- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
- Messages
- 21,045
- Reaction Score
- 63,538
On that awful weather day -- on a day that was dark and wet and damp and thick and cloudy and altogether ugly -- was the tiny bit of daylight trying to get through from time to time the light at the end of the tunner? I don't want to overreact to the win -- HCBD and this team have a long and difficult journey ahead of them even to get back to where we were under Edsall -- much less beyond it -- but especially for those of us crazy enough to stay to the end of the game yesterday (and I would bet money that, by the 4th quarter, there were more spectators in the dry, warm superstructure than there were in the bowl itself), I think the compelling reason to risk health to stay was exactly that hope. That, if it's still a long, long way from good times, at least we are now climbing back up the mountain, as opposed to testing the depths of the valley.
As great as yesterday was, there was a fluke element about it that makes me not want to overreact to it, and to wait to see if we can now handle a bad football team (yes, you Army) before overreacting. We went 20 minutes without a first down. And we produced 37 points with a shockingly small amount of total offense to support it. The D did not have one of its better games. And we saw a UCF team that seemed to come apart in weather that they've probably never seen and couldn't have been mentally prepared for. And, for all that, was I the only one worried that if the refs missed or wouldn't call the offensive pass interference on their last drive, we might not have stopped them and be heading for OT? So it was a great win, and a day that for those of us who stayed to the end won't be soon forgotten. But I don't want to think that, if we started the conference season again, we could complete for the league championship. We're not experienced, deep or good enough yet.
Let me start with HCBD. Any judgment before the end of this season (at least) is premature. He clearly was more focused on changing the culture and attitude than in squeezing out wins. That doesn't mean that he doesn't want to win -- that's always been a dumb analysis -- but that he's not willing to sacrifice doing things the right way for shortcuts that might steal a win or two along the way but will not prepare us for getting us where he wants. That's why you have to be patient with things like blowing redshirts left and right for players who aren't necessary or making the team better. Will we be worse off for it in '18? Yes, when we're playing without fifth year seniors, we will be. But he is saying I need everyone to buy in now, and if that means a sacrifice five years out -- well, none of us know if this is good in balance or not. But you see buy in, and you see effort, and you can't dismiss what he's doing. Having said that, there is no question that yesterday, he was sending his players a message that he believed in them The attempt to fake a punt early (spoiled by a procedure penalty). The fourth down conversation only down one possession in the first half. And the brilliant switch to Foxx that caught the D flat footed in the second Q. It was a good day for HCBD and his staff. There will still be bad days (because the players won the game yesterday and will lose others). But yesterday was a good day, and should have shown everyone that his first priority -- rational if not right -- is to change the attitude around the team before he worries about either the extra win now or 2018.
So, as I get in to offense, defense and specials, let me apologize. I was not as nearly as focused on small details as I usually am, because I was focused on survivial and avoiding hypothermia. On specials, we don't have the star returner we've usually had (from LIttle LT or Reggie to Nick Williams), but we have more than held our own this year by making less mistakes than our opponents on specials. See, e.g., UCF's #88, who kept being thrown out to return kicks despite clearly suffering from brain freeze. Kudos to Puyol, who despite the conditions made a huge kick to change momentum in the halftime locker room, and to Summers, while unblocked, showed athleticism in blocking their FG attempt. Yes, we need a dangerous KR, even if we have to recruit one who doesn't help that much from scimmage, but we continue to give more than we take on specials.
That was not one of the Ds better efforts. But it wasn't terrible generally other than giving up too many big passing plays. I thought Campenni, Adams and Stewart were great (and, with his athleticism and his improvement curve, we just may see huge things from Stewarn next year). Obi, on the other hand, was awful. While others missed tackles too, he was in the safety position on the last TD and totally whiffed on even getting near the WR when he started running. And the non-play he made on the ball on their long 2d Q pass down the left sideline was hard to belive. if you can't pick it you can't pick it, but you can't fail to get a hand on the ball and break it up. But if it wasn't as good a defensive effort as we've seen, it is great watching all these young guys getting playing time and playing well. We can continue to be a good defensive team -- at least on an AAC level -- going forward.
Whick takes us to offense. As I said earlier, it's hard to see how we manufactured 37 points from as little total offense and as few first downs as we've had. The big plays we've been producing the last two games, and the points, can't mask the total inability to run the ball conventionally or the inability to find WRs other than Foxx and Thomas in Geremy Davis's absence (and if you looked, there were many palys where shockingly Whitmer had plenty of time, but just couldn't find a receiver who wasn't covered. But the spread is clearly our future, and I would be shocked if we didn't see Boyle stop getting his series and Foxx sharing the QB snaps with Whitmer from here on. That having been said, kudos to the OL, which if it can't run block yet has improved in pass blocking at a rate that no one would have thought possible, to Noel Thomas who is becoming a playmaker young and before our eyes, to Ron Johnson who never stopped running hard despite not seeing a hole for three quarters or to Ansonia's own, who didn't let his reduced playing time stop him from running hard when he got his chance. And, most importantly, to Foxx, who is now playing his third offensive position in his time at UConn but is refusing to let his senior year go by without showing a big play ability that we haven't seen since the days of the Donald and Easley and Todman.
So a speedy recovery to the other idiots who joined me in sitting through four outside hours of that. Hopefully we now show that our ability to play with better teams like ECU and UCF transforms to the ability to control bad teams, and that, unlike the games against Stoney Brook, USF and Tulane, we handle Army quickly and easily. If we do, we go into an off week with huge momentum and looking at a home game against Cincy that (giving us SMU to end the year) would put us within one road win of bowl eligibility. And, will make us wonder how we could have let our opportunities to beat bad teams in TAmpa and New Orleans turned out so wrong.
