The View From Section 241

[businesslawyer]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it too. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from across the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us in an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s as much analysis as this team deserves.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it to. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from actress the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us an an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s a s much analysis as this team deserves.

Welcome back.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it to. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from actress the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us an an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s a s much analysis as this team deserves.

As for #8.. Agree that a well developed game plan executed consistently by the players and this team has four wins by now. Maybe 5.
Problem is coaching game planning and in-games calls have been suspect and the players themselves have gone from derelict to average to really good playing.
Which is why they have the record they have.

 

[uconndogs]

Not having Ryan V. or J Rose was significant. We just don’t have the depth to absorb that.

The DL is legit good. Would be great to have TJones back for next season, but I suspect he has an NFL paycheck in his future.

We simply have nothing at LB. Mitchell and Webb make a ton of tackles, but we’ll beyond the LOS, and given the DL in front of them they should be making lots of plays. We never get home when we blitz.

There is a core talent base here for the next coach. Hopefully it doesn’t all head to the transfer portal.

 

[uchusky32]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it to. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from actress the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us an an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s a s much analysis as this team deserves.

Administration, paying on the low for coaches has put us in this position.

Coaching was terrible in many games. Even questionable in this game. Play calling on both sides of the ball left the causal fan perplexed. Coaching scared leads to playing scared.

As I agree with much. Much of what was said can apply to any losing team.

Competition increases dramatically after next week. Coaching/effort needs to improve tremendously or record blowouts. Really lucky to be playing this schedule while these teams are not playing at a high level.

Have they learned to compete?

 

[gioff2323]

 

[shizzle787]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it to. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from actress the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us an an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s a s much analysis as this team deserves.

We can win 7 games next season with Phommacanh. He didn't play versus Holy Cross or UMass and missed most of the Vandy game. If he plays the full game in all three of those, we are 4-4.

 

[HardFacts]

Not having Ryan V. or J Rose was significant. We just don’t have the depth to absorb that.

The DL is legit good. Would be great to have TJones back for next season, but I suspect he has an NFL paycheck in his future.

We simply have nothing at LB. Mitchell and Webb make a ton of tackles, but we’ll beyond the LOS, and given the DL in front of them they should be making lots of plays. We never get home when we blitz.

There is a core talent base here for the next coach. Hopefully it doesn’t all head to the transfer portal.

Jones will be back he’s not close to ready for NFL and there are so many D lineman in P5 better than him at this point. His biggest attribute is his size. He needs to play at a high level on every play.
it was definitely the D line’s best game this year but again it was
against Yale!

 

[huskymedic]

Jones will be back he’s not close to ready for NFL and there are so many D lineman in P5 better than him at this point.

I don’t see it happening… Jones is currently tracking to be a Top 100 pick. Nothing to be gained by coming back for another year w/ all the unknowns.

 

[cohenzone]

We can win 7 games next season with Phommacanh. He didn't play versus Holy Cross or UMass and missed most of the Vandy game. If he plays the full game in all three of those, we are 4-4.

We had enough to beat Vandy without him. And I really don’t see how there can be any conclusions about him. Is he a dual threat?well he’s a running threat for sure. Can he pass well enough to do several sustained scoring drives a game against a lot of defenses? I don’t think we have anywhere near enough history to reach any conclusions. It would be great if he is a solid answer.

 

[Hoophound]

I disagree on the QBs. I think we agree that Tyler is a bit overrated around here because he hasn’t shown an ability to throw accurately and consistently. However, I do believe he will lead us to winning seasons. He has a lot of talent that will be developed further. His ability on the ground alone is enough lead us to “good” seasons.

I think Krajewski can be a pretty good QB too. He did a nice job at Vandy. He has ability but I don’t think anyone looks good in this offense. With Mazzone calling the offense, we looked much more talented. I suspect our new coach will get similar results and the QBs will get a fair chance to show what they can do.

 

[Tdaley]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it to. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from actress the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us an an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s a s much analysis as this team deserves.

From my view from seat at the Rent it definitely look like the Yale receiver push off Wortham. When I re-watched the game on TV all you see was Wortham falling down.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We had enough to beat Vandy without him. And I really don’t see how there can be any conclusions about him. Is he a dual threat?well he’s a running threat for sure. Can he pass well enough to do several sustained scoring drives a game against a lot of defenses? I don’t think we have anywhere near enough history to reach any conclusions. It would be great if he is a solid answer.

