UConn Game

[JeremyCuse]

I don't think we'll need 4 Q of good football to beat them. I don't know what the proper ratio is, but we I don't think we need to be perfect to win IMO.

I agree I don't think we need to be perfect to win but I think we will need a better sustained effort especially from the offense. I think some people are really underestimating how bad this D is right now. I know UConn's offense is more like Colgate then it is USF for Lville but I wouldn't be surprised if we gave 2-3 td's to UConn's offense especially if the O is struggling and put UConn in short fields.

I think the offense really needs to come out and have a very solid game Saturday. Without it I think were in trouble.

 

[TheCusian]

I agree I don't think we need to be perfect to win but I think we will need a better sustained effort especially from the offense. I think some people are really underestimating how bad this D is right now. I know UConn's offense is more like Colgate then it is USF for Lville but I wouldn't be surprised if we gave 2-3 td's to UConn's offense especially if the O is struggling and put UConn in short fields.

I think the offense really needs to come out and have a very solid game Saturday. Without it I think were in trouble.

Agreed.

I think our margin for error is more than UCONN has due to the nature of their offense. But I agree - we'll need more points than last week for sure.

 

[JeremyCuse]

We shall see. Teams that play meathead ball won't be able to keep up with us, and play right into our hands. We've been on the opposite side of this equation with several peer programs in the recent past, but not anymore.

For the record, I don't think that the team needs to "put it all together" to beat UConn soundly. I understand the skepticism, given the last two games, but I look forward to dispelling some of the hand wringing on Saturday with a resounding win. The team--and the fanbase--need it.

Trust me I am all for a resounding win on Saturday, more then you know. I just think to get there we need a solid game from the Defense and a good/above average one from the offense. Just not sure we can get that out of either unit right now. I think the O can do it but to me the most overlooked facet of last week was how it fell of a cliff after the 1st quarter. I think the play calling really took a nose dive after we got that lead, way to much reliance on the run game. Hoping we go back to looking like that O we saw in the 1st quarter against USF.

 

[RF2044]

I agree I don't think we need to be perfect to win but I think we will need a better sustained effort especially from the offense. I think some people are really underestimating how bad this D is right now. I know UConn's offense is more like Colgate then it is USF for Lville but I wouldn't be surprised if we gave 2-3 td's to UConn's offense especially if the O is struggling and put UConn in short fields.

I think the offense really needs to come out and have a very solid game Saturday. Without it I think were in trouble.

This is going to come out not the way I intended [and no disrespect meant toward you, Jeremy], but--well, duh.

Of course we need the offense to play well and have a chance to win. And of course they need to do better than they did the final three quarters against USF. But there's a big difference between Louisville's / USF's personnel on the defensive side of the ball and UConn's. Which means we shouldn't struggle to move the ball as much, they shouldn't be able to get upfield and make plays in our backfield that throw off our passing timing as much, and they won't be able to cover the edges as easily. All of which should make it easier to march up and down the field.

Mind you, I'm not predicting that we romp. Just that our offense is going to look a lot different against teams like UConn and Wake than it did against Louisville and USF. And for that matter, the defense will, as well, given the limitations of those teams compared to a team with a legit Heisman contender quarterbacking.

We might not shut anybody out all year, but hopefully we can do enough against the uconns, wakes, and bc's on the schedule to keep them in check, while moving the ball / scoring much easier than they are able to.

That's what I expect Saturday.

 

[RF2044]

Trust me I am all for a resounding win on Saturday, more then you know. I just think to get there we need a solid game from the Defense and a good/above average one from the offense. Just not sure we can get that out of either unit right now. I think the O can do it but to me the most overlooked facet of last week was how it fell of a cliff after the 1st quarter. I think the play calling really took a nose dive after we got that lead, way to much reliance on the run game. Hoping we go back to looking like that O we saw in the 1st quarter against USF.

Overlooked factor--I'm not sure I understand.

You're never as poor as you look when you play badly, and never as good as when things are clicking on all cylinders. Generally, teams play somewhere in the middle. So yeah--if we can only muster 3 points over 3 quarters like we did against USF, we're going to be in trouble. But if we score 17 per quarter like we did against USF in the first quarter, we're going to roll them.

