This Isn't Working

[nelsonmuntz]

In a shocking development, we are learning that UConn football is pretty bad. This is going to take time to turn around.

 

[UCSouth]

What am I missing here? I get I get over the top emotional with this program. We have all suffered plenty this past decade. To answer your question no I did not expect a CFB playoff. I don't get whey people can't be upset getting absolutely mopped by Syracuse good or not. Its almost as if there should never be a reason for fans to be upset with how poorly this program is performing because if they are it means those fans were expected to win a national championship.

Simply put the program has been absolutely terrible the past decade and in the past half-decade among the worst performing college football programs in history. I think its ok for fans to be upset when they are sold another bag of crap when a new coach comes in an the results are the same. The offense is still terrible .. did it go from ranked 130 to 125 .. maybe if that's how you want to view improvement. The defense got trounced. The two teams UConn has faced thus far were beaten by in and out division FCS teams. What am I missing that shows we are A LOT better this year?

But, when you post...we are all forced to suffer just a little bit more. Your whining is insane.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Michigan will smoke us but I get a sneaky suspicion we will play NC State close. Either way we need to get to 2-4 to keep a bowl game in place.

Bowl game? UConn isn't getting anywhere near a bowl game this season. Tonight's performance against SU serves only to point out that UConn would struggle in the CIAC Class L playoffs. It was that bad.

 

[shizzle787]

Bowl game? UConn isn't getting anywhere near a bowl game this season. Tonight's performance against SU serves only to point out that UConn would struggle in the CIAC Class L playoffs. It was that bad.

You haven't looked at the back half of our schedule: we still have to play FIU, Ball State, and UMass. As a bonus, Army and BC are both worse than we thought.

 

[jdb50]

The play calling on Zions last series was maddening, and Mullen should have been in for that series. No throw to a TE tonight. No throws of 15 yards downfield. Are we the shortest team in FBS? Serious question. Our receivers and defensive backs are all short. It really affects he defensive backs ability to make a play on the ball in coverage. And having no one with height as a downfield threat hurts the offense. Zion is listed as 5'11" and it has to affect his downfield vision vs 6'4" Shrader. I was worried about the pass rush as the season started and it has to be addressed if possible. They seemed to be rotating a run stop vs pass rush group at D-line. Yates and Stafford are getting better there. Not being able to defend in the pass game really hurt us on D. But the defense is better and even with the tough next 2 road games coming up they need to hang in there and keep up with the improved tackling.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Everyone needs to calm down. As much as I hate to admit it, Syracuse is a really good team and I think we will find that out as the season progresses. They pretty easily beat Louisville and allowed Louisville to score only 7 points and Louisville just beat UCF at UCF yesterday.

As for Turner, he is a true freshman and they are bringing him along slowly to develop him. It doesn't help that UConn's WRs have been decimated with Ross and Marion out with injury, Drayton suspended and Fitzgerald has been slowly coming back from injury. I really don't think UConn has field stretching WRs right now. Does anyone remember how bad a true freshman Tim Boyle looked and he has played in the NFL.

Finally, this team is dramatically improved from last year. Tackling is much better, the OL looks better, RBs look better. That said, UConn needs to continue to improve to compete with good P5 teams.

Tim Boyle was never good at UConn. Never, in fact, he bordered on being a nonentity. HOWEVER, you could see the potential. You could see the cannon for an arm. It was just sad that the UConn coaching staff knew so little about teaching a passing game.

Boyle, to his credit, never gave up on himself. He capitalized on that potential and found a nice niche for himself in the NFL. I'm sure too, that he had competent coaching to improve on his natural talent while with the Pack.

Boyle could have been a really good UConn QB. A really good passer. Too bad he didn't have the benefit of someone like Mike Leach as his coach. And, if I remember Leach was looking for a job back during those years.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

You haven't looked at the back half of our schedule: we still have to play FIU, Ball State, and UMass. As a bonus, Army and BC are both worse than we thought.

I have look at those games. I've also looked at the lack of talent on the field by the Huskies.

 

[Woof 101]

You couldn't have scripted a worse game for UConn. That was brutal.

Yes it was to say the least.

In a shocking development, we are learning that UConn football is pretty bad. This is going to take time to turn around.

Yes it is to say the least.
PUBLIC SERVICE NOTICE.....
Due to technical difficulties beyond our control the exact date for UConn football band wagoners to jump back on has been postponed.

 

[Coach J]

There's nobody for him to throw to down the field. It's probably the worst receiving core in the country. If he's throwing down the field to covered guys in that game he's going to have a few interceptions.

I agree it's impossible to beat legit opponents with dink and dunk, the reality is the team is nowhere near in position to beat legit opponents because of it's deficiencies.

I'm sorry, but you can't throw over 75% of your passes behind the line of scrimmage and try to be competitive. 3.1 yards per completion on the 13 that went for 41 yards if you take out the 56 yarder Turner took to the house out is outrageously bad.

How about some outs, digs, or crossings then. You can't run exclusive bubble screens and 5 yard smashes. Take one of the speedy backs on this team and run them up the field on a fade - if only to keep the defense honest. Maybe some play action or option freeze to help them get open - but try something else.

 

[superjohn]

AP had a worse day than UConn football...

 

[Coach J]

Anyone know about Matt Drayton's status, he was pretty good as a freshman 2 years ago, I don't think I saw #4 on the field or the sidelines this game.

 

[UConniki]

With all due respect ... at this point this sounds like a broken record.

