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I don't know where to start with this one. Let's start here. We just lost to a MAC team, at home. The last time we lost to a MAC team at the Rent would be .... Never is the answer to that. You can focus on the fact that we had the lead in the 4th quarter (as we have in all three losses). Or you can focus on the fact that we gave up almost 500 yards passing (which would have seemed impossible). But the bottom line is that we had every chance to have a 5-0 OOC and we came in 2-3 instead. None of Vandy, ISU or WMU sucks. I think they are 49, 53 and 59 in today's Sagarins. But they were all winnable, we had a late lead in all 3, two were at home and we've got zilch to show for it. I thought that a team that wouldn't be as good as last year's could utilize an easier schedule and have a solid year, but that is not the case. It will take a miracle from here to get to a bowl. RU, UL and Syracuse, all at home, are winnable games, but we've lost three straight winnable games against credible teams. And, even if we get all of them (and query whether we have the mental toughness to rally from 2-6, where we are probably heading), I don't know where the 6th win is coming from. Look -- this team is not crap. They are one or two plays each game from being 5-0 and heroes. But they have failed at putting everything together to date, and it may be too late, even if they play to their potential, to get to a bowl. We haven't been in that position since '06. Which was a team where the upperclassmen were recruited before we had played a Big East game. Not a roster of conference champions searching for some skill players and confidence.
O.K. -- offense, defense and special teams. Let's start with special teams. The three kickers have to do a better job. I don't care who their damn coach is -- they have to do better jobs. Teggart can't leave points on the board every game -- he needs to be a senior leader, and he has too much talent to not be doing better. Christen can't kick the ball out of bounds there -- just can't. And Wagner has to be more consistent. Has to be. You want to ask why we totally suck on returns and coverages -- I'm listening. We blocked in the back on their first three kickoffs, including one that went sailing through the endzone. The double teamed our gunners and we couldn't get guys from the line downfield fast enough. We seem totally unable to block for punt returns. And, I've said since opening day, we are getting outmuscled in the middle of the other teams kickoff returns, and it's just a matter of time until someone breaks one against us. We need bigger guys in the middle of the coverage to bust the wedge. Here is the thing about UConn and special teams. At our lowest moment last year, we got clobbered at Louisville mostly because they killed us on specials. We came back against WVU and from that moment on, played our butts off on specials, executed kicks and got much better. Can that happen this year? It has to. But special teams improvement alone isn't getting us a win the next three games.
The offense, obviously, was much, much better, to the point that, while there was a lot that needs to be done better, it was good. And it was good in a week where Jimmy Bennett tore an ACL on Thursday, causing a shuffling of the offensive line (Bennett is a redshirt junior -- I hope this didn't end his career, because with Mike Ryan gone next year he really needed to be our LT. I hope he doesn't give up.) And where DJ Shoemate took himself out of the equation for this year, leaving the backup TB slot wide open. Kashif Moore had a career day, and became the third different receiver in three weeks to have a 100 yard day. Nick Williams wasn't looked at all day as a target (why exactly?) but came up huge in the 4th quarter. And lots of other players contributed. Lyle McCoombs had a huge run (thought I've never seen the grass tackle someone so hard 70 yards downfield) and a decent overall day. JJL showed me enough on his two carries to warrant giving Lyle a little more relief. McEntee, obviously, was much better with his feet, and threw the ball both downfield and where people could run after catching it. And Deleone, to his credit, came up with the 4 wideout throw to McCombs over the middle that was successful by play design (that was also Kamal Abrams only snap if I saw right), not superior execution. There was, however, much to improve upon. As a team, the running was better but, if McCombs doesn't break the tackle and go for 70 they would have been very pedestrian. McEntee produced, but he still locks onto his primary receiver too long and often takes too long to release the ball, letting an open receiver run into coverage (footwork might have a lot to do with it). In a game where you produce 4 long drives for TDs, they could have made their lives much, much easier by taking advantage of the back to back tgurnovers deep in WMU territory that we only cashed in for 3 points. And then we get to Ryan Griffin. Guy gave it his best trying to make a play, but it was the wrong play to make. He caught the ball, protected with both hands, and then when he saw how much room he had he took his left arm off the ball looking to use it to run quicker or stiffarm. You could see that play coming from a mile away. The smart play was to protect the ball. It probably cost us a tied game in the last minute.
