The View From Section 241

[businesslawyer]

That was a very, very strange game. We gained 240 yards of total offense. They gained 200. And we saw a 24-21 game, with only one return TD. How is that possible? I think the result was statistically absurd. But I know three things about what was a strange game. First, I didn't know sitting there that Masters was out and we as a team were suffering with the flu on what was a surprisingly hot day. But our heroes did what they had to do, spectacularly at times and just enough at the end, and got a win that was incredibly important to them personally and necessary for our season. Will power counts. Second, as opposed to the NC State game, we scored first and played from ahead, rather than behind, the whole game. I think that that did effect how both teams played. The way we are built this year, playing from ahead is going to be necessary for us to win. And, when we're ahead, we are not going to be playing dynamic offensive football. And shouldn't be worried about it. Third, that was the first time as a UConn football fan that I've ever had the same feeling I've had at times on the road as a hoops fan -- that this is not just another fanbase, but one that supports its team on the road and enthusiastically and makes me want to travel. More on this later, but compared to some of our showings in Piscataway and Morgantown, it was night and day.

Let's start with the trip and the feel of the place. Worked a full day on Friday, and but for some idiot driving off an enbankment on an exit ramp on the west end of the Cross Westchester, costing me 30 minutes by closing an exit ramp (please consider how your actions will effect me next time dude) had an uneventful drive down, checking in to a hotel in Alexandria, VA around 11:30. Hotel was deluged with gold and navy WVU fans waiting for the JMU game on Saturday. Now there is a fan base. Some sleep, picked up my son at GW (hung over and with not a clue where he left his contacts the night before -- parents are often made so proud) at about 9:45 and was in the parking lot setting up by 10:30 or so. Tailgate was good. College children are very appreciative of beer and real food. Lot was empty, and more fans wearing blue than red (to be fair, these are the cash lots -- obviously there were nearer lots all in red). Kudos to the young male alum from Trumbull parked next to me, who was with a jeepfull of attractive former cheerleader young alums. Good for him. (Note to self -- remember to bring much, much more extra food to road games in case this ever happens again). There were a lot of UConn fans there. Maybe, realistically, 2500 to 3000 or so. (As opposed to the 200 or 300 I've seen at other road games I've been.) Not only was the visitors section full, but in the center of the upper deck (where we were) there were as many UConn fans as Maryland fans. Equal enough that it reminded me of sitting mixed with MD fans in the outer reaches of the Carrier Dome during the 2002 Eastern Regionals at Syracuse. And the UConn fans weren't there just to curse Edsall. Everyone was into the game, cheering and making their presence known to the players on the field. The Maryland fans, by the way, were incredibly nice. Far nicer than the two games I went to in Piscataway, and far nicer, frankly, than I think we treat visiting fans at the Rent. The closest I saw to fan tension at any point was when MD fans started fighting over "Redskins vs. Ravens." Like Yankee -- Red Sox fights breaking out at the Rent. The campus was very physically attractive -- I do think nicer looking than UConn -- and is only 10 miles or so from downtown DC. The day was much, much, hotter than either of our home games. Everyone in my party was caught unprepared and burned to a crisp. It was low 90s where we were sitting, fairly high up. I can't believe it wasn't hotter in the stadium itself, and that had to play a role in the game. Easy drive home after, and with a stop for dinner was home by 11:30.

Special teams first. Christen kicked well, despite missing a 48 yarder. Wagner was really good, again. Nick Williams, in the return game, made the single biggest play of the game, as it had us playing ahead the entire game. The kick coverages, however, were not what they should be and need to be. Yes, I recognize that Diggs is going to be a special player, but we made it too easy on him. Kinney had a chance to take his head off on a punt he should have fair caught and didn't, leading to a long return. Deshonn Foxx refused to stay outside, and let Diggs get outside him on a kickoff without making a move on him. The coverages need to get better quickly. The good news is that the miscues look to be more physical than mental. I don't know what Brandon Steg did to extend their second TD drive. But if he actually did anything (because nothing was said ever on the field), he needs to not do it again.

