The View From Section 241 — Air Force

[HCCForever]

And also, before the refs confirmed the TD on replay, the color dude was saying if JF hit the outside of the pylon with the ball, it’s not a TD, he needed to hit the inside. Nice knowing the rules, my friend…lol

Just to give a name to the color dude. His name is Randy Cross. Since I’m an OG, I remember him playing guard and center for the 49ers until 88. He played college ball at UCLA. He was praising Mora so I wonder if he knows Coach even though he played 40 years before Mora was HC. Coach was also assistant with San Francisco after Randy had already retired in mid 90s

 

[JwittersPAC]

Just to give a name to the color dude. His name is Randy Cross. Since I’m an OG, I remember him playing guard and center for the 49ers until 88. He played college ball at UCLA. He was praising Mora so I wonder if he knows Coach even though he played 40 years before Mora was HC. Coach was also assistant with San Francisco after Randy had already retired in mid 90s

Randy Cross was an excellent player. Won three Super Bowls for the 49ers. His broadcasting career has been on a downward spiral. At one time he was on the NFL today show on CBS sports in the 1990s.

 

[Jetskies]

They couldn’t stop a basic fullback dive.

the fullback dive in a triple option is not exactly a straightforward fullback dive in the traditional sense. I understand why there was difficulty there.

there are so many attack points for the defense to cover, and attentions become so divided on covering them all, that the most "basic" play becomes hard to defend. And as JM said, scout team can't replicate it because no one really runs it as quickly and smoothly as the service academies. it really is a gem to watch those schools run these ancient offenses. It makes me feel like it's the year 1947 again.

 

[ZooCougar]

the fullback dive in a triple option is not exactly a straightforward fullback dive in the traditional sense. I understand why there was difficulty there.

there are so many attack points for the defense to cover, and attentions become so divided on covering them all, that the most "basic" play becomes hard to defend. And as JM said, scout team can't replicate it because no one really runs it as quickly and smoothly as the service academies. it really is a gem to watch those schools run these ancient offenses. It makes me feel like it's the year 1947 again.

When you are allergic to tackling at times it’s tough to stop.

 

[businesslawyer]

When you are allergic to tackling at times it’s tough to stop.

We just held Air Force to its lowest number of points this season. Weird week to be making snide comments about our D.

 

[hardcorehusky]

The frustration with the D was in part the 2 to 3 yards after a hit the AFA players got consistently. This was the ultimate bend don't break D on display.

 

[ZooCougar]

We just held Air Force to its lowest number of points this season. Weird week to be making snide comments about our D.

But it's not snide. It's the truth. There are like 3 guys carrying that unit.

 

[businesslawyer]

But it's not snide. It's the truth. There are like 3 guys carrying that unit.

You called players "allergic to tackling." Correct? If our guys our allergic to tackling and we held them to less points than any of their prior opponents, isn't it possible that all schools have problems with one on one tackles against that type of option offense? It seems rational to me that if you're not sure who you are tackling until they get to you with the ball, you're not going to make a lot of tackles that are your shoulder into their numbers where you stop them cold. But if you understand it better than all the D coordinators who dealt with it worse than we did, you should cash in on your ability.

99% of our fanbase would have been happy Saturday morning if they knew that Air Force would be held to 16 points. Notwithstanding that you don't like the manner in which we did that. Bully for you. I don't think "snide" is a bad word to describe attacking the manner in which a team accomplished something positive.

 

[Jetskies]

But it's not snide. It's the truth. There are like 3 guys carrying that unit.

the beauty of the triple option is its chaos. Every play looks exactly the same pre AND post-snap, until the last millisecond. at the speed/fluidity the service academies run it, you as a DT or MLB, are stilllll trying to figure out who has the ball, by the time the fullback is barreling past you, 2 yards deep. By the time you drag him down, there's your 4-5 yard gain we saw over and over and over. Unless there is a certified gap in talent (ie. air force vs. oregon), any similarly talented FBS team can struggle against it. a UMass or Kent State would get demolished by it.