On defense let's start with the good. Kendall Reyes. Nothing, nothing else to say that is positive. When the season started, I thought we had four studs with a chance to have a fifth. Reyes is a stud. Sio Moore looked confused and was reduced to covering slot receivers all day. He has three penalties himself, one of which (the stupid personal foul on what would have been third and long for WMU insider their ten when we were developing momentum may have been the key play of the game). Jesse Joseph has been very quiet since recovering from injury. Blidi was out. And Jerome Junior continues to make horrific plays. The question on his personal foul was not why he fouled. The question is why did he stop going for the pick that he was in position to make. Beat the WR to the ball, as he easily could have done before he stopped, and you aren't hitting him while he's going for the ball. But the bigger point was that yesterday, other than Reyes, we had no one to make a big play (although Smallwood made a huge one on the blitz forcing the fumble). Moore was awful trying to cover WRs but probably shouldn't have been asked to do that and never looked comfortable doing it. Wilburn was beaten like a drum. I have a lot of respect for fifth year seniors who do everything right and wait their turn, but I just don't see a BCS corner. I try to assume no one (officials, coaches, whomever) are stupid unless I know they are, so I am assuming that Taylor Mack, despite being listed in the two deep, is either hurt or trying to redshirt. But if he wasn't I don't know what to say. Jones, I think, ended up playing over Agbor, but he was totally ineffective at coverage also. As was Junior. As was Tymeer Brown in the dime package. Only Gratz in the secondary I thought wasn't terrible. And the pass rush just disappeared, despite blitzes. But, as much as the players underperformed, you can't ignore the coaching here. It was not just that we gave up all those passing yards, and couldn't get off the field (although that would have been enough). I don't know how it came across on TV, but the defenders were clearly unsure the entire game how to line up and who they were supposed to be covering. There were constant discussions that weren't ending as the ball was snapped and defenders out of position at the snap. I have never seen a UConn defense that confused, or that bad. "Solving your problems with aggression" works great defending the run, but is not a mantra that gets you anywhere defending against a complex, precision passing offense. Period.
Not a nice weather day yesterday. A lot of empty seats, but I'm guessing the official attendance was o.k. Crowd was o.k. The stadium experience this year, with all the interviews and crap on the jumbo board, is very hard to sit through. I thought Sandman at the start of the 4th Q was a nice tradition starting, but they didn't want to leave time for it. Sigh.
That's enough. Next week is not going to be a game we have much of a chance of winning. Hopefully, the offense continues to show improvement and the D gets back to the way it played before yesterday. Because if we lose to WVU, we need to win one of the next two (USF or at Pitt) if we are going to get to the winnable three game homestand before the season is over.
O.K. -- offense, defense and special teams. Let's start with special teams. The three kickers have to do a better job. I don't care who their damn coach is -- they have to do better jobs. Teggart can't leave points on the board every game -- he needs to be a senior leader, and he has too much talent to not be doing better. Christen can't kick the ball out of bounds there -- just can't. And Wagner has to be more consistent. Has to be. You want to ask why we totally suck on returns and coverages -- I'm listening. We blocked in the back on their first three kickoffs, including one that went sailing through the endzone. The double teamed our gunners and we couldn't get guys from the line downfield fast enough. We seem totally unable to block for punt returns. And, I've said since opening day, we are getting outmuscled in the middle of the other teams kickoff returns, and it's just a matter of time until someone breaks one against us. We need bigger guys in the middle of the coverage to bust the wedge. Here is the thing about UConn and special teams. At our lowest moment last year, we got clobbered at Louisville mostly because they killed us on specials. We came back against WVU and from that moment on, played our butts off on specials, executed kicks and got much better. Can that happen this year? It has to. But special teams improvement alone isn't getting us a win the next three games.
