South Florida Post Game Thread

[UCFBfan]

What about the need to be generating enough of a NIL pot to be able to retain those “rough diamonds” when they start to glisten and other teams are looking for bargains.

This is exactly my thoughts. Gone are the early RE days where he thrived off finding under recruited kids and building them into studs. Finding a kid like Danny O would result in him being lured to another school for a large sum of money nowadays. Finding CT kids is great but when they shine, you better have the funds to keep them because they aren't all going to have the same mindset as Jackson Mitchell and decide to stay at UConn.

 

[JMick]

This is exactly my thoughts. Gone are the early RE days where he thrived off finding under recruited kids and building them into studs. Finding a kid like Danny O would result in him being lured to another school for a large sum of money nowadays. Finding CT kids is great but when they shine, you better have the funds to keep them because they aren't all going to have the same mindset as Jackson Mitchell and decide to stay at UConn.

But if you have these kids then your team is going to be good. So worry about getting them first.

 

[UCFBfan]

But if you have these kids then your team is going to be good. So worry about getting them first.

Except you need to be able to replace them constantly. That's not easy and lacks any cohesion. Finding diamonds in the rough are tough. Striking gold twice, not likely

 

[JMick]

Except you need to be able to replace them constantly. That's not easy and lacks any cohesion. Finding diamonds in the rough are tough. Striking gold twice, not likely

How about we get there first before we start worrying about it??

 

[Sportsfan71]

You and I have always agreed on this. Score points and play an exciting brand of football. I want a team that airs it out and brings the house. That’s what people want to see and recruits want to play. Roberson is proving pretty capable, let him throw more. The D rarely blitzes. Let’s create some chaos instead. We have nothing to lose. We play conservative football and it doesn’t work anyway.

I’d take Don Brown back as DC any day if he runs out of rope at UMass. At least he’ll try and make something happen.

Isn’t he like a 1000 years old?

 

[Kolumbo]

Worry about that later. Get them to shine first.

If you have 22 kids ready to be poached by P5 teams then you have a damn good team

Exactly. It's like being skittish about recruiting Jordan Hawkins because he's only staying 2 years. UConn has do to whatever it takes to win games. Good kids may get lured away but until UConn is ranked every year, that's the way it's going to be. And if P5 programs are getting kids in the portal, they're also losing kids to the portal.

 

[uconnfan68]

The defense completely collapsed when given a chance to win the game. They gave USF exactly what they needed to win. It looked like a seven on seven drill at the end.

And how many interceptions did the defense drop. Three? Just pathetic.

Don’t put this loss on D. The offense was putrid.

 

[uconnfan68]

This is correct. When they scored a TD on that Edwards run for 21-10 lead that is when the defense had to step up. Instead they let USF get a TD, which is bad enough, but what was worse about that was that it happened so quickly in under 2 minutes

Terrible officiating helped.

 

[JMick]

Exactly. It's like being skittish about recruiting Jordan Hawkins because he's only staying 2 years. UConn has do to whatever it takes to win games. Good kids may get lured away but until UConn is ranked every year, that's the way it's going to be. And if P5 programs are getting kids in the portal, they're also losing kids to the portal.

It's insane to me that anyone could think otherwise. It's like we are giving up before we even get anywhere

 

[maple]

Great post. I sometimes wonder what the hell are people's expectations of the program. After every single week we have our own fans calling to end the program. I mean good lord, good, bad, or ugly, having a FBS program is great thing to have. People need to stop with all the melodrama about throwing in the towel.

Play each year and try to obtain bowl eligibility winning our FCS game, some G5 games, and maybe giving some P5 teams a run for their money. So, no, we likely aren't going to have a top 50 program consistently, but given our league situation what can you do?

Mora needs to stop making excuses. We're getting beat by the likes of Utah State, FIU, and now USF at home... It's not exactly Utah, Florida State and Florida.

If they could make a bowl game every year — even if it’s the Nobody Cares Bowl — I would be satisfied. Just win 6-7 games a year, consistently. That is our ceiling right now, unfortunately.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

We suck, but we sucked last year too. 3 possessions away from 4-3. Is what it is. Losing winnable games instead of winning like last year.

I’m still salty about a handful of things from NC State who is actually trrrible. Could 5-2 easy

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The portal goes both ways, no?

Why does Mora think this is a problem unique to UConn football? We blew out FIU last year and they beat us at home this season. Did they just outwork us in the portal?

It's like Mora was so bombastic to suggest his goal was to win a national title at UConn and facing NIL and conference realities his bitching. Buddy, worry about finishing over .500 first.

It's like he thinks his excuse for us being 1-6 is valid and the same for us not being 7-0 and in the playoff hunt. Different worlds.

 

[Hamms30]

We do know what our record is without Carter, Marion and Turner.

No argument that the timing of Mora’s comments can easily be described as being tone deaf @ this point if not considering future impact.

Yea, but how many games did we win last year with Carter and Marion? Marion got hurt game 1 and we didn't see him until the end of the season and Carter went down against Michigan and that's the last time we saw him, I think, wasn't it? I haven't been following Cincinnati, but doesn't look like Turner is getting much run there.

Mora needs to start punching back when a kid wants to enter the portal and put all 3 of these guys up as the poster board of what they have to look forward to when they transfer. Confidence and belief in yourself is great, but you're going somewhere that you've been recruited over and you're going to fight for your life for scraps. Carter is playing at Mich. State, but they're 2-5 and lost by 10 points less than we lost to Michigan to last year. "Do you want to find out if you're good enough to make the team at Michigan State or do you want to use your eligibility playing college football?"

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I don't care what offers a kid has. The most important part of being a UConn football coach is talent evaluation. And that means not chasing stars but chasing potential. Mora seems like he wants to recruit stars instead of rough diamonds. This ain't cali, buddy.

