Spring Break
Not ready for prime time
A bad loss on every front
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Sports
Saturday night's game against North Carolina was kind of like the movie "Good Luck, Chuck."
First, it was boring. Then it got kind of funny. Then it got really bad and I had to turn it off.
How bad was it?
Jonathan the Husky pulled the plug on the field lights just so he didn't have to watch the rest of the game.
Donald Brown struck the Heisman pose on his way to the bus and his own teammates booed him.
Lane Kiffin called Randy Edsall after the game and told him everything would be alright.
All jokes aside, however, let's look on the bright side, because God knows Edsall didn't.
Zach Frazer did some good things. He displayed solid arm strength, stood strong in the pocket and converted on several third-and-longs.
He also did some really, really horrible things. His first interception, thrown directly to North Carolina linebacker Mark Paschal, was a bad misread. It resulted in three points for the Tar Heels and a 180-degree shift in momentum.
The second one wasn't his fault, although he could have put a little less zip on the four-yard out-pattern to Kashif Moore.
And if UConn had any hope of winning the game at the 4:15 mark in the third quarter, it vanished six seconds later when Frazer decided to be Brett Favre for a play and toss the ball to North Carolina defensive tackle Mario Austin for a 23-yard touchdown return.
Granted, it was Frazer's first career start, but what happened on Saturday was not UConn football. Last season, Tyler Lorenzen threw six interceptions in thirteen games. Frazer threw half that total in one game.
This may be news to everyone, but UConn is not talented enough to overcome three turnovers. The Huskies aren't USC. They aren't Georgia. Evidently, they aren't even North Carolina. They won nine games last season because they were well-coached and well-disciplined. UConn rarely turned the ball over and its players rarely played outside of their abilities.
First, it was boring. Then it got kind of funny. Then it got really bad and I had to turn it off.
How bad was it?
Jonathan the Husky pulled the plug on the field lights just so he didn't have to watch the rest of the game.
Donald Brown struck the Heisman pose on his way to the bus and his own teammates booed him.
Lane Kiffin called Randy Edsall after the game and told him everything would be alright.
All jokes aside, however, let's look on the bright side, because God knows Edsall didn't.
Zach Frazer did some good things. He displayed solid arm strength, stood strong in the pocket and converted on several third-and-longs.
He also did some really, really horrible things. His first interception, thrown directly to North Carolina linebacker Mark Paschal, was a bad misread. It resulted in three points for the Tar Heels and a 180-degree shift in momentum.
The second one wasn't his fault, although he could have put a little less zip on the four-yard out-pattern to Kashif Moore.
And if UConn had any hope of winning the game at the 4:15 mark in the third quarter, it vanished six seconds later when Frazer decided to be Brett Favre for a play and toss the ball to North Carolina defensive tackle Mario Austin for a 23-yard touchdown return.
Granted, it was Frazer's first career start, but what happened on Saturday was not UConn football. Last season, Tyler Lorenzen threw six interceptions in thirteen games. Frazer threw half that total in one game.
This may be news to everyone, but UConn is not talented enough to overcome three turnovers. The Huskies aren't USC. They aren't Georgia. Evidently, they aren't even North Carolina. They won nine games last season because they were well-coached and well-disciplined. UConn rarely turned the ball over and its players rarely played outside of their abilities.
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Josh
posted 10/07/08 @ 10:02 AM EST
Marvin Austin, not Mario.
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