Sio Moore predicts a great season

[pj]

Are you guys serious???

There will be lots of holes to fill, and most of our rivals will have better depth. But I'm not going to think about the 2013 roster until spring football. For now, I'm happy with going 4-0 against NC State, Maryland, Pitt, and Syracuse, and challenging for the Big East title.

 

[weyuo]

Defense will be stronger and not fold down the stretch like they did last year. Expect 4 full quarters from them. Don Brown won't have egg on his face in year 2. The offensive line will determine how this season goes though. If they can open holes for McCombs & Co, plus give Whitmer time to get the ball down the field we'll be just fine. If they are stellar, 10-2, 11-1 and a nice bowl win. If not, well hopefully the D can win a couple unexpected ones for us and keep us close to bowl eligible. I like the fact that Deleon is going to concentrate on the O-line. Also folks, you got to have faith in the coaching staff. They came into this real late in the process last year and were left with whatever Edsall had scraped together. Which, by the way, wasn't a whole hell of a lot especially at the most crucial offensive position...QB. Toddman left a year early. That could have made a huge difference. Frey transferred out. That hurt. The coaches that came in have some serious experience and have seen it all and then some. The whole team(including the remaining assistant coaches) have had a year to digest the new system and I believe a much improved product will take the field.

As another poster stated, the Maryland and NC ST games will give us an early inclination on how this season may end up. If UMass scores I'll be disappointed.

Side note- I wouldn't be completely surprised to see McCombs as the #2 back by season end unless he miraculously adds bulk so that he doesn't get bounced around like a pinball like last year.

 

[UConnDan97]

There will be lots of holes to fill, and most of our rivals will have better depth. But I'm not going to think about the 2013 roster until spring football. For now, I'm happy with going 4-0 against NC State, Maryland, Pitt, and Syracuse, and challenging for the Big East title.

I admit that we are going to have holes to fill next year, pj, but no more than we have this year on offense. In other words; I expect that we will have to win a lot of games this year of the 17-14 variety, and next year, I expect we will have to win a lot of games of the 27-24 variety...

 

[huskymedic]

I also think we pull off the win over NC State, but I worry Maryland is a trap game. On the road, first road game of the year, right after the NC State win, team could have trouble getting focused; whereas Maryland will have come off two easy games and be excited for its first real competition.

I sure as hell hope we don't have issues w/ keeping the kids focused for the visit to Randy's Dream Land. I'm sure the Captains will make sure of that!

 

[mattp]

I also think we pull off the win over NC State, but I worry Maryland is a trap game. On the road, first road game of the year, right after the NC State win, team could have trouble getting focused; whereas Maryland will have come off two easy games and be excited for its first real competition.

how can a game against our former coach possibly be a trap game? a trap game is a game the players overlook, and i have to imagine this one's been pegged since the Fiesta Bowl

 

[mattp]

[quote="HuskyfanDan, post: 283944, member: 45"i have hope the O could be great great great in 2013. but the D will be a issue. but thats where all this yelling and carrying on about jucos from me is coming from. .[/quote]

in two years we'll have a full squad of guys that were recruited by Brown for his defense. we'll have guys like Marquis Vann, and Wilbert Lee anchoring the defense and by then the system will be completely instinctual. i think worrying about our 2013 at this point in our lives is a little unnecessary

 

[BlueMAB]

I may be in the minority, but it gets tiresome hearing about the cupboards being bare time after time after time.

We had one glaring hole - QB. Yes, it's a HUGE problem, and the fact we couldn't find a quality (non-transfer) QB for a decade is pathetic. We are lucky "he" is gone in that regard. But there is Big East talent everywhere else, and there is all-american talent at a few positions. We have one of the best RBs in the league. We have one of the best TE's in the country. We have an all-american LB, and a pass rushing DE that could have a monster season if the DTs hold up their end. McCombs, Sio Moore, BW3, Griffin, and Trevardo Williams could play on just about any team in the country, and start on many.

