"We have to get bigger, tougher, stronger, nastier upfront on both sides of the ball"

[Pudge]

Thus ... synthesized to a simple formula. WE are, once again, where we need to be FBS quality lines and there has to be 2 to 3 deep at all the spots.

We saw this in 2003 playing BC. Edsall has expressed this explicitly.

Meanwhile on the BC sideline, WE saw PP huddling with tons of big guys. He was the start of the slippage - it was recruiting. It was S&C. We can use the formula that HCRE used before - culminating into a dominating late November performance in Notre Dame Stadium. Until then ... we are just twiddling.

Plus you need a solid QB at this level.

 

[uconndogs]

Agree. Edsall will address this. For all of Diaco's chirping about S&C I am amazed at our lack of physical prowess. Although, I will say that the OL is noticeably improving already. Diaco's recruiting was total and utter *.

 

[Palatine]

170 yards and 3 points in the first quarter. They might have worn us down, but if we had put them in a hole, we could have made it a heck of a lot harder.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

One thing that has stuck we me most of the season (and kept running through my mind Saturday) was that Fatukasi would be an ideal end in this defense but with him at most tackle we are too small at all three positions.

We will need our ends to be guys RE always played at tackle during his first run here and we will need RE to find true nose tackles (315 lbs - 325 lbs), a body type he seldom wentafter in the past.

 

[UConnDan97]

One thing that has stuck we me most of the season (and kept running through my mind Saturday) was that Fatukasi would be an ideal end in this defense but with him at most tackle we are too small at all three positions.

We will need our ends to be guys RE always played at tackle during his first run here and we will need RE to find true nose tackles (315 lbs - 325 lbs), a body type he seldom wentafter in the past.

To be fair, Edsall recognized the need early on and he landed Courtel Jenkins as a transfer in April, if only for a short time before the decommit and going to Houston in June. He knows that we desperately need that position, and I'm guessing the staff is working hard on getting that solved soon...

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I fully believe that myself (my apologies if it came across as a criticism).

I happen to be very confident that RE can get the players we need for this defense. Everything about his first run here points to our being able to find athletes who can develop into solid (or better) DB's & LB's. He also was exceptional at developing these kids.

We won't have our current issues on defense forever. I'll wager heavily on that.

 

[huskymedic]

Yup...

>>“Let me say this to you, Ryan Van Demark, I give him a lot of credit,” Edsall said proudly. “He went up against Zach Allen most of the day and Allen’s name wasn’t mentioned hardly at all. If I had a bunch of guys and you know what, Ryan’s not big enough or strong enough yet, but you talk about a competitor, wanting it and the attitude, he’s going to be just fine. We need to get Matt Peart to develop more of a nasty attitude. He should be a dominating player, but right now he’s not, but we’ll get that straightened out here in the offseason. It’s just that we need to get bigger, stronger, tougher and nastier up front, on both sides of the ball. We’ll get that done. We couldn’t fix all that in one year, or three months, five months or seven months. You can’t do it.”<<

 

[UConnDan97]

I fully believe that myself (my apologies if it came across as a criticism).

I happen to be very confident that RE can get the players we need for this defense. Everything about his first run here points to our being able to find athletes who can develop into solid (or better) DB's & LB's. He also was exceptional at developing these kids.

We won't have our current issues on defense forever. I'll wager heavily on that.

Oh, I wasn't taking it as a criticism. I was just pointing out that I think Edsall recognized it as a deficiency well before we all did. In some ways, it's hard to believe that he was able to step into the job and assess what was wrong with the roster in a matter of less than a couple of weeks, then address some of the issues with immediate recruitment. It speaks volumes to the fact that we are back in good hands again, and I have no doubt that the future is bright. But man...it has taken a very very long time to get to the future...

 

[HuskyHawk]

170 yards and 3 points in the first quarter. They might have worn us down, but if we had put them in a hole, we could have made it a heck of a lot harder.

Seriously. Until later in the game, did anyone think BC was dominating? I sure didn't. What I saw was a UConn team that was mostly very young, and which made key mistakes at crucial moments and failed to capitalize on opportunities to score. I'm not saying UConn would have won, but the score was not indicative of the actual performance.

 

[UConnJim]

Thus ... synthesized to a simple formula. WE are, once again, where we need to be FBS quality lines and there has to be 2 to 3 deep at all the spots.

We saw this in 2003 playing BC. Edsall has expressed this explicitly.

