mikedog10
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The UConn offense has its problems.
The Huskies aren't running the ball efficiently, they don't catch it consistently in critical situations and the quarterback has a tendency to take off a little early at times.
The Huskies are 117th (108.3 yards a game) in rushing. The passing game, tied for 82nd (211.8), is slightly better, but when you factor in UConn is 95th on third down (35.8 percent) and 111th in sacks allowed (1.25), it's no wonder the Huskies are 125 of 127 schools in scoring points at 16.5.
The defense is 21st nationally, allowing 295.3 yards a game, so once again the offense is the culprit, which in recent years has become a trend.
Still, at 2-2, there is hope because the No.1 thing that has impressed the coaches from last season to this one is the work ethic of the offense. The unit wants to get it right, and a good start would be Friday night at BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN2). The Cougars, of course, also will be looking to get its offense back on track after being pasted 31-0 by Michigan last week.
The Huskies go hard, so the gear is in the right position, but execution, execution, execution ... that is what's going to drive the UConn offense. They are ahead of last year's offense after four games in many categories, but still much more is needed.
From receivers coach David Corley's vantage point it would look like this:
"It's doing what you're supposed to do, run your route at the right depth and when the ball is thrown to you, catch the ball," Corley said. "At the end of the day if its third-and-6 and your route is supposed to be at eight [yards] or it's third-and-4 and your route is supposed to be six, run your route to the right depth and catch it so we can move the chains.
"You don't have to do anything extraordinary. Just make a routine play. It's the same play you make every day in practice. Make that play. It may not seem like a big play at the time if it came in the first quarter, but if all of a sudden you don't make that play and you have to punt and maybe they come down and score ... All those plays matter. Routine plays you have to make routinely. It has to be like breathing. You don't think about breathing. You do it. And it's in everything we do, it's that guy catching the ball, getting a block, he may be the receiver on a run play. You have a blocking assignment you have to get that too, routinely."
When it comes to the offensive line, the grease that makes the whole thing go — or not — is execution, experience, development. While the Huskies start experienced tackles in juniors Richard Levy and Andreas Knappe with the lone senior starter at right guard, Tyler Samra, the Huskies' left guard, Tommy Hopkins' and center Brendan Vechery, both redshirt sophomores, are first-year starters. Vechery, previously a walk-on who was awarded a full scholarship in January, has replaced Ryan Crozier, a player the Huskies were really high on who sustained a season-ending leg injury during the summer. Crozier's move was already part of a shuffling up front with him primarily playing right guard as a freshman last year.
The players behind the starters are big and have potential but they lack experience, too.
"It's a matter of development," said Mike Cummings, the offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator. "As we gain experience we'll do better. I mean that's really what it is. The more you do things individually and together you get better at it, but we need to execute to get better. ... You can't do anything without the offensive line executing its job, being correct. It's a matter of execution. It's not a matter of effort."
Offensive coordinator Frank Verducci agrees.
"Better synchronization," he said of the issues. "All 11 guys in sync on a particular play doesn't happen as often as a fan might think because sometimes one player compensates for another, but right now we feel like we're not doing it enough to have the type of success that we'd like to have ... it's each guy doing his job. I mean anybody who lives in New England has heard 'Do your job,' and we're no different than that crew as far as the emphasis."
How can the coaches help the players along? They can't catch the ball on third-and-6. They can't protect quarterback Bryant Shirreffs and they can't block. But they can teach.
"They're 18 to 21 years old and some of them haven't figured out all the details that are needed to master their work, and that's what we're pursuing, mastery of our work, whether it's on a particular play or a particular skill so that that deficiency doesn't show up on Saturday," Verducci said.
"It's our job to mentor them. It's our job to keep trying to instill that in them until it takes hold — and we're confident it will take hold — because what we've had, in all four games, is outstanding effort. You can't win without the effort, but the effort alone isn't sufficient, so we'll continue to try and preach until we get that synchronization we're looking for."
