The defensive scheme is garbage.

[scoobydoo]

I agree both the talent and scheme are problems - I am uncertain, which is the primary problem against an opponent like ECU.

Casual fans struggle with that.

PS: Its the talent

 

[CTPride]

You realize you are reinforcing my point...who uses the 3-3-5 exclusively in the top 10? Don Brown is a multiple set guy who's base is 4 down lineman...even Diaco used a multiple D with the 3-4 being his base D. Crocker..3-3-5 all day long...like trying to jam a square of into a round hole.

WVU used a 3-3-5 back in the day I believe.

 

[scoobydoo]

Randy is going to play the guy who gives us the best chance to win, but it was clear yesterday, that is a upper classman can't do his job, he is going to be replaced by a underclassman even if neither can do their job.

Randy ain't quitting on this after 3 games.

 

[Chief00]

Casual fans struggle with that.

PS: Its the talent

Maybe I am old school or have taken geometry and geography, but if you are defending against progress, why do you put the majority of the defense so far away from the ball/point of attack? It’s not logical, regardless of your talent assessment.

The players seemed confused and would pass receivers on to well nobody in the zone but an easy pass for the QB.

I would probably go with man to man with a safety until you can coach these guys up more. This part is mental or experience not talent. True Bell consistently getting beat in his zone and missing tackles is talent.

The no pass rush is talent and scheme (3 guys going against 5). They did start blitzing more the 2nd half and that improved results somewhat. In the 1st half they did blitz but it was from such a far away zip code it had no impact.

 

[freescooter]

I get why everyone is upset though. The past 2 games may have been the worst defense I have ever seem with the exception of some mismatch games. #1 gor beaten like a drum. 27 couldn't find his man with google maps and Summers seems to have forgotten how to play aggressively. He seems to be playing prevent let his guy catch it in front of him style rather than the ball hawking style he showed as a sophomore. If we had even a somewhat below average pass defense we would be 2-1 and maybe 3-0. Our defense has to look up just to see rock bottom right now. It is as bad as last season's offense was.

And the D.C. Isn't going anywhere at least for the moment but look for Edsall to take a more hands on role very shortly. And for some new faces to show up in the 2-deep.

 

[scoobydoo]

Maybe I am old school or have taken geometry and geography, but if you are defending against progress, why do you put the majority of the defense so far away from the ball/point of attack? It’s not logical, regardless of your talent assessment.

The players seemed confused and would pass receivers on to well nobody in the zone but an easy pass for the QB.

I would probably go with man to man with a safety until you can coach these guys up more. This part is mental or experience not talent. True Bell consistently getting beat in his zone and missing tackles is talent.

The no pass rush is talent and scheme (3 guys going against 5). They did start blitzing more the 2nd half and that improved results somewhat. In the 1st half they did blitz but it was from such a far away zip code it had no impact.

I didn't mean for this defensive outburst when I used the words casual fans. I think your football posts illustrate completely your football insight.

 

[Chief00]

Thanks for the history lesson...Ill give you a newsflash..I watch college football when ever it is on if I'm not at the Rent. Give me a top 10 team that strictly runs the 3-3-5. Every team I see runs the 4-3. As for pass coverage..these guys keep looking at each other after big plays ..the 5th FB to me has confused these kids to no end. You have your opinion and I'm gonna keep mine. I will say this Crocker better figure it out and figure it out quick because giving up 41 pts and 500+ yds of offense to a team like ECU is not going to keep fans in the Rent. As for the OC comment..I haven't seen the Oline block better in a LONG time. You are right on that one about Lashlee.

Lashlee and Grimes could have all kinds of excuses too regarding talent but these guys are demonstrating improvement and doing a great job!

 

[freescooter]

I respectively disagree with you. What will 4 down lineman do for this defense? Maybe it will be more effective against the run but certainly not against the pass. ( Did I read somewhere that we are 127th in the country in pass defense?) Instead of one receiver being wide open there will be two receivers now wide open on every play with your 4 down lineman defensive plan. Maybe the opposing quarterback will hesitate a bit longer trying to figure out which wide open receiver to throw to and that will allow our slow defensive line to sack him!! NOT LIKELY. Do think that the opposing OC is going to run the ball more when we are in a 4 down linemen set? Do we have a fourth down lineman that is a great pass rusher on the bench? No, No and No.

