UConn vs SMU game thread

[JMick]

Let's just be a little consistent here. Last year we had one of the worst offenses in CFB and you can go back and find thousands of comments about there being no talent, not enough speed, no playmakers, no line, the worst QB, etc... I don't think you can have it both ways. Let's put aside scheme and just deal with straight facts. The O is transformed and D is not competitive with the same upfront core. Yes, the DBs are young and inexperienced. I'll grant that. They will and do get burned. Fine. Getting routinely beat this badly virtually every series, including by Holy Cross just doesn't seem to add up. There is something more fundamental afoot. I agree Beavers and Taj are going to be very good.

I mean, there's also the possibility that Lashlee is just a really, really good coach. That doesn't mean by comparison Crocker is bad because he didn't get the defense up to speed as fast as Lashlee has.

 

[Redding Husky]

There were so many times in the Diaco and Pasqualoni years where I was disgusted and turned the TV off in the first quarter. Then I went to mow the lawn. That isn't happening anymore.

That's progress.

 

[BlueDogs]

I mean, there's also the possibility that Lashlee is just a really, really good coach. That doesn't mean by comparison Crocker is bad because he didn't get the defense up to speed as fast as Lashlee has.

As I said, I'm ok with that idea but dead last? I don't know. I'll give you there were signs of improvement on the D for a few series.

 

[uconnbill]

Not sure about others but I saw some improvements today on defense in stopping the run and better than in the past three games. I like our Freshman who starts or plays a good deal. Herring-Wilson, Van Demark, DeGeorge, Fortt, Beavers, Donaldson, and Skanes. The future is looking healthier than it has in a few years. Just have to add others to the mix.

 

[Redding Husky]

Who is Mike Anthony at the Courant? He's a clown. He said the stadium was "virtually empty". I was there. I saw a half-full stadium of about 16,000, maybe 18,000. "Virtually empty" would be 1,000 or 2,000.

 

[Redding Husky]

Not sure about others but I saw some improvements today on defense in stopping the run and better than in the past three games. I like our Freshman who starts or plays a good deal. Herring-Wilson, Van Demark, DeGeorge, Fortt, Beavers, Donaldson, and Skanes. The future is looking healthier than it has in a few years. Just have to add others to the mix.

Improvements in tackling ... we did better in YAC today.

 

[huskymedic]

Who is Mike Anthony at the Courant? He's a clown. He said the stadium was "virtually empty". I was there. I saw a half-full stadium of about 16,000, maybe 18,000. "Virtually empty" would be 1,000 or 2,000.

He was there too...

 

[Redding Husky]

He was there too...

I'm sure he was. And I don't understand it. I'm sincerely confused (no trolling here). Why would he claim the stadium was empty when it was about half full?

 

[huskymedic]

I'm sure he was. And I don't understand it. I'm sincerely confused (no trolling here). Why would he claim the stadium was empty when it was about half full?

They must have been all been on the shady side - looked empty on TV too.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Redding Husky]

They must have been all been on the shady side - looked empty on TV too.

Correct.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

This hurts - was one of starting DBs on Depth Chart:

 

[Redding Husky]

Shirreffs gets criticism for holding the ball too long, but he didn't have any int's today. The game would have been lost much earlier if he had thrown a couple pick 6's.

 

[Jimdish255]

They must have been all been on the shady side - looked empty on TV too.

Stadium was nowheres near half full. On the other hand there was a heck of a smokeshow on the hillside that kinda made up for it.

 

[Saab04]

Let's just be a little consistent here. Last year we had one of the worst offenses in CFB and you can go back and find thousands of comments about there being no talent, not enough speed, no playmakers, no line, the worst QB, etc... I don't think you can have it both ways. Let's put aside scheme and just deal with straight facts. The O is transformed and D is not competitive with the same upfront core. Yes, the DBs are young and inexperienced. I'll grant that. They will and do get burned. Fine. Getting routinely beat this badly virtually every series, including by Holy Cross just doesn't seem to add up. There is something more fundamental afoot. I agree Beavers and Taj are going to be very good.

