The Positive Assessment of UConn vs Wagner

[hardcorehusky]

Beautiful night for football. Not sure about the cone drill on Silver Lane that delayed entry into the stadium and congested the whole area(got there around 5 pm).

Tailgating is always fun - had a special visitor(former player) and that makes it more fun.

LOVED the new Randy on his IPAD entrance. It is new and edgy

Gina Salvatore, who has sang the National Anthem at basketball games for a while is the new In Game Voice. She will do a good job as she gains experience.

Music at the Rent wasn't bad(I could do without Baby Shark). Mics on the band in between plays is a good idea.

Overall view - for a team does not know how to win(got 1 last year), this was a lesson in perseverance. Dominating the line of scrimmage as they were supposed to, stupid correctable errors prevented us from scoring and gave life to Wagner when there should have been none. That was the most comfortable 3 point win I have ever sat through as it never dawned on me that Wagner had a shot to win.

The 3 phases and Coaching:

Special Teams - spotty on coverage in the first half better in the 2nd half. I don't like starters on special teams but RE has to do with what he has to do. Iden doesn't boom them to the end zone so I hope Young can come back and help there. Clayton Harris did what he had to do and if you can take field goals and extra points for granted, that is a good thing. Especially after the issues we have had in this department a few years ago. Migliozzi was OK to me- I didn't recall any outstanding punt and a couple were too low for my likening which led to returns as the coverage team wasn't in position. I will give this group a B

Defense- For a team to give up over 500 yards a game to 45 in one half, that is impressive. I felt they got over confident and a lost concentration in the 2nd half(words of some of the defensive players) and that hurt them on the 2 touch down drives. Penalties on the 2nd drive especially hurt - Herring Wilson pass interference was unnecessary, Fortt's unsportsmanlike was unnecessary, so was the Watts out of bounds penalty. That said, the D looked much more organized and guys were in the right spots. Harrell took a bad angle on one play that resulted in a big play, but overall the tackling as a group of guys to the ball was much better. 1 3rd down conversion for a team that gave up close to 70% on 3rd down conversions last year is gargantuan progress.

Remember, we don't have a lot D tackle depth and losing Caleb Thomas hurt - Pace and Uguak played a lot of D and Travis Jones played the whole game. That said, there were some good signs from the D line. Pace, Uguak(2 sacks) Dillon Harris and Kevon Jones did a nice job controlling the line of scrimmage. DeVaughn and Watts got some snaps, so all in all this unit did well - A-.

The Linebackers were competent and will improve. DJ Morgan did a nice job and so did Fortt and Gilmartin had moments and areas of opportunity as well. There is no Yawin Smallwood, Sio Moore, Danny Lansanah or Alfred Fincher out there, so to me from a talent level, this is the next group that needs to improve. That said, holding anyone to around 50 total yards in a half is good. B

DB - Other than the pass interference on Herring Wilson and Harrell taking a bad angle on a WR screen, this was a much better performance. Wagner did not really test the D through the air but the coverage was tight and Keyshawn Paul looked really good both in coverage and support. A-

The Offense

QB - Beaudry had a weird game - his stats did not look bad(Completion percentage, yards per catch, etc) but it looked like he struggled with the speed of the game. His reads were methodical and slow. His release was off for the plays so guys wide open weren't getting the ball when open. Some of the long ball misses looked like WR miscommunications and not accuracy issues. For a 1st game in over 2 years, I see some of it as "ring rust", but I am concerned. He might be a game manager moving forward and that will hamper any open offense you might see from RE and co. He ran more effectively than I thought he could, but his pocket presence needs to improve as he got sacked on one play after the lineman stepped on his foot. If he shuffled his feet a little, the sack could have been avoided. Grade C

RB - Mensah and Thompkins - Thunder and Lightening. Mensah had 36 carries and a bad fumble. He ran hard, but doesn't seem to have wiggle nor the power to break tons of tackles. But what he has improved on is vision - he cut outside a few times and had decent gains based off his vision. Thompkins is fast elusive in open space and played slot a lot. Grade B + because of the fumble

TE - Williams had a few good blocks, Rose got some reps and Niederowski is your blocking tight end. Never a target, but the position was not bad last night. Solid B

WR - Losing Ardell Brown and Cam Ross(2 of 3 starters) hurt. Hairston had a big catch and run and Drayton had I think 5 catches. Mason Donaldson produces every time I see him out there. He needs to play more. Skanes is in the rotation and I expect more from this group as the QB position develops. There were some good blocks and some whiffs, some good routes run and some that were meh. Overall, we took 2 shots downfield and really nothing over the middle. There is talent and time and experience will help here. B