The UConn offense has its problems.
The Huskies aren't running the ball efficiently, they don't catch it consistently in critical situations and the quarterback has a tendency to take off a little early at times.
The Huskies are 117th (108.3 yards a game) in rushing. The passing game, tied for 82nd (211.8), is slightly better, but when you factor in UConn is 95th on third down (35.8 percent) and 111th in sacks allowed (1.25), it's no wonder the Huskies are 125 of 127 schools in scoring points at 16.5.
The defense is 21st nationally, allowing 295.3 yards a game, so once again the offense is the culprit, which in recent years has become a trend.
Still, at 2-2, there is hope because the No.1 thing that has impressed the coaches from last season to this one is the work ethic of the offense. The unit wants to get it right, and a good start would be Friday night at BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN2). The Cougars, of course, also will be looking to get its offense back on track after being pasted 31-0 by Michigan last week.
The Huskies go hard, so the gear is in the right position, but execution, execution, execution ... that is what's going to drive the UConn offense. They are ahead of last year's offense after four games in many categories, but still much more is needed.
From receivers coach David Corley's vantage point it would look like this:
"It's doing what you're supposed to do, run your route at the right depth and when the ball is thrown to you, catch the ball," Corley said. "At the end of the day if its third-and-6 and your route is supposed to be at eight [yards] or it's third-and-4 and your route is supposed to be six, run your route to the right depth and catch it so we can move the chains.
"You don't have to do anything extraordinary. Just make a routine play. It's the same play you make every day in practice. Make that play. It may not seem like a big play at the time if it came in the first quarter, but if all of a sudden you don't make that play and you have to punt and maybe they come down and score ... All those plays matter. Routine plays you have to make routinely. It has to be like breathing. You don't think about breathing. You do it. And it's in everything we do, it's that guy catching the ball, getting a block, he may be the receiver on a run play. You have a blocking assignment you have to get that too, routinely."
When it comes to the offensive line, the grease that makes the whole thing go — or not — is execution, experience, development. While the Huskies start experienced tackles in juniors Richard Levy and Andreas Knappe with the lone senior starter at right guard, Tyler Samra, the Huskies' left guard, Tommy Hopkins' and center Brendan Vechery, both redshirt sophomores, are first-year starters. Vechery, previously a walk-on who was awarded a full scholarship in January, has replaced Ryan Crozier, a player the Huskies were really high on who sustained a season-ending leg injury during the summer. Crozier's move was already part of a shuffling up front with him primarily playing right guard as a freshman last year.
The players behind the starters are big and have potential but they lack experience, too.
"It's a matter of development," said Mike Cummings, the offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator. "As we gain experience we'll do better. I mean that's really what it is. The more you do things individually and together you get better at it, but we need to execute to get better. ... You can't do anything without the offensive line executing its job, being correct. It's a matter of execution. It's not a matter of effort."
Offensive coordinator Frank Verducci agrees.
"Better synchronization," he said of the issues. "All 11 guys in sync on a particular play doesn't happen as often as a fan might think because sometimes one player compensates for another, but right now we feel like we're not doing it enough to have the type of success that we'd like to have ... it's each guy doing his job. I mean anybody who lives in New England has heard 'Do your job,' and we're no different than that crew as far as the emphasis."
How can the coaches help the players along? They can't catch the ball on third-and-6. They can't protect quarterback Bryant Shirreffs and they can't block. But they can teach.
"They're 18 to 21 years old and some of them haven't figured out all the details that are needed to master their work, and that's what we're pursuing, mastery of our work, whether it's on a particular play or a particular skill so that that deficiency doesn't show up on Saturday," Verducci said.
"It's our job to mentor them. It's our job to keep trying to instill that in them until it takes hold — and we're confident it will take hold — because what we've had, in all four games, is outstanding effort. You can't win without the effort, but the effort alone isn't sufficient, so we'll continue to try and preach until we get that synchronization we're looking for."