over shadowed by the loss. Deleone needs to scrap the wild crap and cut McCombs runs in half. Take away half our runs and go to a hurry u offense... let Whitmer do his thing and get in rhythm. Doing that will open up the running game for McCombs who's more of a shiftier rb. Or am I missing something here?

I agree about Whitmer. That's why we need to go West Coast Offense. He can handle it. It would work. But re-watching that game? I couldn't get through it the first time. You must be a masochist.