That was rough

[kemba]

Crazy, but Pindell out-gained Milton from scrimmage

Nostical win

 

[cohenzone]

Rough is an understatement, but we're projected to win 3 games this year and had a bunch of guys on the field that had never even stood on the sidelines during a college game. They're a top 20 team in the country with a Heisman candidate.

Next week will be more of the same. In my mind, the season starts week 3.

Exactly. Obviously having to play UCF and Boise out of the gate is tough for our guys, but you have to hope that playing the best first can be a building block. I’m not sure what anyone expected against UCF, but Pindell is a weapon so there is some reason for optimism on O. The D obviously was way overmatched, but also had some glaring missed assignments. Part of that is youth, part the opposition how much is coaching or talent differential or lack of experience we will see by game 3 or 4.

 

[Jimdish255]

This was obviously a learning week. I will say our defense, even with the breakdowns seemed to play slightly faster than last year. And watching Wake and Tulane we would absolutely have a good shot at either for a win. UCF with a healthy Milton is trouble for most defenses.

 

[RSTuthill]

The D was as bad as expected. Maybe a little worse. No one was surprised at the 4 down linemen on D? I watched Ryan Fines when he was on the field. Not agile at all. The D managed one stop in the first half. We didn't stay for much of the second.

The O was definitely worse than expected, but they did show instances of brilliance. They are too reliant on Pindell's feet. That isn't sustainable. I thought Dunn showed periods of brilliance but also periods of complete lack of imagination. Too much run for my taste. Think I called freshmen RB fumbles a few days ago. Yup it happened.

Interesting that UCF devoted a couple series to the run. They were just playing with UConn and working on their running game. They knew they could score at will. But Milton also missed a few wide open recievers. Probably not his best night.

 

[uconnphil2016]

The D was as bad as expected. Maybe a little worse. No one was surprised at the 4 down linemen on D? I watched Ryan Fines when he was on the field. Not agile at all. The D managed one stop in the first half. We didn't stay for much of the second.

The O was definitely worse than expected, but they did show instances of brilliance. They are too reliant on Pindell's feet. That isn't sustainable. I thought Dunn showed periods of brilliance but also periods of complete lack of imagination. Too much run for my taste. Think I called freshmen RB fumbles a few days ago. Yup it happened.

Interesting that UCF devoted a couple series to the run. They were just playing with UConn. They knew they could score at will. But Milton also missed a few wide open recievers. Probably not his best night.

Ryan Fines is SLOW. Good lord. He does not belong at defensive end and probably not on the field at all on even most bad teams. Luckily for him, we’re a special kinda bad.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

The QB was the whole offense...reminded me of Vick at VT.

Ex ept Vick could throw better. Pindell, though, did a fine job with his feet.

 

[J187Money]

But was it a Nostical Win?

Doesn’t Nostical have to leave town? We didn’t cover.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

UCF's offense will give them a chance to go undefeated again. Serious... Serious talent at WR and obviously QB. Their defense is younger which really surprises me why we only had 10 points through most of the game. I don't get how anyone else is not concerned about that. UConn has been epic as a program that gets into the Red Zone and comes up empty. It seems like we always say IF we didn't turn it over we would have 100 points. Well we keep getting turn overs and stupid ... absolutely stupid penalties. The offense should not be getting so many penalties.

I remain concerned about UConn's lack of offense. Been a problem for a while, except for stretchw last seaskn.

 

[RSTuthill]

Even after tonight, I still think UConn will win 3 this year. With all these freshmen the learning curve ought to be steep.

 

[Bomber36]

Even after tonight, I still think UConn will win 3 this year. With all these freshmen the learning curve ought to be steep.

That’s not much to look forward to.

 

[RSTuthill]

That’s not much to look forward to.

Well, considering they will have to upset one and perhaps two teams to achieve that, I think it is realistic. But if they do that, the foundation for 2019 will have been established.

 

[whaler11]

Doesn’t Nostical have to leave town? We didn’t cover.

I feel like Palatine should too. Since he believes his posts impact results.... I think it’s time for his backup.

