UConn opens as 33 point underdog at Utah State in Week 0 | Page 4 | The Boneyard

UConn opens as 33 point underdog at Utah State in Week 0

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Can the offense with most likely a new QB come out of the gate able to put points on the board throughout the game? That will be the biggest factor in determining if we can cover IMO. Sustain some drives and we can make it tight game. Have to have a functional passing game to do this. Coaches catching passes on the sidelines- could be a long day.
 

BlueandOG

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To paraphrase Chevy Chase in Vacation, I think anyone who thinks we lose by that much is forked in the head.

(New coaches + a lot of new players) * a new attitude = a new outcome (wins)

Enough nonsense! Let's go Huskies!
 
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Can the offense with most likely a new QB come out of the gate able to put points on the board throughout the game? That will be the biggest factor in determining if we can cover IMO. Sustain some drives and we can make it tight game. Have to have a functional passing game to do this. Coaches catching passes on the sidelines- could be a long day.
Just having a semblance of competency on offense would go a long way toward beating that number.
 
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Ah, the vacation home I presume? Good luck with that.
In this housing market? Absolutely not. I don't even own a home because I'm still repairing my credit from getting laid off in 2016 and getting absolutely hosed by my student loans. Hopefully soon though. Trying to get me one of those tiny homes to live in. I don't want a big house. Just enough for me and a dog and some land for a detached 2 car garage.
 
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If anything, I would in-game live bet this based on what the first 1-2 offense/defense possessions looked like.

My betting hope (not UConn fan hope!) would be for us to fall behind 10-0 or 14-0 but to look potentially competent. Line will go up live…jump on it!

I would guess that Utah St may be more apt to rest starters a bit more with a 20+ pt lead with Alabama looming as their next game.
 

ShakyTheMohel

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If anything, I would in-game live bet this based on what the first 1-2 offense/defense possessions looked like.

My betting hope (not UConn fan hope!) would be for us to fall behind 10-0 or 14-0 but to look potentially competent. Line will go up live…jump on it!
Um....yeah...I doubt you will get a lot of support on here from UConn fans hoping they get down a couple scores quickly so you can win potentially win some money....lol.
 
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Um....yeah...I doubt you will get a lot of support on here from UConn fans hoping they get down a couple scores quickly so you can win potentially win some money....lol.

That would be why i put the qualifier statement (in parentheses) immediately after the statement.

Of course as a UConn fan, I hope we never fall behind and win the game outright. This thread was started as a discussion of the betting line for the game...thus the commends about how I thought it might be best to bet the game (if someone were to choose to do that)

It is quite possible (and quite likely) that they do fall behind in the 1st/early 2nd quarter. And also likely that they eventually lose the game. Rebuilding program and all that...
 

Alum86

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Chin and Phil put it into perfect perspective. We give up gobs of points and score very little. We sh”t the bed ATS last year. USU is a top 25 team. The allure of easy money v. being true to your school.
Tough call.
 
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Chin and Phil put it into perfect perspective. We give up gobs of points and score very little. We sh”t the bed ATS last year. USU is a top 25 team. The allure of easy money v. being true to your school.
Tough call.
Is USU a top 25 school this year?
 
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I thought I remember hearing USU lost a lot to graduation?
They do have something not many schools can claim. A starting QB who was conf championship offensive MVP who will actively play in 6 seasons in college. Nice to have on day one of a new season.
 

ShakyTheMohel

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No idea who this is....but they have Utah State pretty low (#91) considering where they ended up last year.

As for defending champion Utah State, the Aggies’ prognostication is much improved from this time a year ago but personnel losses on defense will provide the biggest challenge in this year’s climb. Interestingly, their unit splits are almost a mirror image of the conference champions who preceded them, San Jose State, though both have taken to the transfer portal to reinforce where SP+ has taken its most conservative views.

 
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I thought I remember hearing USU lost a lot to graduation?
They return their QB & 4/5ths of the offensive line. They lost their best player (WR) but replaced them with P5 transfer portal guys.

