Syracuse Post Game Thread

[PackTheRent]

The big 10 schedule is a joke and they have pretty much almost half the playoffs spots

Maryland and Purdue are weakest teams in Big10. We lost to Maryland 56-0. If we don’t beat a P4 team or ranked opponent next year we will have to admit stagnation

 

[RSTuthill]

I hate bye weeks. it seems like teams always come out flat. That is one thing where i agree with Randy Edsall. He always wanted to line ‘em up and play. They are especially problematic when you are playing well.

Yes indeed. And when I said that last week I got flamesd. Bye weeks are only good for one thing. Physical recovery. But football is a timing game and they really screw up timing because no matter how hard you try to practice at the speed of a game, it is not possible to duplicate the speed of a game and that kind of intensity.

 

[ZOOCONN]

Definitely not on the coaching staff, he's wearing a Zephyr hat and of course the UConn coaches all wear Nike gear. I just watched a sped up replay of the game and it didn't look like he was on the sideline in the first half. While he was tagging along closely to Mora, I didn't see him talking to him at all. I'm guessing he was just someone's sideline guest - maybe an NIL booster? Don't know why he was shadowing Mora so closely.

Yea I figured he wasn’t part of the staff but he was down there in the first half and at one point he was in moras ear and it looked like he was waving him off after saying something to him. Odd either way.

 

[huskysupporter]

no. not that exact cocktail.

but it is possible they find another strong qb who kills it for them. I'm just saying it's not a guarantee they fall off just cuz mccord left. I am putting more stock on us getting better than them getting worse, in the next couple years. Fran Brown is doing his thing up there and will find his talent.

Read an article on Brown before the UCONN game - he is well respected and a fantastic recruiter. Syracuse will be fine.

 

[RSTuthill]

Maryland and Purdue are weakest teams in Big10. We lost to Maryland 56-0. If we don’t beat a P4 team or ranked opponent next year we will have to admit stagnation

Why are you mentioning Purdue, just curious? They are not on the schedule, and while UConn has open dates and need one more game, they do not. Duke is the only P4 next year so far. I assume they are looking for another.

 

[kemba]

Learn to read. I said since Mora arrived in 2022. 2022 was a big improvement from prior years and we won 2 games against P4 or ranked teams. In 2023 and 2024 we are 0-9 and have shown zero improvement SINCE 2022.

That’s one metric. We also went 6-7 that year and got beat pretty bad by a mediocre Marshall team in the bowl game.

 

[ZooCougar]

That’s one metric. We also went 6-7 that year and got beat pretty bad by a mediocre Marshall team in the bowl game.

And Ball State.

 

[Samoo]

Learn to read. I said since Mora arrived in 2022. 2022 was a big improvement from prior years and we won 2 games against P4 or ranked teams. In 2023 and 2024 we are 0-9 and have shown zero improvement SINCE 2022.

Oh, I read fine; comprehend even better.

Your exact words: "Since Mora started in 2022 we have not improved." Mora took the job in November 2021, and started actually coaching spring of 2022. Not being a mind reader, I can only work with the point in time that you delineate, and the team has definitely improved since he started.

If you had written something along the lines of, "the team hasn't improved since finishing its first year under Mora", we all would have better understood what you meant. From other responses it seems pretty clear that I wasn't the only one that didn't get your point.

 

[Improviser]

Great question

Maybe a relative or a donor's kid?

 

[Bubba1957]

Learn to read. I said since Mora arrived in 2022. 2022 was a big improvement from prior years and we won 2 games against P4 or ranked teams. In 2023 and 2024 we are 0-9 and have shown zero improvement SINCE 2022.

This is beyond dumb. A simple eye test will tell you we are eons better. The QB is protected, the run game is good, the D flies around and pops people. Yes, there needs to be improvement, but this is a legitimate FBS team that can generally hang with anyone.

You either never watched them before or are just trolling around. Have fun with that.

