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I'm going to try very hard to deal with the game as a game first, before I say what I'm really thinking. here goes.
When did Towson believe that they were going to win the game? When they walked onto the field. You could see it in their eyes and body language. They were not there for a check -- they were there to win. Congratulations to Leon Kinnard, and to Rob Ambrose, and their team for a strong effort and accomplishment. And make no mistake about it -- they were simply the better team yesterday. If we played that game, at the Rent, ten more times, they would win most of them. What happened to us? Why were they the better team? Two reasons. Individually, we are not as talented as we think we are. We lost a bunch of NFL talent, and the growth of the young men we have been bringing into the program just did not replace them. Sure, its cool that Graham Stewart got a schollie for Florida, but at no moment yesterday did it look like he as a Soph was in the stratosphere of talent that Lutrus and Fincher and Sio and other lighly recruited LBs we developed had. In two full recruiting cycles, P hasn't brought in a CB, a position you can play right away, more talented than the athletic but inconsistent Taylor Mack or the out of position Byron Jones. The OL and TB position were, frankly, no more physically talented than what Towson had. But it's not all personnel. For the third year, you can tell that most of our opponents will just have a better understanding of what they are trying to do than us. Whether it's use of timeouts, actually being ready to play at the snap instead of still thinking or every so often having a play that works not because a player makes a play but just because there is a schematic advantage. Folks -- the mountain back up to get to where we were from '07 through '10 is going to be long and ardious, and in our current conference situation, with some of the institutional disadvantages we have, may not even be doable. If that sounds depressed -- well, I was at the game last night. I don't know how you can't be.
Let's start with special teams. Wagner and Christen both had ordinary nights. Coverages were fine, if not spectacular. The kickoff return game showed no interest in giving us a spark. And, while you can't (and I'm not) pinning the loss on him, if Lemelle just catches the punt with 3 minutes to go, instead of putting it on the ground before being touched, we had a decent chance to tie the game up. Talking about personnel in coverage units, frankly, doesn't interest me after last night's loss. Who cares, and the loss wasn't about specials team play.
For those who thought people would step in for Trevardo and Sio and Blidi and Dwayne and Jory and Ryan Wirth and we'd be close to as good -- well, LMAO. We were gashed by their running game. Just gashed. It didn't look like we were getting pushed off the ball, but the LBs were making plays 4 and 5 yards downfield all game, not 2 and 3 yards downfield. Which is why the large number of tackles by Smallwood and Donohue is a useless stat. I thought whenever subs came in at the DL there was a huge drop off. I thought it was as uninspired a game by a group of UConn LBs as I have seen in the 11 years of the Rent. The Safeties were fine (Obi will be a stud, and made some outstanding plays, but also made his share of terrible plays in not sealing the outside off and generally showed why he was't going to start but for Adams getting hurt), Taylor Mack was adequate at best, and Jones made a huge and horrific play in the 4th quarter that makes you wonder if, despite his athleticism, he will be a good CB. Oh -- and just like last year, a mere one takeaway. Just a depressing, disastorous, dismal performance.
And the offense wasn't much better. We knew coming in to the season that improved OL play was the key. We also knew that we had some depth in the interior of the OL, but that we had nothing behind Friend and Bennett at OT (bodes well for next year, huh)? Well, you can make the case that this game was lost when Friend didn't suit up. Yes, the OL as a whole looked slow and disorganized (not ready yet to say it was or was not still trying to figure out zone blocking) but Hemingway was simply overrun play after play after play. In both the running game and the passing game. In prior years, you would have lined a Brouse or a Delahunt up next to him and helped him out, but we don't have that kind of physical, almost ready to play OT TE this year. Not even close. Whitmer threw well when he was set and throwing, but the moment the feet started shuffling or running he couldn't make a high school level throw. Was it his fault they started pressuring him every play? Of course not. But you'd like your QB to make at least some plays outside the pocket and we didn't come close. McCombs didn't do much (one nice run) but wasn't the problem, and we saw cameos for Delorenzo and Hyppolite. Cameo for Walsh, but didn't see anything. Geremy Davis might have been the one person who showed up to win yesterday. Phillips was o.k. but failed to make a big play after being held but wrestling free from it that could have changed the game. Foxx -- well, I wish Leon Kinnard was in our slot instead of theirs. You all remember Leon Kinnard -- he got snaps in Ann Arbor in '10 as a wildcat QB, but eventually languished on our bench, was told he was going to be moved to WR and followed Ambrose to Towson. Had 4 catches last night -- one really good one downfield.
So P is gone towards the end of the year. I simply don't care when during the season they fire him. It will certainly be in time that we are early to the market looking for our next coach. Yes, the season isn't over, and yes, we could still go 11-1 or whatever it would take to save P's job, but it's just not going to happen. This is not a good team. These players, under this system, are not going to have a good year. Are these players good enough to have a good game under someone elses's system? Ask me in 15 months. I'm not convinced the raw talent is much different from that under Edsall, but, as people are now seeing, raw talent and potential is very different from having good football players 3 to 5 years later. This was a dreadful mistake, and should have been seen as one from the beginning. Ironically, while we will never know, Burton's "demands" may have, in Hathaway's mind, forced his hand on this. But no sane person should have pulled this trigger. Because now, with this having been opening night, I'm ready to point the thing at my own head.