They were projected 122nd in SP+ last year en-route to winning the conference.. so SP+ likes them better at the start of this year (91st). They finished last year 80th in the SP+ rankings (UConn was 129th).

Offensively SP+ pegs them similar to Boise (73rd), it's the defense (102nd) that SP+ doesn't like. They will likely score.. SP+ hates the UConn offense and as mentioned it'll be a question of can the UConn offense score enough to allow for the cover.

FWIW: SP+ has UConn 130th on offense and 114th on defense en-route to the 127th overall ranking.

SP+ is a Bill Connelly metric: What is SP+? In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency, it's not a power ranking, but designed to be a projection tool.
 

Alum86

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They return their QB & 4/5ths of the offensive line. They lost their best player (WR) but replaced them with P5 transfer portal guys.

They were projected 122nd in SP+ last year en-route to winning the conference.. so SP+ likes them better at the start of this year (91st). They finished last year 80th in the SP+ rankings (UConn was 129th).

Offensively SP+ pegs them similar to Boise (73rd), it's the defense (102nd) that SP+ doesn't like. They will likely score.. SP+ hates the UConn offense and as mentioned it'll be a question of can the UConn offense score enough to allow for the cover.

FWIW: SP+ has UConn 130th on offense and 114th on defense en-route to the 127th overall ranking.

SP+ is a Bill Connelly metric: What is SP+? In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency, it's not a power ranking, but designed to be a projection tool.
great Job on this. We are not likely to start the QB (only) who kept us competitive (Tyler Phommachanh) so I doubt we score. They will. Load up on the Aggies. on another note, anyone at Memorial when we lost to them on a day when it was getting dark and there were but a handful left in the stands?
 
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"College Football News" just evaluated UConn. Utah State still not rated.
1653589309838.png


UConn Huskies Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players
By Pete Fiutak | May 17, 2022
Head Coach: Jim Mora Jr., 1st year at UConn
2021 Record: Overall: 1-11

UConn Huskies Preview 2022
UConn wasn’t always totally miserable at college football.
Yes, kids, there really was a time when the Huskies were good enough to get into the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma and bowl games were a regular thing. But the program is coming off of ten straight losing seasons as things have gotten worse and worse.

There’s been a little bit of talent here and there – there were more than enough vulture schools out there happy to go pick away at UConn players over the last year – but nothing has worked.

It took a huge effort to get by Yale for the only victory of last year, and a 2020 win over an equally hapless UMass was the lone win over an FBS program since taking down Tulsa in the middle of the 2017 season.

But that’s in the past.

New head coach Jim Mora Jr. is a good head coach who knows what he’s doing, but it’s going to take an all-timer of an effort just to get this season off the ground much less be competitive in most of the games.

This is more than just a rebuild, teardown, reboot, or any other way you want to describe what Mora and his staff have to do. This is starting from scratch, and only positive things can come from it.

UConn Preview 2022: Offense
UConn had the least efficient passing game in college football. It was the second-worst offense in the nation in total yards, and it was the second-worst scoring attack.

It keeps going.

It had the second lowest number of first downs, it was the worst team in America on third downs, it was the second-worst in yards per pass, and ….. Again, the program is starting over. It’s going to get better because 1), it can’t get any worse, 2) the former coaching staff went WAY young and threw a slew of freshmen into the mix, and 3) …the quarterback play should be okay. Penn State transfer Ta’Quan Roberson struggled in Happy Valley when he had his chances, but he’s got the tools, he was a good recruit, and he’ll make the job his from the start now with former starter Steven Krajewski off to Georgia State, Tyler Phommachanh coming back from an injury and with several other options transferring, too.

Leading receiver Keelan Marion is back – he only caught 28 passes but he got five of the team’s 11 touchdown grabs – and Kevens Clercius and Aaron Turner help round out what might be the team’s biggest early strength. And then there’s Cameron Ross – the 60-catch leading target from 2019 who played just two games in the last two years.

The offensive line is going to be the biggest work in progress. The transfer portal is bringing in the options around veteran guard Noel Ofori-Nyadu and the versatile Christopher Fortin who’ll work somewhere around the inside.

