Well what more can one say about the 2009 UConn football team. We’re 4-5, 1-4 in the Big East and have lost those five games by a total of 15 points. And don’t even get me started on how many of those games we led heading into the fourth quarter. In Nippert Stadium on Saturday it wasn’t a fourth quarter meltdown however but a fourth quarter explosion in the UConn offense who scored 21 points in the final 15 minutes but fell just short 47-45. To steal a line from modern cinema there was some good, there was some bad, and there was some ugly.
The Good:
1) Jordan Todman exploded for 162 yards on 26 carries, getting the lion’s share of the load after Andre Dixon battled flu-like symptoms during the week
Jordan Todman carries the ball against Cincinnati. (AP)
2) Marcus Easley continues to impress. While the senior walk-on didn’t have 100 yards he caught a touchdown for his fifth straight contest and has given rise to the question, “Where was this kid the last three years?!”
3) McClain is adapting to the punt return game quite well. Reggie took back three punts for 116 yards including an 87 yard score to bring the Huskies within a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
4) Desi Cullen is continuing to impress in the punting game. While you don’t often turn to a punter as a standout player, the captain Cullen booted five punts for an average of 44.2 yards apiece with three inside the 20-yard line. He’s also among the top punters in the Big East.
5) Zach Frazer threw for just 261 yards but completed 19 of his 32 pass attempts showing that his accuracy is slowly but surely improving. Most importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over as he was so prone to do earlier in the season.
6) Only two penalties committed for 10 years compared to Cinci’s seven for 73.
The Bad:
1) The Huskies were 4-of-12 on third down. While they converted twice on 4th UConn needs to make those third down plays to move the chains, keep the offense on the field and get the defense some rest.
2) No forced turnovers. Last year against the Bearcats, the Huskies forced six turnovers. Granted this year’s Cincinnati offense is much more poised but UConn needs to force fumbles and pick off passes if they want a chance against the premiere offenses in the league.
3) The run defense, specifically senior captain Lindsey Witten, needs to step up their game. They allowed Cincinnati 6.4 yards per carry and four rushing touchdowns including two from the quarter back Zach Collaros who the Huskies knew could run but still couldn’t seem to stop.
The Ugly:
1) UConn allowed 711 total yards of offense, this is inexcusable. Collaros had 480 yards passing and 75 more on the ground to outgain the entire UConn team.
2) Missed chances. You don’t want to harp on this but the Huskies chose a particularly poor play for the two-point conversion to tie it, a play action fake with Frazer who is not the most mobile quarterback.
Reggie McClain misses a tackle on Mardy Gilyard Saturday at Cincinnati.
3) The secondary is showing their weakness. Blidi Wreh-Wilson is making freshman mistakes and allowed Cinci to have two 100-yard receivers. Mardy Gilyard led the Bearcats with 172 yards and UConn got beat long on plays of 54, 54, and 41 constantly giving up big passes when they needed a key stop.
4) Missed tackles. I think this picture speaks for itself.
So in conclusion, another tough loss another hard game to watch but as the season goes on I’m beginning to appreciate just how gritty this UConn team is. they may have lost but remember the line on this one was 17.5 in favor of Cinci, but so much for moral victories.
November 14, 2009 at 10:23 pm |
I like how you separated your ideas out into the 3 parts. I also think bigger pics have better impact, so this one looked good in the post. Good job fixing the banner too! I will say though, that maybe there should be a link in here to something. Maybe even just linking the players names to the UConn Huskies’ roster page or something? I dunno. But, there’s a lot of good info here. You could also try some bold words like Chris did in his Yankees blog.
November 17, 2009 at 3:59 am |
Your expertise gained from the Campus is evident in this post. I’ve probably said this on every other sports blog so far, but I like how this is easy to follow–but it’s still obviously geared toward somebody who can appreciate it, i.e. somebody who actually follows football.