The offense, obviously, was much, much better, to the point that, while there was a lot that needs to be done better, it was good. And it was good in a week where Jimmy Bennett tore an ACL on Thursday, causing a shuffling of the offensive line (Bennett is a redshirt junior -- I hope this didn't end his career, because with Mike Ryan gone next year he really needed to be our LT. I hope he doesn't give up.) And where DJ Shoemate took himself out of the equation for this year, leaving the backup TB slot wide open. Kashif Moore had a career day, and became the third different receiver in three weeks to have a 100 yard day. Nick Williams wasn't looked at all day as a target (why exactly?) but came up huge in the 4th quarter. And lots of other players contributed. Lyle McCoombs had a huge run (thought I've never seen the grass tackle someone so hard 70 yards downfield) and a decent overall day. JJL showed me enough on his two carries to warrant giving Lyle a little more relief. McEntee, obviously, was much better with his feet, and threw the ball both downfield and where people could run after catching it. And Deleone, to his credit, came up with the 4 wideout throw to McCombs over the middle that was successful by play design (that was also Kamal Abrams only snap if I saw right), not superior execution. There was, however, much to improve upon. As a team, the running was better but, if McCombs doesn't break the tackle and go for 70 they would have been very pedestrian. McEntee produced, but he still locks onto his primary receiver too long and often takes too long to release the ball, letting an open receiver run into coverage (footwork might have a lot to do with it). In a game where you produce 4 long drives for TDs, they could have made their lives much, much easier by taking advantage of the back to back tgurnovers deep in WMU territory that we only cashed in for 3 points. And then we get to Ryan Griffin. Guy gave it his best trying to make a play, but it was the wrong play to make. He caught the ball, protected with both hands, and then when he saw how much room he had he took his left arm off the ball looking to use it to run quicker or stiffarm. You could see that play coming from a mile away. The smart play was to protect the ball. It probably cost us a tied game in the last minute.
On defense let's start with the good. Kendall Reyes. Nothing, nothing else to say that is positive. When the season started, I thought we had four studs with a chance to have a fifth. Reyes is a stud. Sio Moore looked confused and was reduced to covering slot receivers all day. He has three penalties himself, one of which (the stupid personal foul on what would have been third and long for WMU insider their ten when we were developing momentum may have been the key play of the game). Jesse Joseph has been very quiet since recovering from injury. Blidi was out. And Jerome Junior continues to make horrific plays. The question on his personal foul was not why he fouled. The question is why did he stop going for the pick that he was in position to make. Beat the WR to the ball, as he easily could have done before he stopped, and you aren't hitting him while he's going for the ball. But the bigger point was that yesterday, other than Reyes, we had no one to make a big play (although Smallwood made a huge one on the blitz forcing the fumble). Moore was awful trying to cover WRs but probably shouldn't have been asked to do that and never looked comfortable doing it. Wilburn was beaten like a drum. I have a lot of respect for fifth year seniors who do everything right and wait their turn, but I just don't see a BCS corner. I try to assume no one (officials, coaches, whomever) are stupid unless I know they are, so I am assuming that Taylor Mack, despite being listed in the two deep, is either hurt or trying to redshirt. But if he wasn't I don't know what to say. Jones, I think, ended up playing over Agbor, but he was totally ineffective at coverage also. As was Junior. As was Tymeer Brown in the dime package. Only Gratz in the secondary I thought wasn't terrible. And the pass rush just disappeared, despite blitzes. But, as much as the players underperformed, you can't ignore the coaching here. It was not just that we gave up all those passing yards, and couldn't get off the field (although that would have been enough). I don't know how it came across on TV, but the defenders were clearly unsure the entire game how to line up and who they were supposed to be covering. There were constant discussions that weren't ending as the ball was snapped and defenders out of position at the snap. I have never seen a UConn defense that confused, or that bad. "Solving your problems with aggression" works great defending the run, but is not a mantra that gets you anywhere defending against a complex, precision passing offense. Period.
Not a nice weather day yesterday. A lot of empty seats, but I'm guessing the official attendance was o.k. Crowd was o.k. The stadium experience this year, with all the interviews and crap on the jumbo board, is very hard to sit through. I thought Sandman at the start of the 4th Q was a nice tradition starting, but they didn't want to leave time for it. Sigh.
That's enough. Next week is not going to be a game we have much of a chance of winning. Hopefully, the offense continues to show improvement and the D gets back to the way it played before yesterday. Because if we lose to WVU, we need to win one of the next two (USF or at Pitt) if we are going to get to the winnable three game homestand before the season is over.