RB Kevin Mensah was a good back who wasn’t used enough. He’s gone, but leading rusher Nate Carter is back after running for 578 yards and two scores.


UConn Preview 2022: Defense

The offense was worse, but the defense was plenty bad on its own. The run D has been a problem for years, the secondary got ripped up late last season, and now the team has to go on without star DT Travis Jones – he’s now a Baltimore Raven – and with Lawl Uguak off to TCU.

However, like the offensive side, last year’s coaching staff went young, and how there’s enough experience back across the board to not be starting from scratch. It begins with …
the linebacking corps. It might not be all that bad. At the very least, there’s experience and quickness starting with leading returning tackler Jackson Mitchell – he made 120 stops last season – helped by the return of second-leading tackler Ian Swenson as a hybrid type of defender, and with Kentucky transfer Marquez Bembry adding some size and thump on the inside.

However …

The defensive front might take a while. There’s no replacing Jones, and Uguwak was going to be a bigger factor, and now it’s a smallish, thin line that has to find more options and pass rushers.

The secondary gets all four starters back. Like other areas, this was a young group that took its lumps. Sophomore safety Durante Jones will once again be one of the team’s better tacklers, but overall this group has to come up with more big stops.


UConn Huskies Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022
| May 26, 2022 10:38 pm CT

1.Jackson Mitchell, LB Soph.
The 6-3, 227-pound veteran followed up a 65-tackle 2019 season with a team-high 120 stops last year – the team took the year off in 2020 – with 1.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.

2. Ian Swenson, LB Jr.
6-2, 215. 169 career tackles, 2.5 sacks, 19.5 TFL, 3 broken up passes in four seasons

3. Keelan Marion, WR Soph.
6-0, 194. 28 catches, 474 yards (16.9 ypc), 5 TD last year

4. Cameron Ross, WR Soph.
5-10, 180. 68 catches, 783 yards (11.5 ypc), 4 TD in 13 games

5. Kevon Jones, DE Jr.
6-3, 230. 151 career tackles, 7.5 sacks, 18.5 TFL, 4 broken up passes, 2 forced fumbles in three seasons

6. Nathan Carter, RB Soph.
5-9, 196. 125 carries, 578 yards (4.6 ypc), 2 TD, 19 catches, 127 yards

7. Durante Jones, S Soph.
6-0, 188. 59 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble last year

8. Marquez Bembry, LB Sr.
6-3, 242. 35 career tackles, 1 tackles for loss in three seasons at Kentucky

9. Ta’Quan Roberson, QB Soph.
5-11, 203. 11-of-29 (39.3%), 85 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 24 rushing yards in four games for Penn State

10. Valentin Senn, OT Soph.
6-7, 298. The Austrian and former Colorado transfer is still growing into the his frame. He’s got the size and athleticism to eventually be a lock at left tackle.

UConn Huskies: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats​

UConn Huskies: Key To The 2022 Offense​

Find an identity.

It’s been the problem over the last several years – what does UConn do competently on offense?

It doesn’t have to come up with a high-powered attack that steamrolls over everyone, but it needs to be decent on first and second downs to come up with manageable third down tries.

It doesn’t have to wing the ball all around the yard, but it has to have some semblance of a passing game to count on.

The offense that did absolutely nothing in too many games last year has to go into every game knowing it can do one thing right. That might take a while, but it’ll get there if the line is a bit better.

UConn Huskies: Key To The 2022 Defense​

Get the defensive interior right.

Travis Jones might not be totally irreplaceable, but he’s not far off. He’s going to be an NFL anchor with the 333-pound size and quickness to do a little of everything right. Lwai Uguak made 34 tackles and was able to get behind the line here and there.

Even with those two good tackles the run defense still had major problems.

The pass defense has the veterans to be better, but the defensive front has to hold up so teams don’t dominate the time of possession battle like they did last year.

UConn Huskies: Key Player To The 2022 Season​

QB Ta’Quan Roberson, Soph.
Steven Krajewski wasn’t totally awful. He was able to run a little bit, had a few big passing games, and he did what he could under tough circumstances. Now he’s going to Georgia State, and Roberson has to step in and turn into the star he was supposed to be at Penn State.

