Way too early question: What are your expectations for next season?

[B1GEast]

Bowl game, 6 wins

 

[Slasher]

As MJ would say, expect disappointment and you can never be disappointed.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I think you are comparing fact and opinion. Zach was a 4 star. That is a fact. See the post above with the picture or just google it. Did he play like one? No.

Yes he was, though overrated as you say, especially when you look at Levis, Boyle, and Cochran, Taisun P (who was rated a four star, but barely) and the fact that Notre Dame fairly quickly cut Zach loose. I looked all over the web trying to find the proof that Fraser was a solid four star coming out of high school and couldn’t find it. 247 didn’t exist then as far as I know. One way I know to get Huskymedic to find said info is to post something blatantly false, and he will almost always come through with the proof. Lol. I also recalled a thread several months ago that seemed to indicate UConn never had a four star player in any position. So….hmmm, if I post this, hm will find the info and post it. Lol

 

[Buffett10]

Yes he was, though overrated as you say, especially when you look at Levis, Boyle, and Cochran, Taisun P (who was rated a four star, but barely) and the fact that Notre Dame fairly quickly cut Zach loose. I looked all over the web trying to find the proof that Fraser was a solid four star coming out of high school and couldn’t find it. 247 didn’t exist then as far as I know. One way I know to get Huskymedic to find said info is to post something blatantly false, and he will almost always come through with the proof. Lol. I also recalled a thread several months ago that seemed to indicate UConn never had a four star player in any position. So….hmmm, if I post this, hm will find the info and post it. Lol

Yeah he was definitely a high 3-Star as you say lol

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Yeah he was definitely a high 3-Star as you say lol

Whatever….

You seem to be saying Zach’s four star rating was accurate, if so then why did Notre Dame get rid of him so fast. I loved Zach when he played here, was one of UConn’s best QB’s over the years.

 

[uconnric]

As MJ would say, expect disappointment and you can never be disappointed.

With that in mind I've tempered my expectations to 8-4.

 

[History Geek]

1. Not be an embarrassment
2. Noticable improvement vs 2021 on Week 0, and further noticeable improvement by the end of the year

This was pretty much my expectation for 2021. Lather, rinse, repeat I guess.

By definition, this means more than 1 win. Don’t have to go bowling, but this time next year I want to be able to say its an expectation for 2023.

 

[shizzle787]

New coaches rarely come in and take over a team that is this down and turn them into a .500 team in their first year. It’s just incredibly unrealistic. To me, the number of wins doesn’t really matter, I just want to see growth in the level of play from last year. There will be games that disappoint us, and there will be games that surprise us. Like I said, I don’t see .500 or better as realistic, the closer we can get to .500 the better, but I’m not expecting to be particularly close next year. There will be a lot of new faces, let’s get everyone gelling next year and improve, and then hit the ground running the year after.

I would rather win ugly than lose pretty. Results absolutely matter.

 

[Greedo]

I would rather win ugly than lose pretty. Results absolutely matter.

I said I’m not concerned about results because it’s incredibly rare for a coach to take over a dumpster fire and have success in his first year. If we have 2 wins it’s more or less what I expect so I won’t be disappointed. There are a lot of people in this thread that, IMO, have unrealistic expectations and are setting themselves up for disappointment. This is a historically bad program right now. I think Mora is the right hire and he’s making great strides, I’m just not expecting much for next year. The year after I’m expecting wins. It takes a year at least to change the losing culture. Right now, every player on this team only knows how to lose. He’s bringing in new guys, but they’re going to need a year to gel with everyone else.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Does any one of you think Mora is doing all this for 2 or 3 wins in year 1? His expectation is higher.

 

[gioff2323]

1. More than one win
2. Not losing to an FCS team
3. Blue and White game
4. Bringing back the hot 93.7 DJ booth

Yes
Yes
Yes!
NFW!!

 

[TheDrifter75]

Does any one of you think Mora is doing all this for 2 or 3 wins in year 1? His expectation is higher.

He's the head coach, he should expect to win em all. The difference being if he doesn't meet expectations he won't go full yard, burn it all down and start from scratch... again.

 

[RSTuthill]

Yes
Yes
Yes!
NFW!!

Seconded!!!

 

[uconnbill]

Who knows. I would like 4-5 wins to show the program in on the rise. I wouldn't expect anymore than that, but an upset would be nice during the season

 

[Husky68]

I expect to win every game UConn plays. All you "won't you be disappointed" Karens can worry about yourselves. I can handle it if and when UConn loses a game in 2022.