I disagree on the QBs. I think we agree that Tyler is a bit overrated around here because he hasn’t shown an ability to throw accurately and consistently. However, I do believe he will lead us to winning seasons. He has a lot of talent that will be developed further. His ability on the ground alone is enough lead us to “good” seasons.

I think Krajewski can be a pretty good QB too. He did a nice job at Vandy. He has ability but I don’t think anyone looks good in this offense. With Mazzone calling the offense, we looked much more talented. I suspect our new coach will get similar results and the QBs will get a fair chance to show what they can do.

if the next HC decides to go with Tyler Phommachanh, then they need to nicely help the remaining QB's find a new school and bring in other dual threat QB's.

I'm a believer that you can have a pocket or pro style passer and bring in a dual threat mid game and be effective. Line keeps their blocks and assignments and dual threat QB finds the seams.

If you have a dual threat and he gets hurt (And let's face it Tyler Phommachanh isn't getting to 6'2" 220 lbs), bringing in a pocket passer is much harder. It's not just the play calling adjustments, it's the blocking schemes and the timing that are really tough to adjust to mid game.

 

[metsfan2323]

I disagree on the QBs. I think we agree that Tyler is a bit overrated around here because he hasn’t shown an ability to throw accurately and consistently. However, I do believe he will lead us to winning seasons. He has a lot of talent that will be developed further. His ability on the ground alone is enough lead us to “good” seasons.

Tyler Phommachanh brought confidence and very quick decision making to the QB position. The passes were not always accurate but they were on time and that actually bodes very well for his future. I think Tyler Phommachanh is the real deal and has a chance to be special.

 

[ZooCougar]

Offense: Underwhelming and made big plays when Yale blew coverage.

Defense: Held up its end of the bargain.

Special Teams: Ok.

I guess non scholarship FCS is our level.

 

[Stinger92860]

Tyler Phommachanh brought confidence and very quick decision making to the QB position. The passes were not always accurate but they were on time and that actually bodes very well for his future. I think Tyler Phommachanh is the real deal and has a chance to be special.

And he is a true freshman

 

[SubbaBub]

At this point, I'm hoping the transfer portal doesn't pull away any of the guys who have shown something. This year has been a worst case scenario. We are clearly better than the last two seasons but the record feels much much worse. Lots of holes to fill but the program only moves forward if the better players stay.

 

[CL82]

Tyler Phommachanh brought confidence and very quick decision making to the QB position. The passes were not always accurate but they were on time and that actually bodes very well for his future. I think Tyler Phommachanh is the real deal and has a chance to be special.

The kid is a true freshman, so people are expecting him to be perfect are always going to be disappointed. The thing, for me, is the difference in energy level on the team when he’s playing. It seems like the guys really like him and his enthusiasm is contagious. That is special.
.

 

[CL82]

At this point, I'm hoping the transfer portal doesn't pull away any of the guys who have shown something. This year has been a worst case scenario. We are clearly better than the last two seasons but the record feels much much worse. Lots of holes to fill but the program only moves forward if the better players stay.

This. As much as we talk about pulling talent out of the transfer portal, I’m very worried that what talent we have make it snapped up. To me, the transfer portal is another tool for the rich to get richer. Hopefully though, we can pick up talented guys who are buried on the depth chart of better teams may look to get playing time.

 

[SubbaBub]

This. As much as we talk about pulling talent out of the transfer portal, I’m very worried that what talent we have make it snapped up.

Gravity definitely flows from losing programs to winning programs. The portal was invented by the top programs to paper over recruiting mistakes and scholarship caps.

 

[cohenzone]

The kid is a true freshman, so people are expecting him to be perfect are always going to be disappointed. The thing, for me, is the difference in energy level on the team when he’s playing. It seems like the guys really like him and his enthusiasm is contagious. That is special.
.

I don’t think anyone expects him to be perfect. My only point is that we have not nearly enough body of work to project anything about him. Of course he’s a freshman and would have growing pains. I don’t get too excited about any player without at least 4-5 games of history.

its pretty clear that Steven Krajewski can make some throws and occasionally run with success to move the chains. (His attempt to get a 4th and 1 yesterday was right in front of me and it looked like a crappy spot.). But anyway, his strength does not seem to be deep sideline passes and there were several called yesterday. I don’t think that puts him in the best position to succeed.