If it isn’t Roberson, Tyler Phommachanh has the talent and upside to do more at the position. After completing just 11-of-28 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and two picks last year, Roberson still has to prove he can run an attack.

If he’s not the team’s most important transfer …

UConn Huskies: Key Transfer​

DE Sokoya McDuffie, Jr.
Kentucky LB Marquez Bembry might end up being the team’s leading tackler, but the Huskies need a pass rush, and they could use more size on the end. Enter McDuffie, a 290-pound tackle who can get behind the line. The former Old Dominion Monarch made 27 tackles with three sacks and five tackles for loss.

UConn Key Game To The 2022 Season​

Liberty, Nov. 12
Where could UConn possibly steal a win out of nowhere? There are two 50/50 games UConn has to target for possible wins – FIU and UMass – and beating Central Connecticut State is a must. That’s about it without a massive upset.

Beating Liberty at home in the second-to-last game would be a heavy lift, but by this point in the season the young team needs to be playing far better and show hope for the future. This needs to be the tone-setter for 2023.

UConn Huskies: 2021 Fun Stats​

1st Quarter Scoring: Opponents 187 – UConn 47
Sacks: Opponents 40 for 253 yards – UConn 12 for 68 yards
Average Yards Per Pass Attempt: Opponents 7.68 – UConn 4.83

UConn Huskies Season Prediction, What Will Happen​

This will be a good step-forward season.

It’s been all gloom, doom, and indifference around this program for way too long, but even with the personnel losses and lack of depth and talent, the team will start to look the part again in just enough games to give long-suffering fans hope for the near future.

SET THE UCONN HUSKIES REGULAR SEASON WIN TOTAL AT … 2.5​

Unless something crazy happens, forget about at Utah St, Syracuse, at Michigan, at NC State, Fresno State, Boston College, and at Army. Going to Ball State might be a bit more gettable than it seems, but that’s probably a loss, too, and that goes for the home finale against Liberty.
If UConn can win one of those nine games, it’ll be massive.

Central Connecticut State should be a win, FIU has to be gettable, and UMass is a must-win.

Two wins would be okay, three would be great. Four or more would be amazing.
 
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Chin Diesel

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"College Football News" just evaluated UConn. Utah State still not rated.
View attachment 76597

UConn Huskies Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players
By Pete Fiutak | May 17, 2022
Head Coach: Jim Mora Jr., 1st year at UConn
2021 Record: Overall: 1-11

UConn Huskies Preview 2022
UConn wasn’t always totally miserable at college football.
Yes, kids, there really was a time when the Huskies were good enough to get into the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma and bowl games were a regular thing. But the program is coming off of ten straight losing seasons as things have gotten worse and worse.

There’s been a little bit of talent here and there – there were more than enough vulture schools out there happy to go pick away at UConn players over the last year – but nothing has worked.

It took a huge effort to get by Yale for the only victory of last year, and a 2020 win over an equally hapless UMass was the lone win over an FBS program since taking down Tulsa in the middle of the 2017 season.

But that’s in the past.

New head coach Jim Mora Jr. is a good head coach who knows what he’s doing, but it’s going to take an all-timer of an effort just to get this season off the ground much less be competitive in most of the games.

This is more than just a rebuild, teardown, reboot, or any other way you want to describe what Mora and his staff have to do. This is starting from scratch, and only positive things can come from it.

UConn Preview 2022: Offense
UConn had the least efficient passing game in college football. It was the second-worst offense in the nation in total yards, and it was the second-worst scoring attack.

It keeps going.

It had the second lowest number of first downs, it was the worst team in America on third downs, it was the second-worst in yards per pass, and ….. Again, the program is starting over. It’s going to get better because 1), it can’t get any worse, 2) the former coaching staff went WAY young and threw a slew of freshmen into the mix, and 3) …the quarterback play should be okay. Penn State transfer Ta’Quan Roberson struggled in Happy Valley when he had his chances, but he’s got the tools, he was a good recruit, and he’ll make the job his from the start now with former starter Steven Krajewski off to Georgia State, Tyler Phommachanh coming back from an injury and with several other options transferring, too.

