Was up late doing some work on the JI's UConn football preview (coming out Wednesday Aug. 27) . We have some good stuff running. At a paper our size and format (tabloid) it's difficult to really make something eye catching, but I promise guys you will like the look of this.
It's a weekend of work with the tab and a Sunday presser, but something struck me as I waited up this morning for a text from my boy Barak Obama (Brilliant idea that turned into a disaster. Why did they string people along only to have NBC break the news just after midnight? 3 a.m. text wasn't cute).
Back to football.
I have had a good vibe about this team ever since media day. Maybe it's because there are so many returning players, but just on vibe and gut, I like the way things are looking. It's remarkable the lack of suspensions, transfers, and or what Randy Edsall terms "distractions." Every single freshmen showed up, no one has left the team, and no one has had any trouble. That's a good vibe.
In contrast to my previous two years covering the team, there isn't that hard edge that the team had. I don't find them overly tense. Intensity is good, tension is bad. Last year and especially the year before, there was always a tension. Not just with the media, but around everyone. Maybe it was caused by losing and uncertainty. It's hard to describe, but the players and coaching staff were overly tense most of last year. In retrospect, there was a tremendous amount of pressure on the coaching staff last year and that trickled down to the players.
Maybe that's what losing does to you. That started to dissipate last year at the Meineke Car Care Bowl (the team had a chance to look back on the season for a couple of weeks). I know the team better than I did in my first two years, but I don't think it's a reach to say this team is by far more relaxed. It's not as uptight.
What's not to like? There is very little to worry about on the depth chart. The receivers are a worry, but the staff knows what it has. QB isn't a worry, Tyler Lorenzen is solid and can manage the game. There are some deficient areas like the passing game, but unlike last year when they trotted Lorenzen out for the Duke game, they don't have their fingers crossed. There is a good sense about what the offense, defense and special teams are capable of.
Nothing keeps a coach up at night more than "I don't know."
This team knows its talent, its strengths and weaknesses and there isn't a position you send out there where you have to hold your breath.
In that sense, it's much easier to relax. They are a known quantity.
A close game, or god forbid, a loss to Hofstra next Thursday and you will see this thing get ugly real quick.
Right now, five days before Hofstra, I like the way it feels.
What's not to like? There is very little to worry about on the depth chart. The receivers are a worry, but the staff knows what it has. QB isn't a worry, Tyler Lorenzen is solid and can manage the game. There are some deficient areas like the passing game, but unlike last year when they trotted Lorenzen out for the Duke game, they don't have their fingers crossed. There is a good sense about what the offense, defense and special teams are capable of.
Nothing keeps a coach up at night more than "I don't know."
This team knows its talent, its strengths and weaknesses and there isn't a position you send out there where you have to hold your breath.
In that sense, it's much easier to relax. They are a known quantity.
A close game, or god forbid, a loss to Hofstra next Thursday and you will see this thing get ugly real quick.
Right now, five days before Hofstra, I like the way it feels.
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