Worst decisions in UConn coaching history

[formerlurker]

NO!! I seem to remember a certain old bastard who split his "just returning from a concussion" starting QB out wide and made him a receiver.

I can't count on one hand the number of times I have been himicidally agree due to a sports related play. This is number 1 on that list, and by far the worst coaching decision in Uconn Sports History. Now I am going to bed.

Help me out with that one.....

 

[whaler11]

NO!! I seem to remember a certain old bastard who split his "just returning from a concussion" starting QB out wide and made him a receiver.

I can't count on one hand the number of times I have been himicidally agree due to a sports related play. This is number 1 on that list, and by far the worst coaching decision in Uconn Sports History. Now I am going to bed.

You can make a case for the Whitmer at WR as the worst decision ever - but I was choosing withing the context of potentially winning.

Based on the injury caused... Easy case to be made for that play.

 

[The Funster]

He doesn't have a hell of a lot of talent to work with and if we forgot what P did to this program, we sure remembered it tonight....but even grading on the curve, Diaco was a mess tonight.

The existence of a quarterback platoon scares the holy hell out of me. First, it screams indecision and second, I'll wager these kids will throw some picks coming in cold and trying to force the issue. Third, it's a bad idea.

Nothing good happened tonight. I am going to pretend it never happened.

If you two quarterbacks, you have no quarterback.

 

[bigAbruns]

I get that but I would have kicked the first time and went for it down 28-10.

Problem was during warm ups he was kicking it short from that distance on that side of the field. Of course the fake was just stupid, should have kept the offense in, had a good chance to get a flag the way the game was being called.

 

[willie99]

I thought this thread might be about switching QB's in the red zone.

 

[Chief00]

The BYU QB is big time. Lets give him his due. As I said I am not going to over-analyze this team - just not enough of talent. I had penciled this game in as a learning experience and the first peak to us fans regarding what we have. What I saw was no pressure on the BYU QB - and when that happens against a very talented QB - nothing good is the outcome.

On offense, I agree this QB rotation is crazy - period. It seems clear Diaco is not sold on Casey - Whitmer, I just have not seen on the game day field - what he apparently does in practice and in the film room. Boyle is the most talented QB but I cant argue with red shirting him.
As far as an offensive strategy we did not stretch the field. Newson had a nice play and then we put the lid on getting him the ball in open space.
I am positive on a lot of the connection he has made with the players. One concern from day one - he makes a lot of things about himself, the white sun hats the players wore on the bus when they arrived, the song selection of his favorite songs between the 3rd and 4th quarter. With our friend Calhoun it was often about him but in a less showy way - it was more competition..

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Ir UOTE="formerlurker, post: 1048423, member: 2762"]Help me out with that one.....[/QUOTE]
It was late, I was tired, I was typing on a Kindle....now write me a ticket Officer Grammar and have good day.

 

[noeynox]

Meh. Still the wrong mentality if that indeed was his mentality.

You concede nothing before the fight, if Diaco really had that mind frame before the game that would be concerning.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I went to my first UConn football game in 1986. I've been a season ticket holder since 1998. I've been to at least 40 road games.

My top 3 worst decisions:

3. 2011 at Vanderbilt. The pass. Enough said.

2. 2003 at North Carolina State, Edsall tries to drive the long field with almost no time and no kicker in a tie game only to see Orlovsky throw a pick 6 as time expires.

1. Down 21 points in fourth quarter at home: Bob Diaco kicks a field goal to cut lead to 18. Bonus points for listening to an interview where he wasn't asked what in the hell his motivation was.

Easily top three most over-reactive post all time on BY.
Game was over. Decision had no impact on game. Byu was scoring at will. It was 4th and 12. Not 4th and 2.
If that's the worst call this year I'll take it. Not even sure it was the worst call last night.

 

[UConnDan97]

If that's the worst call this year I'll take it. Not even sure it was the worst call last night.

The fact that it might not have been the worst call last night is less of an indictment against Whaler and more of an indictment of last night...

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the game at Rutgers a few years ago. The bad decisions started with letting McCombs on the bus. Then progressed to the idiocy of carrying timeouts into the second half.

 

[Marty Jackson]

The fact that it might not have been the worst call last night is less of an indictment against Whaler and more of an indictment of last night...

sucks that after all this time, that was the game we had waited for. everyone associated with uconn and the production of that game needs to learn from last night and improve. For an opening game, against a national program, with a near sellout, nobody had their A-game. It's debatable if anyone brought their b-game.

 

[Stinger92860]

My top 3 takeaways from last night and mind you there are more, but we only have a week or 2 to fix.

1. We need to find a way to get pressure on the qb. He had lots of time all night. The only times he was unable to throw was due to coverage.
2. Red zone offense. Absolutely horrible as we left 10+ points on the field.
3. Play calling. Are we really air UConn? That last drive, 2nd and 3/4. Why not get that first down with another run or short pass, maybe use Bloom who played well.

On a positive note, the oline appears much improved and we have speed at rb.

 

[uconnric]

I went to my first UConn football game in 1986. I've been a season ticket holder since 1998. I've been to at least 40 road games.

My top 3 worst decisions:

3. 2011 at Vanderbilt. The pass. Enough said.

2. 2003 at North Carolina State, Edsall tries to drive the long field with almost no time and no kicker in a tie game only to see Orlovsky throw a pick 6 as time expires.

1. Down 21 points in fourth quarter at home: Bob Diaco kicks a field goal to cut lead to 18. Bonus points for listening to an interview where he wasn't asked what in the hell his motivation was.