Leading receiver Keelan Marion is back – he only caught 28 passes but he got five of the team’s 11 touchdown grabs – and Kevens Clercius and Aaron Turner help round out what might be the team’s biggest early strength. And then there’s Cameron Ross – the 60-catch leading target from 2019 who played just two games in the last two years.

The offensive line is going to be the biggest work in progress. The transfer portal is bringing in the options around veteran guard Noel Ofori-Nyadu and the versatile Christopher Fortin who’ll work somewhere around the inside.

RB Kevin Mensah was a good back who wasn’t used enough. He’s gone, but leading rusher Nate Carter is back after running for 578 yards and two scores.


UConn Preview 2022: Defense

The offense was worse, but the defense was plenty bad on its own. The run D has been a problem for years, the secondary got ripped up late last season, and now the team has to go on without star DT Travis Jones – he’s now a Baltimore Raven – and with Lawl Uguak off to TCU.

However, like the offensive side, last year’s coaching staff went young, and how there’s enough experience back across the board to not be starting from scratch. It begins with …
the linebacking corps. It might not be all that bad. At the very least, there’s experience and quickness starting with leading returning tackler Jackson Mitchell – he made 120 stops last season – helped by the return of second-leading tackler Ian Swenson as a hybrid type of defender, and with Kentucky transfer Marquez Bembry adding some size and thump on the inside.

However …

The defensive front might take a while. There’s no replacing Jones, and Uguwak was going to be a bigger factor, and now it’s a smallish, thin line that has to find more options and pass rushers.

The secondary gets all four starters back. Like other areas, this was a young group that took its lumps. Sophomore safety Durante Jones will once again be one of the team’s better tacklers, but overall this group has to come up with more big stops.


UConn Huskies Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022
| May 26, 2022 10:38 pm CT

1.Jackson Mitchell, LB Soph.
The 6-3, 227-pound veteran followed up a 65-tackle 2019 season with a team-high 120 stops last year – the team took the year off in 2020 – with 1.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.

2. Ian Swenson, LB Jr.
6-2, 215. 169 career tackles, 2.5 sacks, 19.5 TFL, 3 broken up passes in four seasons

3. Keelan Marion, WR Soph.
6-0, 194. 28 catches, 474 yards (16.9 ypc), 5 TD last year

4. Cameron Ross, WR Soph.
5-10, 180. 68 catches, 783 yards (11.5 ypc), 4 TD in 13 games

5. Kevon Jones, DE Jr.
6-3, 230. 151 career tackles, 7.5 sacks, 18.5 TFL, 4 broken up passes, 2 forced fumbles in three seasons

6. Nathan Carter, RB Soph.
5-9, 196. 125 carries, 578 yards (4.6 ypc), 2 TD, 19 catches, 127 yards

7. Durante Jones, S Soph.
6-0, 188. 59 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble last year

8. Marquez Bembry, LB Sr.
6-3, 242. 35 career tackles, 1 tackles for loss in three seasons at Kentucky

9. Ta’Quan Roberson, QB Soph.
5-11, 203. 11-of-29 (39.3%), 85 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 24 rushing yards in four games for Penn State

10. Valentin Senn, OT Soph.
6-7, 298. The Austrian and former Colorado transfer is still growing into the his frame. He’s got the size and athleticism to eventually be a lock at left tackle.

UConn Huskies: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats​

UConn Huskies: Key To The 2022 Offense​

Find an identity.

It’s been the problem over the last several years – what does UConn do competently on offense?

It doesn’t have to come up with a high-powered attack that steamrolls over everyone, but it needs to be decent on first and second downs to come up with manageable third down tries.

It doesn’t have to wing the ball all around the yard, but it has to have some semblance of a passing game to count on.

The offense that did absolutely nothing in too many games last year has to go into every game knowing it can do one thing right. That might take a while, but it’ll get there if the line is a bit better.