OL - this group needs to be an A every week for UConn's offense to be successful. The bad - Christian Haynes had 2 false starts, Peart a holding call that negated a large play inside the 20 and too many second level missed blocks that could have made 6 yard gains into 20+ yard gains. The good - we were able to run against a stuffed box and a team with some big boys. We also did it running the same play over and over again. Cam De George can pull and overall the numbers would indicated they did a good job. Pass blocking was effective, only 1 miscommunication that led to a sack that I can remember. Not many negative yard plays. They were good, not great C+

Coaching

Lou Spanos - I don't care who they played last night, except for one series that was as good a D that we have played in over a year. For that alone, he gets an A

Frank Giufre - very conservative game plan- too conservative for fans. Cut out the turnovers and mistakes and you win by Plus 20. Play that way and make those mistakes and you get close games. With Beaudry unsettled, he called plays like he had to. I think it was too conservative, but that is why I get paid 0 and asked to pay to go to games and he is in the profession. B-

Randy Edsall - this team is being built in his style but is still too young, too inexperienced and a notch below talent wise to make Randy's team work. I have said many times and will repeat it again - this team will play better the 2nd half of the year. There was little to quibble about regarding coaching decisions. He had to go for it at 4th and 1 in the first half. He didn't coach scared - you expect the UConn OL to get 1 yard versus anybody, especially Wagner. B+

I didn't see this as a doom and gloom game. I saw good things, areas of opportunity in the future, and growth, mentally and physically. We would have lost to Wagner with last years team. So there is improvement and the old adage, teams improve the most from Week 1 to Week 2 will hold true here. UConn 27 Illinois 17.

 

[Tdaley]

Beautiful night for football. Not sure about the cone drill on Silver Lane that delayed entry into the stadium and congested the whole area(got there around 5 pm).

Tailgating is always fun - had a special visitor(former player) and that makes it more fun.

LOVED the new Randy on his IPAD entrance. It is new and edgy

Gina Salvatore, who has sang the National Anthem at basketball games for a while is the new In Game Voice. She will do a good job as she gains experience.

Music at the Rent wasn't bad(I could do without Baby Shark). Mics on the band in between plays is a good idea.

Overall view - for a team does not know how to win(got 1 last year), this was a lesson in perseverance. Dominating the line of scrimmage as they were supposed to, stupid correctable errors prevented us from scoring and gave life to Wagner when there should have been none. That was the most comfortable 3 point win I have ever sat through as it never dawned on me that Wagner had a shot to win.

The 3 phases and Coaching:

Special Teams - spotty on coverage in the first half better in the 2nd half. I don't like starters on special teams but RE has to do with what he has to do. Iden doesn't boom them to the end zone so I hope Young can come back and help there. Clayton Harris did what he had to do and if you can take field goals and extra points for granted, that is a good thing. Especially after the issues we have had in this department a few years ago. Migliozzi was OK to me- I didn't recall any outstanding punt and a couple were too low for my likening which led to returns as the coverage team wasn't in position. I will give this group a B

Defense- For a team to give up over 500 yards a game to 45 in one half, that is impressive. I felt they got over confident and a lost concentration in the 2nd half(words of some of the defensive players) and that hurt them on the 2 touch down drives. Penalties on the 2nd drive especially hurt - Herring Wilson pass interference was unnecessary, Fortt's unsportsmanlike was unnecessary, so was the Watts out of bounds penalty. That said, the D looked much more organized and guys were in the right spots. Harrell took a bad angle on one play that resulted in a big play, but overall the tackling as a group of guys to the ball was much better. 1 3rd down conversion for a team that gave up close to 70% on 3rd down conversions last year is gargantuan progress.

Remember, we don't have a lot D tackle depth and losing Caleb Thomas hurt - Pace and Uguak played a lot of D and Travis Jones played the whole game. That said, there were some good signs from the D line. Pace, Uguak(2 sacks) Dillon Harris and Kevon Jones did a nice job controlling the line of scrimmage. DeVaughn and Watts got some snaps, so all in all this unit did well - A-.