 

[ZooCougar]

Jason Thoren senior defensive analyst

He looks way too young to be him.

No way that guy played in the WLAF.

Jason Thoren - Senior Defensive Analyst - Staff Directory - University of Connecticut Athletics

UConn head football coach Jim Mora announced the addition of Jason Thoren as the program's new senior defensive analyst. He will join the Huskies pending the successful

uconnhuskies.com

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Oh, I read fine; comprehend even better.

Your exact words: "Since Mora started in 2022 we have not improved." Mora took the job in November 2021, and started actually coaching spring of 2022. Not being a mind reader, I can only work with the point in time that you delineate, and the team has definitely improved since he started.

If you had written something along the lines of, "the team hasn't improved since finishing its first year under Mora", we all would have better understood what you meant. From other responses it seems pretty clear that I wasn't the only one that didn't get your point.

 

[ZooCougar]

Learn to read. I said since Mora arrived in 2022. 2022 was a big improvement from prior years and we won 2 games against P4 or ranked teams. In 2023 and 2024 we are 0-9 and have shown zero improvement SINCE 2022.

You really think the team in 2022 drops half a hundred on FAU and Buffalo?

Liberty was always horribly overrated. BC was historically bad. If we played that same team again this season we beat them even worse.

Now I am not saying we should be in the Top 25 or even the Top 50. But what you are saying is utterly flip.

 

[businesslawyer]

Maryland and Purdue are weakest teams in Big10. We lost to Maryland 56-0. If we don’t beat a P4 team or ranked opponent next year we will have to admit stagnation

This. Because the only way to measure if a program is moving forward is record versus P4 and ranked opponents. Winning and losing other games is irrelevant.

I know you’re not a troll, but you seem determined in this instance to act like one. We spent a decade as one of the worst programs in FBS. There is a lot of room betweeen there and not beating ranked or FBS opponents.

 

[UConn2SF]

Take off the blinders. Since Mora started in 2022 we have not improved. 2 wins against BC and Liberty in 2022, then 0-9 vs P4 or ranked teams in 2023 and 2024. That’s not good. How are we ever going to get into a legitimate conference?

Didn't we have like a multi-year winless streak against FBS opponents just before Mora got here?

 

[RSTuthill]

Next step is beating a P4 or two every season.

The step after that is beating ranked opponents every once in awhile. Most likely conference foes.

The step after that is beating ranking opponents when UConn is ranked.

One step at a time.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

This. Because the only way to measure if a program is moving forward is record versus P4 and ranked opponents. Winning and losing other games is irrelevant.

I know you’re not a troll, but you seem determined in this instance to act like one. We spent a decade as one of the worst programs in FBS. There is a lot of room betweeen there and not beating ranked or FBS opponents.

I love how he's using a six win season, Mora's first here, as the baseline for comparison while ognoring the fact that in the previous four seasons combined (spread over five years) we won a total of four games, Rhode Island on a stop inside the red zone when they were driving to tie the game, Wagner by a field goal, UMass when they were most likely the only FBS school worse than us and Yale on a late drive stop at our 25 (IIRC fourth down was a near completion in the end zone) with us up by six.

Yes, an argument (not necessarily a strong one) can be made that there should be more improvement from 2022 to now, but we would be intentionally lying to ourselves if we ignore the immense improvement from where we were from 2018-2021 to 2022.

 

[ZooCougar]

Didn't we have like a multi-year winless streak against FBS opponents just before Mora got here?

Yes

 

[Palatine]

That is not outclassed. That is a statistic and we were lost by 7 and they scored 31 pts, which isn't a crazy amount. Outclassed was Maryland game. This was one where we gave up passing yards but not much on the ground.

That is the definition of outclassed. They were better than we were. They had a better QB and better receivers. And they performed better. We played hard. Made the most of our chances. And we managed to keep the score close. But we were not in their class.