UConn Huskies: Key To The 2022 Defense​

Get the defensive interior right.

Travis Jones might not be totally irreplaceable, but he’s not far off. He’s going to be an NFL anchor with the 333-pound size and quickness to do a little of everything right. Lwai Uguak made 34 tackles and was able to get behind the line here and there.

Even with those two good tackles the run defense still had major problems.

The pass defense has the veterans to be better, but the defensive front has to hold up so teams don’t dominate the time of possession battle like they did last year.

UConn Huskies: Key Player To The 2022 Season​

QB Ta’Quan Roberson, Soph.
Steven Krajewski wasn’t totally awful. He was able to run a little bit, had a few big passing games, and he did what he could under tough circumstances. Now he’s going to Georgia State, and Roberson has to step in and turn into the star he was supposed to be at Penn State.

If it isn’t Roberson, Tyler Phommachanh has the talent and upside to do more at the position. After completing just 11-of-28 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and two picks last year, Roberson still has to prove he can run an attack.

If he’s not the team’s most important transfer …

UConn Huskies: Key Transfer​

DE Sokoya McDuffie, Jr.
Kentucky LB Marquez Bembry might end up being the team’s leading tackler, but the Huskies need a pass rush, and they could use more size on the end. Enter McDuffie, a 290-pound tackle who can get behind the line. The former Old Dominion Monarch made 27 tackles with three sacks and five tackles for loss.

UConn Key Game To The 2022 Season​

Liberty, Nov. 12
Where could UConn possibly steal a win out of nowhere? There are two 50/50 games UConn has to target for possible wins – FIU and UMass – and beating Central Connecticut State is a must. That’s about it without a massive upset.

Beating Liberty at home in the second-to-last game would be a heavy lift, but by this point in the season the young team needs to be playing far better and show hope for the future. This needs to be the tone-setter for 2023.

UConn Huskies: 2021 Fun Stats​

1st Quarter Scoring: Opponents 187 – UConn 47
Sacks: Opponents 40 for 253 yards – UConn 12 for 68 yards
Average Yards Per Pass Attempt: Opponents 7.68 – UConn 4.83

UConn Huskies Season Prediction, What Will Happen​

This will be a good step-forward season.

It’s been all gloom, doom, and indifference around this program for way too long, but even with the personnel losses and lack of depth and talent, the team will start to look the part again in just enough games to give long-suffering fans hope for the near future.

SET THE UCONN HUSKIES REGULAR SEASON WIN TOTAL AT … 2.5​

Unless something crazy happens, forget about at Utah St, Syracuse, at Michigan, at NC State, Fresno State, Boston College, and at Army. Going to Ball State might be a bit more gettable than it seems, but that’s probably a loss, too, and that goes for the home finale against Liberty.
If UConn can win one of those nine games, it’ll be massive.

Central Connecticut State should be a win, FIU has to be gettable, and UMass is a must-win.

Two wins would be okay, three would be great. Four or more would be amazing.

Fair all the way around with the exception of Mensah being underutilized. If anything he was overused last year.

I still think team wins 3 or more games.
 
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"College Football News" just evaluated UConn. Utah State still not rated.
View attachment 76597

UConn Huskies Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players
By Pete Fiutak | May 17, 2022
Head Coach: Jim Mora Jr., 1st year at UConn
2021 Record: Overall: 1-11

UConn Huskies Preview 2022
UConn wasn’t always totally miserable at college football.
Yes, kids, there really was a time when the Huskies were good enough to get into the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma and bowl games were a regular thing. But the program is coming off of ten straight losing seasons as things have gotten worse and worse.

There’s been a little bit of talent here and there – there were more than enough vulture schools out there happy to go pick away at UConn players over the last year – but nothing has worked.

It took a huge effort to get by Yale for the only victory of last year, and a 2020 win over an equally hapless UMass was the lone win over an FBS program since taking down Tulsa in the middle of the 2017 season.

But that’s in the past.