The answer is somewhere in the middle. And again, the defense doesn't need to be Alabama--nor can they ever be with the personnel on hand for the Tampa 2--but they will have a much easier time slowing down a run based, old school attack that does NOT have superman Jackson or even Flowers from USF. That is an overlooked factor, IMO.

 

[JeremyCuse]

This is going to come out not the way I intended, but--well, duh.

Of course we need the offense to play well and have a chance to win. And of course they need to do better than they did the final three quarters against USF. But there's a big difference between Louisville's / USF's personnel on the defensive side of the ball and UConn's. Which means we shouldn't struggle to move the ball as much, they shouldn't be able to get upfield and make plays in our backfield that throw off our passing timing as much, and they won't be able to cover the edges as easily. All of which should make it easier to march up and down the field.

Mind you, I'm not predicting that we romp. Just that our offense is going to look a lot different against teams like UConn and Wake than it did against Louisville and USF. And for that matter, the defense will, as well, given the limitations of those teams compared to a team with a legit Heisman contender quarterbacking.

We might not shut anybody out all year, but hopefully we can do enough against the uconns, wakes, and bc's on the schedule to keep them in check, while moving the ball / scoring much easier than they are able to.

That's what I expect Saturday.

Not to quibble but is there really a big difference between USF's D personnel and Uconns? The strength of UConn's team is their defense. I am sure they can't matchup athlete to athlete with a South Florida but it seems to me at least that they are not a huge downgrade from what we saw from USF. SU obviously moved the ball fairly easily in the 1st half or 1st quarter at least so maybe they will be able to do it for a larger portion of the game vs this D. From a Defensive standpoint UConn's O is clearly an enormous downgrade from Lville's and probably USF's to. That said this D hasn't faced a power run game offense yet, hard to say how it will hold up. Guess I just don't have the same outlook that this D will be able to handle UConn's O pretty easily despite the clear talent downgrade from the last two offenses we have faced.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Not to quibble but is there really a big difference between USF's D personnel and Uconns? The strength of UConn's team is their defense. I am sure they can't matchup athlete to athlete with a South Florida but it seems to me at least that they are not a huge downgrade from what we saw from USF. SU obviously moved the ball fairly easily in the 1st half or 1st quarter at least so maybe they will be able to do it for a larger portion of the game vs this D. From a Defensive standpoint UConn's O is clearly an enormous downgrade from Lville's and probably USF's to. That said this D hasn't faced a power run game offense yet, hard to say how it will hold up. Guess I just don't have the same outlook that this D will be able to handle UConn's O pretty easily despite the clear talent downgrade from the last two offenses we have faced.

Yeah bad offense versus really bad defense, who wins the pillow fight, not quite sure either squad should feel confident there. I just don't know any other way to look at it. UCONN's D plays well as a collective unit regardless of athletes, not sure it bodes well for us.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Overlooked factor--I'm not sure I understand.

You're never as poor as you look when you play badly, and never as good as when things are clicking on all cylinders. Generally, teams play somewhere in the middle. So yeah--if we can only muster 3 points over 3 quarters like we did against USF, we're going to be in trouble. But if we score 17 per quarter like we did against USF in the first quarter, we're going to roll them.

The answer is somewhere in the middle. And again, the defense doesn't need to be Alabama--nor can they ever be with the personnel on hand for the Tampa 2--but they will have a much easier time slowing down a run based, old school attack that does NOT have superman Jackson or even Flowers from USF. That is an overlooked factor, IMO.

What I meant was I thought the offense largely got a pass from the board despite a pretty abysmal finish after a great start. The play calling was way to slanted toward the run game and I thought the down and distance calls were equally as bad. Also for all the talk about the potential depth at WR and us having to go into our depth chart to run this offense we seem to run the same 4 WR's out there series after series. That might be playing a role in why this offense has stuggled in the later parts of games.