 

[Chin Diesel]

At this point, I'm hoping the transfer portal doesn't pull away any of the guys who have shown something. This year has been a worst case scenario. We are clearly better than the last two seasons but the record feels much much worse. Lots of holes to fill but the program only moves forward if the better players stay.

Nothing personal against any of our players. Several of them like Carter have played hard and showed they can play at a winning level. McFadden has been as good if not better than expected. I like Fortin at C but he's been injury prone and I believe there are plenty of other options in football at C beyond him.

But.........................is there really any player on this team that is above the 50 percentile within their position? Even UConn's "best" players would have a hard time getting a spot on the two deep on a top 50 program.
So yes, UConn may lose some of their better players. I expect them too based on the schemes of the new coach and his coordinators. Same for the recruiting class. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of recruits and quantity of recruits UConn had for class of '22. SEveral decommits already and I expect at least half of the remaining recruits to decommit. Good news is the new coach can bring in some other players of decent quality and better hit the transfer portal hard.

 

[Waquoit]

The portal was invented by the top programs to paper over recruiting mistakes and scholarship caps.

Maybe, but it's better for the players than what came before.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Having missed the last two games totally, and having gone to Holy Cross but without time to prepare a tailgate, it was good to get the grill out, be in the parking lot drinking by 10:30, and then getting to watch a competitive — if frustrating — football game. Some quick thoughts:

1. Congratulations to the young men who won a football game for the first time in what, 721 days? Nothing I say below in any way interferes with that. The players clearly were very excited and if you’ve lost for so long, no matter who you beat, you felt something you hadn’t felt in a long time. Losing sucks. Winning, in any manner, is not losing.

2. That having been said, Yale wasn’t able to remain competitive with us by the mid 80s, at the Yale Bowl. Here we are, 30 years later, and playing at home the game had to go down to the last play. Taking a long term view, that’s how far we’ve fallen from the Fiesta Bowl in a microcosm.

3. That was two distinct games. We played 35 minutes of solid football, not at all exciting but eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. Not a terrible recipe for a poor football team. And then we sucked. Whether that was on a the coaches being conservative (we did go on a 4th and 1), or the players losing focus, I don’t know. Probably both. But the last 25 minutes were back to wholly unacceptable football. if we play 60 minutes like we played 35 on Friday night, I think we will have a chance to win. If we play like we played the last 25, the game won’t be worth going to.

4. To be fair, we coast to the win, even having turned off, but for the long TD pass they threw. Live, I swear I saw the receiver push Wortham before he fell, and I heard Crispino’s call and he saw it to. However, in the post game show, I heard Bob Joyce say that UConn people next to the play thought Wortham just slipped. Did CBS Sports have a good replay of it? I can’t tell live from actress the field with one eye on it that the contact was enough to draw an offensive interference call, or that Wortham wasn’t pushing him as well, but I know I saw Wortham shoved before the ball got there.

5. Each of Wortham’s two interceptions was really special. Congratulations to the young man.

6. Yes, our OL sucks at run blocking, but yesterday Mensah was definitively running harder than Carter was. Hope it was just an off day and not a small injury.

7. Krajewski was serviceable. No more, no less. He made plays and capitalized on the defense’s mistakes and avoided turnovers, but he didn’t have the ability to make anything happen absent defensive breakdowns. I’m hoping he plays Friday more like he played against Vandy than he has the last two weeks and we get one more win this year. But none of Krajewski, Pharmacchan or Zergiotis looks to me like the QB that is going to lead us to a winning season. That will require a QB from the transfer portal.

8. As awful as we have been, and are at our core, it would not have taken a different roster to be 5-3 at the moment, and playing for bowl eligibility, instead of 1-7. Two games just required someone to make one more play, and the losses to Holy Cross and UMass were winnable with more effort, better schemes and better execution. Not saying Edsall didn’t leave us in an awful position, and that we don’t have a huge task pulling ourselves up, but it wouldn’t have taken a whole lot more this year to actually be fighting for bowl eligibility Friday night.

Have a good short week all. That’s a s much analysis as this team deserves.

Nice write up, but I totally disagree with you about Tyler Phommachanh. The team looked more competent with him in just 10 quarters than they have in years. I think he will be a killer by year three.

 

[businesslawyer]

Nice write up, but I totally disagree with you about Tyler Phommachanh. The team looked more competent with him in just 10 quarters than they have in years. I think he will be a killer by year three.

You’re allowed. If Tyler P stays, I hope I’m wrong.