Turning the Page to 2017: The Offense

[UConnDan97]

I would respectively disagree. The oline pass blocking was definitely better this year over last year to my eyes although arguably the run blocking was worse. More and more teams rush anywhere between 5 and 7 players on every play because they know that we are very slow to throw the ball ( quarterback with a slow release and offense strategy that doesn't appear to provide our quarterback dump off pass option when the primary receiver is covered may explain this). Pass blocking depends on everyone playing well not just the 5 offensive lineman. I watched Houston play at least 7 times this year and their o-line is no great shakes. The difference though is Ward is very elusive and was able to run away from the pass rush and then find a open receivers down field even though he was running for his life. Shirreffs on the other hand wasn't nearly elusive as Ward but more importantly did not throw very well on the run. Further, our wide receivers were no where near fast Houston's wide receivers and as such Sherriffs probably didn't have as many open targets as Ward did. I am not arguing that our oline doesn't need to improve a great deal for this program to get better but I think its unfair to point to the statistics and blame just the lack of improvement in the oline. A lack of a real OC doesn't help either. I am, however, in no way defending any of the coaches here. It appears that UConn football program has made 2 bad hires in a row for their head coach.

I respect that you disagreed respectfully. What I will say is that the number of sacks don't line up with improved pass blocking. They just don't. You only take sacks when you're passing, and we were almost the worst in the country. And as you mentioned, the run blocking was not better either.

When you have a relatively veteran line like we did this year, and they haven't improved over the last three years of coaching, one has to deduce that the primary problem is the coaching...

 

[uconnphil2016]

Yeah 0-12. That is how bad this situation is. I choose to realize the school needs to replace the coach immediately. You can choose to ignore reality.

Don't worry Linus. I'm sure the Great Pumpkin will show up this year.

Being positive about nonsense is part of what got us here. Why don't we do it the right way going forward and be honest about what we have.

Hope and faith is not a strategy.

I agree that we're terrible, but if we can't beat Holy Cross and at least go 1-11 I will never go back to a uconn football game

 

[freescooter]

OL coaching hire is more important than the OC hire, really. A competent line can make most OCs look good. If we don't change OL coach then we are toast.

Yeah, but who will go on vacation with the Diacos if they replace Cummings?

 

[Adios]

To say we can never get elite talent is ridiculous. We almost had Aaron Hernandez. Alaska-Anchorage almost had some elite homegrown player play hockey for them but financial issues drove him elsewhere.

 

[Skiblets]

Let me say this; I'll show off some of my optimistic spirit by saying that I hope De George and Leone are as good as advertised and can fit in right away, along with a healthy Hopkins and an improved Rutherford, Vechery, etc. I do believe that we have players here that could form a decent line.

But do I have even one iota of faith in the O-LINE coach at this point??? Good God, the guy has made the line progressively worse every year!

The quickest way to fixing the line is fixing the person responsible for the line...

Jesus i read your first sentence and almost had a heart attack. Thought you typed George Deleone

 

[CTMike]

Jesus i read your first sentence and almost had a heart attack. Thought you typed George Deleone

I do this as well. Gets me every time.

 

[UConnDan97]

Jesus i read your first sentence and almost had a heart attack. Thought you typed George Deleone

Alright. New rule: Leone's name has to be typed prior to DeGeorge's name at all times moving forward. In fact, DeGeorge should never play to the left of Leone, so as to ensure that we all stay healthy emotionally...

 

[Confident Carl]

Jesus i read your first sentence and almost had a heart attack. Thought you typed George Deleone

Not that DeLeone would be a fit for UCONN now for obvious reasons but just
curious why doesn't Matt Rhule and Temple have a problem with George DeLeone?
He hired him this year as run game coordinator and O line coach in 2016.

Temple had a great year. AAC champs, 46th in rushing, 65th in passing, 10-3, 25th ranked in the country and playing Wake Forest in the Military bowl.

Temple University Athletics - 2016 Football Coaching Staff

Spring Football Update #1: Matt Rhule and George DeLeone

 

[Tdaley]

I respect that you disagreed respectfully. What I will say is that the number of sacks don't line up with improved pass blocking. They just don't. You only take sacks when you're passing, and we were almost the worst in the country. And as you mentioned, the run blocking was not better either.

When you have a relatively veteran line like we did this year, and they haven't improved over the last three years of coaching, one has to deduce that the primary problem is the coaching...

My very limited point was that the 5 offensive linemen did a better job pass blocking this year over last despite the fact our quarterback was sack more times. Shirreffs ran for his life two years ago on most pass plays. This year our quarterbacks had more time to throw. Too many times Shirreffs pulled the ball down to run even though he had more time to throw. Further, the running backs missed a lot of pass blocks during the first half of the season which may have help inflate the sack number. Nevertheless, we can all agree that this was a god awful offensive team that needs both better players and better coaching.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Pass blocking was better this season, I agree. Shirreffs took many unnecessary sacks because 90% of the time he locked onto Thomas and wouldn't look for anybody else then would just hold the ball instead of throwing it away (something he seemed allergic to). Run blocking was about the same. I thought when Hopkins was at RG we had a passable line, when he went out with injuries those 2 separate times there was a dropoff.

 

[TheDoggPound]

My very limited point was that the 5 offensive linemen did a better job pass blocking this year over last despite the fact our quarterback was sack more times. Shirreffs ran for his life two years ago on most pass plays. This year our quarterbacks had more time to throw. Too many times Shirreffs pulled the ball down to run even though he had more time to throw. Further, the running backs missed a lot of pass blocks during the first half of the season which may have help inflate the sack number. Nevertheless, we can all agree that this was a god awful offensive team that needs both better players and better coaching.

If I had a $ for how many blocks Newsome missed this season.... Yea he is a good player but sometimes he's mentally aloof back there in pass protection.

 

[JMick]

If I had a $ for how many blocks Newsome missed this season.... Yea he is a good player but sometimes he's mentally aloof back there in pass protection.

he was still leagues ahead of Johnson. RJ whiffed almost every single time

 

[freescooter]

The backs are not good blockers but many backs struggle with that. She you say the linemen are not good blockers, though, you know you have problems. I'm with those who say we need a whole new approach on the line and that means a new coach for that position. 3 years with no improvement is long enough.

 

[ktuck911]

he was still leagues ahead of Johnson. RJ whiffed almost every single time

the unsettling part about that is how much bigger he is than Newsome

 

[JMick]

the unsettling part about that is how much bigger he is than Newsome

To be fair to both of them, it seemed like either the QB was calling the wrong protections or the line was messing up their assignments a lot of the time. Rushers were coming from different places than where the backs were stepping up to.

 

[ktuck911]

To be fair to both of them, it seemed like either the QB was calling the wrong protections or the line was messing up their assignments a lot of the time. Rushers were coming from different places than where the backs were stepping up to.

which leads me back to a post of a Boneyarder on a previous thread when we started looking like on the field "WTF were they doing in practice?"

 

[freescooter]

which leads me back to a post of a Boneyarder on a previous thread when we started looking like on the field "WTF were they doing in practice?"

Learning Kumbya in 4 part harmony?

 

[Tdaley]

To be fair to both of them, it seemed like either the QB was calling the wrong protections or the line was messing up their assignments a lot of the time. Rushers were coming from different places than where the backs were stepping up to.

Good point. Many times the running backs had no chance where they were lined up. Our qb often didn't seem to recognize where the pass rush was coming from.