With all due respect....At this point you sound like you know nothing about football, Starting QB (OUT), Backup QB (OUT), 1ST string WR (OUT), 2ND string WR (OUT), 3RD string WR (OUT ), 2ND string RB (OUT). This from a team that won 4 games in the last 3 years and was never competitive in most games. And you expected what with the team he inherited and all of the injuries and a very difficult schedule to start the season. At this point you sound like a broken record. Thanks for your interest in UConn sports.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Lots of gnashing of teeth about the offense. Think we should be more concerned about the defense.

Do u think we should hire a defensive coordinator?

 

[NHRich]

Your comment is false, we got plenty of players who belong at the FBS level.

Ok, list all the recruits that had multiple offers from teams you expect to beat. Nothing will change until we start winning the recruiting battle against these teams.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We were physically over matched. It was clear from about the first series. Syracuse needs to make a ton of mistakes for us to have even a chance. They didn’t. They are a very good football team. All that said, Turner is not a D1 quarterback. He is totally overmatched, has zero feel for the game, and it is pretty clear the coaches have zero confidence in him despite all the happy talk. 3rd and 15 and you call a swing pass to a running back, it means you don’t think your quarterback can throw the football down the field. And you simply cannot win in the modern game with a guy who throws for under 100 yards. And that was padded with a long run after a short catch for the td. It’s either they don’t believe in him or th OC should take a leave of absence too. His play calling was painfully predictable. And you just have to throw the football down the field at least a couple of times. Even if you just toss it into the cheap seats. Just awful performance.

The lack of downfield passing is a chicken and egg to me.

We don't have fast WR's who can get separation nor do we have big, physical WR's who can just win the 50/50 passes. So, the downfield passing plays take time to develop. DC's know this so they bring heat compressing Turner's throwing window.
It's obvious the speed and complexity of D1 defenses are too much for Turner right now. If Ibwere a DC I'd put all 11 players inside of 10 yards from LOS.
I really wish they'd do some designed run plays with Turner where they attack the pressure points from the D. Schrader had several nice designed zone read runs last night.
Maybe they are trying to protect Turner from getting hit due to lack of QB depth. I do know the passing game is a mess.

 

[metsfan2323]

Maybe they are trying to protect Turner from getting hit due to lack of QB depth.

The goal should be to get through these very difficult P5 games unscathed so we can put forth a good effort against the teams we have a chance to beat. Benedict didn't do Mora any favors with this schedule. I'm much more excited about the FIU game than I am about the Michigan and NC State games.

 

[Chief00]

oof. QB1, WR1, WR2, RB2

Exactly, I agree on the Turner and play calling criticisms, but our receivers are not getting any separation either. But we are down 2-3 of our best receivers. Brewton is a big loss, and this may wear Carter out and have the defense focus solely on him, riding his injury likelihood.

 

[RSTuthill]

I think we all could have predicted this if we were being honest with ourselves. As soon as we saw that Syracuse had a real team this year we knew the game was problematic. The next three games are just as tough. The objective will be to learn as much as possible and keep injuries to a minimum. Yes, we knew that 1-5 was likely (and still is), but then it gets better.

 

[Chief00]

Granted the injuries but one thing that strikes me for a roster with a 50% turnover: Nearly all our best players are returnees. Carter and Brewton are our best RB’s, our three top receivers are injuried returnee guys. Mitchell is by far our best defensive guy. The defense really misses Jones. The offensive line may be an exception, showing better run blocking than pass protection though. Still our best OL is returnee Haynes.
We took in over 40 new guys and not one has stood out thus far except the guy from Bristol on his late game run against Central. It is early, but one thing is very clear, we need to upgrade our recruit talent evaluations. No one has jumped off the page and passed the eye test.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You are dreaming. NC State is 2nd or 3rd best team in ACC, Syracuse was picked last. Even with the good start v. Louisville they are a 4 to 8 win team.

I do not know how good cuse will be this year.

I do know they have a very QB and had as good of a game tackling as I've seen in a long time. Multiple times on kickoffs, runs, or pass catches cuse defenders absolutely squared up and decleated UConn players or just 100% stopped them with a hit.

 

[Nostical]

Am I being unfair to say that Tyler P was a more dynamic threat than ZT? That I don’t see the spirited confidence and “escapability” factor that Tyler Phommachanh displayed? If healthy, would you start him over ZT?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Tackling is way better. The offense is down it’s too 3 receivers and QB

 

[Husky92]

Am I being unfair to say that Tyler P was a more dynamic threat than ZT? That I don’t see the spirited confidence and “escapability” factor that Tyler Phommachanh displayed? If healthy, would you start him over ZT?

At this point in time 100%. People say he doesn’t have good arm strength, but crap…he was fun to watch and alway on the move. Turner has shown me nothing.

 

[Husky92]

At this point in time 100%. People say he doesn’t have good arm strength, but crap…he was fun to watch and alway on the move. Turner has shown me nothing.

I’ll add that I support Turner. He may turn into something, but he been less than impressive.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Am I being unfair to say that Tyler P was a more dynamic threat than ZT? That I don’t see the spirited confidence and “escapability” factor that Tyler Phommachanh displayed? If healthy, would you start him over ZT?

No, you are not.

Turner definitely has hesitation issues right now.

I know he wasn't recruited as a dual threat run first QB but he has some wheels. Between designated run plays or designed rollout, Charlton has to do something. The top WR's are out and trying to run a offense drop back passing game will not work this year.