What's it going to take for you to consider this season a success?
- Thread starter EdgewoodNHV
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I want to see a team that plays together and puts pressure on the opponents like an irresistible force.. I expect 6 wins minimum and would like to see an uptick in attendance. I want to see Hungry Huskies on the football field in all 3 phases.
UCFBfan
We're going bowling!
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THIS THIS THIS! I don't want to see a team come out opening drive, score a TD, and feel like it's over. I wanna see passion return to this team. I want to see players have respect for their teammates, themselves, and most importantly, the word UCONN on their chest. There should be no one happy with getting their butt handed to them. I wanna see in your face, how are you going to respond, behavior on the sideline from our players and coaches.
Sure a bowl would be nice but I think a lot of us, myself included, will get a reality check on how far this team still has to go after the first few games.
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Don't be silly.
We are going 13-1 We unfortunately will lose to Bama in the semifinals but use the loss as motivation for next year.
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Was that supposed to be irrational?
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Success can't always be measured in wins, but wins are always nice. Especially at least 6 and a bowl berth.
Heck, just give me a competent football program again that gives it their all every game. One that looks like they're at least on their way back to what they were during the RE years.
Heck, just give me a competent football program again that gives it their all every game. One that looks like they're at least on their way back to what they were during the RE years.
jbdphi
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Consistency on the offensive side of the ball in terms of being able to move the chains and getting some points.
A pass rush.
Less delay of game penalties.
More debates on our end of game victory formation practices.
Hope.
A pass rush.
Less delay of game penalties.
More debates on our end of game victory formation practices.
Hope.
Uconnalliance
Just win baby
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I'll be happy when I'm sitting on a beach in south Florida in early December.
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Honestly, I just want to look forward to paying the money to stream the games again this year; last year was the first time in years that I just couldn't rationalize paying and staying home on a Saturday evening to watch us get pounded.
Oh... And not reaching the over/under on WTF is going on around here?
Oh... And not reaching the over/under on WTF is going on around here?
Husky25
Dink & Dunk beat the Greatest Show on Turf.
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Yeah, that's a Lombardi quote/paraphrase that needs to be eviscerated from the UConn lexicon.
RioDog
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Moved to Rio in 2010. Waited 4 years only to experience the steaming pile that the Brazilian selecao left on the field. Watched and suffered from Rio through the steaming pile of PPGDL. We're returning to Connecticut permanently in 2 weeks, and I expect to make some games this season. I'll be happy with anything better than a steaming pile.
But seriously 6 wins and cohesive play would be great.
But seriously 6 wins and cohesive play would be great.
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Yeah I tried to word the question in a way that encouraged people to think about what success even means this year, especially because I've been thinking about it a lot lately and while I don't know what to expect myself, I thought maybe if I asked the Boneyard, it might give me some ideas of what the general consensus is heading into the season. I was also curious if people had unreasonable expectations, but the more responses I see, the less I think that's the case.
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HuskyHawk
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Six wins is critical. It is also important that they pass the eye test. I am taking Diaco at his word. He described poor conditioning, poor mental attitudes and lack of cohesiveness. Those are things he can fix in short order. He can also fix the schemes and play calling. Last year's pathetic team won three games as soon a PP was gone. This team simply has to be better than that, by a reasonable magnitude. That team lost games to teams with less talent, who played harder and were better coached and conditioned. I expect that will never happen again and I expect this team to steal a couple of wins against more talented teams because it played harder, was better coach and better conditioned.
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That is quite a comparison, Very similar. Luckily those of us located in Connecticut only had to endure one steaming pile. 6 wins and a well conditioned, cohesive team will help the last 3 years disappear in the rear view mirror.
RioDog
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The only thing tempering my post-World Cup depression are my hopes for a turnaround in UConn's football fortunes.
I'm not going to put a number on it. I just want to see signs of the development of a program. I think everyone needs to remember that Calhoun's first season here the team was 9-19 and Geno's teams didn't have a winning record until his third season. It takes time.