 

[RF2044]

Not to quibble but is there really a big difference between USF's D personnel and Uconns? The strength of UConn's team is their defense. I am sure they can't matchup athlete to athlete with a South Florida but it seems to me at least that they are not a huge downgrade from what we saw from USF. SU obviously moved the ball fairly easily in the 1st half or 1st quarter at least so maybe they will be able to do it for a larger portion of the game vs this D. From a Defensive standpoint UConn's O is clearly an enormous downgrade from Lville's and probably USF's to. That said this D hasn't faced a power run game offense yet, hard to say how it will hold up. Guess I just don't have the same outlook that this D will be able to handle UConn's O pretty easily despite the clear talent downgrade from the last two offenses we have faced.

The "strength" of a lousy team isn't really a strength. UConn flat out stinks. And yes, I think our team will have a much easier time on both sides of the ball. Since our offense is far ahead of our defense, I expect to move the ball on them and score a lot more points than we did against Lou / USF. I don't think we shut them down, but I do think that we limit them.

And yes, I think there is a big difference between the defensive players that USF fields and the ones UConn does.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The "strength" of a lousy team isn't really a strength. UConn flat out stinks. And yes, I think our team will have a much easier time on both sides of the ball. Since our offense is far ahead of our defense, I expect to move the ball on them and score a lot more points than we did against Lou / USF. I don't think we shut them down, but I do think that we limit them.

And yes, I think there is a big difference between the defensive players that USF fields and the ones UConn does.

From your lips to gods ears. Hope your right.

 

[RF2044]

From your lips to gods ears. Hope your right.

Me too!

 

[TheCusian]

UCONN is better on D than USF by a bit and much, much worse on O.

We'll need a better effort on O

Not to quibble but is there really a big difference between USF's D personnel and Uconns? The strength of UConn's team is their defense. I am sure they can't matchup athlete to athlete with a South Florida but it seems to me at least that they are not a huge downgrade from what we saw from USF. SU obviously moved the ball fairly easily in the 1st half or 1st quarter at least so maybe they will be able to do it for a larger portion of the game vs this D. From a Defensive standpoint UConn's O is clearly an enormous downgrade from Lville's and probably USF's to. That said this D hasn't faced a power run game offense yet, hard to say how it will hold up. Guess I just don't have the same outlook that this D will be able to handle UConn's O pretty easily despite the clear talent downgrade from the last two offenses we have faced.

Did they stop us or did we stop ourselves? Seemed like it was less about them making plays and more about ill-timed drops, penalties, or runs when we should have passed, etc.

 

[Alsacs]

USF is a 6 point home underdog to Florida State. We will likely be atleast 14 home underdog to Florida State.

USF is the favorite to win the American East division. They are borderline top 25 team.

UConn is a hopeful 6-6 team. They don't have the athletes of USF. They rely on grit and forcing turnovers and capitalizing on mistakes to beat you. If we don't turn the ball over I think we win this game by double digits. I expect we will make mistakes thus this game will be close and could go either way.

 

[Alsacs]

We didn't play a a bum school last week. We played a good team. That could be top 25 by the end of the year.

USF football is preseason pick to win AAC East Division

UConn is not close to as talented as USF. They could beat them though. This game is hard because its on the road and we are due for stupid mistakes.

 

[RF2044]

We didn't play a a bum school last week. We played a good team. That could be top 25 by the end of the year.

USF football is preseason pick to win AAC East Division

UConn is not close to as talented as USF. They could beat them though. This game is hard because its on the road and we are due for stupid mistakes.

Or maybe we'll play better on the road. :noidea:

 

[PhatOrange]

What I meant was I thought the offense largely got a pass from the board despite a pretty abysmal finish after a great start. The play calling was way to slanted toward the run game and I thought the down and distance calls were equally as bad. Also for all the talk about the potential depth at WR and us having to go into our depth chart to run this offense we seem to run the same 4 WR's out there series after series. That might be playing a role in why this offense has stuggled in the later parts of games.

abysmal finish in points only. for as bad as the O was it still put of 550 and 30 first downs. I can't find quarter by quarter stats but I'm not sure the O tailed off down the finish against USF. The team just needs to convert yards into points and like any team needs to avoid critical penalities and turnovers.

