The View From Section 241 — Fresno State

[ZooCougar]

Rosa did not have a good game yesterday, but he had played well prior to that. I think there are enough carries for both of them. If we give Houston 20 carries every game, he won't make it through the season either. Like the play on which he fumbled, it's just too easy for defenders (when they can catch him) to literally throw him around.

I still want Burns to get more carries. But I agree on Houston.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I still want Burns to get more carries. But I agree on Houston.

That has been a mystery to me...Houston is banged up and small...why not mix in the bigger healthier guy?

 

[Tdaley]

That has been a mystery to me...Houston is banged up and small...why not mix in the bigger healthier guy?

The problem may be who is going to block for Burns when he carries the ball. The staff uses Burns as a full back, H back, tightend and half back as a blocker. He has been a big part of our running success this year. Still, like most of us, I still would like to see him get more carries!

 

[Husky25]

The pre snap motion is definitely my biggest gripe from yesterday. There's two types of pre snap motion. The first one is realigning and changing the set which makes the defense adjust and keeps them moving. The second one is players not being in the right spot or not knowing what to do. And it's the second one which UConn was doing yesterday. Just had WR's running from one side of the formation to the other just to get a legal formation set before the snap. Gotta tighten that up.

Okay. I may have lied. Special team tackling, special teams keeping their lanes and punt returners fielding kicks rather than letting them roll is equally as high if not higher on my gripe list.

Pre snap motion can also help the QB determine if the secondary is playing man or zone. It appeared that UConn was looking to keep FSU's offense on the sideline. Letting the play clock run down to low single digits was by design.

I get the gripe. Fans want want to be entertained. Competent coaches set up devise the game plan to increase the chances to win where it may not be as entertaining as down field throws and big runs.

I am looking at the FSU 247 site and both the writeups and comments thereto indicate that this was a trap game for Fresno. UConn didn't win the game as much as Fresno lost it and it might be the worst loss in their program history.

 

[BugsyCT]

I am looking at the FSU 247 site and both the writeups and comments thereto indicate that this was a trap game for Fresno. UConn didn't win the game as much as Fresno lost it and it might be the worst loss in their program history.

I’ll still take it - beats getting destroyed in trap games for other schools (which we have the last few years).

 

[Hoophound]

I’ll still take it - beats getting destroyed in trap games for other schools (which we have the last few years).

That’s how the turnaround starts. Others will reflect in a year or two and understand what happened in that game.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Pre snap motion can also help the QB determine if the secondary is playing man or zone. It appeared that UConn was looking to keep FSU's offense on the sideline. Letting the play clock run down to low single digits was by design.

I get the gripe. Fans want want to be entertained. Competent coaches set up devise the game plan to increase the chances to win where it may not be as entertaining as down field throws and big runs.

I am looking at the FSU 247 site and both the writeups and comments thereto indicate that this was a trap game for Fresno. UConn didn't win the game as much as Fresno lost it and it might be the worst loss in their program history.

I checked, and "trap game" wins still count as wins.

 

[ZooCougar]

Pre snap motion can also help the QB determine if the secondary is playing man or zone. It appeared that UConn was looking to keep FSU's offense on the sideline. Letting the play clock run down to low single digits was by design.

I get the gripe. Fans want want to be entertained. Competent coaches set up devise the game plan to increase the chances to win where it may not be as entertaining as down field throws and big runs.

I am looking at the FSU 247 site and both the writeups and comments thereto indicate that this was a trap game for Fresno. UConn didn't win the game as much as Fresno lost it and it might be the worst loss in their program history.

Good point on the pre snap motion. But on your other point, Fresno State had two weeks to get ready. And drubbed us 45-0 last year.

UConn has been playing Top 15 teams is still preparing and is hungry to win.

UConn won the damn game. They tried everything and still couldn’t get through our defense. Your take is just so strange.

 

[Husky25]

I checked, and "trap game" wins still count as wins.

Never said it didn't. I'm saying this is how Fresno fans are justifying the tears in their double IPAs.

 

[Husky25]

Good point on the pre snap motion. But on your other point, Fresno State had two weeks to get ready. And drubbed us 45-0 last year.

UConn has been playing Top 15 teams is still preparing and is hungry to win.

UConn won the damn game. They tried everything and still couldn’t get through our defense. Your take is just so strange.

Not my take. I conveyed what the writeups and comments are saying.

 

[KembaKek]

GO WARRIORS.

Titans, now.

 

[RSTuthill]

Good point on the pre snap motion. But on your other point, Fresno State had two weeks to get ready. And drubbed us 45-0 last year.

UConn has been playing Top 15 teams is still preparing and is hungry to win.

UConn won the damn game. They tried everything and still couldn’t get through our defense. Your take is just so strange.