We are not superheroes, but to bizlaws point, we held them to 16 points, partially because we didnt' break, but also because they didn't kick FGs. the game could have been closer in the 4th Q had Airforce not gotten cocky about those 4th downs. We must credit the defense, for that.

I HEAR YOU on our defense. we sorely sorely miss jelani stafford, gourdine, travis jones, someone of that profile. I firmly believe if we had Just 2 DLs that panned out, we'd be 11-0 and a top 25 team.
And yet.. this unit is greater than the sum of its parts. no studs except for 2 or 3, but they are doing just enough to assist the offense. Not what we hoped for, but STILL better than we've had pre-Mora.

no beauty points this game, but W is a W, of course. UConn used to lose these academy games horribly.

 

[noeynox]

You called players "allergic to tackling." Correct? If our guys our allergic to tackling and we held them to less points than any of their prior opponents, isn't it possible that all schools have problems with one on one tackles against that type of option offense? It seems rational to me that if you're not sure who you are tackling until they get to you with the ball, you're not going to make a lot of tackles that are your shoulder into their numbers where you stop them cold. But if you understand it better than all the D coordinators who dealt with it worse than we did, you should cash in on your ability.

99% of our fanbase would have been happy Saturday morning if they knew that Air Force would be held to 16 points. Notwithstanding that you don't like the manner in which we did that. Bully for you. I don't think "snide" is a bad word to describe attacking the manner in which a team accomplished something positive.

Happy we won, tackling has been an issue for this team all year. The Rice game they had an unreal number of missed tackles. Things aren't always an either or game of gotcha. Last year's defense was much better at tackling than this year's. The offense this year is much better than last year. Those are observations not attacks.

 

[ZooCougar]

You called players "allergic to tackling." Correct? If our guys our allergic to tackling and we held them to less points than any of their prior opponents, isn't it possible that all schools have problems with one on one tackles against that type of option offense? It seems rational to me that if you're not sure who you are tackling until they get to you with the ball, you're not going to make a lot of tackles that are your shoulder into their numbers where you stop them cold. But if you understand it better than all the D coordinators who dealt with it worse than we did, you should cash in on your ability.

99% of our fanbase would have been happy Saturday morning if they knew that Air Force would be held to 16 points. Notwithstanding that you don't like the manner in which we did that. Bully for you. I don't think "snide" is a bad word to describe attacking the manner in which a team accomplished something positive.

Tackling has been a huge problem all year. Sugar coating this doesn’t help anyone.

 

[businesslawyer]

Happy we won, tackling has been an issue for this team all year. The Rice game they had an unreal number of missed tackles. Things aren't always an either or game of gotcha. Last year's defense was much better at tackling than this year's. The offense this year is much better than last year. Those are observations not attacks.

There is no question that this year's D is not as good at almost anything as last year's D.

 

[jdb50]

I just watched the quick highlights of the game and seeing all the low blocks by Air Force our D did a very respectable job. In the 4th Q Branch got upended and hurt on a low block while pass rushing. In the NFL I think it would have been a penalty and am not sure the rule applies to college FB. The low blocks at the knee and below especially when they come from the side are real dangerous for injury. Its what you get when you play the military academies. Malichi Mclean was a game saver with his tackles on runs up the middle.

 

[uconnbill]

I was yelling from 241 in your honor, needing to run the ball. Air Force was up for the pass as we saw almost the entire game; they played the pass as well as any team UConn faced this year. When UConn came out and ran the ball, I was so damn happy. I thought that was the winning strategy, and it was.

It was a tough win, but it demonstrated the team's resilience.

 

[UConnDan97]

The defense wasn't the '86 Bears, but they got the job done. Every unit could have done a little better, but they all did well enough to win by double digits...

 

[noeynox]

There is no question that this year's D is not as good at almost anything as last year's D.

These guys generate a decent pass rush.

 

[Scoe]

Seeing the game from section 205 looked to me like there was a huge emphasis of not over pursing to the ball carrier. When we were able to shed out I can't recall too many missed tackles. So sure Airforce got their runs in on us but not too many big plays.