And if you have the opportunity, buy tickets to Yankee Stadium and make noise. In the big picture, it can't hurt.
As great as yesterday was, there was a fluke element about it that makes me not want to overreact to it, and to wait to see if we can now handle a bad football team (yes, you Army) before overreacting. We went 20 minutes without a first down. And we produced 37 points with a shockingly small amount of total offense to support it. The D did not have one of its better games. And we saw a UCF team that seemed to come apart in weather that they've probably never seen and couldn't have been mentally prepared for. And, for all that, was I the only one worried that if the refs missed or wouldn't call the offensive pass interference on their last drive, we might not have stopped them and be heading for OT? So it was a great win, and a day that for those of us who stayed to the end won't be soon forgotten. But I don't want to think that, if we started the conference season again, we could complete for the league championship. We're not experienced, deep or good enough yet.
Let me start with HCBD. Any judgment before the end of this season (at least) is premature. He clearly was more focused on changing the culture and attitude than in squeezing out wins. That doesn't mean that he doesn't want to win -- that's always been a dumb analysis -- but that he's not willing to sacrifice doing things the right way for shortcuts that might steal a win or two along the way but will not prepare us for getting us where he wants. That's why you have to be patient with things like blowing redshirts left and right for players who aren't necessary or making the team better. Will we be worse off for it in '18? Yes, when we're playing without fifth year seniors, we will be. But he is saying I need everyone to buy in now, and if that means a sacrifice five years out -- well, none of us know if this is good in balance or not. But you see buy in, and you see effort, and you can't dismiss what he's doing. Having said that, there is no question that yesterday, he was sending his players a message that he believed in them The attempt to fake a punt early (spoiled by a procedure penalty). The fourth down conversation only down one possession in the first half. And the brilliant switch to Foxx that caught the D flat footed in the second Q. It was a good day for HCBD and his staff. There will still be bad days (because the players won the game yesterday and will lose others). But yesterday was a good day, and should have shown everyone that his first priority -- rational if not right -- is to change the attitude around the team before he worries about either the extra win now or 2018.
So, as I get in to offense, defense and specials, let me apologize. I was not as nearly as focused on small details as I usually am, because I was focused on survivial and avoiding hypothermia. On specials, we don't have the star returner we've usually had (from LIttle LT or Reggie to Nick Williams), but we have more than held our own this year by making less mistakes than our opponents on specials. See, e.g., UCF's #88, who kept being thrown out to return kicks despite clearly suffering from brain freeze. Kudos to Puyol, who despite the conditions made a huge kick to change momentum in the halftime locker room, and to Summers, while unblocked, showed athleticism in blocking their FG attempt. Yes, we need a dangerous KR, even if we have to recruit one who doesn't help that much from scimmage, but we continue to give more than we take on specials.
That was not one of the Ds better efforts. But it wasn't terrible generally other than giving up too many big passing plays. I thought Campenni, Adams and Stewart were great (and, with his athleticism and his improvement curve, we just may see huge things from Stewarn next year). Obi, on the other hand, was awful. While others missed tackles too, he was in the safety position on the last TD and totally whiffed on even getting near the WR when he started running. And the non-play he made on the ball on their long 2d Q pass down the left sideline was hard to belive. if you can't pick it you can't pick it, but you can't fail to get a hand on the ball and break it up. But if it wasn't as good a defensive effort as we've seen, it is great watching all these young guys getting playing time and playing well. We can continue to be a good defensive team -- at least on an AAC level -- going forward.
Whick takes us to offense. As I said earlier, it's hard to see how we manufactured 37 points from as little total offense and as few first downs as we've had. The big plays we've been producing the last two games, and the points, can't mask the total inability to run the ball conventionally or the inability to find WRs other than Foxx and Thomas in Geremy Davis's absence (and if you looked, there were many palys where shockingly Whitmer had plenty of time, but just couldn't find a receiver who wasn't covered. But the spread is clearly our future, and I would be shocked if we didn't see Boyle stop getting his series and Foxx sharing the QB snaps with Whitmer from here on. That having been said, kudos to the OL, which if it can't run block yet has improved in pass blocking at a rate that no one would have thought possible, to Noel Thomas who is becoming a playmaker young and before our eyes, to Ron Johnson who never stopped running hard despite not seeing a hole for three quarters or to Ansonia's own, who didn't let his reduced playing time stop him from running hard when he got his chance. And, most importantly, to Foxx, who is now playing his third offensive position in his time at UConn but is refusing to let his senior year go by without showing a big play ability that we haven't seen since the days of the Donald and Easley and Todman.
So a speedy recovery to the other idiots who joined me in sitting through four outside hours of that. Hopefully we now show that our ability to play with better teams like ECU and UCF transforms to the ability to control bad teams, and that, unlike the games against Stoney Brook, USF and Tulane, we handle Army quickly and easily. If we do, we go into an off week with huge momentum and looking at a home game against Cincy that (giving us SMU to end the year) would put us within one road win of bowl eligibility. And, will make us wonder how we could have let our opportunities to beat bad teams in TAmpa and New Orleans turned out so wrong.
And if you have the opportunity, buy tickets to Yankee Stadium and make noise. In the big picture, it can't hurt.
