The good, the bad, and the ugly

[Dogged]

Oh gee I don't know..maybe the guy on the OL who let the DT into the backfield untouched allowing him to pave Newsome the second he touched the ball. Kid didnt have time to secure the ball. I'm not absolving Newsome btw, but it wasn't anything like Max or Marriner's fumbles the first 2 games.

If you watch this video the center steps right past Mount Olympus, the noseguard, to pick up a linebacker. No chance for Arkeel. On the same play the right guard and tackle and the tight end all end up blocking the defensive end. Looks like mass confusion.

 

[BNich]

Newsome took the hand off had the ball secured tried to sidestep the rush, gets hit and the ball comes loose. Need to wrap up the football and hang on for dear life.

 

[BlueDogs]

End of day if the ball is in your hands, its your responsibility. The only excuse is if you are knocked unconscious, otherwise it is your fault. we all learned that in HS football if you carried the ball. Hold the football like your life would end if it was fumbled.

 

[Jimdish255]

UConn was never a " football school" although we generated some good buzz when we were winning. With an off campus stadium , a losing record recently an emphasis on higher academics and a whole host of other distractions I find it a waste of time criticizing kids who actually show up. When our situation improves plenty of fair weather fans will come and stay. It's an unfortunate reality.

 

[Sky ball]

Couldn't agree more with your first sentence. WAY too many people standing up beer in hand instead of standing at their seats. Get closer to the field and make some noise people!

Stop selling beer?

 

[BNich]

Stop selling beer?

We all know that won't/can't happen. I don't get why people don't get in their seats. Get down closer to the field, cheer and make some noise. It's pretty simple. Anyone can stand drink for the cost of a beer at any bar in America. You paid to get in, so get to your seat and drink your beer there while you cheer on the Huskies.

 

[Dogged]

End of day if the ball is in your hands, its your responsibility. The only excuse is if you are knocked unconscious, otherwise it is your fault. we all learned that in HS football if you carried the ball. Hold the football like your life would end if it was fumbled.

It's not like the laws of physics don't apply when you're told not to fumble.

 

[huskymedic]

Newsome took the hand off had the ball secured tried to sidestep the rush, gets hit and the ball comes loose. Need to wrap up the football and hang on for dear life.

EdDaigneault 12:27pm via TweetDeck
Diaco said he has had a hard time evaluating Newsome's fumble because he was hit just as he received the ball.

NHRJimFuller 12:28pm via TweetDeck
#UConn's Bob Diaco said hard to evaluate fumble by Arkeel Newsome since he was hit was he was securing the ball

 

[sportsart]

As long as so many of our fans continue to stand in the alcoves and under the scoreboard our stadium seats will never look full on TV. The Rent may be convenient with good sight lines but it's design sucks. None of the great college stadiums look like ours. Even the project manager says he blew it. I had a long discussion with him a few years ago. He said he asked the architects--who had designed The Rent to look more traditional with entrance portals and no standing areas--to rework it so fans could still see the action "while getting a hot dog". As a kid he had missed a punt return by Dave Meggett at Giants stadium while he'd been in line for a tube steak. He now says more visible TV's at concessions would have been a better alternative to having the empty seat syndrome. (He also said there were to be many more chair back seats but the cost of the sound/video systems caused a cutback to more bleachers.)
My first stadium expansion suggestion would be to fill in the alcoves and the scoreboard concourse with seats.
ps--I know some of you like to stand but i respectfully suggest you do that at the urinals and get your fannies in the seats. Of course contrary opinions are cordially invited.

You'll be happy to know I am no longer a "red liner". I discovered a while ago that if you have health issues and struggle with stairs (my brother in law has multiple issues) you can exchange your seats for the handicapped seating that surrounds the lower bowl.

Usually sit in section 103. I actually had a red liner ask me to sit once during a 3rd down play...laughed and told him to go find his seat.

 

[freescooter]

End of day if the ball is in your hands, its your responsibility. The only excuse is if you are knocked unconscious, otherwise it is your fault. we all learned that in HS football if you carried the ball. Hold the football like your life would end if it was fumbled.