FfldCntyFan
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I'm not sure that at this point we can put a number of wins on what would be necessary to view the season as a success and I also don't know if they eye test will be as important as the feeling we have when November & December roll around.
It is great that there is quite a bit of excitement and hope for the program now but we will need to be as positive about the direction of the program in six months in order for the season to be a success. It is quite possible that we can count this season's wins on one hand and have that feeling but it is also possible that we can win more than a half dozen games, go bowling and finish the season knowing that what we have isn't quite what we had hoped.
I still remember how I felt after we finished .500 not quite a dozen years ago. I want that feeling again this December.
It is great that there is quite a bit of excitement and hope for the program now but we will need to be as positive about the direction of the program in six months in order for the season to be a success. It is quite possible that we can count this season's wins on one hand and have that feeling but it is also possible that we can win more than a half dozen games, go bowling and finish the season knowing that what we have isn't quite what we had hoped.
I still remember how I felt after we finished .500 not quite a dozen years ago. I want that feeling again this December.
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The feeling that I want to have is that of HOPE as we stand around the grill cooking up whatever. Last year the Tailgate was the highlight of the Day. Depressing, I don't even remember if football was a topic of conversation. This year looking for a turn around in that feeling in B lot. GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!!
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I'm with FCF with this. This year is, more than anything, about assessing the damage from the PP years, and making sure that HCBD can actually coach as well as look good at a presser. I know PP couldn't coach any more, but I'm not sure yet whether his recruiting classes are, as those kids now become upperclassmen, going to be impossible to work with because he didn't recruit the right kids, or whether the raw material was fine and it will just take a better coach to make them productive players. And none of us know how good a head coach HCBD will be when the season starts.
So you want a number? I'd love 6-6 because it would show me that there is hope to be competitive while HCBD rebuilds the roster with his kids, and that he can get enough out of his players to make the next few seasons fun while we wait. But it's possible it can be much worse than that, and people may have to look very hard to try to determine if a bad season is reflective of HCBD or just the talent he is starting with.
Because FHCRE critics/PP suck ups made a huge point of determining we stepped back in '10 because of the talent PP was left and not his coaching. Subsequent events (draft picks, all conference selections and coaching) challenge that interpretation. That scenario, however (that no coach could win with the food in the cupboard), is far more likely this time around (although people may be slower to see that because we will have good QB play).
So you want a number? I'd love 6-6 because it would show me that there is hope to be competitive while HCBD rebuilds the roster with his kids, and that he can get enough out of his players to make the next few seasons fun while we wait. But it's possible it can be much worse than that, and people may have to look very hard to try to determine if a bad season is reflective of HCBD or just the talent he is starting with.
Because FHCRE critics/PP suck ups made a huge point of determining we stepped back in '10 because of the talent PP was left and not his coaching. Subsequent events (draft picks, all conference selections and coaching) challenge that interpretation. That scenario, however (that no coach could win with the food in the cupboard), is far more likely this time around (although people may be slower to see that because we will have good QB play).
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My Expectations for this year:
4 sunny home games
Way to much food at tailgate
WAYYYY to much beer at tailgate
7 stunning performances by the marching band, as per usual
A refreshing sense of hope and ironic/sarcastic PP/GDL banter
staying in Gray Lot until the coppers impolitely prompt us to .
4 sunny home games
Way to much food at tailgate
WAYYYY to much beer at tailgate
7 stunning performances by the marching band, as per usual
A refreshing sense of hope and ironic/sarcastic PP/GDL banter
staying in Gray Lot until the coppers impolitely prompt us to .
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I'm hopeful, again, that after Aug. 29, on Aug. 30, that fan expectations have been completely reset - positively.
I freely admit that I was blinded to what was happening, supported a head coach and his program, blindly based on respect from eons ago, and came up with many - any - explanation except for the obvious, between the 2011 and 2012 5-7 seasons. In 2011, we went 5-7 and were in it for a bowl game right up to the last game against Cincy. in 2012, we struggled more, but won a big game against a ranked opponent on the road late in the season, put together a great game against Pittsburgh, and again, were fighting for 6-6 and a bowl game at the end of the season. I wasn't the only rational football oriented person that was snowballed by the old farts. Those two consecutive 5-7 seasons could be rationalized, but progress needed to happen in 2013, without a doubt. Kudos to all of you that knew different - too bad you weren't in position to actually make changes in the coaching staff.