That's really a non issue unless you're just looking for things to complain about. We weren't going to win at that point anyway. So you give the kicker some game experience and get 3 points.

Big freaking deal.

 

[uconnric]

*

 

[uconnric]

I went to my first UConn football game in 1986. I've been a season ticket holder since 1998. I've been to at least 40 road games.

My top 3 worst decisions:

3. 2011 at Vanderbilt. The pass. Enough said.

2. 2003 at North Carolina State, Edsall tries to drive the long field with almost no time and no kicker in a tie game only to see Orlovsky throw a pick 6 as time expires.

1. Down 21 points in fourth quarter at home: Bob Diaco kicks a field goal to cut lead to 18. Bonus points for listening to an interview where he wasn't asked what in the hell his motivation was.

That's really a non issue unless you're just looking for things to complain about. We weren't going to win at that point anyway. So you give the kicker some game experience and get 3 points.

Big freaking deal.

 

[whaler11]

That's really a non issue unless you're just looking for things to complain about. We weren't going to win at that point anyway. So you give the kicker some game experience and get 3 points.

Big freaking deal.

Oh quitting on a game with 13 minutes left isn't a big deal. Interesting concept.

They ran a fake instead of taking three, then decided to take three.

In the simplest terms that is extremely bad decision making.

If they are going to quit on games, they should plant a white flag on the sideline so that none of us waste any additional time sitting around trying to figure out if they conceeded or not.

 

[metsfan2323]

Please stop.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Oh quitting on a game with 13 minutes left isn't a big deal. Interesting concept.

They ran a fake instead of taking three, then decided to take three.

In the simplest terms that is extremely bad decision making.

If they are going to quit on games, they should plant a white flag on the sideline so that none of us waste any additional time sitting around trying to figure out if they conceeded or not.

pretty sure when 50% of the fans didn't come back for the second half they saw the white flag you missed. by the time that fg was kicked, the only section left was BYU. 75% of the uconn fans were in the parking lot or headed home.

amazing with all the missteps and miscues, this is what stands out to you.

 

[Dooley]

The FG last night was fine. You have to pick your spots to try to give the team some confidence. The offense was able to engineer a point-producing drive. That's a bit of confidence that can be taken into the next game and into the next and the next. I couldn't care less about the fans who leave the stadium...our fans leave the stadium at halftime of games that we're winning. I care more about giving our kids some confidence in a game that we were clearly overmatched in from start to finish. And yes, I lost money on the +17 too and still don't have a problem with the FG. It's a long season. Beat Stony Brook and enter the Boise game with some confidence. That's the goal when you're down by a gazillion points late in a game against a team that we very clearly can not beat right now.

Seriously, the FG last night was worse than the stupid trick play put on film at the end of a 30-0 win against UMASS and the SAME TRICK PLAY used against Cincinnati at the last game, with a concussed QB in the open without a blocker in a blowout loss??

 

[Skiblets]

Just rewatched the first drive of the second half. No clue why you take Cochrane out mid-drive. And the fake FG was an absolute head scratcher.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

The BYU QB is big time. Lets give him his due. As I said I am not going to over-analyze this team - just not enough of talent. I had penciled this game in as a learning experience and the first peak to us fans regarding what we have. What I saw was no pressure on the BYU QB - and when that happens against a very talented QB - nothing good is the outcome.

On offense, I agree this QB rotation is crazy - period. It seems clear Diaco is not sold on Casey - Whitmer, I just have not seen on the game day field - what he apparently does in practice and in the film room. Boyle is the most talented QB but I cant argue with red shirting him.
As far as an offensive strategy we did not stretch the field. Newson had a nice play and then we put the lid on getting him the ball in open space.
I am positive on a lot of the connection he has made with the players. One concern from day one - he makes a lot of things about himself, the white sun hats the players wore on the bus when they arrived, the song selection of his favorite songs between the 3rd and 4th quarter. With our friend Calhoun it was often about him but in a less showy way - it was more competition..

I think you'll find the hats were a player decision. Kinda like a certain group of fans. The coach is just trying to avoid a serious disease.

 

[BlueHen]

Oh quitting on a game with 13 minutes left isn't a big deal. Interesting concept.

They ran a fake instead of taking three, then decided to take three.

In the simplest terms that is extremely bad decision making.

If they are going to quit on games, they should plant a white flag on the sideline so that none of us waste any additional time sitting around trying to figure out if they conceeded or not.

They didn't quit though. They got the ball back down by 18 and moved down the field.

Get no points when down 21 and the game is over, as it was the FG gave us a little bit of hope and momentum.

 

[junglehusky]

For sure, Whaler isn't wrong. But I don't buy the supposition that because Diaco chose to treat this like a preseason game and not continue the drive, that he won't do that say, next year against a conference opponent in the middle of the season. For me, it's more about the tone and you'd think with a staff that's trying to change the mentality of a team, going for the FG sends the message that we're not competing in this game. Maybe that sets in if we lose again to Boise and some of the players would view this as a throwaway year. Later in the season if we're flirting with bowl eligibility I'm hopeful they'll be able to wipe that mentality away. And whether it's this season or next, I'll reserve judgment on Diaco's gameday decisions for a situation where there's a little more on the line... and as I've said in the preseason, HCBD and his assistants can make some screwy decisions as long as they get them out of the way early and improves over time.

 

[whaler11]

They didn't quit though. They got the ball back down by 18 and moved down the field.

Get no points when down 21 and the game is over, as it was the FG gave us a little bit of hope and momentum.

I give up.