We lack depth, and Pasqualoni has done a good job recruiting, particularly at QB (I think/hope). But Pasqualoni didn't recruit any of the guys on national award watch lists. I DON'T WANT THE MAN BACK. But there is a reason we are a QB away from another Big East championship, the cupboards aren't bare. Let's stop acting like we don't have talent just so we can take more shots at the in college park.

 

[BlueMAB]

how can a game against our former coach possibly be a trap game? a trap game is a game the players overlook, and i have to imagine this one's been pegged since the Fiesta Bowl

Don Brown should have a field day with this game.

 

[Excalibur]

Let's stop acting like we don't have talent just so we can take more shots at the in college park.

One guy makes a (very) loose connection and you go and re characterize the entire discussion. Thanks for Edsall-jacking another thread.

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm expecting a big year also, and 13-0 is not out of the question. Unfortunately, 13-0 may not equal national championship, but 13-0.....man, I like the sound of that!!!

Not making a prediction yet, but we have four road games, and I'm not sure our home games will be against teams competing for the Big East's BCS slot. Meaning only that we could be the "best" team in the league this year, and still not be the favorite to win the title.

 

[BlueMAB]

One guy makes a (very) loose connection and you go and re characterize the entire discussion. Thanks for Edsall-jacking another thread.

I didn't re-characterize anything. Every time last year or this year is discussed, someone makes the argument that Pasqualoni didn't/doesn't have much talent to work with. This is demonstrably false.

And my post was clearly intended to compliment the talent on the roster, not the " in college park".

Thanks for ignoring the context, mischaracterizing my post, and trying to twist my post into something other than commentary about the talent on the roster.

 

[businesslawyer]

I think this is our last chance for a season or two to have a shot to win the conference. I'm not referring to who is coming in next year but to the fact that the majority of our defense is made up of seniors. Our entire D-Line, including a few backups are seniors and our two CB's are seniors. The time is now and honestly, they need to look towards the offense for that help. If Whitmer can be what he showed in the Spring Game than winning 9-10 games is a real possibility. If it's not this season it might have to wait another year or two. I know we have good kids coming in but to expect them to perform at the same level we expect this year's D to perform at will be tough. It's this year or bust it seems! I'm expecting 9-10 wins but honestly feel that the MD and NC St game will let us know which direction this season will go. If we win one and stay close with NC St I think we're in good shape. Finally, kicking is going to be huge this year! I think we're all going to miss Teggart and the safety we felt when he came in to kick a 35+ yarder. Not sure how the kid replacing him is but I'm sure there will be some nail-biting moments, especially since UConn has had the habit of playing insanely close games the past two-three years.

Outstanding post. There are two reasons this will be our best shot to win the conference in the next few years. First, this is as easy as the conference will ever be, with WVU already gone but the exiting football deadweight still here and Boise not here yet. Second, the D starts 7 seniors, and will not be as good or as experienced again in the near future.

 

[businesslawyer]

I didn't re-characterize anything. Every time last year or this year is discussed, someone makes the argument that Pasqualoni didn't/doesn't have much talent to work with. This is demonstrably false.

And my post was clearly intended to compliment the talent on the roster, not the " in college park".

Thanks for ignoring the context, mischaracterizing my post, and trying to twist my post into something other than commentary about the talent on the roster.

Come on Wing-U. Accept the fact that the Boneyard exists in an alternative universe where responding to an attack on Edsall is deemed bringing Edsall into the conversation. Once you accept the stupidity of that irrationality, life gets a whole lot easier.

(Pot to kettle, pot to kettle)

 

[businesslawyer]

Side note- I wouldn't be completely surprised to see McCombs as the #2 back by season end unless he miraculously adds bulk so that he doesn't get bounced around like a pinball like last year.

So whom do you see starting?

 

[BlueMAB]

Come on Wing-U. Accept the fact that the Boneyard exists in an alternative universe where responding to an attack on Edsall is deemed bringing Edsall into the conversation. Once you accept the stupidity of that irrationality, life gets a whole lot easier.