Sounds like you’re spinning an argument for bringing Randy back!

 

[businesslawyer]

Turner has 7 catches for 47 yards. Marion 7 for 112. Losing Carter hurt but a healthy Rosa isn't a huge drop off.

Kids today are more equipped than ever to make an impact early. Find the right guys

I’m really tired of reading crap like this. Carter didn’t help us win any games last year before his injury. Marion didn’t help us win any games last year before his injury. And Aaron Turner did help us win some games last year, but Cam Ross plays his role in the lineup and is better. And we won 6 games anyway.

We are not 1-6 because we’ve had more than our share of injuries and defections. We’re 1-6 primarily because a defensive unit that was really good at home the second half of the year and returned 9 starters has taken huge steps backwards.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I slept on it and although I’m still upset, USF has the fastest offense in the country. I think USF is better than we thought. I mean they played Alabama hard and kept it closer than we ever could. USF’s offense is what we need here plain and simple. We can’t be a grind it out team anymore.

 

[Hoophound]

I slept on it and although I’m still upset, USF has the fastest offense in the country. I think USF is better than we thought. I mean they played Alabama hard and kept it closer than we ever could. USF’s offense is what we need here plain and simple. We can’t be a grind it out team anymore.

They aren’t that good. We shot ourselves in the foot and the refs jobbed us again.

What I see in these games on our side is some talent. We need better coaching on offense and defense and some level of competence on special teams. We really aren’t that bad in terms of roster. I love a dozen or so of our players.

There is a lack of discipline that just kills us at the worst times. Mora can do this job but he needs really good assistants that run a tight ship. We need attention to detail on specials, fundamentals- particularly tackling, less dumb errors resulting in penalties and better play calling.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The defensive sets as in the 4th quarter are awful like that long run by Wright, down 4. 5 Dbs are playing back and back-pedaling at the snap. The MLB blitzes, gets picked by the HBack leaving an area the size of Rhode Island to be defended by an OLB(who gets blocked by an OL) This has happened quite abit this year. The D is being put in positions where they can't support one another or become unsure of their responsibilities.

 

[Rdkid]

People were saying this same thing 10 years ago.

Lew Perkins was saying it before we won our first NC.

 

[Waquoit]

Alright. I'll bite. What decision did we make based on football that hurt basketball? Making football D1/FBS in the first place?

At the end of the day, yes. Going FBS was supposed to insure the viability of the BB programs. Instead football became a millstone; an albatross that almost killed out BB programs.

 

[uconndogs]

I’m really tired of reading crap like this. Carter didn’t help us win any games last year before his injury. Marion didn’t help us win any games last year before his injury. And Aaron Turner did help us win some games last year, but Cam Ross plays his role in the lineup and is better. And we won 6 games anyway.

We are not 1-6 because we’ve had more than our share of injuries and defections. We’re 1-6 primarily because a defensive unit that was really good at home the second half of the year and returned 9 starters has taken huge steps backwards.

I’m not going to defend the coaching or performance, but for a program to lose that type of talent is very impactful. Carter in particular is a significant talent.

As I have said before, this trend will continue now that NIL allows money to easily move.

 

[businesslawyer]

I’m not going to defend the coaching or performance, but for a program to lose that type of talent is very impactful. Carter in particular is a significant talent.

As I have said before, this trend will continue now that NIL allows money to easily move.

Carter is a significant talent. But he only played for us last year in early season losses. He did not contribute to any of our 6 wins. So would we have been better with him — absolutely. But not having him is not why we have lost to three crap teams at home.

Are the losses that will continue with NIL and easy transfers real? Absolutely. But why do you think that’s not an equal problem for FIU, Utah State and USF? Yes, the gap between us and the P-whatever will grow, but we’re 1-4 against non P-5 teams.

 

[Tdaley]

One bright spot for yesterday’s game was Cam Edwards. Not only did he carry the ball well but that touchdown catch was one of best highlights of the season. Edwards route running looks better than any other running back that is or was on the team this season. I’m hoping that going forward we continue utilize Edwards in the pass game.

 

[coachcap]

At the end of the day, yes. Going FBS was supposed to insure the viability of the BB programs. Instead football became a millstone; an albatross that almost killed out BB programs.

Bill, while I agree with with the premise, I want to point my finger directly at the athletic director's (read that Jeff Hathaway, Warde Manual ) office:
Bad hires were the crux that led UConn to its current predicament.
Pasqualoni brought in because the readily Mike Leach was considered too toxic.
Hiring Bobby red pants instead of a litany of viable candidates
These 2 hireings, more than any other factors, started the death spiral into the black hole of UConn football over the last decade.

 

[Rdkid]

Mora is finding out weekly what a slog this will be. He has tons of rope and I hope he can stay even keel and keep plugging away. We are not well coached and it seems as if our kids make mistakes due to lack of basic gametime experience, e.g. 12th man running out of the endzone. I don’t know enough about schemes and/or how talented or not we are, (It appears we have limited team speed) but anyone with eyes can see how we are missing savvy, fundamentally sound players at key spots. RE1 teams were striking in their vanilla, solid play - boring except for the winning. This team is vanilla and prone to mistakes the casual fan can clearly spot. Mora can only keep working at it, patch the holes, and keep pushing for all the support he can get. He signed on for this and DB could never be able to sugarcoat the collapse of the culture and the limited $ given the deficit, lack of gate & tv/conference & limited whales donating. My take is that he is obviously experienced, but not all that even-keel. If he goes on tilt and splits, the program is in deep trouble. The program needs a consistent, steady hand. A fifth reboot in a decade is not the answer.

Man, a 5 or 6 win season would have been enough to keep things stable.