Funny about having a week off and thus two weeks to prepare. After EVERY game, every player that played, even just a few snaps, is sore. Banged up, nicked up, battered. The same in soccer, everyone who got into the game is limping afterward, walking like they need a walker. Without exception. If they aren't, they didn't play hard enough. So I can only imagine having an extra week to get healthy, gather around the TV sets with team members on the weekend with boxes of pizza's and other goodies to watch your next week's opponent play, perchance to get hammered by NC State. It must feel like heaven.

And yet the next weekend play like crap. How many times have we seen that???

Not an excuse.

 

[Bongo Fury]

The problem may be who is going to block for Burns when he carries the ball. The staff uses Burns as a full back, H back, tightend and half back as a blocker. He has been a big part of our running success this year. Still, like most of us, I still would like to see him get more carries!

Funny about having a week off and thus two weeks to prepare. After EVERY game, every player that played, even just a few snaps, is sore. Banged up, nicked up, battered. The same in soccer, everyone who got into the game is limping afterward, walking like they need a walker. Without exception. If they aren't, they didn't play hard enough. So I can only imagine having an extra week to get healthy, gather around the TV sets with team members on the weekend with boxes of pizza's and other goodies to watch your next week's opponent play, perchance to get hammered by NC State. It must feel like heaven.

And yet the next weekend play like crap. How many times have we seen that???

Not an excuse.

No doubt they underestimated and were no psyched to play. Is it a MWC thing? USU was not sharp. Wyoming came in last year dragging ass. Hope the Huskies play hard this week. FIU will be looking to win.

 

[RSTuthill]

Hope the Huskies play hard this week. FIU will be looking to win.

You can bet that FIU looks at this game as a HUGE opportunity.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Bubba1957]

What really has me excited is how physical this team is becoming. The D comes up and smacks people. For how many years have the corners played 15 yards off the ball on their heels? Those little passes would go for 10 or more every time.
The O line is much better. The "good" running plays over the last few years were usually a back making 1 or 2 guys miss in the backfield, finding a seam and going. Essentially a broken play. Not with this group, they're actually knocking people off the ball. Amazing how a guy like Burns looks so good when he can get a couple of steps in before contact. He ran hard and downhill. Houston and Rosa (and Carter of course) are also physical tough runners.
Physically, it was a beatdown. If the passing game gets a little better, watch out!

 

[Kolumbo]

Some banter over there and some reason.

Just got blasted on Dan Patrick Show.

Just got blasted on Dan Patrick Show.

247sports.com

reddogpit63
Dogs after two games against P5 teams are an ER room and crumbling in playing field against a very bad team. One can only imagin if we had to play P5s all season.

Dogs of Tucson
Completely disagree. We don’t have more injuries because we played a couple of P5 teams. They were just key injuries. However they should’ve been able to overcome those against UConn.

retrofadeMOD
UConn was missing something like 12 starters if I remember right. They still dominated the Bulldogs.

 

[gopher2]

Best Oline in a decade. Maybe the best front 7 on D in just as long, we'll see in the weeks ahead. The secondary is getting better, especially when it comes to tackling receivers near the sidelines. This appears to be coming together, in spite of all the injuries. Another win Saturday is critical to keep the momentum building. GO HUSKIES!! CRUSH FIU!!!

 

[businesslawyer]

Best Oline in a decade. Maybe the best front 7 on D in just as long, we'll see in the weeks ahead. The secondary is getting better, especially when it comes to tackling receivers near the sidelines. This appears to be coming together, in spite of all the injuries. Another win Saturday is critical to keep the momentum building. GO HUSKIES!! CRUSH FIU!!!

The Oline -- with the single exception of pass protection from our outside right -- I agree with. The D -- that was an absolutely great game on Saturday. But the great game was so far out of the blue that I need to see it again before you hear me talk about anything more than they played a great game.

 

[Hornet22]

What a treat to need to write a 241 the night of the game, while I’m feeling emotions. Day started with disappointment. Cancelled my tailgate at 8:00 a.m. because it was people from work and I couldn’t see making them worry if they had to come join me on a lousy day. But as the forecast improved, figured I’d go by myself. When I said by myself, I meant not sitting with anyone I knew. I didn’t mean being virtually the only person in the blue lot or Section 241. But whatever. I pulled into the blue lot at 3:00, had a small brewery Vermont beer and a bag of chips, and wandered into an empty stadium at 3:20. While I was sitting by my car having a beer, someone else by themself wandered up and asked if I thought we had a chance. I said no. He asked if we could make it competitive. I said I hope so. Let me tell you, I’ve never been so happy wiping egg off my face. It has been almost five years — since November of 2017 — that we have a single FBS win against anyone other than UMass. I hoped it would come this year but I wasn’t expecting it today, as 23 point dogs.