 

[RSTuthill]

I expect to win every game UConn plays. All you "won't you be disappointed" Karens can worry about yourselves. I can handle it if and when UConn loses a game in 2022.

Be careful how you use that Karen word. Some of us prefer the realistic objective approach rather than the gushing like a teenager approach. Prediction like your credibility is at stake.

 

[Get a Job]

I expect to win every game UConn plays. All you "won't you be disappointed" Karens can worry about yourselves. I can handle it if and when UConn loses a game in 2022.

What does this even mean? It can't be true that you expect UConn to win every game unless you have some major cognitive disability. Assuming you don't have that, why make the claim? Maybe you have a different definition of "expect"? According to my definition, the team you expect to win is the team you name when someone says, "Name a team. You will be killed if that team doesn't win."

 

[Madmannsucks]

1. More than one win
2. Not losing to an FCS team
3. Blue and White game
4. Bringing back the hot 93.7 DJ booth

Exactly-4 wins would be a great year.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I see 8 winnable games on the schedule 2 that can go either way (BC, NC State) and 1 where we can possibly win (Fresno) and 1 where we will definitely not win unless Mora pulls off a miracle (Michigan). Realistically I see 6 wins next year and if the offense gets going right away 7 or 8. I think 3 or 4 is our minimum. We definitely see improvement on all offense. There's no where to go but up. This will do nothing but help the defensive stats. I think a 6-6 record next year is right on target.

I would like whatever you are drinking.

 

[Greedo]

I expect to win every game UConn plays. All you "won't you be disappointed" Karens can worry about yourselves. I can handle it if and when UConn loses a game in 2022.

Like this place won't become a bunch of moaners "Oh we never should have never hired Mora" BS if we only have 3 wins next year. Those are the Karens.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I would like whatever you are drinking.

Mostly water and zero sugar Dr. Pepper.

 

[UConnJim]

The transfer portal has changed the timeframe in which you can turn around a team. You know where your roster holes are and you can actively recruit experienced players that are better than the ones you have on the roster. As for FCS grad transfers, in many cases you can find good players from FCS especially OL that are proven. OL is the hardest position to grade coming out of HS as players take time to develop. So far, Mora has brought in 2 transfer QBs that were highly rated in HS, a tall and big WR, a TE, an FCS all-american OLman, and a RB who was outstanding at Delaware and in HS. That's a good start and I think there are more to come, but we will have to be patient.

As for roster losses due to graduation and the portal, only 4 were starters and all 4 are moving on to try for the NFL. (I didn't include Mensah as Carter was the leading rusher and leading RB receiver.)

Also, I believe coaching will be much better this year. For the first time since Lashlee, UConn has an OC who has actually been an OC before. And, UConn will have a dedicated OL coach instead of an OL coach that is also trying to learn how to to be an OC. Personally, I think the OL, which was young, looked worse than it was due to poor blocking schemes and a lack of understanding of who each OL was supposed to block. That was poor coaching.

On defense, once Spanos became head coach, UConn had a young and inexperienced DC. There is no way that Spanos could take over running the entire team and also run the defense. I'm sure Mora will help Spanos this year and the combo of Mora/Spanos was successful at UCLA.

The schedule is actually pretty hard next year with 5 of the first 8 games on the road. Starting on the road at Utah St., the defensing MWC champ, is a tall task and so is winning at defending Big 10 champ Michigan and at ACC Coastal runner up NC State. When you look at the schedule, it would not be a surprise to start the season 1-5. Thus, I am predicting 3 or 4 wins.

 

[Urcea]

@ Utah State LOSS (0-1)
CCSU WIN (1-1)
Cuse WIN (2-1)
@ Michigan LOSS (2-2)
@ NC State LOSS (2-3)
Fresno State LOSS (2-4)
@ FIU WIN (3-4)
@ Ball State LOSS (3-5)
Boston College LOSS (3-6)
UMass WIN (4-6)
Liberty LOSS (4-7)
Army LOSS (4-8)

You could probably sell me on a W vs Ball State

 

[Nostical]

I looked all over the web trying to find the proof that Fraser was a solid four star coming out of high school and couldn’t find it. 247 didn’t exist then as far as I know.

 

[Nostical]

Our starting Quarterback for the first two games is now at a program which is in the middle of a bottom conference in FCS.

FWIW, Jack was also offered by Western Michigan but chose to play at Merrimack to be in the Boston area.