For the 7th straight year, UConn sucked at football. Why do
I feel good about it?
Before I moved to DC in 2011, my friends and I had UConn
season tickets for seven years. We went to every game. We tailgated for hours.
We grew accustom to big crowds, good football and, ya know, wins.
Still, here I am after yet another year of watching terrible
UConn football and I feel good about the future. Yes, I am the optimistic
type, especially when It comes to UConn football. But I truly feel that
UConn’s football program might finally
be in a place where success can happen, if not overnight.
Why do I feel this way? Let’s count the ways…
The Offense is Competent
If you’re a fan of just about any other college football
team, a competent offense wouldn’t get you too excited. Offense is “easy” in
college football now, if you listen to ESPN talking heads for more than five
consecutive minutes. Every team scores and only Alabama plays defense.
Let me tell you something – UConn has not had a competent
offense since I moved to DC. It’s been a long seven years.
However, the eyebrow-raising
hire of new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee had UConn looking – at times
– like an extremely capable offense. Particularly in back-to-back wins in
October, where the offense finally started clicking and UConn moved the ball up
and down the field. Even in November losses to UCF and USF, the offense moved
the ball and were able to score points. Neither game ended up particularly
close, but, well, that almost didn’t matter…
The Team is
Competitive
Again, this shouldn’t be a compliment after a 3-9 season.
But you haven’t been to UConn football games.
I happened to be in Connecticut the weekend of the spring
game, so I went with my Dad. After the first UConn touchdown, the crowd of
about 5,000 absolutely lost their minds. I was so confused. Why are we excited
about that?
“You don’t get it,” my Dad said. “They didn’t score a touchdown
in November last year.”
He was being a little facetious as Arkeel Newsome scored two
meaningless TDs in the 2016 finale versus Tulane, which gave UConn a grand
total of 16 points in Bob Diaco’s last four games. Vomit inducing, right?
This year, my friends and I targeted the USF game for our
one big tailgate as you’re insane if you think I'm going from DC to CT for any
more than one game of crappy football. UConn played USF tough for a half,
until a perfectly thrown ball ricocheted off a receiver’s hands and became a
brutal, soul-crushing interception. The game quickly got out of hand in the third
quarter.
For myself and my friends, our first exposure to UConn in
2017 was awful. But we were comparing them to 2010. My dad, who still goes to
all the games like a moron, had a much different perspective. He was there on
the Friday night when UConn gave up 70 to Memphis.
“You don’t get it,” my Dad said. “They weren’t embarrassed
today.” And that’s how a 37-20 loss ends up feeling like a good day at the office.
The Schedule was Too
Hard
In retrospect, it was obvious UConn gave up on the season
before it began when they moved
the last home game to Fenway Park. They knew they were going to suck and
didn’t want to bring in Boston College to an empty Rentschler Field. They
pocketed the dough and took the loss.
Overall, the team wasn’t good enough for the schedule
it had – specifically playing three Power Five teams. When you schedule
Virginia, Missouri and Boston College, you’re not expecting any of them to be
all that good. So of course, all three will make a bowl game in 2017 and the
latter two ended up playing great football in November.
Compound that with the success of USF and UCF, throw in a
divisional crossover game against a Top 20 team in Memphis, and UConn had 6 Ls
on the schedule before the season started. That’s not a schedule you give a new
coach with an empty cupboard. To UConn’s credit, they kept fighting all the way
to end, even if it ended in crippling disappointment in a
loss to Cincinnati.
The Recruiting Will
Improve
How could it get any worse? Pasqauloni and DIaco may have
put together the seven worst recruiting classes of any FBS program over the same
period of time. Both seemed obsessed with local talent for reasons I have never
understood since New England high school football is garbage.
His first makeshift class after Diaco was fired in late
December was nothing to write home about, but Edsall brought in just enough
guys to make you realize that Edsall has done this before and can, ya know,
actually scout talent.
While defensive playmakers have never been a problem for
UConn, the offensive side of the ball has been a disaster. Arkeel Newsome is
easily the best running back you’ve never heard of since the previous coaching
staff also seemed to never hear of him. That changed with Lashlee calling plays
and you have to assume that he’ll have enough film from 2017 to show recruits
what could possibly happen.
Yet above all else, there is one reason why I am excited for
2018 and beyond…
UConn Has a QB
David Pindell started the season opener and played so bad
that Edsall had no choice to bench him, or risk starting his second UConn
tenure with a loss to Holy Cross. Fifth-year senior Bryant Shirreffs came in,
saved the day and led UConn for most of the year.
Following an injury, Pindell was re-inserted as the starting
QB and, well, he started to look pretty good down the stretch. Maybe he wasn’t
Baker Mayfield or J.T. Barrett, but he ran the offense effectively, made plays
with his legs and scored points.
For the first time since Zach Fraser returned in 2010, UConn
will go into a season with a QB that has the tools and skill set to win games,
not just manage them. Fraser didn’t need to do much with UConn’s running game
at the time, yet he proved that he could deliver when needed – just cue up the throw he made in OT versus
Notre Dame.
Pindell won’t make the offense go by himself. Pindell won’t
make the secondary better overnight. Pindell won’t make the kicker make field
goals.
He can make UConn feel more confidence, which is of the
utmost importance. UConn started to compete in 2017. They need to start winning
in 2018.
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