New head coach Jim Mora Jr. is a good head coach who knows what he’s doing, but it’s going to take an all-timer of an effort just to get this season off the ground much less be competitive in most of the games.

This is more than just a rebuild, teardown, reboot, or any other way you want to describe what Mora and his staff have to do. This is starting from scratch, and only positive things can come from it.

UConn Preview 2022: Offense
UConn had the least efficient passing game in college football. It was the second-worst offense in the nation in total yards, and it was the second-worst scoring attack.

It keeps going.

It had the second lowest number of first downs, it was the worst team in America on third downs, it was the second-worst in yards per pass, and ….. Again, the program is starting over. It’s going to get better because 1), it can’t get any worse, 2) the former coaching staff went WAY young and threw a slew of freshmen into the mix, and 3) …the quarterback play should be okay. Penn State transfer Ta’Quan Roberson struggled in Happy Valley when he had his chances, but he’s got the tools, he was a good recruit, and he’ll make the job his from the start now with former starter Steven Krajewski off to Georgia State, Tyler Phommachanh coming back from an injury and with several other options transferring, too.

Leading receiver Keelan Marion is back – he only caught 28 passes but he got five of the team’s 11 touchdown grabs – and Kevens Clercius and Aaron Turner help round out what might be the team’s biggest early strength. And then there’s Cameron Ross – the 60-catch leading target from 2019 who played just two games in the last two years.

The offensive line is going to be the biggest work in progress. The transfer portal is bringing in the options around veteran guard Noel Ofori-Nyadu and the versatile Christopher Fortin who’ll work somewhere around the inside.

RB Kevin Mensah was a good back who wasn’t used enough. He’s gone, but leading rusher Nate Carter is back after running for 578 yards and two scores.


UConn Preview 2022: Defense

The offense was worse, but the defense was plenty bad on its own. The run D has been a problem for years, the secondary got ripped up late last season, and now the team has to go on without star DT Travis Jones – he’s now a Baltimore Raven – and with Lawl Uguak off to TCU.

However, like the offensive side, last year’s coaching staff went young, and how there’s enough experience back across the board to not be starting from scratch. It begins with …
the linebacking corps. It might not be all that bad. At the very least, there’s experience and quickness starting with leading returning tackler Jackson Mitchell – he made 120 stops last season – helped by the return of second-leading tackler Ian Swenson as a hybrid type of defender, and with Kentucky transfer Marquez Bembry adding some size and thump on the inside.

However …

The defensive front might take a while. There’s no replacing Jones, and Uguwak was going to be a bigger factor, and now it’s a smallish, thin line that has to find more options and pass rushers.

The secondary gets all four starters back. Like other areas, this was a young group that took its lumps. Sophomore safety Durante Jones will once again be one of the team’s better tacklers, but overall this group has to come up with more big stops.


UConn Huskies Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022
| May 26, 2022 10:38 pm CT

1.Jackson Mitchell, LB Soph.
The 6-3, 227-pound veteran followed up a 65-tackle 2019 season with a team-high 120 stops last year – the team took the year off in 2020 – with 1.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.

2. Ian Swenson, LB Jr.
6-2, 215. 169 career tackles, 2.5 sacks, 19.5 TFL, 3 broken up passes in four seasons

3. Keelan Marion, WR Soph.
6-0, 194. 28 catches, 474 yards (16.9 ypc), 5 TD last year

4. Cameron Ross, WR Soph.
5-10, 180. 68 catches, 783 yards (11.5 ypc), 4 TD in 13 games

5. Kevon Jones, DE Jr.
6-3, 230. 151 career tackles, 7.5 sacks, 18.5 TFL, 4 broken up passes, 2 forced fumbles in three seasons

6. Nathan Carter, RB Soph.
5-9, 196. 125 carries, 578 yards (4.6 ypc), 2 TD, 19 catches, 127 yards

7. Durante Jones, S Soph.
6-0, 188. 59 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble last year

8. Marquez Bembry, LB Sr.
6-3, 242. 35 career tackles, 1 tackles for loss in three seasons at Kentucky

9. Ta’Quan Roberson, QB Soph.
5-11, 203. 11-of-29 (39.3%), 85 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 24 rushing yards in four games for Penn State

10. Valentin Senn, OT Soph.
6-7, 298. The Austrian and former Colorado transfer is still growing into the his frame. He’s got the size and athleticism to eventually be a lock at left tackle.