The single thing that jumped out at me was how into the game, supportive and enthusiastic the UConn bench was. From the opening kickoff until Robert Burns 4th and 2 fourth down conversion. How a team that had been so thoroughly destroyed for three straight weeks could come out with that attitude was beyond my comprehension. But they did. I haven’t been bashing Mora and staff during the losing streak, and I’m not going to turn my head around and throw praise on them after this. Still a lot that they, along with the players, have to work on. But players and coaches believed in their hearts, and weren’t listening to their heads. And like the road win at Temple in 2013, at 0-9 on a lousy weather day with no reason to believe, they made it happen. My heartfelt congratulations to all of them, and I was happy to share a piece of their joy.

Offense, defense and specials. Let’s start with specials. Yuch. The missed tackles on their punt return TD was a joke, and while I’ll forgive our kickoffs into the wind, we twice ran into their punter and somehow escaped flags. And Victor Rosa has to be able to get to punts and make fair catches. But it didn’t cost us the game.

The defense was just great. It’s hard to imagine where that game came from. The corners — Bell and Wortham — were terrific. Where did that tackling come from on the short, wide passes? And I thought we didn’t have enough DL to make the switch to the 4-3, but we kept bringing in folks that I had never noticed before and whomever was playing put pressure on their QB without letting him run free to their outside. While thoroughly stuffing the run. And getting three takeaways. The best defensive game we’ve played, off the top of my head, probably since the 6-6 bowl year in 2015. There was no dramatic 95 yard drive to win the game without their 60 minute masterpiece.

The offense was not great. We were barely over 200 yards until the game winning drive. But it overcame Zion coughing it up in FG range to take the lead for the half (where, yet again, he didn’t see a free defender coming at him from 25 yards away), and then Houston coughing it up when we were in FG range to get back into the game early in the 2d half, and then the penalty cancelling out what could have been a game winning long scramble from Zion Turner in the 4th. And did enough to get it done. But on the offensive end, with a lot of work to do (for God sakes, if teams are overplaying the run can run we some play action to short passes where Zion knows where he’s throwing no matter what before the play starts and makes a quick throw), and too many injuries to overcome, it was individual performances that stood out to me. Notwithstanding the fumble, Houston was great. Look, he’s playing out of position as a starting TB. He should be a slot back getting a limited number of touches a game. But there he was, with his first 100 yard game, notwithstanding being keyed on. And coming back from his fumble for the game winning TD on a play where it looked like not much was there. Robert Burns, who didn’t come here to be a bit player, but became that (notwithstanding that everyone seems to agree that he is a superior human being). But here he was, with a chance for our biggest win in five years requiring him to make plays, coming up with 29 huge yards, mostly into packed defenses.. Justin Jolley, the true frosh from New Rochelle, who not only became a weapon in the passing game, but made one huge play catching a ball short of a first down, and knowing where the sticks were and wrestling his way to them. Chase Lundt, at RT, who I didn’t notice in the passing game once. meaning that he stopped being overrun on passing downs. And most of all maybe, Kevin Clercius, who must have been wondering with all the WR injuries why in the world no one ever looked to throw to him this year. Who not only didn’t choke on the first QB lined up in the slot reverse pass, but, not open, did his best Geremy Davis imitation with the game on the line and caught the 40 yard ball (well thrown to be sure) despite being covered, turning the game from one where we were chasing to one where we were in the drivers seat. Congratulations to all.

I am not going to get ahead of myself and talk about what we are all thinking (which is if we play like this can we get to 4-4, or what it says about the staff). I am just going to enjoy our first real win in 5 years. And count the hours to a winnable game in Miami in 7 days, where if we play as well as we did today we should walk away 3-4. But it was good to remember for a moment what hope, and winning, and overcoming adversity, felt like. Thank you to all involved.

Well said man. I was so happy for those kids. They’ve been through a lot and all week some key players did believe they would win the game. Hats off to the staff and players for remaining committed to the process.
Carry this momentum to FIU and keep grinding.

 

[Palatine]

I want Burns to get Rosa’s carries.

Different skill sets.

 

[dvegas]

Fresno State is up 21-9 a minute into the 4th quarter in the Mountain West Championship game @ Boise State. Go Bulldogs. Might turn out to be a bigger win in 2022 than the Bulldogs we beat in 2021

 

[jdb50]

Their starting QB Haener is playing. Different team. 23 yo QB who was at Washington 2017-2018 and has been at Fresno since 2019.

 

[BugsyCT]

After we beat them, they lost at Boise the following week but have won every game since. This’ll be their 8th straight W.

 

[RSTuthill]

Fresno State is up 21-9 a minute into the 4th quarter in the Mountain West Championship game @ Boise State. Go Bulldogs. Might turn out to be a bigger win in 2022 than the Bulldogs we beat in 2021

Final score 28-16. Was Haener playing when they came here? Seem like I remember he was out injured.