Will Puma see action on Sat?

[Husky92]

So Mora is on the record that Puma is healthy. We also brought in Zermeno for the scout team. I’d love to see Puma get some reps on Saturday. What say you?

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm guessing no. I'm not sure that Mora really believes he's ready to play, but if he is I don't think you'll see him in a late blow out. If he plays this year, it will be in a game where we have a chance to win.

 

[gopher2]

I don't think so unless (knock on wood) ZT gets injured.

 

[gopher2]

I don't think so unless (knock on wood) ZT gets injured.

Meaning, of course, I dont want to see him injured. Probably an inappropriate use of the phrase "knock on wood,:

 

[jdb50]

Depends on how the game goes Saturday night. If we are able to move the ball and score even if just a FG then ZT stays in. If we are not able to throw complete passes more than 7 yards downfield or get first downs on more than one drive then how do you not play a competent backup in the second half? If Zion is making throws and receivers are dropping the ball you leave him in. Most teams can actually score and this has been a long running problem for our team. It has to get solved.

 

[MKH2317]

I think he’ll play against teams we have a chance to beat. Mora will use his legs to fill some of the void left by carter being gone. So to answer the original question, I think he’s on the bench this weekend to avoid any risk of injury

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

It's hard to trust what Mora says about his QBs because he subscribes to the head coach "gamesmanship" strategy. In his mind, it's an advantage if NC St has to gameplan for Tyler Phommachanh also. (As if it matters...lol)

Remember...the first game there were four quarterbacks listed on the depth chart with an "or". Now we know there were probably only two available to play and Roberson was the clear cut starter.

So...who knows....if he truly is healthy it's a no brainer...you get him snaps. If he doesn't play...i would guess he isn't ready.

 

[Hoophound]

I agree with Biz. If we see Tyler Phommachanh it will be because of injury. Otherwise, a switch might be made to Tyler Phommachanh to try and beat Ball St etc. I don’t think he’ll put Tyler Phommachanh out there to get murdered against NC St.

Mora already has a freshman that will be lacking confidence if he gets yanked. We don’t need Tyler Phommachanh going out there against NC St to risk crushing his confidence or further injury in his return game. It would be better to let Tyler Phommachanh ease into it in a more manageable situation.

All that said, I’d be thrilled to see Tyler Phommachanh against NCSU. I want to see if he still has his speed and that exciting brand of football after the injury. If he does, we’ll immediately know he’s a better option than Zion. I just don’t think Zion is ready yet and I doubt we will see much improvement from him this week.

 

[ZooCougar]

So Mora is on the record that Puma is healthy. We also brought in Zermeno for the scout team. I’d love to see Puma get some reps on Saturday. What say you?

Mora said Cale and Zion were doing the scout team and taking first team reps before Zermeno showed up. I’m not sure how healthy and available Puma really is.

 

[Buffett10]

No chance we ever see him back at QB and for good reason

 

[SwingDog]

No chance we ever see him back at QB and for good reason

"ever"???

 

[Chin Diesel]

Will he see action? IDK. But I really hope he doesn't see any action until after Fresno St.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Mora said Cale and Zion were doing the scout team and taking first team reps before Zermeno showed up. I’m not sure how healthy and available Puma really is.

Though the said it was Cale and Tyler doing Scout team reps.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Depends on how the game goes Saturday night. If we are able to move the ball and score even if just a FG then ZT stays in. If we are not able to throw complete passes more than 7 yards downfield or get first downs on more than one drive then how do you not play a competent backup in the second half? If Zion is making throws and receivers are dropping the ball you leave him in. Most teams can actually score and this has been a long running problem for our team. It has to get solved.

It’s unfortunate that Mora and Charlton have been holding back at showing ZT’s dual threat talents, dual threat definitely keeps the defense honest, but the flip side is they definitely do not want to see him get hurt in his freshman year. On the other hand, short on the run passes or screens to Rosa could make for some big gains. Once Rosa gets moving a little down field he’s great at avoiding tackles. With Zion, I’d love to see him run but I really don’t think we’ll see that until next year. People forget that he was not only a great QB in Florida but he was also All State as a track & field star.

