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- Aug 24, 2011
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Well, the goal this week was to get a win, because there is no scenario to a season that is not disastorous that did not include a win last night. And we got it. But, that was not a pretty win by any stretch, and the failure to answer questions after a third of the season is now done starts becoming the answer -- we need to assume that some of the questions will not be answered positively. Winning a conference game any way you can is fine. Buffalo? If we had last year's schedule with this year's team, a bowl bid would already be almost out of the question.
What a clusterf*** with the TV last night. No SNY coverage in FAirfield Co. because of the rescheduled Met's game (nobody's fault). But, we were also blacked out on ESPN3. Why? Because the game was supposed to be on SNY. It's amazing to me that in 2011 there is not the ability to make changes like this on the fly in terms of coordination between networks. In any event, I watched a tape this morning, but, knowing already that we won a boring game, can't say I was nearly as focused watching as I normally am.
On offense, I think we now know what is happening at QB. It is going to be Johnny Mac, at least until the point where either he falls apart under pressure or the season is down the tubes. He did look more composed last night, but it was Buffalo and you can't read too much into that. If Nebrich was going to have a chance to win the job, you would have seen more of him yesterday, Is he ready to contribute? We haven't seen enough in games to know, but you have to assume the Coaches have given him every chance to take the job. McCummings -- while I'm sure we'll continue to see him, he can't carry the ball 90% of the time he's in. How easy to defend is that? He's got to let TBs run out of the wildcat, and we have to throw it. At FB, I assume Hinckley is gone for a while. With Delahunt out as well, we're losing beef fast. McCombs, as I said before, is not up to what we're asking him to do. He goes down way too easily. Has the failure of the running game been entirely on him-- even primarily on him? Probably not. But other people need carries. I didn't see either Foxx or JJL from scrimmage yesterday. Having DJ in the third down packages is a big step forward, but someone else needs carries. I think the WRs are playing well. Huge game for Nick Williams (although, obviously, that game doesn't occur against a better D) and I. Moore followed up on his break out game with a very good first half (before we stopped looking for him at all). I don't understand the inability to get the ball to our TEs. Deleone liked doing that at Syracuse, and we've stopped. The mystery of the offense, however, is the OL which is just not playing with the physicality we're used to. Is it that they're being asked to play differently? More technique and less go after them? There are people here with far more expertise than me, but that's what it looks like. I did see Greene get some time in at LG. I don't think I saw Bardzak play, except when Moe Petrus went down.
Defense gave everything you could as for. Statements like "best UConn D ever," based on a game against Buffalo, are absurd, but they got the job done (and may earn that title by the end of the season). Trevardo wasn't finishing plays but was very disruptive, and it was great seeing Jesse Joseph back on the field (he didn't look quite right yet, but to be expected). The LBs continue to be solid. I'm very interested in what will happen when Jerome Williams is ready to go. I don't know that they are going to move Jory Johnson to the bench. Very nice job by Byron Jones filling in for Junior -- I think if Jerome gets back into the lineup it will be for Agbor, not Jones. Blidi was great before getting hurt by Tymeer Brown right before halftime. It looked like an arm/wrist, so let's hope it's not for long. Surprised to see Wilburn come in for him instead of Mack. I'd love to see Mack get his chance if Blidi is out for a while.
Our return teams continue to disappoint big time. Our kickoff coverage team is going to be a problem -- our wedgebusters are just not controlling the middle.
So that's it. It is getting harder and harder to imagine that we're really going to be a good team this year. We could be 4-0m and not 2-2, and most of the problems (other than our record) would remain. Getting to 6-6 may at this point be all we are capable of, and getting there is going to require winning with what we have and not hoping we have more than what we have. WMU, LV, Syracuse and Rutgers, all at home, are all still winnable games. And WMU might just be the hardest of those. WE need the crowd to come with the energy they had last week, and not the lack of it we saw against Buffalo last year. And we need the team to play within itself for 60 minutes, doing what it can do. Mostly, the coaches have to figure out why we're not pushing folks off the line of scrimmage when we have the ball and do something about it, whether it's the lineup, the plays or the mindset.