This is the new paradigm of college football which our fans haven't had a lot of exposure to at the Rent. As we all know, in the big 12 and elsewhere in the world of college football 50 to 40 scores are common events. These up-tempo spread offenses are hard to stop. These are not the offenses that Edsall's defenses were stopping in the old big east. We are not playing those teams this year or ever again. Its not that we don't have the quality players to run a 3 3 5 defense. Its that we don't have the quality players to stop a up-tempo spread offence.

What we need is bigger faster and stronger players to play better defense. And yes, SMU and Tulsa both could score 70 points against our defense. When, Coach Crocker called for blitzes during the game they were mostly ineffective. Both Tre Bell and Vontae Diggs were easily was knock off their feet when they were given an opportunity to blitz the East Carolina quarterback. Jr. Joseph who played a great game got close a few times but couldn't get there. Some of the boneyarders like Brevers at outside linebacker because of his speed. Maybe he will be part of the answer going forward but we need more speed, size and strength everywhere on the field. Our two corners have only average speed, average size and average strength. They are suppose to be the strength of our defense but neither one of them have played well this year.

In time, I'm hopeful that our defense will get better as our younger players get more experience. However, unless we are playing during a old fashion New England snow storm , I doubt very much that we are going to witness those 17 to 13 wins of the Edsall's glory years ever again.

At least now we have a real OC at UConn so that we can stay competitive in these games. However, we all should buckle up and get ready for some high scoring games this year. We may be witnessing some combined triple digits scores before the season is over.

We are not going to see those 17-13 wins but we aren't scoring 17 either. We scored 38 yesterday and 27 against Holy Cross, but 20 of that came in about a quarter after brining Sherriffs in. Even the lowest scoring game we had 18 but went for 2 after each td and had two turnovers not just in the red zone but in the end zone and at the 2. That could have and with just fundamentally sound play would have been 35. So this team can move the ball and score points I suspect. But it needs to stop the other guys on occasion.

 

[Excalibur]

There are certainly adjustments within the scheme that can and should be tried. I doubt that man coverage on the outside would be effective given the lack of foot speed at corner (though I think that the younger kids are faster) and inability to pressure the QB even when blitzing. Our non-blitzing LB's don't have the speed to make deep drops in coverage, so a better idea may be to move the safeties under and keep our corners off the receivers at the snap. From what I've seen we are keeping one or two safeties deep whenever the QB drops back.

 

[Tdaley]

Thanks for the history lesson...Ill give you a newsflash..I watch college football when ever it is on if I'm not at the Rent. Give me a top 10 team that strictly runs the 3-3-5. Every team I see runs the 4-3. As for pass coverage..these guys keep looking at each other after big plays ..the 5th FB to me has confused these kids to no end. You have your opinion and I'm gonna keep mine. I will say this Crocker better figure it out and figure it out quick because giving up 41 pts and 500+ yds of offense to a team like ECU is not going to keep fans in the Rent. As for the OC comment..I haven't seen the Oline block better in a LONG time. You are right on that one about Lashlee.

Remember, I respectively disagreed with you. My point is that I don't see how going to 4 down lineman will make our defense any better against up-tempo spread teams even though there are many very good college teams who play 4 down lineman. Of course those top ten teams that you referred who play 4 down lineman also have a lot more talent than we have. One the best performance against a good up-tempo spread teams that I have seen on in recent years on tv was San Diego State performance against Houston in last year's bowl game. I don't recall the defense that they ran, but I do know that they put a lot a pressure on Mr. Ward and completely shut Houston down in the second half. Better defensive players or a better defensive scheme? My tv eyes tells me that San Diego State had a lot stud players on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[Excalibur]

I don't recall the defense that they ran,

I do . . .

 

[uconnfn34]

"It's like watching a puppy battle an asteroid" was how a fan in my section summed up our defense for the first three quarters. At least with it being a short week we only have to wait 5 more days to see if some of the improvements are for real against a better opponent.

 

[Tdaley]

I do . . .

Which was???????

 

[Excalibur]

Which was???????

It rhymes with "free free hive" . . .

