There is a puff piece on Tyler Palko and the season he has had this year in a Connecticut paper.
I realize the papers there are still adjusting to covering more than just basketball, but is it too much to ask that they know what the hell they are talking about? Just a little?
But they can still qualify for a bowl, thanks to Palko’s adjustment to the West Coast Offense, a system totally different from the run-and-shoot, downfield-passing game he had been accustomed to.
“Run-and-shoot?” That’s frickin’ insultingly stupid. Look, I am not claiming to be the most knowledgeable guy talking about schemes, styles of play and such. Still, I know and understand what the system used to be and what it is now trying to be. There are books out there that can help with this.
That might explain why the stories from Connecticut are all puff pieces. There is another one on redshirt freshman offensive tackle William Beatty.
No surprise that Pitt is preparing for both UConn QBs.
Over on Pitt, there is a piece about the up-and-down performance of the special teams.
The Panthers can boast the two longest kickoff returns and the longest punt return in the Big East this season. Adam Graessle is the top punter and Josh Cummings is the most accurate field-goal kicker in the conference.
And yet, the Panthers have allowed blocked punts in back-to-back games. A field goal attempt that could have upended Nebraska was knocked down. A fumbled kickoff return and a high snap for a safety were costly against Louisville.
“It’s definitely been a little bit of a roller-coaster ride,” wideout Derek Kinder said. “One play, we’re get it back on the onside kick. Another play, we’ll give up a big punt return. We haven’t had a game in which we put all the phases together.
“There are some bad fundamentals. Sometimes, we have mental breakdowns. We focus on it in practice a lot. It’s just that, sometimes, in a game, we’ll have lapses.”
An interesting comment from Graessle about his punting.
“Our goal is to get the ball off in 2.15 (seconds),” he said. “I’ve pretty much stayed under that the whole season. I could probably get the ball off faster in some situations, though.
“I’m actually faster than I was last year. It might look slower because I’m taking smaller steps or something, I don’t know. But it’s not slower.”
Otherwise, he says his mechanics aren’t a problem. And of course, it’s a must-win game.