 

[Jimdish255]

It’s unfortunate that Mora and Charlton have been holding back at showing ZT’s dual threat talents, dual threat definitely keeps the defense honest, but the flip side is they definitely do not want to see him get hurt in his freshman year. On the other hand, short on the run passes or screens to Rosa could make for some big gains. Once Rosa gets moving a little down field he’s great at avoiding tackles. With Zion, I’d love to see him run but I really don’t think we’ll see that until next year. People forget that he was not only a great QB in Florida but he was also All State as a track & field star.

I'm wondering what he ran as a track and field athlete.

I did find this about the football team and I think it partially explains the difficulty ZT is having transitioning. Reminds me a little bit of a Tim Boyle who had a dominant high school team and then suddenly came to UConn and didn't have the same tools or more than a couple of seconds to make decisions.

"Under the direction of newly appointed Offensive Coordinator and former Raider quarterback Wesley Carroll, this was the perfect storm for Zion, who was surrounded by a big time offensive line, stellar receivers and perhaps one of the best running games in south Florida"

I think Mora holds Puma out just as a precautionary measure unless Turner gets dinged up.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I'm wondering what he ran as a track and field athlete.

I did find this about the football team and I think it partially explains the difficulty ZT is having transitioning. Reminds me a little bit of a Tim Boyle who had a dominant high school team and then suddenly came to UConn and didn't have the same tools or more than a couple of seconds to make decisions.

"Under the direction of newly appointed Offensive Coordinator and former Raider quarterback Wesley Carroll, this was the perfect storm for Zion, who was surrounded by a big time offensive line, stellar receivers and perhaps one of the best running games in south Florida"

I think Mora holds Puma out just as a precautionary measure unless Turner gets dinged up.

He ran the 100 and 200 meter dash, also anchored for relays too, on his high school team.

 

[Bongo Fury]

DTs are supposed to run. So far ZT hasn’t shown that much of being a DT.

 

[storrsroars]

It’s unfortunate that Mora and Charlton have been holding back at showing ZT’s dual threat talents, dual threat definitely keeps the defense honest, but the flip side is they definitely do not want to see him get hurt in his freshman year. On the other hand, short on the run passes or screens to Rosa could make for some big gains. Once Rosa gets moving a little down field he’s great at avoiding tackles. With Zion, I’d love to see him run but I really don’t think we’ll see that until next year. People forget that he was not only a great QB in Florida but he was also All State as a track & field star.

I just came back from the URI/Pitt game (wife has club seats and her usual pals didn't want to go). URI is not good, and they lost by 20+ against a depleted Pitt offense. But, URI scored 3x doing pretty much the limited offense the Charlton employs. At the end of the game, URI's QB (an xfer from Maryland) had 220-ish yards or so, but you'd never think that from watching the game. Hardly anything downfield or over the middle, mostly all bubble screens and sideline throws, but a handful broke for decent yardage, including at least three of 20+ yards. Houston should also do well in that kind of offense if/when he's able to play. Maybe Rosa as well. Brewton would've been very effective as well, but he's lost. Point being whether ZT or Tyler Phommachanh, at the start osf the season we had the talent to make a dink and dunk passing attack work. Not sure we still do. I think more targets of TE on short/midrange routes is called for, given the injury list.

 

[freescooter]

It's hard to trust what Mora says about his QBs because he subscribes to the head coach "gamesmanship" strategy. In his mind, it's an advantage if NC St has to gameplan for Tyler Phommachanh also. (As if it matters...lol)

Remember...the first game there were four quarterbacks listed on the depth chart with an "or". Now we know there were probably only two available to play and Roberson was the clear cut starter.

So...who knows....if he truly is healthy it's a no brainer...you get him snaps. If he doesn't play...i would guess he isn't ready.

