Congrats on the win UConn. You did what you had to.

Molnar is high energy. He'll get it going at UMass.

NBE off to a good start. It would be sweet if we went undefeated this weekend. ESPN might even mention it.

My game observations"
1. ESPN3 is awful. Commercials came through clear but game was grainy. Wasn't able to see halftime activities. Not a good viewing experience
2. UCONN's defense looked good. THey were fast to the ball and brought great pressure.
3. The offensive line has some work to do. Not alot of running room foy the backs.
4.The special teams will win some games this year. Nick Williams looked dynamic returning kicks and the kicking game was solid.
5. They will have better play makers on the outside. Shakim Philips, Jeremy Davis and mike smith made some plays.
Chandler Whitmer will definately be an upgrade. He threw the ball with confidence and was pretty accurate with his throws. He made a couple of bad throws but overall, pretty good first FBS game.
6. The wildcar will negate some of the gains made at QB. It just seem like they were shuffling QB's in and out. Chandler whitmer never had a chance to establish a rhythm. It seemed like every time he made a great throw for a first down, they would take him out and put mccummings in. Then he came back in to a 2nd and 8 to 2nd and 10. They didn't gain enough yardage in the wildcat to justify using it that much and I think it hurt the offensive flow. Remember, in a blow out win, the offense only scored 2 TD. I thought the wildcat especially hurt them on that fumble at the goal line.
I think UCONN can have a good season but they will need a QB to establish himself. That means picking a QB and sticking with it. Let him establish chemistry with his receivers and get in the flow of the game

(08-30-2012 09:13 PM)uconnbaseball Wrote:  34-0 UConn. I am happy with the receivers and defense, but the QB position is still a work in progress and the OL is awful.

Great win! We need ALL 12 members (new and current, minus Syracuse and Pitt) to do well to up the value of the conference.

We may struggle this year and we may even lose to UConn, but there is no way they are better than us.

Nice win Huskies

(08-30-2012 10:58 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  We may struggle this year and we may even lose to UConn, but there is no way they are better than us.

You need some help.

(08-30-2012 10:32 PM)fusion1906 Wrote:  My game observations"
1. ESPN3 is awful. Commercials came through clear but game was grainy. Wasn't able to see halftime activities. Not a good viewing experience
2. UCONN's defense looked good. THey were fast to the ball and brought great pressure.
3. The offensive line has some work to do. Not alot of running room foy the backs.
4.The special teams will win some games this year. Nick Williams looked dynamic returning kicks and the kicking game was solid.
5. They will have better play makers on the outside. Shakim Philips, Jeremy Davis and mike smith made some plays.
Chandler Whitmer will definately be an upgrade. He threw the ball with confidence and was pretty accurate with his throws. He made a couple of bad throws but overall, pretty good first FBS game.
6. The wildcar will negate some of the gains made at QB. It just seem like they were shuffling QB's in and out. Chandler whitmer never had a chance to establish a rhythm. It seemed like every time he made a great throw for a first down, they would take him out and put mccummings in. Then he came back in to a 2nd and 8 to 2nd and 10. They didn't gain enough yardage in the wildcat to justify using it that much and I think it hurt the offensive flow. Remember, in a blow out win, the offense only scored 2 TD. I thought the wildcat especially hurt them on that fumble at the goal line.
I think UCONN can have a good season but they will need a QB to establish himself. That means picking a QB and sticking with it. Let him establish chemistry with his receivers and get in the flow of the game

Good observations. I don't think UCONN showed much on offense today. We ran the wildcat formation way too much. They probably kept some plays for next week against NCST. UCONN defense was dominating. I believe UMASS only had 80 yards for the entire game. UMASS defense was pretty good.

(08-30-2012 09:01 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  UConn is #1 in New England college sports. Now UMass is playing FBS football (sort of) at Gillette Stadium. All of this pushes BC into further irrelevance.

The ACC made a mistake on the BC thing; they would have been served picking Rutgers or UConn originally if it was eyeballs and academics they were after. If it was quality FB on the field - WVU would have been the choice.

(08-30-2012 07:59 PM)General Mike Wrote:  UMass looks terrible. Like worst team in FBS terrible.

This was the Minutemen's first game as a full FBS program. UMass is obviously a work in progress and will struggle for a few seasons. Molnar is a good coach and will eventually have his team looking pretty solid. I just wish UMass had moved up a decade ago and gotten this phase over with already.

I will summarize based on what I saw.