(Pot to kettle, pot to kettle)

I went out of my way to make it clear I was just trying to point out that we have talent. There are kids on national awards list, I believe we have as many pre-season all conference players as anyone in the league (per Phil Steele).

Nobody need credit only the "" for that, because certainly some of the assistants played a huge role in bringing them in.

But we have a lot of talent, and they aren't all true freshman or new transfers.

 

[Excalibur]

I didn't re-characterize anything. Every time last year or this year is discussed, someone makes the argument that Pasqualoni didn't/doesn't have much talent to work with. This is demonstrably false.

And my post was clearly intended to compliment the talent on the roster, not the " in college park".

Thanks for ignoring the context, mischaracterizing my post, and trying to twist my post into something other than commentary about the talent on the roster.

Your own quote defies your explanation, sorry.

In any event, we had bigger holes last year than just QB, and pointing that out is not an attack on Edsall because it wasn't necessarily Edsall's fault. We had no depth at RB. Todman blew up and left for the NFL and Frey transferred out. That has very little to do with Edsall, but it's still the truth. We didn't have much depth a LB last year, either. WR was a huge problem, and we were below average at safety. Pointing that out is not necessarily attacking the former coach.

 

[businesslawyer]

I went out of my way to make it clear I was just trying to point out that we have talent. There are kids on national awards list, I believe we have as many pre-season all conference players as anyone in the league (per Phil Steele).

Nobody need credit only the "" for that, because certainly some of the assistants played a huge role in bringing them in.

But we have a lot of talent, and they aren't all true freshman or new transfers.

We had roughly the same overall talent last year that we had when we went to the Fiesta Bowl. Yes, we lost our QB but he was well below average. Yes, we lost an All-American TB but replaced him with an all-conference one. Again, I do not want to be too harsh on the new staff in what was for them a transition year, but our below .500 finish had far more to do with the transition than it did with an overall decline in talent from 2011 to 2012.

 

[Waquoit]

Come on Wing-U. Accept the fact that the Boneyard exists in an alternative universe where responding to an attack on Edsall is deemed bringing Edsall into the conversation. Once you accept the stupidity of that irrationality, life gets a whole lot easier.

(Pot to kettle, pot to kettle)

Just can't stop talking about Edsall, can you bl?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Come on Wing-U. Accept the fact that the Boneyard exists in an alternative universe where responding to an attack on Edsall is deemed bringing Edsall into the conversation. Once you accept the stupidity of that irrationality, life gets a whole lot easier.

(Pot to kettle, pot to kettle)

There was no attack on Edsall. Excalibur has already explained this in his post.

 

[UConnDan97]

Can someone fill me in on which post got Wing-U up in arms about Edsall leaving the cupboard bare? I am completely lost with how this thread has taken that turn...

 

[businesslawyer]

Just can't stop talking about Edsall, can you bl?

Assuming you were not being facetious (and since you actually posted that you agreed with me on something once this week already, I will assume that post was serious), thank you for making my point.

 

[businesslawyer]

There was no attack on Edsall. Excalibur has already explained this in his post.

And it would be my fault if Wing-U turned the thread incorrectly why exactly? He posted something -- I responded.

 

[Excalibur]

Can someone fill me in on which post got Wing-U up in arms about Edsall leaving the cupboard bare? I am completely lost with how this thread has taken that turn...

There was something buried in weyo's post about the QB play.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

We had roughly the same overall talent last year that we had when we went to the Fiesta Bowl. Yes, we lost our QB but he was well below average. Yes, we lost an All-American TB but replaced him with an all-conference one. Again, I do not want to be too harsh on the new staff in what was for them a transition year, but our below .500 finish had far more to do with the transition than it did with an overall decline in talent from 2011 to 2012.

I'll call BS on this as well. Zach Frazer certainly had his warts, but he was light years beyond what McEntee showed last year. And as well as McCombs played, there is no comparison to Todman. Throw in Frey transferring, losing an all league OG, and 2/3 of the LB corps (2 of which performed at an all league level)......I can't see how you can make this statement.

