The View From Section 241 -- Temple

[whaler11]

So, the best take away here is that coaches have cycles?

Good one.

I dream of a world where people understood the concept of variance.

 

[RedStickHusky]

That's how it is with a lot of folks though: People only want to pay attention to the name on the front of the jersey. "Temple always sucks, we should never lose to Temple.. USF's not any good, I picked that game as a win in the pre-season so we should've won that one..." Taggart's actually done a nice job at USF and they had a good season. I hate to say it (for obvious reasons) but USF made a halftime adjustment against us that was really effective and we couldn't answer. If we'd have finished our redzone chances in the first half, they might not have been able to run the ball down our throaats in the second but we've spent the whole season trying to cover-up for an offense that's not quite there yet. I like Ruhle as well, I hope he's there next year so we can see how they do after their heavy graduation hit, although they do have P.J. Walker back - he's one of these guys that seems to play for 10 years....
On the field, one thing that looks different to me this year, is that teams are having to play some to beat us. No more 0-14 with two fumbles in the first five minute games.

 

[Nostical]

So, the best take away here is that coaches have cycles?

Yes that's the best they've got. They see Temple as some monolith we were incapable of beating with our talent. Heck, forget about beating them, how about scoring, or how about making a first down. We were incapable because we had a game plan that was inept for the moment at hand. Running straight ahead into the line was a great strategy, especially on multiple 4th and 1's. Let's see how Houston's coaching staff game plans for the Owls.

 

[whaler11]

Yes that's the best they've got. They see Temple as some monolith we were incapable of beating with our talent. Heck, forget about beating them, how about scoring, or how about making a first down. We were incapable because we had a game plan that was inept for the moment at hand. Running straight ahead into the line was a great strategy, especially on multiple 4th and 1's. Let's see how Houston's coaching staff game plans for the Owls.

Let me know the next time you invite Warde to your tailgate.

I want to print out this nonsense and watch him read it.

I want to see his reaction to you beating on the coaches who took Pasqualoni's tire fire to a bowl game within 24 months.

They had Tim Boyle at QB and Garrett Anderson at WR.

Playcalling can def lift the 115th best offense past the 7th best defense with the backup QB in the game.

You make Chief seem insightful sometimes.

 

[whaler11]

And anyone not loading up on Temple next week has never followed the Boneyard.

Give Houston Boyle as their best QB and let me know what they dream up.

 

[Nostical]

Relax. You're turning this into a passion play. Obviously we've improved. That's indisputable. I guess I just expect more of our coaches than you do. That's fine.

 

[whaler11]

Relax. You're turning this into a passion play. Obviously we've improved. That's indisputable. I guess I just expect more of our coaches than you do. That's fine.

It's fine by me. I give the staff an immense amount of credit for taking the team to a bowl in their second year.

I don't judge the Diaco and his staff week to week. I am well enough informed to understand how much the team improved in 22 months under Diaco's watch.

I actually respect the teams on the other side of the field and comprehend at times they have better personnel and competent coaches.

I guess I can be faulted for keeping the big picture in mind. I probably have been invested in the team too long and understand where they came from and when they are overmatched.

It's way easier to just decide UConn should win every game and when they don't blame the coaches. Not sure why I didn't realize that earlier.

 

[whaler11]

Can we check in with Chad Morris? Weird how when you give him SMU's roster instead of Clemson's all of a sudden he's not a good coach.

 

[Nostical]

Can we check in with Chad Morris? Weird how when you give him SMU's roster instead of Clemson's all of a sudden he's not a good coach.

Maybe he's not a good coach. Maybe he was a good coordinator. We'll have to wait to assess it, won't we?

 

[whaler11]

Maybe he's not a good coach. Maybe he was a good coordinator. We'll have to wait to assess it, won't we?

I guess we will - you'd think someone who could scheme well enough at Clemson wouldn't go completely dim at a new job.

They got shut out by Memphis. it's probably just his lack of play calling ability that made the difference.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Coaching can be strange but I think 'fit' is a factor. How can RichRod be good every where but Michigan? how do you explain Holgerson? In general, this season-long dicussion has been about talent vs. coaching but I think that's an over simplification... Talent doesn't walk in the door ready to play. In our history, we've seen poor coaching waste NFL-level talent, we've seen good coaching maximize the 'under-the-radar types', and we've yet to see superior coaching maximize superior talent but I'm hopeful that that day is coming.