A very, very strange day for the Defense. On the one hand, they only gave up 200 yards total offense, and had tons of sacks and tackles for losses, and did it on a day without Blidi, without Joseph at the end and with many of them fighting the flu in unseasonably warm weather. I'd like to do nothing but sing their praises. However, I know we play a gambling, aggressive defense but you can't allow a team to score 21 points on reasonably long drives when you only give up 200 yards total. You need more consistency. A lot of individuals were great. Sio, Yawin, Ryan Wirth and Gratz come to mind. We played 5 DTs to keep people fresh. I didn't see a sub DE come in until Jesse Joseph got hurt, and then I think Willman finished the game. Taylor Mack did not look outmatched generally, but was victimized for the second straight week, and had a late hit flag to boot. Tymeer Brown made a bad play on one of their TD drives, going for a ball on third and long instead of letting the receiver catch it and stopping him short of a first down. Overall, I guess, I think giving up the 21 points was not a good result, but the number of plays the D made didn't make me lose my faith in what they can accomplish this season. Now, if Blidi's injury was a hammy, and he wanted to play, hopefully that isn't long term. And it was nice seeing Stephen back on the field, although I don't think he played a lot. But the loss of Joseph, if that occurs, on top of the loss of Jennings, would leave us in a pickle. If you still have Trevardo, backed up by Norris, you now need some combo of Willman, Louis, Maybe McBridge moving back to DE, maybe a Donohue or Vann lining up there to rush the passer, something, at SSDE, which may be the key position to a college defense. One other thing to consider -- Joseph was a "true" Sr. who never took a redshirt. I think 3 games is one to many to play and then take a medical redshirt, but I'm not sure of that.

On offense, I know we only had 240 yards (again) but I saw a lot of positives there as well. Whitmer showing a willingness to tuck it in and run. McCombs, McCummings and the run blocking looking much more like last year than the last two weeks. Leaving the wildcat in for a few plays at a time. We didn't throw as much, in part because we were up the whole game and were trying to make their offense beat us, but good efforts by Delahunt and by Michael Smith. And turnovers and penalties were limited. Whitmer missed a throw or two he could have made, but you'll trade that for eliminating the picks. (Or, more accurately, you should be willing to trade that). And, most importantly, I think it's only fair to remember we won the game, never trailed and were up two scores as much as we were up only one. If it got conservative, it got conservative for a reason. Having said that, Mateas needs to be much, much more consistent snapping the ball in shotgun. I think that is a material part of our problems offensively, and wouldn't be surprised if we see Bullock get a shot there before we start conference play.

So we're 2-1. That is where we probably should be at this point. Yes, we could be 1-2 or 3-0, but we've neither proved that this is a great year or couldn't be a really good year. We now need to stop the WMU passing attack and get revenge in Kalamazoo. And remember that we moved the ball against them last year, so it would be a good week to get the offense moving a bit more. Win there, take care of business at home against an unmatched Buffalo, and then let's see what the Big East play will bring.

 

[junglehusky]

I don't know how accurate it is, but John Silver tweeted the medical redshirt is available since it was less than 25% of games completed. Hope it's right.

As usual, a well thought out View with good observations, thanks BL. Good luck convincing UConn fans not to be worried about the non-dynamic offense!

 

[businesslawyer]

I don't know how accurate it is, but John Silver tweeted the medical redshirt is available since it was less than 25% of games completed. Hope it's right.

As usual, a well thought out View with good observations, thanks BL. Good luck convincing UConn fans not to be worried about the non-dynamic offense!

Tough break on Joseph. If he can come back next year, with T Will gone, that softens the blow a little.

I want to be clear on the offense. I'm not a fan of what Deleone is doing -- I think I make that clear -- but we don't have the playmakers we need and you can't criticize people for managing to victories. One thing that relates that I didn't say -- sitting from high up at the 50, our WRs are not running all over the field open. They're just not.

 

[CTPride]

How do you feel Taylor Mack did? Alot of people were criticizing him.

 

[mcs333]

We played too conservative especially on first down. MD had 8 players usually within 3 yards of the ball on first down. A little play action needs to be added to loosen up the defense. We just can't continue to run McCombs into the middle of the line. Whitmer looked better, throws a good pass but did have happy feet a couple of times. I guess he still needs to build confidence. Hopefully he gets better with time. Agreenext week is a very important game and the O needs to improve.

 

[businesslawyer]

We played too conservative especially on first down. MD had 8 players usually within 3 yards of the ball on first down. A little play action needs to be added to loosen up the defense. We just can't continue to run McCombs into the middle of the line. Whitmer looked better, throws a good pass but did have happy feet a couple of times. I guess he still needs to build confidence. Hopefully he gets better with time. Agreenext week is a very important game and the O needs to improve.

We did just waste runs up the middle on 1st and 10 way too consistently.

 

[noeynox]

We did just waste runs up the middle on 1st and 10 way too consistently.