The offense was horrible the last few years, granted, but I don’t blame the talent. It was the coaches. Diaco, who is/was considered a great DC was at the helm. A defensive coordinator at the helm! Then hires Verducci as the OC? Really? Oh let’s not forget Mike Cummings lol you can have Alabama players with these three weak offensive minded coaches and we still may have been weak in the AAC or nation at that. The talent is there on offense and finally we have a creative offensive minded coach like Lashlee to take control. On Defense, I get the sense that we lack talent, depth and speed, that’s evident. Crocker is a PROVEN defensive coordinator, unlike Verducci, Cummings, and Diaco who are NOT PROVEN offensive coordinators. Shouldn’t compare both sides of the ball. It’s going to take time unfortunately. Did you see Beavers get into the backfield a few times? With speed? Guess what? He was not recruited by Diaco. If you haven’t seen Crocker’s defense at work, I’d suggest you go watch some film.

 

[huskymedic]

Did you see Beavers get into the backfield a few times? With speed? Guess what? He was not recruited by Diaco

Recruited and offered by Diaco staff as SS/WR coming out of Ohio - committed to Edsall staff.

 

[Saab04]

Recruited and offered by Diaco staff as SS/WR coming out of Ohio - committed to Edsall staff.

I had to think about that one, but still looks to be a great fit on Crocker’s defense.

 

[huskymedic]

I had to think about that one, but still looks to be a great fit on Crocker’s defense.

He’s strong and quick and comes from high end high school program.

 

[Redding Husky]

Attendance today: 17,237 (capacity 32,000)

Disappointing for SMU because they have a pretty good team and the weather was good (a little warm).

 

[Saab04]

He’s strong and quick and comes from high end high school program.

I believe in Crocker and the rest of this staff. I know this defense will be where it needs to be under Crocker

 

[TheDrifter75]

Attendance today: 17,237 (capacity 32,000)

Disappointing for SMU because they have a pretty good team and the weather was good (a little warm).

I think they stole our designated attendance announcer. That guy usually fluffs the numbers a good 25-50%. In no way did that place look to be half full. I was thinking most of the game, smu has a good fun team and are playing an exciting game today. They have been at least listed as others receiving votes in the polls. Why aren't more there. Their fans missed out.

 

[Exit 4]

Managed to watch the ESPN3 replay late last night.

In the fourth quarter the wheels came off with about 8 minutes to go in the game. Just eight minutes left!

It seems like a couple things happened.
-The spiral started with the bad snap at mid field. That just put us in too deep of a whole.
-On offense the Oline play suddenly fell apart. Did they just tire? I think so. But also Sherriffs started to hold the ball a wee bit too long in a couple downs leading to sacks as well.
-SMU on offense started to really roll with running the ball. We lost contain on the edge and we lost it up the middle too (and we had been defending the run up the middle pretty well). In some ways it was scheme, but maybe we just felt gassed.

I feel like both the offense and Dline just hit a wall in the last 8 minutes of the game. The tired out.

 

[Redding Husky]

I think they stole our designated attendance announcer. That guy usually fluffs the numbers a good 25-50%. In no way did that place look to be half full. I was thinking most of the game, smu has a good fun team and are playing an exciting game today. They have been at least listed as others receiving votes in the polls. Why aren't more there. Their fans missed out.

I was there. It looked slightly more than half full to me. The West side was filled, and there were another 2,000 or 3,000 in the end zones and on the east side.

The east side was about 90% empty.

 

[Milo65]

Not sure about others but I saw some improvements today on defense in stopping the run and better than in the past three games. I like our Freshman who starts or plays a good deal. Herring-Wilson, Van Demark, DeGeorge, Fortt, Beavers, Donaldson, and Skanes. The future is looking healthier than it has in a few years. Just have to add others to the mix.

Saw huge improvements.. Pressure on the QB, blitz schemes, multiple fronts. Baby steps. 21St century offense, need to get these pups up to speed on defense. A lot of freshmen playing in the secondary, huge learning curve.