The View From Section 241 — Syracuse

[giddyup]

I don’t enjoy seeing orange fans here but I mean they are getting in no matter what. If I had the more expensive season tickets and couldn’t make the game I’m not going to feel bad about getting as much money back as possible. Plus since you can pretty much sit wherever you want these days many of those might have bought cheap seats, walked in to an empty stadium at 6:30 been like let’s go down to the good seats until someone kicks us out and no one ever did

You spend the money to support the program. Not to subsidize a bunch drunken fruits busting everyone else’s balls because you want save a few bucks.

 

[cohenzone]

I hear you on the last comment BL. Two rows in front of me, in seats that normally are almost always filled, there were half a dozen bright orange s occupying the seats. At one point I said to my buddy "I'm going to beat the p!ss out of a few people next home game". There was no excuse for that much orange in 241 (or anywhere else in the stadium).

I’m in a choice 50yard line section. As In the UMich game a few years back, at least a quarter of the seats were filled by visiting fans. it doesn’t help that a bunch of these seats are corporation owned. We talked to a family of Cuse fans who were sitting right behind us. They couldn’t believe that had such great seats. That didn’t happen during the first Edsall years.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

UConn isn't gonna start winning until the offense hs a reliable passing game. They need to be able to score 3,4,5 touchdowns to win games and they won't until they can - and are willing - to pass on first down, second down, third down and maybe all three in a single possession. They cannot be successful relying primarily on the run - a decade and a half of football futility has proven that.

 

[Patman]

Somebody like Mora I would want to judge more on the recruiting trail.

My question is are we lacking in athleticism or in tactics? The former you can only fix by recruiting. The latter you can fix by training players and you can lay on the coaches more.

Work with there here and now. Right now he has the player on his side. This wasn't like the last Syracuse game if you want that as a milestone.

I don't know enough football but from my naive perspective is that we don't have the passing to have a credible offense. We do have the running. One helps the other but without genuine receiving threats we aren't going much of anywhere. That is not the coach's fault.

 

[TJT]

As for tickets: Not all Syracuse fans that sat in good seats bought them off UConn ticket holders. There have been several posts here about Syracuse fans that purchased tickets in less desirable locations but later moved into the empty unused seats in better locations. Would you rather these opposing fans did not purchase any tickets?

 

[businesslawyer]

As for tickets: Not all Syracuse fans that sat in good seats bought them off UConn ticket holders. There have been several posts here about Syracuse fans that purchased tickets in less desirable locations but later moved into the empty unused seats in better locations. Would you rather these opposing fans did not purchase any tickets?

No, anyone who wants to buy a ticket can come.

But you think it’s o.k. to purchase a cheap ticket and move to a better empty seat? That’s theft. The fact that no one kicks you out doesn’t make it anything else. But you do you I guess.

 

[BugsyCT]

I was in 240 wearing orange. What struck me as saddest of all was student section giving upon a team that was outclassed but fighting. The second touchdown run by CT was a fantastic play. Too bad they missed it. Hard for any decent recruit to want to go to UCONN and turn that around. Just no electricity in your fanbase. At least your hoops games have a fantastic atmosphere. Syracuse football suffered from the exact same malady but is getting better so you have hope. Does the school run shuttle busses from Storrs?

The students get shuttled in from the main campus which is 30 minutes away (one of the big dilemmas of having an off-campus stadium which hurts attendance every year). Most of them have to leave when the shuttles leave.

 

[BugsyCT]

If you don’t want opposing fans to fill the stands, then buy the tickets for yourself & others and come to the flippin’ games.

It sucked seeing so much orange in that stadium whooping it up while we were getting our butts kicked. You know what’s worse and even more depressing? Going to a game in mid-November against a school that people couldn’t find on a map and getting our butts kicked in front of 5-6k fans on a freezing cold day. There’s been way too many of those.

 

[BlueandOG]

I agree with your assessment of the Cuse fans, the physical differences among the players on the teams, and about Mora being a professional coach. I disagree with your implication that there is a miracle worker out there who could have made this team better than Mora has. This is not alchemy. No one could have made our players, with their lack of size/strength/knowledge due in part to the injustices done to them by the previous UCONN regime, into elite athletes in less than a year.