This is my view. We've seen that play where the DT smothers the ball carrier just as he gets the hand off a million times. I saw it in one of the games Saturday night...almost a carbon copy of our play. Guy's got to hang onto the football. Newsome even took a side step to avoid the rush, so he should have had it secured. He didn't. I'm not picking on Newsome, by the way. He was just the latest example of a bad turnover by a UConn back. I just think Diaco needs to crack down. You fumble the football, have a seat. Maybe we'll call you again, but not today. Or as the famous Coach John Heisman for whom the Trophy is named, is said to have told his backs at the opening pactice, "This is a football. Better to have dies as a small child than to fumble it."

 

[Carl Spackler]

I can say for fact, without a doubt, that stripping the ball, and ball security was something that Randy Edsall included regularly in practices, and made it a major focus. We developed defenders at UCONN in the 2000's that were vicious in stripping the ball, and we generated turnovers that way regularly on defense. We developed running backs, that held on to the ball. This is not hard to do. It takes players with a bit of an attitude, and strong hands and leverage, and most importantly - time - PRACTICE TIME.

Diaco, I think, has taken a calculated approach with practice time, and what they will be working on, and I just don't think that ball security, leverage, stripping and security, is something we can possibly have spent a lot of time on with our offense and defense. I am not knocking the approach Diaco's is taking, with this program, because realistically - being 1-2 right now is expected. Improvement week to week is expected, and we are seeing it. There has been improvement from week 1 through week 3. The team is very strong in certain aspects of the game, and very weak in others. It's simply a reflection of what you practice, if you are practicing well. That's better than being very weak in everything.

The thing about having plans, and an approach though, is that you got to be flexible to what is happening, and our ball carriers, are not demonstrating good habits with pad level, leverage, and ball security. Look no further than Marriner's body contact that got him knocked out of the game vs. Stony Brook. Way too high, way too upright, and he got cleaned. DeLorenzo in week 1. LB' got in under him and drove through his body. Newsome? Secure the ball when you see a NG coming at you. Whitmer was a full 2 yards away on the replay after the exchange when the DT made contact.

To be fair, they are all young players, and they are all, IMO, getting decent coaching for the first time in a long while. They will get better. Got to practice though, how you play.

 

[BNich]

EdDaigneault 12:27pm via TweetDeck
Diaco said he has had a hard time evaluating Newsome's fumble because he was hit just as he received the ball.

NHRJimFuller 12:28pm via TweetDeck
#UConn's Bob Diaco said hard to evaluate fumble by Arkeel Newsome since he was hit was he was securing the ball

Regardless of his comments Newsome still had a step or two before being hit after receiving the hand off.

 

[tjhusky]

Regardless of his comments Newsome still had a step or two before being hit after receiving the hand off.

Watch the clock on the replay. 12:32 ball is snapped, 12:31 he is hit full speed by an unblocked lineman. 12:30 he is on the ground.

He did not panic and drop the handoff. Arkeel is a strong guy but when someone almost twice your weight hits you 1 sec after the snap (a fraction after handoff) you don't have much of a chance.

That is why HCBD and are looking to simplify things for the OL.

 

[Dogged]

Watch the clock on the replay. 12:32 ball is snapped, 12:31 he is hit full speed by an unblocked lineman. 12:30 he is on the ground.

He did not panic and drop the handoff. Arkeel is a strong guy but when someone almost twice your weight hits you 1 sec after the snap (a fraction after handoff) you don't have much of a chance.

That is why HCBD and are looking to simplify things for the OL.

Totally agree with this. The critics here are nuts. Everybody knows your not supposed to fumble yet, Mon Dieu, it keeps happening! The dam* ball is an oblate spheroid, made that way so it will bounce funny and be hard to hold onto.

Sometimes it's just physics.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Speaking of the Good, the Bad, The Ugly

Now that they got the third down noise corrected, how about we finally get back to some kind of opening music again for the team coming out of the tunnel prior to the game. O Fortuna is long gone, need a new incarnation.

I've been patiently waiting for Ennio Morricone, and the first 2 minutes 30 seconds music in this clip to be incorporated, as the team is getting ready to come out of the tunnel, and be on the loudspeakers at Rentschler. Somewhere in Bob Diaco, this has got to hit a nerve. How about it KGUN7? Put together a clip?

 

[Carl Spackler]

Watch the clock on the replay. 12:32 ball is snapped, 12:31 he is hit full speed by an unblocked lineman. 12:30 he is on the ground.