I agree that it is hard to interpret Mora when he talks quarterbacks. I think he is going out of his way to protect Zion so as not to wreck his confidence. Even when he was responding to complaints about throwing long, he said every pass play includes long routes but nobody has been open. I wonder if that is true. In fact at least a few times against Syracuse it certainly wasn’t. Clercius was open down the sideline a few times tha I saw when Zion threw swing passes. My gut tells me that a part of it is he means Zion didn’t see them, or doesn’t check past the #1 before dumping the ball off, or lacks the confidence to throw to a spot or to a guy who isn’t wide open. He is looking for high school open. D1 college open is quite different. Mo ra has ma de a number of comments along the lines of not wanting to hurt the kids confidence. That will figure int the use of another quarterback, too.

 

[Coach J]

Zion has not looked like an actual dual threat a single time he has taken off and ran, almost every time I felt a quicker QB would have been able to gain ore yardage. I would love to see us target a TE once and awhile, that is clearly an area we can use an increase in production from. You have to imagine Puma is not fully ready to go or they are protecting him until the schedule lightens up.

 

[Jimdish255]

If Puma is ready in 2 weeks I'd like to see him get time vs FIU. Even banged up we're more athletic but Coach will see it as a must win so only if losing at half or winning by 2 or more scores. We'll be grinding against them. He deserves a shot if healthy.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Zion has not looked like an actual dual threat a single time he has taken off and ran, almost every time I felt a quicker QB would have been able to gain ore yardage. I would love to see us target a TE once and awhile, that is clearly an area we can use an increase in production from. You have to imagine Puma is not fully ready to go or they are protecting him until the schedule lightens up.

He obviously looked good on the first run.

The one which ticked me off a bit and had me thinking about managing ZT's health was some time in the second qtr and UConn had 2nd and manageable. Turner went back to pass and then started running towards his left. NC St had two defenders near the first down line and rather than run towards them and get within a yard of the first down or actually get the first down, he ran straight left out of bounds setting up 3rd and 3 or 4. Which, as UConn fans, we know 3rd and 4 is basically setting g up one more olay before they punt.
He absolutely made a conscious decision to run it out of bounds and avoid any contact rather than keep running towards defenders and trying to get 2-3 more yards.

 

[Nostical]

I keep waiting for the Zion the coaches think he is, to appear. I hope it’s not wishful thinking on their part, but I’m certainly not seeing it yet. Even with all of our injuries, and with these same backups playing, its hard to believe we can’t convert a few first downs. If we don’t see “it” vs Fresno, shouldn't a healthy Puma be given a chance?

 

[freescooter]

I keep waiting for the Zion the coaches think he is, to appear. I hope it’s not wishful thinking on their part, but I’m certainly not seeing it yet. Even with all of our injuries, and with these same backups playing, its hard to believe we can’t convert a few first downs. If we don’t see “it” vs Fresno, shouldn't a healthy Puma be given a chance?

Somebody needs to be given a chance. I just think the kid is overwhelmed and we need to hope that somebody else can step in. The killer for me is we lost by 31 and threw 15 passes. For 39 yards. That isn’t playing offense. Charlton seems to subscribe to Woody Hays’ old maxim. Every time you throw the ball 3 things can happen and 2 are bad. Yes we have injuries but that isn’t even trying.

I’ve said before I am not convinced Zion is the guy going forward. He doesn’t look particularly quick or fast. He seems still very unsure. Next year we need to be scouring the portal for another guy who can throw the football.

 

[UCan3]

I think Tyler is the real deal and the only reason he isn’t playing is they are thinking about the future - that’s go to be it. He looked awesome last year with not much of an offensive line. If this year we will win 3 games tops, why risk it Mora must be thinking. He tore his ACL and he is a dual threat QB next year we have improved recruits / more expeience. I think he starts to play if it we start losing games that we had a good shot win - otherwise they save him and he will be #2 next year,