Rutgers post mortem
Back in Connecticut, roughly 15 hours after I left. Computer issues solved, might as well get in a couple of post-game notes/quotes.
- Zach Frazer never made it to the post-game media interview room. We were told he was dinged up during the game, and needed treatment. No idea if it was his ankle, knee, arm, or a concussion. We should know more Sunday.
- Special teams has been a major problem. Tony C missed 3 of 4 field goals, Robbie Frey made a mistake fielding the kickoff to start the second half. Jasper Howard should have picked up two punts in the third, and let the punt in the fourth go into the end zone. "Robbie, I think, just panicked,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “We would have had the ball at either the 20- or 40-(yard line). He’s a redshirt freshman in a situation he had never been in before."
- Jasper said, "I made some misjudgments with the ball because of the wind. Coach got with me a little bit. The ball was shifting around because of the wind. I feel a little of it was my fault." Howard apparently didn't field one of the kicks because he felt one of his blockers was in his way. Edsall took blame because he personally coaches the return men in practice, but then said, "I tell them all the time, catch every ball you can back there. We don’t want the ball to hit the ground. Fair catch it. I said (Jasper), put your hand up there because they can’t hit you, and your own man should be able to avoid you."
- Edsall said play-calling was limited because the Huskies were buried so deep much of the second half. Not sure the reasoning behind the five pass attempts in the first half. When UConn needed to throw the ball in the fourth, though, Frazer really started to sling it.
- The offensive pass interference call was a killer. Turned a 32-yard field goal to win it into 42 yards. Edsall looked like Earl Weaver arguing with the officials, who told him Martin Bedard set an illegal pick on the play. "I don’t think it was a pick,” Bedard said. “I ran the same play four or five times during the game, and the same thing happened. This one time, the ref called it. My job was just to get outside the (line)backer, turn and look for the ball. That’s what I did. The backer ran into me, that’s it.”
- Edsall on the penalty, "He said the kid lowered his shoulder. I have to look at the film. We've gotten more calls against us on that this year than anything, and we don't even teach it. I don't know. I'm to the point now where I have to bring officials in I guess and tell us what to teach them." He then said the opportunity was still there to kick the go-ahead field goal, and it was missed.
2 Comments:
When will Edsal feel that he has enough horses in the stable to have a balanced offensive attack? 2020? Just a morsel of creativity inside their own 5 could have yielded the necessary first down to get some breathing room in the 3rd quarter, and touchdowns instead of field goal attempts in the first half. While he has done a great job in getting UCONN competitive, they'll never take the next step to the big time with such a cowardly offense. Frazier is just the guy to let loose.
You know, this would be an easy loss to pin on Tony C and special teams, but this one is on Edsall. I was fuming the whole first half. I didn't realize they only attempted 5 passes in the first half, what is this a Pop Warner team? I like Edsall, but come on, you have the a RB who is getting all the attention on offense and you don't even try to run a play action to open it up? Inside the 5 on that first possession, you have to throw once, at least to keep Rutgers honest. It's just so frustrating, as a fan when your team has no balls. They have heart, but no balls. Coach Kelly from Cincy is going to tear this team apart if Edsall doesn't alter his gameplan at least a little for next week. Frazer proved he can sling it, the recievers proved they can catch it, lets open it up a little.
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