Meanwhile on the BC sideline, WE saw PP huddling with tons of big guys. He was the start of the slippage - it was recruiting. It was S&C. We can use the formula that HCRE used before - culminating into a dominating late November performance in Notre Dame Stadium. Until then ... we are just twiddling.

Plus you need a solid QB at this level.

Unfortunately, you (and Edsall) are correct which is why I get pissed when people complain that we aren't very good this year. We knew Diaco didn't work out and the team wasn't very good, so we brought in Edsall to turn the program around. We know that UConn is a development football program and it takes time to develop players.

Look at the defensive front roster compared to BC. UConn has 4 DL + 1 FR who is redshirting at 270 lbs or above. BC has 8 + 2 FR who are redshirting. UConn has 3 LBs listed at 230 lbs or more (not including Leavenberry). BC has 6. If UConn had great speed, it would be OK to be undersized, but we are undersized without great speed which equals a bad defense.

 

[06029]

Seriously. Until later in the game, did anyone think BC was dominating? I sure didn't. What I saw was a UConn team that was mostly very young, and which made key mistakes at crucial moments and failed to capitalize on opportunities to score. I'm not saying UConn would have won, but the score was not indicative of the actual performance.

3 INT's did not help. BC had 55 yards passing. You knew they running every time they lined up and you knew who was getting the ball. Uconn, after a great Q1, had 8 yards in the second. BC adjusted on D and did dominate Q2 and Q3.

Agrre on needing big guys in the trenches. Get Big guys that move their feet. Some of the OL footwork is real bad. The D is a real puzzle. I have never been a 3-3-5 fan. When it works, it works well but when you get WR's that are good downfield blockers, you end up with a lot of 1 on 1's with the safeties needing to make key tackles. Edsall's call on that D and he will recruit for it.

One thing I do not buy is the young statement. BC's center is a true freshman, their RB is a true freshman and there were tons of RS freshman and sophomores playing for BC on both sides of the line. Young players need to make plays. Some Uconn's best players on D are not young and made mistakes.

2 more recruiting cycles with hopefully at least 50% of the lineman in the second being able to redshirt. This team has matched my expectations for the season with the bonus of the Temple road win. There has been growth (coupled with exposing the big weaknesses) on the team. Win at Cinci and go out on a positive note.

 

[JMick]

3 INT's did not help. BC had 55 yards passing. You knew they running every time they lined up and you knew who was getting the ball. Uconn, after a great Q1, had 8 yards in the second. BC adjusted on D and did dominate Q2 and Q3.

Agrre on needing big guys in the trenches. Get Big guys that move their feet. Some of the OL footwork is real bad. The D is a real puzzle. I have never been a 3-3-5 fan. When it works, it works well but when you get WR's that are good downfield blockers, you end up with a lot of 1 on 1's with the safeties needing to make key tackles. Edsall's call on that D and he will recruit for it.

One thing I do not buy is the young statement. BC's center is a true freshman, their RB is a true freshman and there were tons of RS freshman and sophomores playing for BC on both sides of the line. Young players need to make plays. Some Uconn's best players on D are not young and made mistakes.

2 more recruiting cycles with hopefully at least 50% of the lineman in the second being able to redshirt. This team has matched my expectations for the season with the bonus of the Temple road win. There has been growth (coupled with exposing the big weaknesses) on the team. Win at Cinci and go out on a positive note.

We were in a 4-3 for most of the game lol. It's not a scheme issue

 

[06029]

We were in a 4-3 for most of the game lol. It's not a scheme issue

You are right. It is a personnel issue. I was talking in general about the season and the stated base defense. You could say Uconn was in a 4-7 all game. There were at least 8 in the box every down and sometimes all 11 were within 7 yards.

 

[Excalibur]

170 yards and 3 points in the first quarter. They might have worn us down, but if we had put them in a hole, we could have made it a heck of a lot harder.

We've struggled to finish drives all season. It's one area where the new offense hasn't improved as much. We can sustain drives and we've had a huge improvement in big plays, but when the field shortens were are not measuring up.

 

[UConnDan97]

We've struggled to finish drives all season. It's one area where the new offense hasn't improved as much. We can sustain drives and we've had a huge improvement in big plays, but when the field shortens were are not measuring up.

I think that will change as our OL changes. Right now, we aren't capable of lining up on a 3rd and 2 with any reasonable expectation of running up the middle to pick the 2 yards up. If you don't have an offensive line capable of that, you'll always struggle as the field shortens. Hopefully as the linemen grow in strength and age (Peart, DeGeorge, Van Demark, Leone, Holmes, Tunstall, etc.), we'll rectify the red zone situation...