When did Towson believe that they were going to win the game? When they walked onto the field. You could see it in their eyes and body language. They were not there for a check -- they were there to win. Congratulations to Leon Kinnard, and to Rob Ambrose, and their team for a strong effort and accomplishment. And make no mistake about it -- they were simply the better team yesterday. If we played that game, at the Rent, ten more times, they would win most of them. What happened to us? Why were they the better team? Two reasons. Individually, we are not as talented as we think we are. We lost a bunch of NFL talent, and the growth of the young men we have been bringing into the program just did not replace them. Sure, its cool that Graham Stewart got a schollie for Florida, but at no moment yesterday did it look like he as a Soph was in the stratosphere of talent that Lutrus and Fincher and Sio and other lighly recruited LBs we developed had. In two full recruiting cycles, P hasn't brought in a CB, a position you can play right away, more talented than the athletic but inconsistent Taylor Mack or the out of position Byron Jones. The OL and TB position were, frankly, no more physically talented than what Towson had. But it's not all personnel. For the third year, you can tell that most of our opponents will just have a better understanding of what they are trying to do than us. Whether it's use of timeouts, actually being ready to play at the snap instead of still thinking or every so often having a play that works not because a player makes a play but just because there is a schematic advantage. Folks -- the mountain back up to get to where we were from '07 through '10 is going to be long and ardious, and in our current conference situation, with some of the institutional disadvantages we have, may not even be doable. If that sounds depressed -- well, I was at the game last night. I don't know how you can't be.
Let's start with special teams. Wagner and Christen both had ordinary nights. Coverages were fine, if not spectacular. The kickoff return game showed no interest in giving us a spark. And, while you can't (and I'm not) pinning the loss on him, if Lemelle just catches the punt with 3 minutes to go, instead of putting it on the ground before being touched, we had a decent chance to tie the game up. Talking about personnel in coverage units, frankly, doesn't interest me after last night's loss. Who cares, and the loss wasn't about specials team play.
For those who thought people would step in for Trevardo and Sio and Blidi and Dwayne and Jory and Ryan Wirth and we'd be close to as good -- well, LMAO. We were gashed by their running game. Just gashed. It didn't look like we were getting pushed off the ball, but the LBs were making plays 4 and 5 yards downfield all game, not 2 and 3 yards downfield. Which is why the large number of tackles by Smallwood and Donohue is a useless stat. I thought whenever subs came in at the DL there was a huge drop off. I thought it was as uninspired a game by a group of UConn LBs as I have seen in the 11 years of the Rent. The Safeties were fine (Obi will be a stud, and made some outstanding plays, but also made his share of terrible plays in not sealing the outside off and generally showed why he was't going to start but for Adams getting hurt), Taylor Mack was adequate at best, and Jones made a huge and horrific play in the 4th quarter that makes you wonder if, despite his athleticism, he will be a good CB. Oh -- and just like last year, a mere one takeaway. Just a depressing, disastorous, dismal performance.
And the offense wasn't much better. We knew coming in to the season that improved OL play was the key. We also knew that we had some depth in the interior of the OL, but that we had nothing behind Friend and Bennett at OT (bodes well for next year, huh)? Well, you can make the case that this game was lost when Friend didn't suit up. Yes, the OL as a whole looked slow and disorganized (not ready yet to say it was or was not still trying to figure out zone blocking) but Hemingway was simply overrun play after play after play. In both the running game and the passing game. In prior years, you would have lined a Brouse or a Delahunt up next to him and helped him out, but we don't have that kind of physical, almost ready to play OT TE this year. Not even close. Whitmer threw well when he was set and throwing, but the moment the feet started shuffling or running he couldn't make a high school level throw. Was it his fault they started pressuring him every play? Of course not. But you'd like your QB to make at least some plays outside the pocket and we didn't come close. McCombs didn't do much (one nice run) but wasn't the problem, and we saw cameos for Delorenzo and Hyppolite. Cameo for Walsh, but didn't see anything. Geremy Davis might have been the one person who showed up to win yesterday. Phillips was o.k. but failed to make a big play after being held but wrestling free from it that could have changed the game. Foxx -- well, I wish Leon Kinnard was in our slot instead of theirs. You all remember Leon Kinnard -- he got snaps in Ann Arbor in '10 as a wildcat QB, but eventually languished on our bench, was told he was going to be moved to WR and followed Ambrose to Towson. Had 4 catches last night -- one really good one downfield.
So P is gone towards the end of the year. I simply don't care when during the season they fire him. It will certainly be in time that we are early to the market looking for our next coach. Yes, the season isn't over, and yes, we could still go 11-1 or whatever it would take to save P's job, but it's just not going to happen. This is not a good team. These players, under this system, are not going to have a good year. Are these players good enough to have a good game under someone elses's system? Ask me in 15 months. I'm not convinced the raw talent is much different from that under Edsall, but, as people are now seeing, raw talent and potential is very different from having good football players 3 to 5 years later. This was a dreadful mistake, and should have been seen as one from the beginning. Ironically, while we will never know, Burton's "demands" may have, in Hathaway's mind, forced his hand on this. But no sane person should have pulled this trigger. Because now, with this having been opening night, I'm ready to point the thing at my own head.