 

[HomeKing93]

I agree about SDSU, their 3-3-5 has been good over the years with mostly 2 star guys. Now I know, to be fair, that SDSU also runs a deliberate run heavy offense that keeps its defense off the field more than our offense will. Even so, I still have hope it can work here.

 

[Chief00]

I didn't mean for this defensive outburst when I used the words casual fans. I think your football posts illustrate completely your football insight.

Clueless.

 

[Chief00]

Casual fans struggle with that.

PS: Its the talent

The talent hasn’t changed on the offensive side but the performance has. Keep in mind we are playing ECU and their talent level. You really have a major issue with logic.

Last year
ECU wins 41-3
This Year
ECU wins 31-28
Coaching does matter, although I agree talent is very important.

 

[UConnDan97]

The talent hasn’t changed on the offensive side but the performance has. Keep in mind we are playing ECU and their talent level. You really have a major issue with logic.

Wrong. The talent on the offensive side got WORSE! (Knappe, Levy, Thomas)

I'm not well versed enough in the 3-3-5 to give an expert opinion, but from a philosophical standpoint, I've always argued that you fit a system to match your players and not the other way around. It's quite possible that the coaching staff still feels like the 3-3-5 truly is the best fit for the players we have, which itself should scare the hell out of you. But as others have mentioned, make adjustments within the system then.

And if they don't feel like the 3-3-5 is the best fit for the players we've got, well then damnit, cut the crap! We need wins. The program need wins badly...

 

[Chief00]

Of course, the point is with relatively the same or worse talent - the offense is many magnitudes better, so coaching matters. I could argue the talent with Mensch, Donaldson and Dixon etc - but that’s not the point - big picture it’s relatively similar.

Wrong. The talent on the offensive side got WORSE! (Knappe, Levy, Thomas)

I'm not well versed enough in the 3-3-5 to give an expert opinion, but from a philosophical standpoint, I've always argued that you fit a system to match your players and not the other way around. It's quite possible that the coaching staff still feels like the 3-3-5 truly is the best fit for the players we have, which itself should scare the hell out of you. But as others have mentioned, make adjustments within the system then.

And if they don't feel like the 3-3-5 is the best fit for the players we've got, well then damnit, cut the crap! We need wins. The program need wins badly...

 

[freescooter]

On sure passing downs it seemed our safties played crazy deep to the point where it seemed they were doing everything to keep the play in front of them but combined with the big cushion by the corner left huge spaces open. I'm still inclined to think that the 2 biggest problems are inexperience 3, even 4 Frosh back there sometimes and lack of understanding of the system. The freshmen are just overmatched physically and understandingly (is that a word???) in terms of recognizing plays. The others still getting an understanding of the system, thevwho goes where when piece.

 

[huskymedic]

I could argue the talent with Mensch

That’s the second or third time you’ve called Mensah a Mensch in the past 24 hours. Do you use that word often/auto-correct?

 

[scoobydoo]

Clueless.

You do have some clues. A casual fan's worth of clues.

 

[scoobydoo]

The talent hasn’t changed on the offensive side but the performance has. Keep in mind we are playing ECU and their talent level. You really have a major issue with logic.

Last year
ECU wins 41-3
This Year
ECU wins 31-28
Coaching does matter, although I agree talent is very important.

I guess you missed RVD and Nino and Mason and Mensah and Hopkins and Skanes and Dixon.

Here's a tip - buy a program and look at the numbers and then look at the program and see what class the player is in. If it says freshman or redshirt freshman, they didn't play last year.

 

[Chief00]

I guess you missed RVD and Nino and Mason and Mensah and Hopkins and Skanes and Dixon.

Here's a tip - buy a program and look at the numbers and then look at the program and see what class the player is in. If it says freshman or redshirt freshman, they didn't play last year.

My assessment is the talent has improved on offense, but many could make a reverse case as was done in this thread. So I considered it even big picture after sorting through Knappe and Thomas. The point, which you consistently miss, was about coaching and point production.

 

[scoobydoo]

My assessment is the talent has improved on offense, but many could make a reverse case as was done in this thread. So I considered it even big picture after sorting through Knappe and Davis. The point, which you consistently miss, was about coaching and point production.

What about the tip about the buying the program. Do you think that will help you?