After the opener against Towson in 2013, I knew it was over, and I admitted it then. I still remember how awful that next morning was for me. What a disaster of a game. I drank way too much. Got too close to getting into fights. Just generally pissed off at how bad the team performed, and it was the frigging season opener. I wrote here, right after, that my confidence in Pasqualoni's guidance was gone after that game. It's not that we lost, it's how we played against Towson. Nothing that happened after that Towson game was a surprise until halftime at Temple. The team was a disaster. THey weren't talent poor, as the Michigan game showed. Something clicked though, in Philadelphia, with nobody watching, and nothing tangible to play for.
We've got a new coaching staff now, but mostly the same players. It will be interesting to see if whatever it was that clicked late last year, and surprised me, can carry over, and be built upon. Because there is plenty tangible to play for now.
I think we will all know, on Saturday morning Aug. 30, win or lose against BYU - and I hope again, that fan expectations, are completely reset, and the feeling and direction that thoughts seem to go, to bring up the past and Edsall and Pasqualoni's successes and failures, falls by the wayside, very quickly, as we begin to look more and more only at what's happening now, and going forward, rather than looking back.
I freely admit that I was blinded to what was happening, supported a head coach and his program, blindly based on respect from eons ago, and came up with many - any - explanation except for the obvious, between the 2011 and 2012 5-7 seasons. In 2011, we went 5-7 and were in it for a bowl game right up to the last game against Cincy. in 2012, we struggled more, but won a big game against a ranked opponent on the road late in the season, put together a great game against Pittsburgh, and again, were fighting for 6-6 and a bowl game at the end of the season. I wasn't the only rational football oriented person that was snowballed by the old farts. Those two consecutive 5-7 seasons could be rationalized, but progress needed to happen in 2013, without a doubt. Kudos to all of you that knew different - too bad you weren't in position to actually make changes in the coaching staff.
After the opener against Towson in 2013, I knew it was over, and I admitted it then. I still remember how awful that next morning was for me. What a disaster of a game. I drank way too much. Got too close to getting into fights. Just generally pissed off at how bad the team performed, and it was the frigging season opener. I wrote here, right after, that my confidence in Pasqualoni's guidance was gone after that game. It's not that we lost, it's how we played against Towson. Nothing that happened after that Towson game was a surprise until halftime at Temple. The team was a disaster. THey weren't talent poor, as the Michigan game showed. Something clicked though, in Philadelphia, with nobody watching, and nothing tangible to play for.
We've got a new coaching staff now, but mostly the same players. It will be interesting to see if whatever it was that clicked late last year, and surprised me, can carry over, and be built upon. Because there is plenty tangible to play for now.
I think we will all know, on Saturday morning Aug. 30, win or lose against BYU - and I hope again, that fan expectations, are completely reset, and the feeling and direction that thoughts seem to go, to bring up the past and Edsall and Pasqualoni's successes and failures, falls by the wayside, very quickly, as we begin to look more and more only at what's happening now, and going forward, rather than looking back.
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I think a lot of people have the right view here. I think I can differentiate between what I would like to see and what would be acceptable. I do think we have a pretty tough schedule, especially early. I've seen both Boise and BYU listed in various pre-season Top 25s so it could be rough out of the gate, but I pretty much agree with J187 that for our fan base it needs to be 6 wins, but for me it is about seeing a team that is prepared, that doesn't panic when things go bad, and that gives you a sense that you have a shot in every game.. I'd also like to see progress as the season goes on. Even if it is a bit rocky early, and I think it could be with a new coach and the mess he inherited, I'd like to see us end the year with a nice run, say 4-5 game win streak. And fi I never again see the oline looking utterly confused and completely over matched it will be too soon.
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