Rice post game thread

[ZooCougar]

Those questioning Mora in terms of rebuilding this program are out of their minds.

JF is a special player and probably as good a QB as we've ever had.

Team was flat after a big win at BC. It happens.

Would not be at all surprised if we take down Duke at home in two weeks.

How braindead do you have to be not question the coaching and decision making on sidelines basically all season?

 

[RitzLuce1]

OK........and your solution?

Build a team on the field that is a top 10 G5 team. This requires knowing how to navigate the portal effectively and being willingly to spend the necessary money. Something we clearly didn’t do when putting the defense together this year. Win games you are supposed to win. Beat bad teams. Stop normalizing losing to them and call it for what it is.

Let’s start there.

 

[uconndogs]

Build a team on the field that is a top 10 G5 team. This requires knowing how to navigate the portal effectively and being willingly to spend the necessary money. Something we clearly didn’t do when putting the defense together this year. Win games you are supposed to win. Beat bad teams. Stop normalizing losing to them and call it for what it is.

Let’s start there.

Those are outcomes not solutions, other than spending money which is magically going to come from where?

In my opinion Mora has pieced together some good teams given what he has to work with. We're fortunate to have someone with his experience at this stage of his career. He goes and we are not likely to see the same level of experience or ability because.....we simply won't have the money.

You have no idea who I am, but I can assure you I am no "head patter". I am a realist and try to avoid being condesending on ananomous sites like this.

 

[Palatine]

Bottom line. Their defensive line outplayed our offensive line, and their offensive line outplayed our defensive line. Our skill players almost won anyway. But they ruled the trenches.

 

[ZooCougar]

OK........and your solution?

I mean at $2.5M/year you would think that good game-day coaching and decision making wouldn't cost extra but here we are. Bring in someone to infuse some modernity and basic sense on the sidelines. We don't go for it on 4th nearly enough.

Going for that long field goal instead of the first down was crazy. Freeman had already showed that he was having trouble with his footing. Every player on the field was slipping like a baby deer on ice skates.

Not going for two in OT was the absolutely infuriating. We we basically scored that TD at will. I truly believe had he made the right decision we would be talking about an ugly loss.

PS: Nobody is coming for Mora or Sammis. Nobody wants and old coach who loses to Rice, Delaware and Syracuse. And nobody wants and OC who doesn't seem to understand where the first down marker is.

 

[JwittersPAC]

Build a team on the field that is a top 10 G5 team. This requires knowing how to navigate the portal effectively and being willingly to spend the necessary money. Something we clearly didn’t do when putting the defense together this year. Win games you are supposed to win. Beat bad teams. Stop normalizing losing to them and call it for what it is.

Let’s start there.

Getting elite defensive players linemen, linebackers, safeties, and cornerbacks cost significant NIL. Mora needs to find diamonds in the rough via his coaches evaluation process. Unfortunately, he struck out this year. The other way is to build up the foundation of the team through high school recruiting. Unfortunately, the team was so bad prior to Mora arriving that it will take time for the better recruits to consider coming to UConn.

 

[Alum86]

i'm not saying it's guaranteed to go downhill.
i'm saying that if 5-3 with a cupcake schedule is ok with some fans, then the current state of uconn athletics is as good as it's ever gonna get, and they need to be ok with that if they don't see the big-picture problem with a loss like today (combined with delaware). The only direction things can go, is down, because there's not much else we can achieve with basketball (good problem).


Also, past bball performance is not a guarantee of future results. We learned that during AAC days. So there is no guarantee it WON'T go downhill. Football carrying us to P4, is a huge hedge against that risk, IMO. Football is the only sport that can get it done, as we've now seen the last 2 summers. And today was another step in the wrong direction.

We’re all ticked off at this loss, and the 2 other winnable OT games. A lot of what ifs from yesterday from Freeman not slipping to our center’s personal foul moving us out of FG range. But it is a post game thread and not a future of our sports program with/against a FB “cupcake schedule.” Relax and watch your Jets at 1. LOL

 

[uconnfan68]

Bottom line. Their defensive line outplayed our offensive line, and their offensive line outplayed our defensive line. Our skill players almost won anyway. But they ruled the trenches.

Their defensive front 7 outplayed our offensive front 6 is more accurate.

 

[ZooCougar]

Getting elite defensive players linemen, linebackers, safeties, and cornerbacks cost significant NIL. Mora needs to find diamonds in the rough via his coaches evaluation process. Unfortunately, he struck out this year. The other way is to build up the foundation of the team through high school recruiting. Unfortunately, the team was so bad prior to Mora arriving that it will take time for the better recruits to consider coming to UConn.

I think that signing and evaluating talent is one of Mora's superpowers. He's clearly comfortable in that process..

As for this season's defense? We lost a bunch of stud DLs to graduation and the portal and the guys we brought it weren't as good. Nobody stepped up to lead either. Basically we replaced good with worse. This will happen with the portal, it's not exact science and while we have a decent NIL budget we don't have the funds for can't miss type recruits.

Having said all that, better decision making on gameday would have delivered victory in every single loss this season. And at $2.5M a year we should get a coach who can win close games against programs that have much smaller budgets than us.

 

[husky8273]

attendance reported as 21K

 

[NE Football]

I think that signing and evaluating talent is one of Mora's superpowers. He's clearly comfortable in that process..

As for this season's defense? We lost a bunch of stud DLs to graduation and the portal and the guys we brought it weren't as good. Nobody stepped up to lead either. Basically we replaced good with worse. This will happen with the portal, it's not exact science and while we have a decent NIL budget we don't have the funds for can't miss type recruits.