What a clusterf*** with the TV last night. No SNY coverage in FAirfield Co. because of the rescheduled Met's game (nobody's fault). But, we were also blacked out on ESPN3. Why? Because the game was supposed to be on SNY. It's amazing to me that in 2011 there is not the ability to make changes like this on the fly in terms of coordination between networks. In any event, I watched a tape this morning, but, knowing already that we won a boring game, can't say I was nearly as focused watching as I normally am.
On offense, I think we now know what is happening at QB. It is going to be Johnny Mac, at least until the point where either he falls apart under pressure or the season is down the tubes. He did look more composed last night, but it was Buffalo and you can't read too much into that. If Nebrich was going to have a chance to win the job, you would have seen more of him yesterday, Is he ready to contribute? We haven't seen enough in games to know, but you have to assume the Coaches have given him every chance to take the job. McCummings -- while I'm sure we'll continue to see him, he can't carry the ball 90% of the time he's in. How easy to defend is that? He's got to let TBs run out of the wildcat, and we have to throw it. At FB, I assume Hinckley is gone for a while. With Delahunt out as well, we're losing beef fast. McCombs, as I said before, is not up to what we're asking him to do. He goes down way too easily. Has the failure of the running game been entirely on him-- even primarily on him? Probably not. But other people need carries. I didn't see either Foxx or JJL from scrimmage yesterday. Having DJ in the third down packages is a big step forward, but someone else needs carries. I think the WRs are playing well. Huge game for Nick Williams (although, obviously, that game doesn't occur against a better D) and I. Moore followed up on his break out game with a very good first half (before we stopped looking for him at all). I don't understand the inability to get the ball to our TEs. Deleone liked doing that at Syracuse, and we've stopped. The mystery of the offense, however, is the OL which is just not playing with the physicality we're used to. Is it that they're being asked to play differently? More technique and less go after them? There are people here with far more expertise than me, but that's what it looks like. I did see Greene get some time in at LG. I don't think I saw Bardzak play, except when Moe Petrus went down.
Defense gave everything you could as for. Statements like "best UConn D ever," based on a game against Buffalo, are absurd, but they got the job done (and may earn that title by the end of the season). Trevardo wasn't finishing plays but was very disruptive, and it was great seeing Jesse Joseph back on the field (he didn't look quite right yet, but to be expected). The LBs continue to be solid. I'm very interested in what will happen when Jerome Williams is ready to go. I don't know that they are going to move Jory Johnson to the bench. Very nice job by Byron Jones filling in for Junior -- I think if Jerome gets back into the lineup it will be for Agbor, not Jones. Blidi was great before getting hurt by Tymeer Brown right before halftime. It looked like an arm/wrist, so let's hope it's not for long. Surprised to see Wilburn come in for him instead of Mack. I'd love to see Mack get his chance if Blidi is out for a while.
Our return teams continue to disappoint big time. Our kickoff coverage team is going to be a problem -- our wedgebusters are just not controlling the middle.
So that's it. It is getting harder and harder to imagine that we're really going to be a good team this year. We could be 4-0m and not 2-2, and most of the problems (other than our record) would remain. Getting to 6-6 may at this point be all we are capable of, and getting there is going to require winning with what we have and not hoping we have more than what we have. WMU, LV, Syracuse and Rutgers, all at home, are all still winnable games. And WMU might just be the hardest of those. WE need the crowd to come with the energy they had last week, and not the lack of it we saw against Buffalo last year. And we need the team to play within itself for 60 minutes, doing what it can do. Mostly, the coaches have to figure out why we're not pushing folks off the line of scrimmage when we have the ball and do something about it, whether it's the lineup, the plays or the mindset.