 

[whaler11]

Coaching can be strange but I think 'fit' is a factor. How can RichRod be good every where but Michigan? how do you explain Holgerson? In general, this season-long dicussion has been about talent vs. coaching but I think that's an over simplification... Talent doesn't walk in the door ready to play. In our history, we've seen poor coaching waste NFL-level talent, we've seen good coaching maximize the 'under-the-radar types', and we've yet to see superior coaching maximize superior talent but I'm hopeful that that day is coming.

RichRod would have been fine if they gave him time.

How do explain what about Holgerson? That an alcoholic ends up exactly where you'd expect?

In 'our' history we've seen one guy nuture NFL talent from under the radar - one guy who happened upon a handful of players...

Not sure why people connect college and the NFL after all the college stars who do nothing at the next level. It's a different game.

 

[uconndogs]

Wow! That some folks found the outcome of this game as such a surprise and disappointment is a head scratcher for me. Temple has one of the very best defenses in the country and we were without our starting QB. Couple that with their senior day and our coming off an enormously emotional effort the week before, and the outcome is really not a surprise.

As for Temple, that is a senior laden defense and they brought everyone back from last season. They will be coming back to the pack next season.

Last season Diaco scared the crap out of me. I honestly wondered if the guy was remotely competent. I just didn't see the need to let it get as bad as it did. Now it is much easier to see the plan and the culture that he is building. Does he still have much work to do? Of course, and the OL and QB play and depth go right to the heart of that. But, I am very encouraged.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Not sure why people connect college and the NFL after all the college stars who do nothing at the next level. It's a different game.

Different game sure, and you could suck in the NFL with a roster full of all-americans. Not sure how you suck in college with a collection of nfl talent... oh yeah, unless it's all on one side of the ball.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I think you just throw this game out as a tool to evaluate the team or Diaco.

We had a miraculous victory last week against an undefeated Houston squad with our back up QB playing (granted, so was theirs) who owns what a 1TD to 18 INT stat line now?

Temple is a better team, playing at home and for the conference title, where as we were down our QB again and had already clinched bowl eligibility.

The fact it was 10-0 at half was shocking.

There are still a lot of things to improve upon like clock management and getting the calls in on time, but to come here and see people complaining we didn't lose by more (yes complaining we didn't lose by more) because Diaco didn't let Boyle throw 7 picks is dubious.

We went from literally the worst team in FBS to winning 6 games and being in nearly every game against a tough schedule.

Season was an incredible success. Throw this game out and get ready for the bowl.

 

[RedStickHusky]

How do explain what about Holgerson? That an alcoholic ends up exactly where you'd expect?

I thought that's how you make yourself a good fit in West Virginia....

 

[tduconn]

It is extremely unlikely that we will play against a defense with a third of the quality of the Temple defense.

Regardless of the defense we play against, it will be a struggle for the team. We're lucky to score 20 points against anyone, and the only "high" production score came against a team that went 0 for 12 and UConn played short field most of the time due to turnovers by a sloppy team. We didn't overwhelm many other teams with loosing records, even those from the FCS ranks.

 

[freescooter]

Temple is a terrific football team this year. Probably would be ranked much higher if they weren't named Temple but voters are like posters and assume because it's Temple they can't be that good. Overall I agree with bl. There were 2 possible approaches to this game. Play it close to the vest and see if your defense can win it or play as if it is house money and see what happens. With Boyle at quarterback Diaco did what 99% of coaches would do and as I said elsewhere what Edsall regularly did against teams he knew would be problematic to beat. We needed everything else to break perfectly to win and it didn't.

 

[hardcorehusky]

For me, the issue isn't Boyle, being conservative or best chance of winning a game. That game was in essence, a throw away game. Why not see what you have in real game situation with Boyle? Let him go downfield and if he is overmatched as a junior, you know what you have. Do things towards Boyle's strengths.

 

[Dooley]

We already know that Boyle is overmatched, we don't need a couple of downfield throws against Temple to determine that. I feel for the kid because I think his development was severely stunted by the prior regime's desperate attempt to keep their jobs. He wasn't ready then and could've used a full year of practice and study to ready himself to play at this level. He played behind the nation's worst OL as a true FR and has never recovered. More proof that Tyler Davis should keep his redshirt this year and continue to develop.

One thing about throwing the ball downfield - it requires time. Time requires blocking. And our OL was completely overwhelmed by Temple's defensive front. Even with time, Boyle is incredibly inaccurate. But without time, you risk more turnovers, more points against and even injury. Because preserving Davis' redshirt is of most importance to our 2016 QB depth chart, we can't have Boyle getting crushed in a meaningless game against a better football team than us.