Having said all that, better decision making on gameday would have delivered victory in every single loss this season. And at $2.5M a year we should get a coach who can win close games against programs that have much smaller budgets than us.

It’s not NIL anymore, it’s revenue sharing. Are we spending the full 20.5 million (75% to football)? If not, we are in a hopeless position. NIL deals over $600 have to be approved by Deloitte. No more boosters paying 1 million to a player to get him to take a selfie!

 

[ZooCougar]

It’s not NIL anymore, it’s revenue sharing. Are we spending the full 20.5 million (75% to football)? If not, we are in a hopeless position. NIL deals over $600 have to be approved by Deloitte. No more boosters paying 1 million to a player to get him to take a selfie!

Call it whatever you want, UConn’s NIL is on par with the rest of the G5 or the top end of the G5.

 

[NE Football]

I guess BC really was our Super Bowl. I hope the bookstore makes up New England Champions shirts and hats!

 

[Mora4Prez]

$2.5M to lose to Rice is insanity. Just putting that out there.

 

[ZooCougar]

It’s not NIL anymore, it’s revenue sharing. Are we spending the full 20.5 million (75% to football)? If not, we are in a hopeless position. NIL deals over $600 have to be approved by Deloitte. No more boosters paying 1 million to a player to get him to take a selfie!

Also what is this "we". As a BC troll saying "we" is kind of a stretch don't you think?

 

[Woof 101]

The only one who wraps up is Parham.

I ran out of fingers & toes counting missed tackles.

 

[TMB4405]

No one is or should be happy. That said, after enduring the mountain of crap for 10 years this is much better. Mora did that. I am willing to let is play out for another yearor two. I was screaming yesterday at play calling and clock management and not going for 2 among many other things. I think we can and will do better. Starting over unless Saban is next coach does not sound good to me. Hell last year I thought our D coordinator was next hot prospect. Now he's clueless (according to thia board). Bottom line our defense stinks because the D line gets pushed around by whoever they play. Look at tape from central game. They did it too.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Interesting thoughts on going for 2 after first score in OT. However I was like to point out how knowledgeable HCJM is. With about a minute and a half left and Rice has the ball on say their 35, Mora calls TO three times to get the ball back. I thought after the first TO wtf?

He knew we would get a last chance and we did only for our gifted FG kicker slipping on a clenching FG.

To all the Debbie Downers throwing shade on our program, I do appreciate your interest in UConn fb, but please try to think what the players and coaches are feeling after this depressing loss.

 

[Jetskies]

Bb is going to go downhill.
And then it will come back up.
People had Geno dead, he’s doing okay in his twilight years.

There is genuine fatigue over people looking at every result of every football game and suggesting that result is why we aren’t good enough, aren’t viable, and therefore not worthy of a P4 invite.

People are seeing what UConn is doing. People see what Mora has done. The FB program has turned the corner. Get upset after a frustrating loss. It means we should have won vs the apathy of the previous staff where just being competitive was the goal.

Just stop with the ‘this ^ is why we won’t get a P4 invite’ stuff’.

we're on the same team, ultimately. i have my view and you have yours. please stop responding to my takes. you're not gonna agree, and that's ok.

 

[Scoe]

It's time to bring back the Oklahoma drill in practice there has to be a coach who breaks the rules and become a trend setter. You have at least have some contact in practice.

Also just because Cam maybe hurt it doesn't mean you abandon the run game even though Rice was stopping the run. Coleman-Lunderg should've had more carries.

Here's what I don't get Mora doesn't wanna risk going for 2 in OT but is willing to risk throwing on edge of fg range on 2nd and 5 thus taking the risk of a sack or holding penalty, ended up being OPI thus coming away without 3 pts. Your on the edge of fg range and your not valuing your field position.

 

[Purple Stein]

Build a team on the field that is a top 10 G5 team.

Let’s start there.

We were ranked 11th in a G5 poll last week. Will obviously slip this week, but wouldn't be surprised to see us finish in the top 10 in G5 this year.

 

[hardcorehusky]

The problem with this yrs defense isn't as much about Brock but more about guys who are either physically too weak or just too small to be out there combined with a lack of dawg. Mills and Parham are the only 2 guys who drill ball carriers. The rest of the guys don't drill people and get shaken off too easily. The D line gets collapsed too easily. We had guys in right spot all day yesterday and they got discarded by Jackson with ease.

 

[Stinger92860]

Hard to say anything without an isolated camera, but Bell disappeared in 2nd half. NFL talent shouldn't be invisible against a G5 secondary.

The biggest question is why? I thought the play calling was sub-optimal yesterday.

 

[Stinger92860]

The problem with this yrs defense isn't as much about Brock but more about guys who are either physically too weak or just too small to be out there combined with a lack of dawg. Mills and Parham are the only 2 guys who drill ball carriers. The rest of the guys don't drill people and get shaken off too easily. The D line gets collapsed too easily. We had guys in right spot all day yesterday and they got discarded by Jackson with ease.

I wish our D hit and tackled as well as Rice.

 

[gioff2323]

$2.5M to lose to Rice is insanity. Just putting that out there.

… and Delaware.

For me, im tired of watching a mediocre G5 team. Yes we’re better, but we play a schedule designed to win 9 games and show B12 we could be competitive at that level. Can you imagine the TX schools trying to be persuaded a team that lost to rice deserves a slot?

I see no path back to the early part of this century. We played a P6 schedule and played well. Now we celebrate beating a bad BC team or a ball state or FIU - bad G5 teams. Now, P4 teams have to run sprints if we keep it close.

Is there any pride left in the administration or are we going to be forced to be happy with this level of performance - which would be unacceptable for every other sport there.

Exhausted and exasperated.