 

[BlueandOG]

Regarding the students, they have unlimited options for fun on a Saturday night. Going to a UCONN football game is LOW on the list for a few reasons, one of which (#3) should be fixed before the next home game:

1. It is not fun to watch a team get their teeth kicked in (fixable in time)
2. It is not fun to sit on a bus for a 30 minute ride to then watch the team get their teeth kicked in (not fixable)
3. It is not fun when you are a student and you cannot tailgate (laughably ridiculous and should be fixed immediately).

 

[huskymedic]

3. It is not fun when you are a student and you cannot tailgate (laughably ridiculous and should be fixed immediately).

FWIW: Swipe left for some student tailgate info for Rentschler (slide 4 on) >>>

 

[businesslawyer]

FWIW: Swipe left for some student tailgate info for Rentschler (slide 4 on) >>>

LOL. Why should he go to a tailgate when it’s so much more fun to complain about not having the options?

 

[BlueandOG]

LOL. Why should he go to a tailgate when it’s so much more fun to complain about not having the options?

Four points:

1. I don't know about your tailgates, but the ones I got to are a lot more fun than complaining.
2. I got the info about student tailgating from a group of students getting off the buses at the game. THEY told me students were not allowed to tailgate anymore, which is part of the reason why so few students attend the games.
3. I am glad students are allowed to tailgate.
4. I recommend UCONN continue to get the word out to the students so that they know the option exists.

 

[BigTenFan]

Regarding the students, they have unlimited options for fun on a Saturday night. Going to a UCONN football game is LOW on the list for a few reasons, one of which (#3) should be fixed before the next home game:

1. It is not fun to watch a team get their teeth kicked in (fixable in time)
2. It is not fun to sit on a bus for a 30 minute ride to then watch the team get their teeth kicked in (not fixable)
3. It is not fun when you are a student and you cannot tailgate (laughably ridiculous and should be fixed immediately).

I was at the game Saturday night. The students all left at halftime. The band (which was great) played until the end. In the 4th quarter they announced free ice cream cone for any UConn Student with an ID....The University needs to have a better marketing plan than giving out ice cream to the few students left

 

[Exit 4]

My short assessment on the gameday execution; the University and the people involved with the football program directly (staff/coaches) made a strong effort to bring people to the game and run a fun & lively atmosphere. All that is missing is the winning football...or frankly some narrow losses (one possession game in the 4th qter) as an intermediate step.

 

[Get a Job]

My short assessment on the gameday execution; the University and the people involved with the football program directly (staff/coaches) made a strong effort to bring people to the game and run a fun & lively atmosphere. All that is missing is the winning football...or frankly some narrow losses (one possession game in the 4th qter) as an intermediate step.

At least they cleaned up the mistakes from the first game. They actually had music playing during the Dance Cam this time!

 

[ZooCougar]

The people here who continually crap on the students never cease to amaze me.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I was at the game Saturday night. The students all left at halftime. The band (which was great) played until the end. In the 4th quarter they announced free ice cream cone for any UConn Student with an ID....The University needs to have a better marketing plan than giving out ice cream to the few students left

My issue was why run a contest that makes them leave their seats, go across half the stadium and have your backs to the field. Incredibly dumb on UConn's part.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Eh, they left when they realized the game was hopeless. Lot of non students did as well.

 

[wheelerdog]

What to say? agree, agree and agree!! My frustration, if you can't get enough food and drink in you when the gates open 6 - 7 hours prior to kickoff, you have a problem!! It's always been a problem and most likely always will. Some fans just don't get it and that's being nice!! Break out the 60 minute prior to kick off horn!!

Start winning and people will come in

 

[JohnFSilver]

Jim Mora's whole sell is that he turned a crap UCLA team and a crap Falcons team around in one season. I can't think of any coach that has turned around a crap NFL team and a crap college team in one season each like he has.

That is not his sell. His sell is ya got a successful former nfl head coach, a college head coach — he was good at both places - to coach the team.

They literally pulled a rabbit out of the hat when it came to this hire.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Well, that was pretty disastrous. Especially when you add Utah State’s god awful outing, which takes away any right we had to feel good about ourselves based on a competitive loss. I’ll get through the game quickly and circle back to what I think it means.

