Sunday, December 06, 2009

Postgame South Florida

Another wild UConn game. Here's a quick rundown of the post-game events.
  • Dave Teggart hasn't been very good this season, but one kick can go a long way. He said the field was a little slippery, but everything else worked out just fine. "Perfect snap, perfect situation," Teggart said. "I'm just glad I hit it true."

  • Randy Edsall got knocked on his keyster by backup linebacker Alex Folsom during the post-game celebration, and the coach was NOT happy. Folsom absolutely leveled him. Edsall, a former Syracuse quarterback, hasn't been hit like that in a long time. "I didn't play a lot but that's the hardest hit I've ever taken," Edsall said. "I was upset when it happened, but now I'm getting over it."

  • The bowl scenarios are a mess. Logic would say the Huskies are heading to Birmingham, the argument made in my previous post. But media in South Carolina -- Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks are expected to be the SEC rep in the Papajohns.com Bowl -- feel Pittsburgh will be the opponent. Would the International Bowl want UConn again? I don't see it. Pitt doesn't travel well, but do the folks in Toronto think a repeat performance by the Huskies is a better sell?

  • For me, I don't see how Rutgers deserves the Meineke Bowl over Pitt, which came within a whisker of winning the Big East's BCS bid. It should be Pitt in Charlotte, Rutgers in Toronto, UConn in Birmingham and USF in St. Pete. Maybe swap USF and Rutgers if neither wants bowls they've already played. We'll know for sure Sunday.

  • Andre Dixon said bowl talk in the locker room was everywhere, from Toronto to Birmingham to St. Pete. I asked Dixon what his preference was. "Honestly?" said Dixon, who has probably never answered a question dishonestly in his life. "It's a lot more days of practice for those January games. I think the sooner the better." That got us laughing pretty good. Yes, we in the media are truly going to miss talking with Dixon. When he finished laughing, Dixon said an SEC opponent isn't a big deal to him. "An opponent is an opponent," Dixon said. "It's about yourself. You have to play your game, it can be against whoever."

  • Zach Frazer has really come on since regaining the starting quarterback job. His completion percentage against Rutgers wasn't great, but he threw for 333 yards. The last four games he's gotten better and better. He was 20-for-30 for 225 yards in conditions not ideal for throwing tonight. And his poise in the crunch is truly outstanding. "I like the pressure," Frazer said. "I like the game on the line thing. I like having the ball in my hands in those situations. In crunch time, our offense really buckles down." It's showing.

  • No word on the extent of injuries to Robert Vaughn or Trevardo Williams. We'll know more later today.

  • The Syracuse media is still writing about UConn running up the score? Really?

  • No matter what happens in the bowl game, this could go down as the most memorable season in program history. The shocking murder of Jasper Howard and the way the community came together in the days after. The arrests coming a day after a moving funeral in Miami. Then think about how close UConn was to being 12-0. The five losses by a combined 15 points, with the lead disappearing in the closing 3 minutes in four of those losses. The milestone win at Notre Dame in double-overtime. Beating USF as time expired on Senior Day in the snow. And to think it's still not over yet.

1 Comments:

Blogger Neville Scott Walsingham said...

Chip,

Thanks for the info. Your spin on things is always entertaining and informative.

December 06, 2009 1:57 PM 

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