He did not panic and drop the handoff. Arkeel is a strong guy but when someone almost twice your weight hits you 1 sec after the snap (a fraction after handoff) you don't have much of a chance.

That is why HCBD and are looking to simplify things for the OL.

He fumbled it was he did. He wasn't getting hit like that by division 1A nose guard in the backfield as soon as he got the handoff, in the NVL last fall. It's ok, he's a young player, and he just got his first lesson under fire, that ball security on the handoff is very, very important. Don't repeat it, that's all. Whitmer was 2 yards away, after the exchange, when the DT makes first contact.

The play, we were in a strong side right, I formation set with a split end X, and Z wide. Boise, came up in a 3 - 3 stack with a SS pressing up and a hybrid LB/DE pressing up in 2-pt stance on the edges and a middle field closed 3 man coverage shell, with the corners giving a huge cushion. 8 in the box. Running down defense vs. a running down offensive set. Match up and see who wins. I love that kind of football, we used to be dominant at it, hopefully we'll get back to it soon.

We had enough players with that offensive formation, in position to get it blocked, and leave Newsome to make somebody miss. We failed, and Newsome got hit as soon as he got the handoff, by the unblocked nose guard, bang bang, coughed it up, and the SS that was pressing up in the box, picked it up and ran it home.

Secure the ball on the handoff, lesson learned.

 

[Dogged]

He fumbled it was he did. He wasn't getting hit like that by division 1A nose guard in the backfield as soon as he got the handoff, in the NVL last fall. It's ok, he's a young player, and he just got his first lesson under fire, that ball security on the handoff is very, very important. Don't repeat it, that's all. Whitmer was 2 yards away, after the exchange, when the DT makes first contact.

The play, we were in a strong side right, I formation set with a split end X, and Z wide. Boise, came up in a 3 - 3 stack with a SS pressing up and a hybrid LB/DE pressing up in 2-pt stance on the edges and a middle field closed 3 man coverage shell, with the corners giving a huge cushion. 8 in the box. Running down defense vs. a running down offensive set. Match up and see who wins. I love that kind of football, we used to be dominant at it, hopefully we'll get back to it soon.

We had enough players with that offensive formation, in position to get it blocked, and leave Newsome to make somebody miss. We failed, and Newsome got hit as soon as he got the handoff, by the unblocked nose guard, bang bang, coughed it up, and the SS that was pressing up in the box, picked it up and ran it home.

Secure the ball on the handoff, lesson learned.

Even in the NFL they're fumbling every weekend. When in the name of the deity are they going to learn to secure the ball? How stupid can they be? How quickly they forget? Emmitt Smith averaged over 4 fumbles per season! All because he refused to secure the ball!

I hate it when players refuse to learn their lesson. Secure the dam* ball!

 

[Carl Spackler]

Even in the NFL they're fumbling every weekend. When in the name of the deity are they going to learn to secure the ball? How stupid can they be? How quickly they forget? Emmitt Smith averaged over 4 fumbles per season! All because he refused to secure the ball!

I hate it when players refuse to learn their lesson. Secure the dam* ball!

Go check how many times Donald Brown has fumbled the ball. Andre Dixon, Jordan Todman, Robbie Frey, Lyle McCombs, Terry Caulley, etc, etc. It's a skill, that needs to be practiced regularly. UCONN backs don't fumble like we've seen so far in 3 weeks. That needs to change.

 

[Dogged]

Go check how many times Donald Brown has fumbled the ball. Andre Dixon, Jordan Todman, Robbie Frey, Lyle McCombs, Terry Caulley, etc, etc. It's a skill, that needs to be practiced regularly. UCONN backs don't fumble like we've seen so far in 3 weeks. That needs to change.

On Andre Dixon debuting with the Hartford Colonials:

"Dixon debuted with a 94-yard game in Week 1, but he had difficulty holding onto the ball and eventually lost playing time to Lorenzo Booker. Dixon said he has added some weight and has been working to add bulk to his arms in hopes of cutting down on the fumbles."

Here's your man Donald Brown from January 2014:

http://www.si.com/nfl/audibles/2014/01/04/andrew-luck-fumble-touchdown-indianapolis-colts

Oops helmet was right on the ball but if Donald had secured it properly...no problem!