The Linebackers were competent and will improve. DJ Morgan did a nice job and so did Fortt and Gilmartin had moments and areas of opportunity as well. There is no Yawin Smallwood, Sio Moore, Danny Lansanah or Alfred Fincher out there, so to me from a talent level, this is the next group that needs to improve. That said, holding anyone to around 50 total yards in a half is good. B

DB - Other than the pass interference on Herring Wilson and Harrell taking a bad angle on a WR screen, this was a much better performance. Wagner did not really test the D through the air but the coverage was tight and Keyshawn Paul looked really good both in coverage and support. A-

The Offense

QB - Beaudry had a weird game - his stats did not look bad(Completion percentage, yards per catch, etc) but it looked like he struggled with the speed of the game. His reads were methodical and slow. His release was off for the plays so guys wide open weren't getting the ball when open. Some of the long ball misses looked like WR miscommunications and not accuracy issues. For a 1st game in over 2 years, I see some of it as "ring rust", but I am concerned. He might be a game manager moving forward and that will hamper any open offense you might see from RE and co. He ran more effectively than I thought he could, but his pocket presence needs to improve as he got sacked on one play after the lineman stepped on his foot. If he shuffled his feet a little, the sack could have been avoided. Grade C

RB - Mensah and Thompkins - Thunder and Lightening. Mensah had 36 carries and a bad fumble. He ran hard, but doesn't seem to have wiggle nor the power to break tons of tackles. But what he has improved on is vision - he cut outside a few times and had decent gains based off his vision. Thompkins is fast elusive in open space and played slot a lot. Grade B + because of the fumble

TE - Williams had a few good blocks, Rose got some reps and Niederowski is your blocking tight end. Never a target, but the position was not bad last night. Solid B

WR - Losing Ardell Brown and Cam Ross(2 of 3 starters) hurt. Hairston had a big catch and run and Drayton had I think 5 catches. Mason Donaldson produces every time I see him out there. He needs to play more. Skanes is in the rotation and I expect more from this group as the QB position develops. There were some good blocks and some whiffs, some good routes run and some that were meh. Overall, we took 2 shots downfield and really nothing over the middle. There is talent and time and experience will help here. B

OL - this group needs to be an A every week for UConn's offense to be successful. The bad - Christian Haynes had 2 false starts, Peart a holding call that negated a large play inside the 20 and too many second level missed blocks that could have made 6 yard gains into 20+ yard gains. The good - we were able to run against a stuffed box and a team with some big boys. We also did it running the same play over and over again. Cam De George can pull and overall the numbers would indicated they did a good job. Pass blocking was effective, only 1 miscommunication that led to a sack that I can remember. Not many negative yard plays. They were good, not great C+

Coaching

Lou Spanos - I don't care who they played last night, except for one series that was as good a D that we have played in over a year. For that alone, he gets an A

Frank Giufre - very conservative game plan- too conservative for fans. Cut out the turnovers and mistakes and you win by Plus 20. Play that way and make those mistakes and you get close games. With Beaudry unsettled, he called plays like he had to. I think it was too conservative, but that is why I get paid 0 and asked to pay to go to games and he is in the profession. B-

Randy Edsall - this team is being built in his style but is still too young, too inexperienced and a notch below talent wise to make Randy's team work. I have said many times and will repeat it again - this team will play better the 2nd half of the year. There was little to quibble about regarding coaching decisions. He had to go for it at 4th and 1 in the first half. He didn't coach scared - you expect the UConn OL to get 1 yard versus anybody, especially Wagner. B+

I didn't see this as a doom and gloom game. I saw good things, areas of opportunity in the future, and growth, mentally and physically. We would have lost to Wagner with last years team. So there is improvement and the old adage, teams improve the most from Week 1 to Week 2 will hold true here. UConn 27 Illinois 17.

Pretty spot on analysis of our team for game one.

 

[Exit 4]

Nice job. Thorough and thoughtful. In short, the lack of explosion against a middling FCS team is concerning. I am optimistic that Beaudry will knock the rust off over the next few games. Lets see where he is at the end of game 4. I'm not expecting a better ball, just better reads to find the open man. The defense took a step forward last night. Both the D and O will need to be more exotic next week. Travis Jones cannot play every snap, its going to grind him down. Mensah shouldn't touch the ball 36 times, 25-30 is enough. Put Black in there. That all said, I have some glass 1/2 empty thoughts - but I'm holding back on those until the Illinois post game.

 

[BugsyCT]

 

[blue93]

I thought the gang tackling and general aggressiveness on D was lightyears ahead of where they were last year.

I know... It's Wagner. But if that mentality sticks all year, it'll go a long way for them.

 

[ElGuapo]

I saw beer sales still going on into the 4th quarter at a few of the concourse carts.

