Two in a row

[Palatine]

Almost unnoticed, the UConn football Huskies have won two games in row under Pasqualoni for the first time in his stewardship. Beat Cinny, it's three in row.

 

[mattp]

If we win 3 in a row, will anyone change their opinion of P and GDL? Honestly I don't think a lot of people will which is a shame. Last year GDL did okay considering the tools he had, and now this year's team seems to be putting it together on offense, while Brown's defense has been pretty much lights out. It seems like both seasons it took us a while to get going, but then we've gotten better halfway through the season. Our Oline actually looked decent the last couple of games. I don't think P will ever iron out his clock issues, unless he does the smart thing and hires an undergrad with a Ritalin prescription and a thousand hours logged in on Madden to handle it for him, but some things are improved and it should be noted.

 

[Brochacho]

If we win 3 in a row, will anyone change their opinion of P and GDL?

No.

 

[Palatine]

If Pasqualoni plays a lot of personnel, uses all his RBs, manages the clock well at the end of both halves, the team puts up a bunch of points and wins comfortably, maybe, maybe he can win over a few fans.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

There's not much that can change my opinion of GDL. He needs to go. I don't care if we win tomorrow and in our bowl game. He's done more damage to this offense than I could have possibly imagined.

 

[businesslawyer]

No.

Of course it should. Everyone's opinion on everything, if they are fair, changes constantly. Personally, that's why I believe that real discussions -- as opposed to expressions of frustration -- need to occur at the end of the season.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Almost unnoticed, the UConn football Huskies have won two games in row under Pasqualoni for the first time in his stewardship. Beat Cinny, it's three in row.

Almost unnoticed. Didn't get a lot of run after Sat's big win.

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/stat-that-shouldnt-be-overlooked.28307/

 

[UConnDan97]

If we win 3 in a row, will anyone change their opinion of P and GDL? Honestly I don't think a lot of people will which is a shame. Last year GDL did okay considering the tools he had, and now this year's team seems to be putting it together on offense, while Brown's defense has been pretty much lights out. It seems like both seasons it took us a while to get going, but then we've gotten better halfway through the season. Our Oline actually looked decent the last couple of games. I don't think P will ever iron out his clock issues, unless he does the smart thing and hires an undergrad with a Ritalin prescription and a thousand hours logged in on Madden to handle it for him, but some things are improved and it should be noted.

Agreed that they are looking better. Particularly in the run game. We should have been more productive in the passing game as well, but that was about the worst case of the dropsies that we've had all year. I think every wide receiver had one, and Williams seemed to have a couple (plus the catch he had that would have given us the first down but his toes were on the white line).

If the sign of good coaching is whether or not a team improves its play over the course of a season, and I believe that to be true, then it does appear that for the second year in a row, the team is getting better down the stretch. This is including key injuries to Masters, Joseph, Jennings, and Stephen (part of the year). I might be missing some more, too. I'm never going to argue that PP and GDL have done a great job to this point. The results stand for themselves. But it does appear that the kids are getting "coached up" to me, for what it's worth, which is a great sign...

 

[Brochacho]

Of course it should. Everyone's opinion on everything, if they are fair, changes constantly. Personally, that's why I believe that real discussions -- as opposed to expressions of frustration -- need to occur at the end of the season.

66-3.

 

[formerlurker]

Of course it should. Everyone's opinion on everything, if they are fair, changes constantly. Personally, that's why I believe that real discussions -- as opposed to expressions of frustration -- need to occur at the end of the season.

The best we can finish the regular season is 6-6. Let the real discussions begin.

 

[mattp]

I might be missing something but what does the 66-3 mean?

 

[UConnDan97]

64-40

 

[UConnDan97]

I might be missing something but what does the 66-3 mean?

I'm guessing he's referring to the second half points of Big East opponents versus UConn. I hate that statistic, because the thing that gets left out is that we have outscored our Big East opponents by 24 in the first half, 64-40...

(also, if you take out the Syracuse game where the wheels came off, it would be 54-20)

 

[Brochacho]

I might be missing something but what does the 66-3 mean?

In Big East play we have scored 3 points in the second half, and given up 66.

 

[Brochacho]

I'm guessing he's referring to the second half points of Big East opponents versus UConn. I hate that statistic, because the thing that gets left out is that we have outscored our Big East opponents by 24 in the first half, 64-40...

So -39 in BE play is good?