 

[huskymedic]

From today's Edsall press conference:

Gavin Keefe‏ @GavinKeefe 25s 25 seconds ago
Going forward, UConn has to get bigger, faster and stronger, Edsall said

Neill Ostrout‏ @NeillOstrout 11s 11 seconds ago
Edsall said he sent an email out to asst coaches, AD David Benedict, in spring. Said “We’re not a strong enough team and we’re not a fast enough team."

Ed Daigneault‏ @EdDaigneault 1m 1 minute ago
Diaco talked a lot about nutrition, etc., but Edsall says the Huskies lacked strength and speed coming out of the spring.

 

[31GuardTrap]

We've struggled to finish drives all season. It's one area where the new offense hasn't improved as much. We can sustain drives and we've had a huge improvement in big plays, but when the field shortens were are not measuring up.

Play calling has to get better for this to improve as well. It is not just the OL. Need to attack as an OC when the moment is there. Not nearly enough of this during the season.

 

[B1GEast]

Captain Obvious thread

 

[freescooter]

It might be Captain Obvious but it is good to see the head coach gets it rather than just stringing a bunch of nonsense together about fish cakes and winning breakfast and crazy trophies. Instead he sees what actually needs to be done and has a plan for how to do it.

 

[uconndogs]

Under Edsall we played in the International Bowl in Toronto a number of years back against a very good Buffalo team that won the MAC champion that season.

Early in the game a Buffalo kid went in motion and at the snap continued to run parallel to the LOS. Reggie McClain knocked him out of the game........literally. Kid woke up and was all pissed and Reggie just shrugged his shoulders as if to say what the hell did you expect.

By the second half Donald Brown was on his way to run for over 250 yards and Buffalo could not keep defenders on the field. They were substituting constantly because our OL were on them at all levels blowing people up.

It was complete and total physical domination.

 

[tduconn]

I think that will change as our OL changes. Right now, we aren't capable of lining up on a 3rd and 2 with any reasonable expectation of running up the middle to pick the 2 yards up. If you don't have an offensive line capable of that, you'll always struggle as the field shortens. Hopefully as the linemen grow in strength and age (Peart, DeGeorge, Van Demark, Leone, Holmes, Tunstall, etc.), we'll rectify the red zone situation...

Also, we need running backs that weight more than 200 lbs. The OL isn't big enough or strong enough to open holes in a DL that are over 300lbs, and then we expect RB's in the 150-175 lb range to squeeze through holes a mouse couldn't get through.

 

[UConnDan97]

Also, we need running backs that weight more than 200 lbs. The OL isn't big enough or strong enough to open holes in a DL that are over 300lbs, and then we expect RB's in the 150-175 lb range to squeeze through holes a mouse couldn't get through.

Well...

First, Kevin Mensah is 200 pounds and Nate Hopkins is 210, so the idea that we are trying to accomplish this with backs that are in a 150 - 175 range just isn't true. Hell, even Arkeel is 180.
Second, Andre Dixon finished his UConn career at 200 pounds. Donald Brown finished his UConn career at 210. Jordan Todman finished at 193.

Again, the size of our backs is not really the issue here. It's not like we are talking about McCombs going up the middle anymore. Yes, you can have one of those barrel-shaped fullbacks come in at 260 and just whack the pile to move it forward the requisite 2 yards and get the job done that way, the way that WVU used to do to us with that Owen Schmitt kid back in 2006 or 2007. But our issue is just creating meaningful gaps for our running backs to hit and make the linebackers tackle them after 2 or 3 yards gained...

 

[JMick]

Also, we need running backs that weight more than 200 lbs. The OL isn't big enough or strong enough to open holes in a DL that are over 300lbs, and then we expect RB's in the 150-175 lb range to squeeze through holes a mouse couldn't get through.

LOL do you even know what 150lbs looks like? Most high schools don't have running backs at 150lbs and we sure as hell don't have them at UConn

 

[The Funster]

You need to start with the big fatties on both lines.

End of.

 

[J187Money]

Maybe someone with better connections can talk about recent history, but when I went through the training facility with Sio, he was most proud about being on top of the workout board and talked about his "platform" - saying that nobody could come workout on his platform unless they were "real" enough to handle it. Guys like that have a mindset that is infectious. Need more leadership.