 

[Chip]

abysmal finish in points only. for as bad as the O was it still put of 550 and 30 first downs. I can't find quarter by quarter stats but I'm not sure the O tailed off down the finish against USF. The team just needs to convert yards into points and like any team needs to avoid critical penalities and turnovers.

The O had bad field position all day. Much of that was self inflicted.

We may be willing to punt more against UConn, if we're not worried about them scoring.

Having 90 yard drives worked early, but that gets hard to maintain the more USF took away the downfield passing game. At least I hope that's what they did, because we didn't really go after it much.

 

[upperdeck]

1st quarter - 3 drives - 34 plays - 225 yds 17 pts
2nd quarter - 5 drives - 28 plays - 110 yds 0 pts. 2 TO - 1 failed 4th down
3rd quarter - 3 drives 30 plays - 114 yds - 3 pts - 1 failed 4th down
4th quarter - 3 drives - 15 plays - 91 yds - 1 TO

the 2nd half tailed off but we also a 13 play and 14 play drive that only led to 3 pts.

220 yds on 6 drives is not awful

 

[Chip]

1st quarter - 3 drives - 34 plays - 225 yds 17 pts
2nd quarter - 5 drives - 28 plays - 110 yds 0 pts. 2 TO - 1 failed 4th down
3rd quarter - 3 drives 30 plays - 114 yds - 3 pts - 1 failed 4th down
4th quarter - 3 drives - 15 plays - 91 yds - 1 TO

the 2nd half tailed off but we also a 13 play and 14 play drive that only led to 3 pts.

220 yds on 6 drives is not awful

No it's not, and the 4th quarter probably needs an asterisk. It started off with the 84 yard punt return that took whatever steam may have been left right out of that building. And one of the drives we put in the backup QB.

 

[upperdeck]

cutting back on the dumb penalities would be a start too.. the WR need to line up. dont snap before everyone is set, and dont wipe people out on big plays down field. and count to 11... count to 11. count to 11...

the holding stuff will happen, the lineman down field doesnt even get called all the time .

 

[RF2044]

1st quarter - 3 drives - 34 plays - 225 yds 17 pts
2nd quarter - 5 drives - 28 plays - 110 yds 0 pts. 2 TO - 1 failed 4th down
3rd quarter - 3 drives 30 plays - 114 yds - 3 pts - 1 failed 4th down
4th quarter - 3 drives - 15 plays - 91 yds - 1 TO

the 2nd half tailed off but we also a 13 play and 14 play drive that only led to 3 pts.

220 yds on 6 drives is not awful

No it's not, and the 4th quarter probably needs an asterisk. It started off with the 84 yard punt return that took whatever steam may have been left right out of that building. And one of the drives we put in the backup QB.

And if we can amass 550 against USF, we can sure do it [and more] against a UConn. Especially a team that can't score and will be punting the ball back to us with regularity.

 

[stlorange]

What I fear: UConn slowly goes down the field (getting 3-5 yards per rush--they don't have to throw) and scores, eating up 8 minutes of the clock. We go 3 and out. The first quarter will be over with the good guys having the ball just once. We have not showed we can stop or even limit the jet sweep/fake at all this year.

 

[cuseguy]

I tend to think UConn will be more stout against the run than South Florida.

It will be interesting to see if they focus on stopping the run or the pass.

 

[TexanMark]

I tend to think UConn will be more stout against the run than South Florida.

It will be interesting to see if they focus on stopping the run or the pass.

Expect a moderate quartering crosswind from the North North West at 7-9 mph on Saturday. The stadium is essentially NW/SE orientation...so expect passing to be somewhat affected.

As of right now...a cool front is coming through on Friday afternoon.

Expect temps in low 70s and mostly cloudy.

 

[TheCusian]

I tend to think UConn will be more stout against the run than South Florida.

It will be interesting to see if they focus on stopping the run or the pass.

The meathead bible states that you should take away the run 1st. We'll see.