 

[Carl Spackler]

For me, the issue isn't Boyle, being conservative or best chance of winning a game. That game was in essence, a throw away game. Why not see what you have in real game situation with Boyle? Let him go downfield and if he is overmatched as a junior, you know what you have. Do things towards Boyle's strengths.

What makes you (or anyone) think that the coaching staff doesn't already know what they have in Boyle? Strengths - weaknesses. Boyle's strengths at the QB position, it seems to me based on being nothing more than a spectator, are in leading an offensive squad on the field, that has a lead on the scoreboard, and is able to run the ball effectively. Seems like we tried to do that, based on what I saw.

I hate the idea of rotating QB's, but we didn't really do that, upon further review on my part - we were direct snapping it seemed in clear running situations to try to get an extra blocker, if you ask me.

 

[businesslawyer]

For me, the issue isn't Boyle, being conservative or best chance of winning a game. That game was in essence, a throw away game. Why not see what you have in real game situation with Boyle? Let him go downfield and if he is overmatched as a junior, you know what you have. Do things towards Boyle's strengths.

I think that is an argument that one can easily make. Which is why it may have been what I would have done if I was coach. But that is different than saying that it maximized our chances of winning, and you can't actually be critical of a coaching staff for making reasonable calls that are meant to maximize chances of winning.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I see no need to dump on Boyle at all, and I wish people wouldn't. Let's not forget that this kid has worked through everything that he has been handed, and contributed as best he can. He's not going to play in the NFL, and he's not going to be at the top of any division 1 college football record books. He's by all accounts a great teammate.

A really good QB makes the sum total of an offense's parts much better than it would be without. It's an interesting thing, non-linear. A really good QB can make everything about an offense better, and a really bad QB can make everything about an offense worse. Boyle is neither. He's a player that when called upon to throw the ball in games, has a hard time with the speed of the game and hitting fast moving targets with the ball. Slow moving, close to static targets - he can hit with all kinds of different speeds and touch on the ball. Other than that problem throwing at game speed, he's developed quite well as a QB, in his backup role, given his circumstances - if you ask me.

There are 11 players on an offensive unit on the field, and offense revolves around blocking, not throwing the ball. The QB is not a position that is going to be involved in blocking 99% of the time, unless it's an accident.

He's earned enough trust of the coaching staff, that he's thrown some of the most important passes of the entire season from September through November. Let's also not forget that he was the QB that led this current iteration of UCONN football to it's biggest win in the last 5 years last weekend - bowl eligibility against a top 25 ranked team.

He was the benefit of being properly prepared, and ready in the right place in the right time - which was Rentschler field - last weekend - when the starting QB got knocked out and the opponent was Houston. Temple on the road, starting the game, not - the ideal situation.

Assuming the Sherrifs is going to clear concussion protocol for a bowl game - at some point before Boyle graduates, we're probably going to need him again - to be prepared and ready to do the same thing he did last week, and hopefully if and when that occurs, and he's doing his thing, and he gets an open receiver streaking down the sideline with a step on the DB in single coverage, at the 20-15 yard line, he throws the ball to the back pilon of the endzone to let the open receiver run to the ball and have a chance to catch it for a TD, rather than throwing to the front pilon, and making both the DB and WR stop for the ball.

Easy to type from my chair, and a lot harder to do when you're actually in the game.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I think that is an argument that one can easily make. Which is why it may have been what I would have done if I was coach. But that is different than saying that it maximized our chances of winning, and you can't actually be critical of a coaching staff for making reasonable calls that are meant to maximize chances of winning.

What is different on how this game was coached versus last year? We kind of tried to win the game. We stuck to an ineffective gameplan too long. This was our meaningless game and we did nothing with it regarding personnel moving forward. Let Boyle, Marriner, Trey Rutherford, etc do their thing and see what and who we have moving forward. Carrezola isn't going to be a two way player and Thomas isn't going to be a QB. I just think it was a missed opportunity for BD and staff.

 

[junglehusky]

Temple is a terrific football team this year. Probably would be ranked much higher if they weren't named Temple but voters are like posters and assume because it's Temple they can't be that good. Overall I agree with bl. There were 2 possible approaches to this game. Play it close to the vest and see if your defense can win it or play as if it is house money and see what happens. With Boyle at quarterback Diaco did what 99% of coaches would do and as I said elsewhere what Edsall regularly did against teams he knew would be problematic to beat. We needed everything else to break perfectly to win and it didn't.

