The elephant in the room.

[ConnHuskBask]

It's the elephant in the room when the Horde meets PP. "Coach before you got here UConn was able to run the ball successfully. Now you can't. Is there an explanation for that?" Good luck getting the boys to pose that one, too.

If you want to make a list of the questions the Horde won't ask P, well, you're going to need one hell of a big room and a lot of friggin elephants!

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Did I just read this year's passing game is better than the second half of 2009?

Dear Lord, the second half of 2009 was the best football UConn has every played and Frazer, Easley were huge reasons why.

We can barely sustain a drive this season!

 

[Carl Spackler]

The real elephant in the room is the "dead MEN walking".

How do players play for coaches who will be gone next year? When a player or two or 10 think certain coaches are clueless, how do they focus, keep their mouth shut and tow the line?

Then there are the recruits. They read the papers and the forums.

I made a promise to focus on football, and football only after the Towson game. It's the only way I can enjoy things right now. We've improved in every area of our team as since week 1, except our running game. Our running game sucks, it needs to get better if we're going to win games and I want to win games. We still have the entire conference schedule in front of us, and I want to win games and go somewhere in December.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Did I just read this year's passing game is better than the second half of 2009?

Dear Lord, the second half of 2009 was the best football UConn has every played and Frazer, Easley were huge reasons why.

We can barely sustain a drive this season!

Clueless. We were able to run the ball then we can't now. The passing offense in 2009 consisted of about 5 plays, with the same simple routes. We can generate multiple different downfield routes now. We can't run the ball now. The things are not mutually exclusive. You can do both at the same time - generate multiple down field threats in a passing game, and still run the ball well.

We have never been a regularl top 25 team, because we have not yet been able to do both at the same time.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Clueless. We were able to run the ball then we can't now. The passing offense in 2009 consisted of about 5 plays, with the same simple routes. We can generate multiple different downfield routes now. We can't run the ball now. The things are not mutually exclusive. You can do both at the same time - generate multiple down field threats in a passing game, and still run the ball well.

We have never been a regularl top 25 team, because we have not yet been able to do both at the same time.

So to recap:

2009 - Great running, simple, effective, quality passing game
2013 - awful running, awful passing, but the passing game is graded on a curve because the running game sucks, therefore making it better than 09.

 

[rich1122]

Are all of you guys under 12 years old and don't remember the Orlovsky years?

The passing game in the second half of 2009 was light years better than this year's as well.

It's dumb to compare Orlovsky with anybody we had since. Everybody understands. We are not novices as was implied.

 

[Carl Spackler]

So to recap:

2009 - Great running, simple, effective, quality passing game
2013 - awful running, awful passing, but the passing game is graded on a curve because the running game sucks, therefore making it better than 09.

you either didn't pay attention to, or didn't comprehend what I wrote and I'm not explaining myself again.

 

[sdhusky]

Yeah no kidding. It's been beaten to death on this board.

Look at Deleone's past job performance and tell me what the common theme is. His one year at Ole Miss as running game coordinator. These can't all be coincidences.

Only Carl could call GDL, the offensive line play and our running games as the "elephant" i the room.

I believe it might have been mentioned once before.

 

[rich1122]

If you put Frazier on this team and Whitmer with Todman. I think the 2009 team is markedly better and this team is the same.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

you either didn't pay attention to, or didn't comprehend what I wrote and I'm not explaining myself again.

With all due respect Carl.....you were WAY behind the curve with this. And now you're telling people who have been screaming about this for 2 years to catch up. Ridiculous.

 

[BoatShow]

Our running numbers are a bit skewed because Whitmer loses about 40 yards a game on sacks.

 

[jdb50]

Our running numbers are a bit skewed because Whitmer loses about 40 yards a game on sacks.