 

[PackTheRent]

Why are you mentioning Purdue, just curious? They are not on the schedule, and while UConn has open dates and need one more game, they do not. Duke is the only P4 next year so far. I assume they are looking for another.

Just to give an example of the two weakest big 10 teams and that we lost badly to one of them. It was a reply to “Big 10 schedules are a joke

This is beyond dumb. A simple eye test will tell you we are eons better. The QB is protected, the run game is good, the D flies around and pops people. Yes, there needs to be improvement, but this is a legitimate FBS team that can generally hang with anyone.

You either never watched them before or are just trolling around. Have fun with that.

They are far better than Edsall 2.0. But no/tiny improvement since 2022 season

 

[Jimdish255]

Throwing deep on 4th and 2 is a technique I guess.

Hoeh’s snaps are getting worse.

That was a horrible playcalling. But all in all we hung in and competed.

Fagnano came out cold but seemed to pick it up as soon as we went hurry up. The biggest difference seemed to be at QB between these 2 teams. While I think Fagnano deserves to finish the season and get the same consideration as Evers would, really hoping we're just a Welliver and a few transfers away from getting to the next level. I just think we need to send a message to the receiving corps and skill players that the QB play will be significantly upgraded next year so we don't lose the talent we have. Not sure if recommitting to Evers over Welliver is the message they want to hear but that's for the guys in the locker room to decide. A few of them are understandably frustrated at the moment. Disappointed with the result and a few Bozo calls by the OC but overall optimistic moving forward if we can retain our nucleus.

 

[ZooCougar]

That was a horrible playcalling. But all in all we hung in and competed.

Fagnano came out cold but seemed to pick it up as soon as we went hurry up. The biggest difference seemed to be at QB between these 2 teams. While I think Fagnano deserves to finish the season and get the same consideration as Evers would, really hoping we're just a Welliver and a few transfers away from getting to the next level. I just think we need to send a message to the receiving corps and skill players that the QB play will be significantly upgraded next year so we don't lose the talent we have. Not sure if recommitting to Evers over Welliver is the message they want to hear but that's for the guys in the locker room to decide. A few of them are understandably frustrated at the moment. Disappointed with the result and a few Bozo calls by the OC but overall optimistic moving forward if we can retain our nucleus.

I can't figure out if Syracuse was letting us move the ball or if we were actually moving the ball. We were definitely picking on one of their corners. So we found something and the Syracuse defense looked kinda gassed. If we recovered that onside kick....

When I think about Joe's best drives at UConn, I think they were all in the hurry up or scripted. Like the first drive against NC State. We should run a high tempo offense more often than not.

He should definitely start against UMass. Don't take the bowl eligibility for granted. The math doesn't look so good that you can eliminate the possibility that we will get left out. Evers hasn't been able to run well since maybe ever. We have three great running backs who can run better. Joe should be able to throw better against UMass's secondary.

Overall I can't see how anyone rational could say that we haven't improved. We were within a TD of three ACC teams with winning records. These games would have been blowouts in 2022.

 

[uconnbill]

Record last three years: 16-19 with this year 7-4
Record three prior years: 4-32

#mathishard

Such a big difference with a real head coach and staff considering the lack of funding for the coaching staff and not having the NIL money until some this year and now hopefully more in upcoming 2025 season

 

[uconnbill]

Just to give an example of the two weakest big 10 teams and that we lost badly to one of them. It was a reply to “Big 10 schedules are a joke

They are far better than Edsall 2.0. But no/tiny improvement since 2022 season

How do you not see the improvement and what are you watching? It isn't this UConn team, that's for sure

 

[uconnbill]

Maryland and Purdue are weakest teams in Big10. We lost to Maryland 56-0. If we don’t beat a P4 team or ranked opponent next year we will have to admit stagnation

First game of the year and I would bet that would not happen again. 50-7 would not happen again but again you are not watching the same team as the rest of us are.