After a breakout game against Rutgers, it’s no shock that Redshirt Freshman RB Donald Brown has supplanted Senior Terry Caulley. Officially, it is because Caulley is not 100 percent from an ankle injury. Reality is that Brown ran for 198 yards against Rutgers. Production on the field matters a lot more then being a team captain and the all-time leading rusher (for now) at UConn. Brown of course, is ready for the job.
As if that isn’t enough of a reason to beg, plead and scream to Coach Wannstedt and DC Rhoads to stuff the box against UConn’s offense, surely the fact that D.J. Hernandez was named the starting QB should.
But even with all of Brown’s athletic ability and promise, the Huskies still need some semblance of a passing attack to win and keep their fading bowl hopes alive. D.J. Hernandez, named starter for the second time this season prior to the Rutgers game, was again ineffective in completing 8 of 17 passes for just 67 yards, an interception and a fumble.
Hernandez’s dismal statistics were all but lost in the euphoria over Brown’s breakout game. He needs to get better, Edsall said Tuesday. Hernandez agreed, saying the problems stem from a combination of miscommunication with the receivers and his own occasional lack of patience.
“Sometimes it’s breakdowns, sometimes it’s me not securing the ball,” Hernandez said. “It’s a little bit of both. Whether there’s route confusion or myself not holding onto the ball and protecting the ball. Sometimes I try to stay in pocket a little bit too long, and go through my reads when things are opening up.”
The game plan against Pittsburgh (6-3, 2-2) will still be a heavy dose of Brown, with Caulley, if recovered from an ankle injury that sidelined him against Rutgers in the first place, and Lou Allen spelling him at times.
But as any coach knows, a team needs to be able to throw to keep defenses honest. Even though Brown churned out several big runs against Rutgers, he was limited in the fourth quarter because Hernandez wasn’t throwing well, and the Scarlet Knights loaded against the run.
Will it be a shock to anyone to know that UConn has the 7th worst passing offense in the Big East, and 112th overall.
Seriously, when you see those numbers, know you have a bad QB who hasn’t started much, and that the whole offensive game plan for the opponent is to run. How does any sane HC and DC not just say, “Okay, we have a good secondary so we’ll let them go one-on-one. We’ll bring up the safeties. Bring the linebackers closer. The focus is not just on stopping the run, but stuffing and forcing them to throw.”
I’m not talking about blitzing, I’m talking about lining up to stop the run. That’s it. I really don’t know how or why that red herring of blitzes keeps getting tossed out there whenever someone questions the defensive strategy, and somehow it works. It’s like people in Pittsburgh are so conditioned by the Steelers about blitzing, that it simply mentioning “blitz” confuses and distracts them from anything else.
UConn also has lousy punting. Blocked punts in three games this year.