Whitmer can't miss the chances to gain yards running that he did last Saturday night. The refusal to consider using other players by the head coach has been going on for too long now. Only with injury do we find out hey the back up can play. The inability to make this call at the QB position is going to kill us. The dam is starting to break in this regard for the running back position. The O-line is still waiting to jell with an injury at right tackle being the only change made. And we sit at #123 in FBS. To burn Samra's redshirt last year and have him be not in the mix this year says either he pulled a Scott M this summer or these guys have no idea what they are doing.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Carl, seriously, do you have a job?

I am lucky (shy of insomnia this past Saturday evening due to two cups of coffee for the ride home to make sure I wouldn't get tired behind the wheel) if I can spend an hour a day on the internet (including sites other than this one). You appear to spend as much time postulating on your opinions (which for some warped reason you feel everyone on this site is dying to read) as I do at work. How does one become a gentleman of leisure? Did you hit the lottery? Inherit a good amount of money? Find a good ambulance chaser and receive a settlement that allows you to spend your days on this site?

The closest I can come to interpreting your Elephant in the room statement is that in your eyes our lack of running game is not really mentioned until you mention it. After all, you did play for Tom Jackson.

For the sake of brevity (you should consider looking up this word and then incorporating it into a general posting philosophy) I will attempt to respond to a number of your posts here as I do not have time to spend the hours necessary to respond to each individually.

1 - It may have been the TE who blocked Ashiru on Touissant's TD run (I will at some point look at the ESPN3 copy of the game but won't have a chance until Saturday at the earliest) but, on that play, where was the left DE positioned? The right DE? Where did we have our DT's? Was this alignment an anomaly for us during the game or did we use it regularly? How exactly would you characterize this alignment,

2 - I don't question that P could use quite a bit of improvement as a motivational speaker. I do however believe that you were out of your mind when you claimed P's deficiency was that he didn't motivate the players. I think it's time you dropped the pom poms, took off your cheerleader skirt and put on big boy pants. Maybe 25 years ago a good Knute Rockne, win one for the Gipper meant the difference between a W and an L against Northeastern but seriously, this team has bigger coaching issues than P's ability (or inability) to rouse the crowd as he says "when the going gets tough,.... the tough get going".

 

[BoatShow]

Whitmer can't miss the chances to gain yards running that he did last Saturday night. The refusal to consider using other players by the head coach has been going on for too long now. Only with injury do we find out hey the back up can play. The inability to make this call at the QB position is going to kill us. The dam is starting to break in this regard for the running back position. The O-line is still waiting to jell with an injury at right tackle being the only change made. And we sit at #123 in FBS. To burn Samra's redshirt last year and have him be not in the mix this year says either he pulled a Scott M this summer or these guys have no idea what they are doing.

That throwaway on the final drive when he could have run up to at least the 40 yd line is going to haunt us. He pulls off that drive and he's a hero forever but he made a bonehead play then compounded it by getting sacked for a massive loss. I'll give him credit that he didn't go down easy...but UM just kept pulling him backwards.

 

[joey3$trike$]

Carl, we have to go back to the 2 back set and run the ball when Qb is under center. I think one play when Max ran to the left they had Lyle in with them. I believe they pulled the guard and center on that play and they moved the pile for about 7 yards. I liked the aspect of this formation because the ball can go either side of the line quickly. I believe the shotgun zone read is too slow and takes too long to develop especially with Lyle back there. Todman and Brown were good at hitting the holes and pushing forward. It also hurts that Whit is no threat to run the ball at all. Starting a run going sideways and 6-7 yards behind the line of scrimmage if you don't have a seam for the rb to run it goes for a yard or 2. I really don't know why the fb has been an underutiliized, I thought it was going to be a feature in this system, especially with the 2 best Wr's we ever had. Should be used more IMO, can they get the job done is still up in the air, but there not used so who knows. I think Max should be the 1 rb since he moves the pile. I expect some sort of running game on Saturday.

 

[SubbaBub]

Dan O was a high wire act for most of his career. Only late did he figure it out and he wasn't playing our current schedules. Best QB, but CW era reps our best passing attack as a team based on scheme alone.

Shows how good our running was and how it was favored heavily vs the pass.

Dan O in this system, with these receivers, would have done even better, assuming he stayed upright.