 

[Bomber36]

Well, considering they will have to upset one and perhaps two teams to achieve that, I think it is realistic. But if they do that, the foundation for 2019 will have been established.

But how many fans will be left....it’s gonna be a long process getting fans back in seats at the rate of 3, 4 or 5 wins a season. I have lots of friends who are casual fans and won’t go even if tickets are free.

 

[Carnac]

Not the way any team wants to begin the season. It's bad enough to lose a league game right out of the box, but you also lose some confidence and swagger in front of a national TV audience.

 

[Carnac]

But how many fans will be left....it’s gonna be a long process getting fans back in seats at the rate of 3, 4 or 5 wins a season. I have lots of friends who are casual fans and won’t go even if tickets are free.

How bad is a product if you can't even give it away?

 

[Pudge]

Zero bright spots?

On D, I liked #44 Swenson tackling in space & #14 Herring-Wilson coverage and moxie.

I’d love to see Lutrus - Wilson - Lloyd

 

[noeynox]

I feel like Palatine should too. Since he believes his posts impact results.... I think it’s time for his backup.

Hopefully this end the positive thoughts and posts affect team performance drivel. The talent needs to improve big time. You mentioned Edsall trying to take the air out of the ball. Following one of those attempts UCF went the whole field in 3 passes for a touchdown. That is a tough approach in this league.

 

[RSTuthill]

But how many fans will be left....it’s gonna be a long process getting fans back in seats at the rate of 3, 4 or 5 wins a season. I have lots of friends who are casual fans and won’t go even if tickets are free.

We are way way beyond worrying about numbers of fans at this point. Three wins has been pretty much the consensus prediction on the part of those with an objective eye for almost a year now. Still achievable. Four wins would exceed expectations. Next year should be a bowl year. Still probable. The blue sky is still up there.

 

[Travelman6]

That was....even worse than last year. Ouch.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

We are way way beyond worrying about numbers of fans at this point. Three wins has been pretty much the consensus prediction on the part of those with an objective eye for almost a year now. Still achievable. Four wins would exceed expectations. Next year should be a bowl year. Still probable. The blue sky is still up there.

I am still thinking UConn may be able to get five or six wins in 2018. Many of the opponents are weak. The defense will likely improve over the season.

 

[Exit 4]

Last night I walked away thinking there wasn’t one true freshman that I was impressed with and that was disappointing.

But here in the morning after reflection, i’m Giving more weight to the fact we just played a ranked team with a dominant qb and 13 game winning streak, so how can you really judge it? Would the game have looked any different against anyone in the top 10? No it would have been the same. UCF is very good, partially on offense.

Concerns: OL not as good as hoped in run game.
Pindell and Dunn don’t have a down field pass play.
LBs not fast enough.... but Kevon Jones does bring size.
I don’t want to pick on a guy, but I’m rewatching the first half this morning I noticed Terry had two opportunities to make stops/plays that would have stopped drives but missed. Need more athletes in that Husky LB slot.

Postives:
Wilson played better at CB
Swenson as Husky LB did make some tackles
Obviously Pindell is a fantastic runner
Buss can make plays
TEs made plays
Hergy has some nice catches

I hope Dunn copies some of the plays UCF used. We need a couple long ball plays and we need to our RBs running dump off routes to put themselves in better spots in the flats to be more productive.

On D, I would spend the week working on blitz packages. We did blitz some; the second UCF TD was on a Terry blitz where Milton was able to elude him.

 

[RSTuthill]

I am still thinking UConn may be able to get five or six wins in 2018. Many of the opponents are weak. The defense will likely improve over the season.

Think again. Vanishingly small probability above four and and getting to four is like one chance in six. If UConn had started the season with a rational schedule that afforded some learning opportunities it would be a different story. Reality will set in soon.

 

[RSTuthill]

On D, I would spend the week working on blitz packages. We did blitz some; the second UCF TD was on a Terry blitz where Milton was able to elude him.

He had him and then fell for a juke inside while Milton went outside. I ground my teeth on that one.

 

[Excalibur]

but I don’t think we’ll play a better team this year. Too bad it had to happen first game.

Boise is probably better.