UConn Huskies: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats​

UConn Huskies: Key To The 2022 Offense​

Find an identity.

It’s been the problem over the last several years – what does UConn do competently on offense?

It doesn’t have to come up with a high-powered attack that steamrolls over everyone, but it needs to be decent on first and second downs to come up with manageable third down tries.

It doesn’t have to wing the ball all around the yard, but it has to have some semblance of a passing game to count on.

The offense that did absolutely nothing in too many games last year has to go into every game knowing it can do one thing right. That might take a while, but it’ll get there if the line is a bit better.

UConn Huskies: Key To The 2022 Defense​

Get the defensive interior right.

Travis Jones might not be totally irreplaceable, but he’s not far off. He’s going to be an NFL anchor with the 333-pound size and quickness to do a little of everything right. Lwai Uguak made 34 tackles and was able to get behind the line here and there.

Even with those two good tackles the run defense still had major problems.

The pass defense has the veterans to be better, but the defensive front has to hold up so teams don’t dominate the time of possession battle like they did last year.

UConn Huskies: Key Player To The 2022 Season​

QB Ta’Quan Roberson, Soph.
Steven Krajewski wasn’t totally awful. He was able to run a little bit, had a few big passing games, and he did what he could under tough circumstances. Now he’s going to Georgia State, and Roberson has to step in and turn into the star he was supposed to be at Penn State.

If it isn’t Roberson, Tyler Phommachanh has the talent and upside to do more at the position. After completing just 11-of-28 passes for 85 yards with a touchdown and two picks last year, Roberson still has to prove he can run an attack.

If he’s not the team’s most important transfer …

UConn Huskies: Key Transfer​

DE Sokoya McDuffie, Jr.
Kentucky LB Marquez Bembry might end up being the team’s leading tackler, but the Huskies need a pass rush, and they could use more size on the end. Enter McDuffie, a 290-pound tackle who can get behind the line. The former Old Dominion Monarch made 27 tackles with three sacks and five tackles for loss.

UConn Key Game To The 2022 Season​

Liberty, Nov. 12
Where could UConn possibly steal a win out of nowhere? There are two 50/50 games UConn has to target for possible wins – FIU and UMass – and beating Central Connecticut State is a must. That’s about it without a massive upset.

Beating Liberty at home in the second-to-last game would be a heavy lift, but by this point in the season the young team needs to be playing far better and show hope for the future. This needs to be the tone-setter for 2023.

UConn Huskies: 2021 Fun Stats​

1st Quarter Scoring: Opponents 187 – UConn 47
Sacks: Opponents 40 for 253 yards – UConn 12 for 68 yards
Average Yards Per Pass Attempt: Opponents 7.68 – UConn 4.83

UConn Huskies Season Prediction, What Will Happen​

This will be a good step-forward season.

It’s been all gloom, doom, and indifference around this program for way too long, but even with the personnel losses and lack of depth and talent, the team will start to look the part again in just enough games to give long-suffering fans hope for the near future.

SET THE UCONN HUSKIES REGULAR SEASON WIN TOTAL AT … 2.5​

Unless something crazy happens, forget about at Utah St, Syracuse, at Michigan, at NC State, Fresno State, Boston College, and at Army. Going to Ball State might be a bit more gettable than it seems, but that’s probably a loss, too, and that goes for the home finale against Liberty.
If UConn can win one of those nine games, it’ll be massive.

Central Connecticut State should be a win, FIU has to be gettable, and UMass is a must-win.

Two wins would be okay, three would be great. Four or more would be amazing.
Right on the money. The Mensah remark was a throwaway. Just overlook it. Not that it matters but I predicted 3 Ws awhile back simply on the basis of the coaching change. So I feel somewhat vindicated and less susceptible to criticism from the fanboy wing of the board now.
 

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