We were totally outclassed last night. Nothing we could have done would have made that game competitive the way they executed. I was disappointed that we didn’t give them a bit of a game, but they were better. I think they are probably pretty good. That looked to me like it might be a ranked team when all is said and done. We held up fine with them both running the ball and defending the run. Whatever the numbers show. But the passing game and special teams — oh vey. We gave up about 12 yards a pass attempt and over 80% completion percentages. Just God awful. Are we improved at all? I don’t know. Nor do I know how much to blame the DBs without much of a pass rush, but man, that was just depressing to watch. And our passing offense was worse than our passing defense. As has already been pointed out, if he back out Aaron Turners great acceleration to turn what I thought wasn’t even going to be a first down into a long TD, we averaged about 3 yards a completion. Again, a stat that shouldn’t even be possible. As I said in another thread, I’m not willing to blame this on the coaches, ZT, the receivers, the injuries or the OL. It may be one. It may be all. We’re so incompetent I can’t tell. And the special teams — yuck. Lousy KR returns, lousy puniting and if I see Harrison return another punt this year I’m not watching any more. No need to say more than that.

So that game, with the kick in the gut from realizing Utah State sucks, obviously changes the overall view of how much progress we’ve made. We’re now at a start where I think I’m just going to close my eyes for a month and wait to see what happens when we get to FIU, UMass and Ball U. Win UMass and one other and we can talk about whether we are moving forward at all. But it should come as no surprise to anyone that Jim Mora, apparently, isn’t a miracle worker. My lukewarm reception of his hiring, which I got beat upon for, was because we were in need of a miracle worker and that isn’t what Benedict went for. We went for a solid football coach, who is a professional from Sunday to Saturday morning in a manner we hadn’t seen before. If we give him time, there is no doubt in my mind that he can help us put out the dumpster fire that our program has become. But my opinion remains unchanged, that I think improvement under him is more likely to be slow and incremental rather than turning our program on a dime, and I don’t know how much better he’s going to make us. Time will tell. It is possible we’ll be little better this year than last year, and he will still need to be given time to get his players to be upperclassmen. But optimism needs to be careful and balanced.

One last thought. I know if you buy season tickets you’re helping the program financially, and that you have every right to do with them what you want, but if I can’t go to a game against Syracuse or BC I promise you that I will not make them available to anyone where they are likely to be bought by a visiting fan. I’d rather eat the tickets if I can’t find a UConn fan to go. Please consider doing that. When you put rival fans in core seasons ticket section, you’re making the experience even more painful for our fans who are going to the game.

Comparing teams week to week in college football is difficult
Utah State just played what is essentially a professional team
between those games.
I‘m sure in addition to being shell shocked who knows how banged up they were. I hate extreme physical mismatches in football as it doesn’t help the winner and could destroy a season for the loser.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Start winning and people will come in

Thoughts for going to games for 20 years there and watching people come in.

The first thing that tricks people is distance to walk. Some of the walking is long. More than 10 minutes. Must people on runway don’t judge the distance well.

Secondly, security lines are an issue. To me, lines are bad and a sign of waste. The goal should be you walk in And scan your ticket with no wait.

Choking everyone into a metal detector.. I don’t know how useful those are for safety.

But that’s just me.

 

[wheelerdog]

Thoughts for going to games for 20 years there and watching people come in.

The first thing that tricks people is distance to walk. Some of the walking is long. More than 10 minutes. Must people on runway don’t judge the distance well.

Secondly, security lines are an issue. To me, lines are bad and a sign of waste. The goal should be you walk in And scan your ticket with no wait.

Choking everyone into a metal detector.. I don’t know how useful those are for safety.

But that’s just me.

Told this story Saturday. We went to the opening game in 03, and got there later than I wanted to. Ended up at the very end of the runway. Started walking in about 25 minutes before kickoff and just made it.

 

[Dizzy21]

That is not his sell. His sell is ya got a successful former nfl head coach, a college head coach — he was good at both places - to coach the team.

They literally pulled a rabbit out of the hat when it came to this hire.

You might want to tell Dave Benedict that as he repeatedly cited Mora's success in turning programs around during the big hiring PR stints.