The Good:

Defense - This is a much improved defense after one year in Don Brown's system. UCONN got athletic studs all over the field. UCONN LBs are solid and will be one of the best in the nation. Last year secondary was decimated by injury. This year there is depth and some experience. I love the aggression this defense has throughout the game. This unit held UMASS to 3 yards total rushing for the game on 24 attempts. They held UMASS to 59 total yards in the entire. I don't care if this is UMASS, that's pretty good. Next week this unit will face NCST and we will find out if this unit is for real. For the record, I predicted UCONN would have one of the best defenses in the BE and I hope they can live up to that billing.

Special Team - Nick Williams is a stud and will make some huge plays this year. He had some nice returns. Our punter punted a couple of times and was very good. Biggest surprise was our FG kicker who kicked 3 FGs with longest FG being 47 yards. He has a huge shoe to fill for Teggart who graduated but that's a great start for Christian. He was awesome throughout the game. We haven't seen him in pressure situation yet so the jury is still out, but that was a great start. Special team also blocked a punt resulted in a TD. That was awesome to watch. It was like bunch of wild dogs going after a piece of steak. They were fast and ferocious going after the blocked punt.

Unknown:

Offense - Not sure what to make of this unit yet. Chandler is light years ahead of last year's QB Johnny MAC. His presence, footwork and throwing motion are way better than last few UCONN QBs. This kid has the potential to be a very good QB down the road. It was his first game so I expected some nerves. He made one bad throw resulted in an INT. The other INT was a fluke so it is not entirely his fault. He delivered the ball on time and accurate for the most part. Biggest surprise was emergence of Davis our sophomore WR. He pulled in 5 catches and looked very fast and athletic. Michael Smith also looked very good this game. Phillips did not make an impact but he looked good running his routes. I expect this unit will surprise many people mainly due to huge upgrade at the QB level.

Running game was subpar. UCONN ran way too many wildcat formations. I am not sure this is due to the fact coaches were holding it back due to NCST next week, but we saw way too much Mccummings as the wildcat QB. We also never threw one pass out of this formation. Our running game had some great moments but was subpar comparing to the usual UCONN standard. Our OL did not open huge holes for our RBs either. This could be due to UMASS shelling out to stop the run. They stacked the line regularly but UCONN ran at it regardless. There were some big plays available but UCONN did not try to take advantage of them using the pass.

Jury is still out on the offense. We will find out next week against NCST. Overall, it was a good first game. The team looked in sync without any stupid penalties. Next week will be the show me week against NCST who is one of the favorites to win the ACC this year.

Congratulations Huskies! Someone told me that Mike Aresco's high school coach is on UConn's Board of Directors. Hope that's true - maybe it will help keep UConn in the Big East.

(08-30-2012 08:51 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  As anyone can tell form these first few games that the BE is simply no better then any MAC teams.

Akron is only scoring in garbage time. UCF had them shut down and UConn was abusing UMass. I think it's safe to say that the nBE Conference is significantly better then the MAC Conference.

There is a huge difference playing the bottom of the MAC than the top. UMass is a transition FBS team and not representive of the MAC. UConn played two FBS years with a total of 5 wins. Akron and Buffalo have generally been at the bottom of the MAC.

(08-31-2012 05:49 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  

(08-30-2012 08:51 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  As anyone can tell form these first few games that the BE is simply no better then any MAC teams.

Akron is only scoring in garbage time. UCF had them shut down and UConn was abusing UMass. I think it's safe to say that the nBE Conference is significantly better then the MAC Conference.

There is a huge difference playing the bottom of the MAC than the top. UMass is a transition FBS team and not representive of the MAC. UConn played two FBS years with a total of 5 wins. Akron and Buffalo have generally been at the bottom of the MAC.

Buffalo won the MAC a few years ago and played UCONN in the INTL bowl. UCONN had a few WTF losses to MAC over the years. However, I believe UCONN's record against the MAC is 18-3.

UMASS' defense could be pretty good this season. The offense could not move the ball but they were up against one of the better defenses they will face all season.

(08-31-2012 01:22 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  I will summarize based on what I saw.

The Good:

Defense - This is a much improved defense after one year in Don Brown's system. UCONN got athletic studs all over the field. UCONN LBs are solid and will be one of the best in the nation. Last year secondary was decimated by injury. This year there is depth and some experience. I love the aggression this defense has throughout the game. This unit held UMASS to 3 yards total rushing for the game on 24 attempts. They held UMASS to 59 total yards in the entire. I don't care if this is UMASS, that's pretty good. Next week this unit will face NCST and we will find out if this unit is for real. For the record, I predicted UCONN would have one of the best defenses in the BE and I hope they can live up to that billing.