First guy to the ball carrier slowed him up just enough to get multiple guys to the ball. So I'm sure the keys were to not overpursue and gang tackle. Like Mora said you can't blitz them because they spread you out.

 

[gopher2]

Brock's defensive schemes got the most out of these players. He is good DC. I hope he stays here.

 

[psilotic]

I disagree with the nuance on the long snapper "should" improve. There's no guarantee he should improve and there is no way I would go in to next season without scouring the portal.

Between FG attempts, PAT'S and punt snaps, there were as many bad snaps as there were good ones yesterday.

The backup was definitely getting a lot of reps on the sideline, OTOH hadn't paid attention to movement of said backup until Sat

 

[Samoo]

the fullback dive in a triple option is not exactly a straightforward fullback dive in the traditional sense. I understand why there was difficulty there.

there are so many attack points for the defense to cover, and attentions become so divided on covering them all, that the most "basic" play becomes hard to defend. And as JM said, scout team can't replicate it because no one really runs it as quickly and smoothly as the service academies. it really is a gem to watch those schools run these ancient offenses. It makes me feel like it's the year 1947 again.

Holy crap you're old...😁

 

[freescooter]

I was yelling from 241 in your honor, needing to run the ball. Air Force was up for the pass as we saw almost the entire game; they played the pass as well as any team UConn faced this year. When UConn came out and ran the ball, I was so damn happy. I thought that was the winning strategy, and it was.

It was a tough win, but it demonstrated the team's resilience.

I think I heard Mora say Air Force set its defense to stop Fagnano, especially to cover Bell. We made adjustments at halftime to take advantage of the weaker run D.

 

[Husky25]

I'll give my 2 cents, without reading every post.

If Szarka doesn't go down with a hand injury, UConn's D has a little more trouble. He was moving the offense. I didn't have a program this week and in the moment at one point in the 1st quarter, I thought #4 (Hodges) was a DE, LB, or blocking TE.

I remember commenting while watching the backups warming up after Szarka got hurt that #11 (Josh Johnson, who I thought was QB2) had an awful throwing motion, but being on Air Force it probably doesn't matter. Aspiring fighter pilots don't NFL QBs routinely make. Little did I realize until he went in that Hodges was the primary back up. He ended up with 10 runs for 60+ yards, but I don't know what it was. UConn's defensive adjustments notwithstanding, he didn't seem to have the same burst Szarka did in the first quarter.

I was pretty confident in a win and relaxed a bit once UConn scored coming out of halftime.

 

[uconndogs]

Brock's defensive schemes got the most out of these players. He is good DC. I hope he stays here.

Totally agree with that.

 

[Husky25]

the fullback dive in a triple option is not exactly a straightforward fullback dive in the traditional sense. I understand why there was difficulty there.

there are so many attack points for the defense to cover, and attentions become so divided on covering them all, that the most "basic" play becomes hard to defend. And as JM said, scout team can't replicate it because no one really runs it as quickly and smoothly as the service academies. it really is a gem to watch those schools run these ancient offenses. It makes me feel like it's the year 1947 again.

Agreed. An efficient triple option is a joy to watch.

 

[Windham4th]

Having sound wouldn’t have mattered. I was at the game but watched a replay later last night. Those two guys on TV were so clueless. Everyone in the stadium could see it was tipped. “I don’t know where he was trying to throw that one. There is no receiver close.”

But the best sequence was coming back from commercial after the first TD and they show a replay of the TD. They then rave about the amazing block thrown by backup QB Ksaan Fararr “who for some reason was in the game and lined up in the backfield.” Huh? It CLEARLY it was not #8 on the field, it was #0 - Edwards. Just bizarre they could not see that or figure that out.

And also, before the refs confirmed the TD on replay, the color dude was saying if JF hit the outside of the pylon with the ball, it’s not a TD, he needed to hit the inside. Nice knowing the rules, my friend…lol

He's a HOF (college) center so he likely never had to dive at a pylon in his career. Give him a break. Haha