 

[manbyrd]

I was only able to listen to the first half of the game, so between this assessment and staring down the barrel of a 1-11 sequel season, I'll take this one.

 

[gampelcrazies]

People do realize Gina Salvatore has been doing games for two years now right?

 

[freescooter]

I more or less agree with hardcore husky’s analysis. I might quibble with the grades but in this day of grade inflation not so much. One other thing I liked. After the pick 6 there was no panic. They just went out and pounded the ball down Wagners throat on the nest drive and scored. Last year they would have panicked. I also thought the online was pretty solid. We had 1 back go for 145 and another almost hit 100. And the other guys were stacking the box. And these were designed runs not scrambling quarterbacks getting lose for big gainers. As I said before there were plenty of bad plays and really stupid mistakes. And honestly this should have been 35-7 type game. There were no real sustained drives until late and even that was too long in the sense that Wagner needed to score quickly and instead took a long time. We bungled multiple scoring chances.

On to Illinois!

 

[huskymedic]

LOVED the new Randy on his IPAD entrance. It is new and edgy

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nice job. Thorough and thoughtful. In short, the lack of explosion against a middling FCS team is concerning. I am optimistic that Beaudry will knock the rust off over the next few games. Lets see where he is at the end of game 4. I'm not expecting a better ball, just better reads to find the open man. The defense took a step forward last night. Both the D and O will need to be more exotic next week. Travis Jones cannot play every snap, its going to grind him down. Mensah shouldn't touch the ball 36 times, 25-30 is enough. Put Black in there. That all said, I have some glass 1/2 empty thoughts - but I'm holding back on those until the Illinois post game.

I'm interested in the perceptions on Beaudry from you and OP. It could be that live, you saw open men downfield and his reads didn't go there.

On TV the quick reads and decisions were what stood out to me as a positive compared to Shirreffs and most of the QBs we've had. He wasn't holding the ball long enough to get pressure, he didn't have happy feet causing him to turn called pass plays into running plays, and he seemed to be making good decisions except for the interception. Rusty, sure, but also missing his top two WRs. I felt like they decided not to throw the ball deep to this group of receivers, and to use a more controlled passing attack.

Agree it needs to be less conservative and predictable going forward. Same old Randy offense, he never seems to surprise anyone. I was particularly annoyed with the goal line calls and inability to push those defenders into the end zone. Line up Williams as a FB or something if you have to. Those runs were way to slow developing.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Is it bad I didn’t hate the personal fouls on D? This group has a bit more of an edge!

I do think we have something in Thompkins and Mensah. Just need to use them right. Thompkins reminds me of Newsome but bigger and even a little faster. Has that breakaway speed we haven’t really seen since Todman.

OL kept a decent pocket. I don’t recall Beaudry being under pressure much if at all.

Tackling was better but still has a ways to go. Much more gang tackling too.

If I was more naive I’d say that they were playing with a lot of our offense close to the vest but I’ve seen enough Edsall to know that’s not the case.

 

[Exit 4]

I'm interested in the perceptions on Beaudry from you and OP. It could be that live, you saw open men downfield and his reads didn't go there.

I need to watch the game on TV tonight. At the stadium his ball just looked a little fluttery - a little light in velocity.

 

[BugsyCT]

Was pretty testy with the Yard last night because I didn't think it was all that bad as people were griping about, or maybe I've just gotten used to the bar being lowered. But if not for a few blunders (pick-six, Mensah fumble, long Wagner TD run) they were controlling that game statistically. The D played solid majority of the game. UConn kept running the ball and for the most part it was working. 36 carries for 144 for Mensah. 17 for 91 yds for Thompkins. Beaudry looked spotty - the pick-6 will stick in people's minds and he needs to make better reads at times, but he did have some completions along the sidelines that moved the chains, so I think when the starting WRs return the passing game will smooth out.

Yes, they could and should have won by more. Shouldn't have been in the position where a phantom face mask penalty bailed them out. It could have been a different game if they had not shot themselves in the foot. The score won't indicate it but I did see improvement in certain areas. Hopefully they'll open up the playbook more next week vs Illinois and can hang tough.

 

[BlueDogs]

Beautiful night for football. Not sure about the cone drill on Silver Lane that delayed entry into the stadium and congested the whole area(got there around 5 pm).

Tailgating is always fun - had a special visitor(former player) and that makes it more fun.

LOVED the new Randy on his IPAD entrance. It is new and edgy

Gina Salvatore, who has sang the National Anthem at basketball games for a while is the new In Game Voice. She will do a good job as she gains experience.