 

[pj]

We had roughly the same overall talent last year that we had when we went to the Fiesta Bowl. Yes, we lost our QB but he was well below average. Yes, we lost an All-American TB but replaced him with an all-conference one. Again, I do not want to be too harsh on the new staff in what was for them a transition year, but our below .500 finish had far more to do with the transition than it did with an overall decline in talent from 2011 to 2012.

This completely overlooks the fact that in football the distribution of talent matters more than a few good players. An All-American can be neutralized; but there's no way to cover up for a weak player. One failed assignment blows up the whole play.

Last year the team was strong at some position, weak at others. That makes a weak football team.

The Fiesta Bowl team had competent players everywhere. They may not have had more stars, but they had fewer weaknesses.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

And it would be my fault if Wing-U turned the thread incorrectly why exactly? He posted something -- I responded.

Your post implied that someone attacked Edsall in this thread and Wing-U was simply responding to that attack.

If I misunderstood your post, I apologize.

 

[UConnDan97]

There was something buried in weyo's post about the QB play.

Thanks. Now, I can tread carefully through the rest of this thread (I can't imagine what is going to shake out of this one, including finding some way to get this into talking about Marinatto and Penn State).

 

[businesslawyer]

I'll call BS on this as well. Zach Frazer certainly had his warts, but he was light years beyond what McEntee showed last year. And as well as McCombs played, there is no comparison to Todman. Throw in Frey transferring, losing an all league OG, and 2/3 of the LB corps (2 of which performed at an all league level)......I can't see how you can make this statement.

It's college football. Every year, you are supposed to lose about 40% of your starters and a higher percentage of your top players. That is normal attrition made up for by everyone else on the roster stepping up.

The only thing that was unusual about the 2011 to 2012 transition from a personnel standpoint was the unfortunate series of events to anyone who might have competed with McCombs to start at TB. Frey leaving for a different academic opportunity, DJ only getting a few snaps all year, Meme not recognizing the opportunity and leaving early and Hyppolite losing so much time to injury that he never got in the mix. The rest of the attrition was normal.

You know, I don't remember discussing this much during the regular season but it really ended up being a big deal that Meme didn't come back for his 5th year. He left when he was well behind Todman, DJ and Frey on the depth chart, but he could have ended up at least sharing time with Lyle. Oh well.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It's college football. Every year, you are supposed to lose about 40% of your starters and a higher percentage of your top players. That is normal attrition made up for by everyone else on the roster stepping up.

The only thing that was unusual about the 2011 to 2012 transition from a personnel standpoint was the unfortunate series of events to anyone who might have competed with McCombs to start at TB. Frey leaving for a different academic opportunity, DJ only getting a few snaps all year, Meme not recognizing the opportunity and leaving early and Hyppolite losing so much time to injury that he never got in the mix. The rest of the attrition was normal.

You know, I don't remember discussing this much during the regular season but it really ended up being a big deal that Meme didn't come back for his 5th year. He left when he was well behind Todman, DJ and Frey on the depth chart, but he could have ended up at least sharing time with Lyle. Oh well.

While his position on the depth chart may have had an impact, I believe Wylie's decision not to come back for his 5th year was primarily due to his health.

 

[Excalibur]

It's college football. Every year, you are supposed to lose about 40% of your starters and a higher percentage of your top players. That is normal attrition made up for by everyone else on the roster stepping up.

The only thing that was unusual about the 2011 to 2012 transition from a personnel standpoint was the unfortunate series of events to anyone who might have competed with McCombs to start at TB. Frey leaving for a different academic opportunity, DJ only getting a few snaps all year, Meme not recognizing the opportunity and leaving early and Hyppolite losing so much time to injury that he never got in the mix. The rest of the attrition was normal.

I agree with almost all of this, and would point out only that the losses and resulting lack of depth at LB were significant as well. RB and LB were probably the two biggest foundations of the team's success in the second half of 2010.