And I just noticed that Syracuse tidbit, so how about this. Take away the Louisville game, and we are going into the season finale without scoring a single point in the second half.

 

[UConnDan97]

So -39 in BE play is good?

Again, as my note stated, the Syracuse game was an absolute anomaly. Our defense just doesn't allow 40 points in a game, period. If you took away the differential from that game, it would be a -9, which is exactly why we are in the bottom half of the conference and not the top. We are not at the bottom, though, and we have a chance to remain in 5th place with a victory and play for a bowl game...

 

[Nostical]

It's sickening to think we could have been playing for the title tomorrow. 66-3. We had the talent. In fact some players were actually improved by these coaches. Some even commented that GDL (of all people) has made them better at their position. The problem is in the schemes, playcalls and failure to adjust when every opposing coach had done so at halftime.

 

[UConnDan97]

It's sickening to think we could have been playing for the title tomorrow. 66-3. We had the talent. In fact some players were actually improved by these coaches. Some even commented that GDL (of all people) has made them better at their position. The problem is in the schemes, playcalls and failure to adjust when every opposing coach had done so at halftime.

Which brings me to my next point: Coaching gameplans and adjustments.

A lot has been said about the fact that the second half has been so bad probably due to being outcoached. I don't see it that way. Yes, adjustments are made at halftime, but it is likely that fatigue also becomes a factor as well, along with other possible issues.

Nobody ever seems to say, "Hey, we're outscoring Big East opponents by 24 points in the first half....it must be due to the coaches putting in a good gameplan during the week of preparation!" Why is that? Both our coaching staff and the opponent's coaching staff has a chance to study for each other for a week (sometimes, two weeks), and we are outscoring them handily. Isn't that good coaching???

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Which brings me to my next point: Coaching gameplans and adjustments.

A lot has been said about the fact that the second half has been so bad probably due to being outcoached. I don't see it that way. Yes, adjustments are made at halftime, but it is likely that fatigue also becomes a factor as well, along with other possible issues.

Nobody ever seems to say, "Hey, we're outscoring Big East opponents by 24 points in the first half....it must be due to the coaches putting in a good gameplan during the week of preparation!" Why is that? Both our coaching staff and the opponent's coaching staff has a chance to study for each other for a week (sometimes, two weeks), and we are outscoring them handily. Isn't that good coaching???

Acutally I have said that.

Dan, when you are outscored 66-3 in the second half of games it is more than fatigue. That is not being able to make in game adjustments. I agree that our staff puts together a solid game plan during the week. Look at the Temple game. That first quarter may be the best quarter I've seen any UConn team ever play. What happened after that, when Temple took away the middle of the field and brought different blitz packages, was a failure of our coaches to make adjustments on the fly.

I've accepted that P will be back. But if he cannot cut ties with his longtime buddy than he should be shown the door.

 

[UConnDan97]

Acutally I have said that.

Then that makes two of us on the BY, and that's probably where it ends.

Adjustments are part of it, sure. Fatigue is part of it too. Inexperience is part of it. Mistakes are a part of it. Conservative play-calling in the early part of the Big East schedule is part of it (GDL does not get to be off the hook from me when it comes to that). But to be fair, I think that the coaches for the most part have tried to stay aggressive throughout the last couple of BE games.

And hey, the quality of opponents has increased in my opinion, also. Going up against Syracuse and Louisville and Rutgers is much different than going up against UMass and Western Michigan and Buffalo. I think the team is showing signs of improvement as the season closes, and I think that for the most part, the coaches have set up a good game plan to open every game. I guess I just felt that it needed to be said here. There are a lot of things that need to be fixed, don't get me wrong. But there are a lot of things that are starting to get better also...

 

[mattp]

After last season I felt like if our week 10-12 team had played the whole season we'd have won 7-8 games and I think I'd say that this season. Maybe this is just a symptom of the growing pains associated with changing the Oline and things will be better next year. I hope so, although it is a little disconcerting that some people seem so set against P and GDL that they'd rather see them fail and leave than see them succeed.

 

[UConnDan97]

After last season I felt like if our week 10-12 team had played the whole season we'd have won 7-8 games and I think I'd say that this season. Maybe this is just a symptom of the growing pains associated with changing the Oline and things will be better next year. I hope so, although it is a little disconcerting that some people seem so set against P and GDL that they'd rather see them fail and leave than see them succeed.

This.