That is the fundamental problem with the play calling. You're consistently leaving yourself no better off than if you had thrown an incomplete pass. Play action is going to be there from time to time. Do we have a screen game at all? Even WRs aren't running all over the field open, you cannot convince me that McCombs is the only player capable of making plays. Can he get a blow from time to time so we could see what other backs are capable of?

The swing pass to McCombs in the fourth quarter, that got blown up was predictable and screamed trying not lose.

I will say that our early season slate was tough with NC State and UMD early. Maybe if the schedule was UMass, Buffalo, then WMU on the road followed by the ACC games we would have seen the offense develop better. Instead we have what you correctly describe as trying to win by minimizing mistakes. I just saw the Pats lose like this for not trying to put it in the endzone. I feel its too much pressure when you leave yourself no margin for error with conservative play calling.

Good job on the View.

 

[pj]

I will say that our early season slate was tough with NC State and UMD early. Maybe if the schedule was UMass, Buffalo, then WMU on the road followed by the ACC games we would have seen the offense develop better. Instead we have what you correctly describe as trying to win by minimizing mistakes.

Or the offense would have not developed because the play calling would have been just as conservative against Buffalo and WMU as it was against UMass. I think we benefited by getting NC State and Md early, just weren't quite prepared for NC State who already had a serious game under their belt. Now hopefully having seen that we need to do more on offense they'll be a bit more aggressive against WMU and Buffalo.

 

[defense]

Thanks for the summary BL. Just rewatched the game and my observation was that Mack also dropped two possible int's and Willman played much more than the end of the game.

 

[Stinger92860]

Masters came out with the Captains and was not dressed. That surprised me. It looked like BWW was trying to talk his way into the game during H1. I thought one coach told him, not my decision. He finally took his gloves off in H2. Game was was mid to upper 70's. If you were in the sun, which most of us were, it felt hotter. Saw more than one 'red' face leaving the stadium.

 

[RedSoloCup]

Masters came out with the Captains and was not dressed. That surprised me. It looked like BWW was trying to talk his way into the game during H1. I thought one coach told him, not my decision. He finally took his gloves off in H2. Game was was mid to upper 70's. If you were in the sun, which most of us were, it felt hotter. Saw more than one 'red' face leaving the stadium.

LOL, I sunblocked, but missed the feet in sandals... funny red squares!

 

[uconndogs]

Sounds like a great weekend Biz. Think I might do something similar for the Cuse game and pick up my daughter along the way.

First, this defense is an absolute blast and Yawin, Sio, Trevardo and Wirth are playing out of their minds. We are going to have to live with some big plays now and again, that is simply going to be the nature of the beast. But, yesterday, were it not for the prayer that was a tipped TD reception, two very stupid penalties and one of the most talented offensive playmakers we are likely to see - I don't see how the Terps would have gotten into the endzone more than once. Mack played very well, save the penalty, and this kid Andrews can play. We have to plug the hole left by the loss of Joseph and Jennings. My sense is that we have enough flexibility on the DL and defensive sets to do that.

I actually saw some improvement on the OL. Whitmer did what he had to do in this one to get a win and that was to not turn the ball over. He's only 3 games into his collegiate career and trying to compete at this very high level. He has some game, but it will take time and patience as it does with ALL young QBs. He can play and he will help us win games eventually. Right now, he has to keep from losing them.

I have been critical of the way McCombs is used and I still am, but he was as clutch yesterday as you could possibly ask any player to be. On our last drive he threw key blocks in the wildcat and in pass protection. His TD runs showed great vision and commitment to the hole. I can only assume that they dunk him in a tub of ice after each game, because the pounding he takes at his size is amazing. Tough, tough kid. That said, it concerns me that we can't get a change of pace back who can break some arm tackles into a rotation.

Congratulations to a team that had to overcome illness and the loss of two of its best players in Masters and Blidi to win on the road. Cruz and Mack stepped up big. That is what good football teams do.

My take is that WMU will be very tough after this week's emotional game and being the second in a row on the road. We get that one and take care of business against Bufallo we'll be playing with a little bit of the house's money in terms of bowl eligibility.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

From the pure standpoint as a fan, taking the trip down to Maryland, beating an ACC team on the road and above all else, beating Edsall it was an amazing weekend. Our fans and team really brought it and gutted out a tough win on the road.

From an analytical standpoint, this performance makes me nervous going forward. A win is a win, so don't confuse this with complaining about 'style points', but I'm just so concerned about the offense. The defense and specials are great, but the way this offense struggles moving the ball leaves me wondering what our ceiling is this season. I don't know if it's the play calling, the play makers or, most likely, a combination of both.