I'm for securing the ball but sometimes the ball will get lose. This is especially true when you allow people(like Sasquatch) to go unblocked.

nm

 

[ValleyFalls]

Where is the running game? Where is the commitment to run the ball? A team commits to the run, or it doesn't! Tired of Whitmer running around. Boring, boring offense!

 

[Carl Spackler]

On Andre Dixon debuting with the Hartford Colonials:

"Dixon debuted with a 94-yard game in Week 1, but he had difficulty holding onto the ball and eventually lost playing time to Lorenzo Booker. Dixon said he has added some weight and has been working to add bulk to his arms in hopes of cutting down on the fumbles."

Here's your man Donald Brown from January 2014:

http://www.si.com/nfl/audibles/2014/01/04/andrew-luck-fumble-touchdown-indianapolis-colts

Oops helmet was right on the ball but if Donald had secured it properly...no problem!

I'm for securing the ball but sometimes the ball will get lose. This is especially true when you allow people(like Sasquatch) to go unblocked.

nm

I'm guessing there is a personal bias here for newsome. Are you really thinking that I'm saying that fumbles never happen? We have had 3 different backs, each get separated from the ball, on a hit, through 3 games.

That is far too much, to be considered flukey, and is most definitely something that needs to change.

 

[Dogged]

I'm guessing there is a personal bias here for newsome. Are you really thinking that I'm saying that fumbles never happen? We have had 3 different backs, each get separated from the ball, on a hit, through 3 games.

That is far too much, to be considered flukey, and is most definitely something that needs to change.

Well, Carl, I think we're in agreement now. But my bias for Newsome is only that ,after watching that video, anyone could think he could secure the ball on that play.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Well, Carl, I think we're in agreement now. But my bias for Newsome is only that ,after watching that video, anyone could think he could secure the ball on that play.

Well, we do disagree then, because I think he had time to secure the ball, and given the fact that he appears to have recognized the NT in his field of vision, protecting the ball, is ONLY thing he should have been focused on.

Diaco did a nice job of covering for him in the media. Young player, and he got it in the backfield immediately after the exchange, on a broken play, and fumbled. Of the three fumbles we've had so far from tailbacks through three games, Arkeel's is the most excuse worthy, if such a concept exists. Because really, there is no excuse.

 

[huskymedic]

Diaco did a nice job of covering for him in the media. Young player, and he got it in the backfield immediately after the exchange, on a broken play, and fumbled. Of the three fumbles we've had so far from tailbacks through three games, Arkeel's is the most excuse worthy, if such a concept exists. Because really, there is no excuse.

I guess Andrew Callahan is covering for him too on the Tale of the Tape

<<6. Turnover breakdown

As promised, here's how a look at each of the disastrous plays as they happened.

First, Newsome's fumble was much more a result of him having little chance to secure Whitmer's hand-off before getting popped by Nance, so it's difficult to blame him for losing the ball. That one's on the offensive line.<<

 

[Kgun7]

He fumbled it was he did. He wasn't getting hit like that by division 1A nose guard in the backfield as soon as he got the handoff, in the NVL last fall. It's ok, he's a young player, and he just got his first lesson under fire, that ball security on the handoff is very, very important. Don't repeat it, that's all. Whitmer was 2 yards away, after the exchange, when the DT makes first contact.

The play, we were in a strong side right, I formation set with a split end X, and Z wide. Boise, came up in a 3 - 3 stack with a SS pressing up and a hybrid LB/DE pressing up in 2-pt stance on the edges and a middle field closed 3 man coverage shell, with the corners giving a huge cushion. 8 in the box. Running down defense vs. a running down offensive set. Match up and see who wins. I love that kind of football, we used to be dominant at it, hopefully we'll get back to it soon.

We had enough players with that offensive formation, in position to get it blocked, and leave Newsome to make somebody miss. We failed, and Newsome got hit as soon as he got the handoff, by the unblocked nose guard, bang bang, coughed it up, and the SS that was pressing up in the box, picked it up and ran it home.

Secure the ball on the handoff, lesson learned.

Carl - Please re-watch this fumble in real time ... and buy a stop watch with 2 places after the decimal. Newsome barely has any time to wrap his arms around the ball before being drilled. This is the reason why HCBD is not too pleased with the "coaching" of the OL. Clearly ... someone blew a call or missed an assignment ... this one is not on Newsome. And I am not from Ansonia and I am not a family member ...