What is our record if BS never gets hurt?

[BNich]

One guy who acts like he's auditioning for the role of Captain Smith in the next "Titanic" movie made.

Are you really referring to me? If so, your post is idiotic.

 

[Nostical]

BS had the respect of the team. In fact the team was a very close knit bunch. It was BD (under increasing pressure to win) who made the move to DW. Was BS banged up? Sure. But he was a gamer--tough as nails. The real problem was when BD kept touting DW's talent and the other players were not seeing it during practice. That's a big reason BD lost this team. Anyone who didn't see that wasn't looking. The last few games were more about the "me" than the "we".

 

[UConnNick]

Are you really referring to me? If so, your post is idiotic.

No, I was referring to Bobby, the captain of UConn's football ship which I presumed was your analogy.

 

[jdb50]

Preseason camp Diaco was pumping up Anderson until right before the season when he said Bryant was the starter and it was always his job. Then early on we are told Tyler Davis is going to be moved to tight end as he is too valuable to just hold a clipboard. Tyler shows some promise at TE as he has more speed than the bigger TE's and shows good ability to make a catch. After ECU and a total team meltdown we are told BS is not the starter and that Williams was going to be our best chance going forward. Then we hear he was going to start earlier but he was hurt after Houston in practice. Then we heard he was told to ask his parents if it was OK to start. Then we hear from Jeff Jacobs interview that BS had a serious injury for his last 7 games. No mention of this by Diaco when the QB change was made to DW, just said that Bryant knew when he let go of the rope. So I wonder why when Bryant was first hurt why GA was not given a chance to play as our season was not yet over and this might have given Bryant a chance to heal? Garrett finally got in when DW hurt his ankle late against Tulane and to me he had a much quicker release than Williams and threw a good ball. Meanwhile Tyler Davis saw less time on the field as the season drew to a close and against Tulane he was on the famous Bob Diaco punt return team. He was lined up in the gap over the long snapper and would rush the 3 up backs on Tulane, giving a good effort running into the blockers and then turn and see if we had caught the punt or not. Way to go Diaco, who according to Joe D spends 80% of his time at practice with our vaunted defense.

 

[uconndogs]

If he never got hurt or if he stayed in the lineup? Remember, this team was 3-4 and coming off maybe its best offensive game in 4 years against Cincy before some things went south and then we gave up. If the injured BS never was taken out, we beat Tulane and maybe get one more because I don't think this team quits the way it did. If BS was actually healthy the whole year, every chance to think we get to 6-6.

I'd still love to know what happened with the lineup change. Did HCBD actually believe switching QBs gave us a better chance to win? (If that is the answer he is a total idiot and shouldn't be allowed to coach video football.). Did he know DW was a step backwards, but knew BS wasn't coming back and was giving up on this season to prepare for next season? (In which case at 3-6 it was incredibly boneheaded but one game later, with bowl eligibility gone, I can at least understand the theory.). Or did HCBD or BS just decide before Temple that BS was just too hurt to keep going and he needed to be taken out? (It doesn't sound like this came from BS, but if it did obviously HCBD's hands were tied. If it came from HCBD and BS wanted to play, it's very odd but I can understand a coach being protective I guess.)

The point is, we still don't really know what happened.

Those are exactly the questions. This team should have beaten a very good Navy team on the road and then left the Syracuse game on the field. Those two go the other way and BS stays relatively healthy you can see a 6-7 win type season.

Something happened during the season and this team lost focus. The East Carolina game was pretty bizarre and then after that they just seemed to give up. BS's comments in the press including exploring his options suggest a pretty big rift between he and Diaco. It's entirely possible that locker room got divided, but that's pure speculation.

For me this is pretty simple. As the HC you are ultimately responsible for culture, morale and performance. No excuses. The performance of this team this season was obviously unacceptable and it suggests problems that go beyond being over matched from a talent perspective.