In any event, yesterdays win meant a lot to me and I think a lot of other fans as well. Being there was important and the guys delivered.

On to Western Michigan in another important road game.

 

[NEforceUConn]

LOL, I sunblocked, but missed the feet in sandals... funny red squares!

Hence maybe a new handle ............. RedSoloCupFeet

 

[CTMike]

The day was much, much, hotter than either of our home games. Everyone in my party was caught unprepared and burned to a crisp. It was low 90s where we were sitting, fairly high up.

Especially hot if you are wearing a penguin suit...

 

[rich1122]

On the road you do enough to win and don't make stupid mistakes if you do not have to.

Why run on first down? Use up the clock. If you are leading maybe you take 1 or 2 possessions away from them, especially if your D is gassed.

The drive on the last TD for us was just great. Credit Mike Smith to make that into a first down. People complain about Griffin not catching the ball, but it leaves Delahunt open when too much attention is paid. Nice job on the Wildcat. I mean that we really moved the chains there.

So Whitmer is the question. I think that he will a fine QB, but the play calling for him will be nothing extravagant. It's a luxury to have the D control the game and some good Specials. The Wildcat takes some pressure off Whitmer. So you go and look at film and have more practice. Now he has been in 3 D1 games and it appeared that he is more used to the speed of the game. He can turn on the jets and get a first down, which Johnny (Whom I like) could not do. I am happy that DeLeone is ramping this kid up slowly. All this stuff about calling for Deleone's head is nonsense.

Say what you want about Taylor Mack he did fine. The TD was interference on the offense pushing off. He made some nice plays back there and he was in most of the game. Theystopped throwing on Gratz. Good to see Stevenson in the game at crunch time.

Two last things. I would like to see McCombs get a break with Hypolite or somebody else. Sometime the change of pace is good. Smallwood may in fact be the best player to come out of UCONN if he stays healthy - no discredit to Sio Moore or Bama Wilson.

 

[Uconnalliance]

BL nice job again was kinda of hoping to read it first thing this am but the light went on in my dimly lit head saying duh he traveled yesterday.

 

[Rjc32563]

Biz good report. My son heard early Sat morn that Adam wasn't playing. He is one tough kid had 103 degree fever during the week and kept playing until he couldn't hide it anymore and was kept out by theteam doctor. Perhaps you couldn't see from the upper deck but they rotated Bullock in at center on 4 or 5 drives during the game. My opinion the line as a whole had a thier best game of the season although their is always room for improvement. Some thing else you didn't mention was that after JJ went out with an injury, Pruitt played a bunch at end when they went with 3 lineman.

 

[Rjc32563]

Oh and a shout out to all the fans who went down. ONE HELL OF A JOB!!!! Very loud and great atmosphere. Tailgaiting with Ryan's group in bus lot was just a sea of blue.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Nice View BL. Interesting that your statement, "but we've neither proved that this is a great year or couldn't be a really good year", is quite accurate. We've played 3 games and although our D is awesome I don't know if our O is good or bad. I am leaning one way but maybe HCPP was very nervous and played not to lose. I think there is real pressure on him to have a big year, not the least of which stems from UConn's conference status. Hopefully being 2 -1 will let him breath and a couple more wins may actually put a slight swagger in him.

The biggest thing that bugs me is give McCombs a break every once in awhile. Put Osieka in on third and long, or put Ryan Griffin in the backfield on 3rd and long. Or god forgive go empty backfield and spread the field with 4 or 5 wideouts and throw a bubble screen to Williams.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

We did just waste runs up the middle on 1st and 10 way too consistently.

Not to mention left the offense 2nd and long way too consistently. And then force to try an pass with 3rd and long way too consistently. Soon McCombs will be facing eleven defenders in the box on first down.

 

[FrostyNuggets]

Surprising not to see Joe Williams in the backfield to date, Yet he is on the punt return team.

Would like to see the offense open up more, but Whitmer has not done anything to show he can handle added responsibility.

 

[RioDog]

Especially hot if you are wearing a penguin suit...
View attachment 1284

Nice pic. And nice penguin suit! Any particular reason...?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

How did the safeties perform, did they have a strong game?

 

[Rondogg]

Nice Job Biz
I would add is that the Wildcat was less predictable this time. Good to see multiple uses of it in a row and not using it all the time on 2nd and long. I would also say that MD played very well and made some good adjustments at halftime to limit our defense. MHCRE has lost a ton of players due to injury and transfers. If he can hold on to the reigns there he is going to have a good program. He was a good guy while he was here. It was kindof nice to see him again (strange because I wanted nothing but the worst for him until this game).