Music at the Rent wasn't bad(I could do without Baby Shark). Mics on the band in between plays is a good idea.

Overall view - for a team does not know how to win(got 1 last year), this was a lesson in perseverance. Dominating the line of scrimmage as they were supposed to, stupid correctable errors prevented us from scoring and gave life to Wagner when there should have been none. That was the most comfortable 3 point win I have ever sat through as it never dawned on me that Wagner had a shot to win.

The 3 phases and Coaching:

Special Teams - spotty on coverage in the first half better in the 2nd half. I don't like starters on special teams but RE has to do with what he has to do. Iden doesn't boom them to the end zone so I hope Young can come back and help there. Clayton Harris did what he had to do and if you can take field goals and extra points for granted, that is a good thing. Especially after the issues we have had in this department a few years ago. Migliozzi was OK to me- I didn't recall any outstanding punt and a couple were too low for my likening which led to returns as the coverage team wasn't in position. I will give this group a B

Defense- For a team to give up over 500 yards a game to 45 in one half, that is impressive. I felt they got over confident and a lost concentration in the 2nd half(words of some of the defensive players) and that hurt them on the 2 touch down drives. Penalties on the 2nd drive especially hurt - Herring Wilson pass interference was unnecessary, Fortt's unsportsmanlike was unnecessary, so was the Watts out of bounds penalty. That said, the D looked much more organized and guys were in the right spots. Harrell took a bad angle on one play that resulted in a big play, but overall the tackling as a group of guys to the ball was much better. 1 3rd down conversion for a team that gave up close to 70% on 3rd down conversions last year is gargantuan progress.

Remember, we don't have a lot D tackle depth and losing Caleb Thomas hurt - Pace and Uguak played a lot of D and Travis Jones played the whole game. That said, there were some good signs from the D line. Pace, Uguak(2 sacks) Dillon Harris and Kevon Jones did a nice job controlling the line of scrimmage. DeVaughn and Watts got some snaps, so all in all this unit did well - A-.

The Linebackers were competent and will improve. DJ Morgan did a nice job and so did Fortt and Gilmartin had moments and areas of opportunity as well. There is no Yawin Smallwood, Sio Moore, Danny Lansanah or Alfred Fincher out there, so to me from a talent level, this is the next group that needs to improve. That said, holding anyone to around 50 total yards in a half is good. B

DB - Other than the pass interference on Herring Wilson and Harrell taking a bad angle on a WR screen, this was a much better performance. Wagner did not really test the D through the air but the coverage was tight and Keyshawn Paul looked really good both in coverage and support. A-

The Offense

QB - Beaudry had a weird game - his stats did not look bad(Completion percentage, yards per catch, etc) but it looked like he struggled with the speed of the game. His reads were methodical and slow. His release was off for the plays so guys wide open weren't getting the ball when open. Some of the long ball misses looked like WR miscommunications and not accuracy issues. For a 1st game in over 2 years, I see some of it as "ring rust", but I am concerned. He might be a game manager moving forward and that will hamper any open offense you might see from RE and co. He ran more effectively than I thought he could, but his pocket presence needs to improve as he got sacked on one play after the lineman stepped on his foot. If he shuffled his feet a little, the sack could have been avoided. Grade C

RB - Mensah and Thompkins - Thunder and Lightening. Mensah had 36 carries and a bad fumble. He ran hard, but doesn't seem to have wiggle nor the power to break tons of tackles. But what he has improved on is vision - he cut outside a few times and had decent gains based off his vision. Thompkins is fast elusive in open space and played slot a lot. Grade B + because of the fumble

TE - Williams had a few good blocks, Rose got some reps and Niederowski is your blocking tight end. Never a target, but the position was not bad last night. Solid B

WR - Losing Ardell Brown and Cam Ross(2 of 3 starters) hurt. Hairston had a big catch and run and Drayton had I think 5 catches. Mason Donaldson produces every time I see him out there. He needs to play more. Skanes is in the rotation and I expect more from this group as the QB position develops. There were some good blocks and some whiffs, some good routes run and some that were meh. Overall, we took 2 shots downfield and really nothing over the middle. There is talent and time and experience will help here. B

OL - this group needs to be an A every week for UConn's offense to be successful. The bad - Christian Haynes had 2 false starts, Peart a holding call that negated a large play inside the 20 and too many second level missed blocks that could have made 6 yard gains into 20+ yard gains. The good - we were able to run against a stuffed box and a team with some big boys. We also did it running the same play over and over again. Cam De George can pull and overall the numbers would indicated they did a good job. Pass blocking was effective, only 1 miscommunication that led to a sack that I can remember. Not many negative yard plays. They were good, not great C+