Special Team - Nick Williams is a stud and will make some huge plays this year. He had some nice returns. Our punter punted a couple of times and was very good. Biggest surprise was our FG kicker who kicked 3 FGs with longest FG being 47 yards. He has a huge shoe to fill for Teggart who graduated but that's a great start for Christian. He was awesome throughout the game. We haven't seen him in pressure situation yet so the jury is still out, but that was a great start. Special team also blocked a punt resulted in a TD. That was awesome to watch. It was like bunch of wild dogs going after a piece of steak. They were fast and ferocious going after the blocked punt.

Unknown:

Offense - Not sure what to make of this unit yet. Chandler is light years ahead of last year's QB Johnny MAC. His presence, footwork and throwing motion are way better than last few UCONN QBs. This kid has the potential to be a very good QB down the road. It was his first game so I expected some nerves. He made one bad throw resulted in an INT. The other INT was a fluke so it is not entirely his fault. He delivered the ball on time and accurate for the most part. Biggest surprise was emergence of Davis our sophomore WR. He pulled in 5 catches and looked very fast and athletic. Michael Smith also looked very good this game. Phillips did not make an impact but he looked good running his routes. I expect this unit will surprise many people mainly due to huge upgrade at the QB level.

Running game was subpar. UCONN ran way too many wildcat formations. I am not sure this is due to the fact coaches were holding it back due to NCST next week, but we saw way too much Mccummings as the wildcat QB. We also never threw one pass out of this formation. Our running game had some great moments but was subpar comparing to the usual UCONN standard. Our OL did not open huge holes for our RBs either. This could be due to UMASS shelling out to stop the run. They stacked the line regularly but UCONN ran at it regardless. There were some big plays available but UCONN did not try to take advantage of them using the pass.

Jury is still out on the offense. We will find out next week against NCST. Overall, it was a good first game. The team looked in sync without any stupid penalties. Next week will be the show me week against NCST who is one of the favorites to win the ACC this year.

I agree with all of the above. Too much unproductive wildcat and not enough holes opened up by the O-line. And do we really need to throw the ball 40 yards into double coverage in a 3rd and 5 situation?

Otherwise, we looked really good.

(08-30-2012 09:33 PM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  

(08-30-2012 09:29 PM)TempleU22 Wrote:  Not saying you're wrong, because...well it's kind of a "no **** sherlock" kind of statement.

You are looking at probably the two worst MAC teams though.

I'm CONCERNED about our trip to Toledo. I'm confident we'll win, but not arrogant enough to predict a romp.

There are some good teams in that league, and you're right. Akron and UMass aren't them.

Yea this. You are not going to get much from these games as Akron, Umass, and Nova are not good this year (Akron and likely UMass will be epic bad though I hope UMass beats Akron if they play this year). You should save the "my team looks awesome" until you at least play a team with a pulse.

Good win UConn. It was expected though over what amounts to be a D-1AA school in its first year at the D-1 level in the MAC. The BE doesn't need any surprises against teams they should beat. On another note once UMass is really up and running as a D-1 FB school with a few years experience this match up could make a nice regional match up for both schools down the road. It would definately fill UConn's stadium on a Saturday afternoon and get good Boston exposure in Kraft's stadium in Foxboro too.

I might actually have to start rooting for UConn when they don't play Rutgers next year when my son (a Rutgers grad - the latest add to our Rutgers alumni family ) - starts his Graduate work with UConn next year.

(09-01-2012 09:17 AM)panite Wrote:  Good win UConn. It was expected though over what amounts to be a D-1AA school in its first year at the D-1 level in the MAC. The BE doesn't need any surprises against teams they should beat. On another note once UMass is really up and running as a D-1 FB school with a few years experience this match up could make a nice regional match up for both schools down the road. It would definately fill UConn's stadium on a Saturday afternoon and get good Boston exposure in Kraft's stadium in Foxboro too.

I might actually have to start rooting for UConn when they don't play Rutgers next year when my son (a Rutgers grad - the latest add to our Rutgers alumni family ) - starts his Graduate work with UConn next year.

Welcome to Husky Nation.

(09-01-2012 09:17 AM)panite Wrote:  Good win UConn. It was expected though over what amounts to be a D-1AA school in its first year at the D-1 level in the MAC. The BE doesn't need any surprises against teams they should beat. On another note once UMass is really up and running as a D-1 FB school with a few years experience this match up could make a nice regional match up for both schools down the road. It would definately fill UConn's stadium on a Saturday afternoon and get good Boston exposure in Kraft's stadium in Foxboro too.

I might actually have to start rooting for UConn when they don't play Rutgers next year when my son (a Rutgers grad - the latest add to our Rutgers alumni family ) - starts his Graduate work with UConn next year.

UMASS got bunch of D1A transfers. They got one RB from Michigan and one from Pitt. They also got number of other D1A transfers that can play. Their defense is pretty good. Their offense got hammered by a very strong defense. They will win some games in the MAC this season.