Okay, which one of you folks hacked into freescoter's account to post something reasonable and non-inflammatory under his name?

 

[businesslawyer]

I see no need to dump on Boyle at all, and I wish people wouldn't. Let's not forget that this kid has worked through everything that he has been handed, and contributed as best he can. He's not going to play in the NFL, and he's not going to be at the top of any division 1 college football record books. He's by all accounts a great teammate.

A really good QB makes the sum total of an offense's parts much better than it would be without. It's an interesting thing, non-linear. A really good QB can make everything about an offense better, and a really bad QB can make everything about an offense worse. Boyle is neither. He's a player that when called upon to throw the ball in games, has a hard time with the speed of the game and hitting fast moving targets with the ball. Slow moving, close to static targets - he can hit with all kinds of different speeds and touch on the ball. Other than that problem throwing at game speed, he's developed quite well as a QB, in his backup role, given his circumstances - if you ask me.

There are 11 players on an offensive unit on the field, and offense revolves around blocking, not throwing the ball. The QB is not a position that is going to be involved in blocking 99% of the time, unless it's an accident.

He's earned enough trust of the coaching staff, that he's thrown some of the most important passes of the entire season from September through November. Let's also not forget that he was the QB that led this current iteration of UCONN football to it's biggest win in the last 5 years last weekend - bowl eligibility against a top 25 ranked team.

He was the benefit of being properly prepared, and ready in the right place in the right time - which was Rentschler field - last weekend - when the starting QB got knocked out and the opponent was Houston. Temple on the road, starting the game, not - the ideal situation.

Assuming the Sherrifs is going to clear concussion protocol for a bowl game - at some point before Boyle graduates, we're probably going to need him again - to be prepared and ready to do the same thing he did last week, and hopefully if and when that occurs, and he's doing his thing, and he gets an open receiver streaking down the sideline with a step on the DB in single coverage, at the 20-15 yard line, he throws the ball to the back pilon of the endzone to let the open receiver run to the ball and have a chance to catch it for a TD, rather than throwing to the front pilon, and making both the DB and WR stop for the ball.

Easy to type from my chair, and a lot harder to do when you're actually in the game.

I fully agree with the don't dump on Boyle sentiment. Especially given that we beat Houston with him and he didn't lose the game Saturday. Yes, his limitations contributed to the loss, but we lost the game because we couldn't get people blocked, because they didn't make any mistakes and because they were better.

 

[Nostical]

Not sure why people connect college and the NFL after all the college stars who do nothing at the next level. It's a different game.

You're correct about that. And it's not always in the measurables---as Nick Williams explained earlier this year after getting picked up by the Falcons. (FYI he caught a touchdown pass yesterday in a Falcons loss.)

 

[Waquoit]

What is different on how this game was coached versus last year? We kind of tried to win the game. We stuck to an ineffective gameplan too long. This was our meaningless game and we did nothing with it regarding personnel moving forward. Let Boyle, Marriner, Trey Rutherford, etc do their thing and see what and who we have moving forward. Carrezola isn't going to be a two way player and Thomas isn't going to be a QB. I just think it was a missed opportunity for BD and staff.

I disagree about the missed opportunity. The coaching staff knows what they have going forward. I agree when you said, "kind of tried" to win. They put a few wrinkles in, they didn't work. This was a program loss, specifically lack of QB depth. We have to be deeper in the future and the good news is it is being addressed. This is not a game to dwell on, imo. Let's move on to the bowl game.

 

[cohenzone]

Holy shat? What is this post about. We didn't lose to alabama. We lost to Temple. The same Temple team USF wiped the field with. We played pretty well agaisnt USF. Certainly didn't look like we didn't belong though they did have more playmakers.

We need better players I get it. This is Temple, which I suspect will be looking up at us in the standings next year as they have like 20 srs on the two deep. Are they better than us this year, Yes! Let's not carried away though.

=

1)We had Sherriffs, not Boyle, against USF and 2)our D couldn't handle them. it's turned out that USF isn't half bad on O. Match ups mean a lot in most sports, and football is no exception. Houston's strength is O, not D. And we shouldn't forget that while Houston has a good #2 QB, their #1 was missing and back in the line-up this week, they really moved the ball.

 

[huskypantz]

For me, the issue isn't Boyle, being conservative or best chance of winning a game. That game was in essence, a throw away game. Why not see what you have in real game situation with Boyle? Let him go downfield and if he is overmatched as a junior, you know what you have. Do things towards Boyle's strengths.

They let him throw downfield in the second half. It was not pleasant. They know what they have.