Coaching

Lou Spanos - I don't care who they played last night, except for one series that was as good a D that we have played in over a year. For that alone, he gets an A

Frank Giufre - very conservative game plan- too conservative for fans. Cut out the turnovers and mistakes and you win by Plus 20. Play that way and make those mistakes and you get close games. With Beaudry unsettled, he called plays like he had to. I think it was too conservative, but that is why I get paid 0 and asked to pay to go to games and he is in the profession. B-

Randy Edsall - this team is being built in his style but is still too young, too inexperienced and a notch below talent wise to make Randy's team work. I have said many times and will repeat it again - this team will play better the 2nd half of the year. There was little to quibble about regarding coaching decisions. He had to go for it at 4th and 1 in the first half. He didn't coach scared - you expect the UConn OL to get 1 yard versus anybody, especially Wagner. B+

I didn't see this as a doom and gloom game. I saw good things, areas of opportunity in the future, and growth, mentally and physically. We would have lost to Wagner with last years team. So there is improvement and the old adage, teams improve the most from Week 1 to Week 2 will hold true here. UConn 27 Illinois 17.

All good assessments in a vacuum, but given the competition, you simply can’t give anything higher than a B. The LB corps grade is way too generous. Coaching grades for Giufre and Edsall are a D. For goodness sakes, you’d think they were playing Florida State instead of a below average FCS squad.

 

[Bubba1957]

It was a long week of negativity on this board before the game. As one of the optimists, it would have been great to have a resounding win. But even a big win would have come with the "who did they beat" comments. So on to next week.

This team is way better than last year's team. Tompkins is a great addition. Beaudry is going to be fine. On D, the new guys played well and we are much, much deeper on the DL and secondary (thin at linebacker). They need to use the middle of the field in the passing game. Rose already is a better blocker than anyone who played that position recently. Want to see him and Williams have some touches.

The loss of the two receivers and Thomas on D, hurt. It cracks me up to hear the national media whine about Alabama losing their best linebacker and how that with hurt. Aren't they full of 5 stars ready to be next man up? Can't expect the Huskies to be able to absorb key player injuries with their depth.

They played better, but need to learn how to win. Positive signs were the O coming back after the pick 6. A good team knows how to pick up their teammates when something bad happens. The D could have responded better in the second half after the O missed all those opportunities.

 

[businesslawyer]

No reason for a 241. Happy to let someone else do the heavy lifting

 

[Nostical]

If you weren't encouraged by last night's performance you aren't being honest with what you saw out there. I expect an even better performance next week.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you weren't encouraged by last night's performance you aren't being honest with what you saw out there. I expect an even better performance next week.

They tackled people. Defense was much improved. But offense was not impressive, partially by RE design I think.

 

[jbdphi]

If you weren't encouraged by last night's performance you aren't being honest with what you saw out there. I expect an even better performance next week.

You just can't ignore the quality of the opponent into your evaluation. Wagner is an, at best, middle of the road FCS program (more likely in the bottom half). They were picked to come in 4th place in the NEC (which was considered the 9th best FCS conference last year).

Given that, our performance on offense, was pretty poor. We won't be able to run the ball down the throat of almost any of our future opponents. If we can't successfully throw the ball in the middle of the field against an FCS team like Wagner, I'd be worried.

The defense was improved but once again, that's as much to do with the opponent as it might be with improved players or scheme. Their QB had a miserable game and even the announcers talked about how they were getting killed by self-inflicted wounds.

 

[BlueandOG]

I wish I could like this 1000 times. Awesome!

 

[willie99]

As Bob Diaco would say, we're going unbeaten and playing for a National Championship

How I miss that man

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If you weren't encouraged by last night's performance you aren't being honest with what you saw out there. I expect an even better performance next week.

When have you ever been disappointed about a UConn performance?

They barely beat a bad FCS team. That's the bar?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

It was a NEC team. Bryant, Sacred Heart, St. Francis, Duquesne, CCSU. Geez.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I need to watch the game on TV tonight. At the stadium his ball just looked a little fluttery - a little light in velocity.

yes, yes it did. on the other hand, it was his first game ever as the husky qb, and he probably spent more time with micky d's than he did with that receiving group in the past month, so there's that. 1-0, let's see if his ball gets zippier.