Buffalo 17 - UConn 24: Coaching or Execution - 1st Quarter

Zordich overthrows Hughes, who is bumped by the LB but the pass was uncatchable.

1st error: Hughes Route: Notice the matchup Hughes vs LB in space, very favorable on 3rd and 4. The black line shows the line of scrimmage, Hughes is 1 yard past that, by running the route at the line of scrimmage instead of at the first down marker, even if this ball is caught, it will not be a first down. Maybe if Lee was running this route, it would have been at a proper depth.

2nd error: Next, you assume Zordich should lead Hughes, if he hits Hughes in stride, there is no way the LB can catch him. It is a good point. However if you look back at the pocket you see UConn's DT ready to plant Zordich into that big C. You might ask: "if they brought more men then we could block why wasn't Hughes more open?"

3rd error: Because they rushed 4 and we kept 6 in to block. UConn ran a simple stunt, our line did not pick it up, Murie the RB was in to help with blocking but he failed to recognize the stunt and help out his line. The Branden Oliver injury hurts the passing game here, you assume the three season veteran might have recognized the pressure and given Z more time to make a better read and throw.

4th error: Zordich, not making the pass catchable. If Zordich gets the pass closer, he probably gets a pass interference call. It seems many Zordich throws are no where near any receiver, this was one of them, and that is not acceptable at the FBS level.

The plan: Get Murie and Campbell the ball often continue to establish the run without BO.

Why it failed: Coaching, too predictable, we didn't run right.

UConn clogged the middle and there was nothing there. Still, we ran up the gut 5 times only gaining 2.6 yards per carry. We ran right once, with the #4 running back on roster and got 5 yards of push from the OL. We found a weakness and promptly never tried it again in the quarter.

• 8 runs for 19 yards: Murie 5 for 8 yards & 1 TD, Zordich 2 for 6 yards, Campbell 1 for 5 yards.
• 4 runs on 1st down
• 3 on 2nd down
• 1 on 3rd down (3rd and 9.)
• Ran 4 Read options averaging 2.25 yards
• Ran 3 power plays averaging 2 yards
• Ran 1 trap averaging 4 yards.
• Ran up the middle 5 times averaging 2.6 yards,
• Ran left twice averaging 0.5 yards
• Ran right once averaging 5 yards.

The plan: Rush 4, protect against the PA pass. Pull Mack down as a DE on 3rd down, have him attack with aggresive 4 man pass rush. Drop 7 into zone, force QB to make the perfect pass.

Why it failed: Coaching: It was a bad idea from the start. UConn was vulnerable to the blitz, so why did we decide to never send pressure, sometimes we only rushed 2 or 3. Buffalo's zone was picked apart against KSU why did think the same game plan would work better on the road against a Big East team?

Our 3 defenders are in no position to stop the 4 yard catch or the 5 yard run after the catch. You can blame execution, bad zone drops etc, but if we cannot execute the zone, we should not run the zone. Part of coaching is knowing your teams limitations and putting the players in situations that mask their limitations and enhance their strengths. Throughout this 1st quarter, we did the opposite, we put our aggressive sack seeking defense into prevent mode, in the first quarter! This comes ten days after Dri Archer found nothing but room in the secondary, we continued to ignore the problem and play a zone based defense with more holes than swiss cheese.

Pass #5: 3rd and 12, deep out to the left, receiver beats Cortney Lester for 18 yards and a first down.

Watching live Lester looks bad, another case of the weak UB secondary. Re-watching however, it was actually Delonte Wallace that made the costly error. We played cover 4 zone, Wallace covering underneath, Lester over top. There are only 4 receivers on the play so ideally every receiver should be double covered underneath and overtop. However Wallace makes a mistake and inexplicably sprints towards the center of the field abandoning his zone underneath the outside receiver giving UConn a huge window to make the throw.

Johnson instantly drops back 9 yards in man-to-man coverage. This means he gave the receiver 16 yards of space on 2nd and 6. UConn is not a deep threat team. The scene above shows Johnson at the right five yard behind the receiver as he makes the catch. This is the answer to the "why does every Receiver seem wide open" question. Playing defense with so much cushion allows the offense to play catch, its way too easy.

It's blurry but from left to right you see 2 Bulls, looks to be Willie Moseley and Khalil Mack completely enveloped by UConn's OL. Then there is Colby Way spying the QB a the 42, Means is the Bull at the 44 at the bottom right of the screen also spying the QB. For good measure there is a 3rd Bull in the area. Not pictured: ANY UCONN Receivers.

Due to our play call, Chandler Whitmer had 4.1 seconds in the pocket. He pumped twice, went through his progression then dumped it off. After poor tackling by the secondary, who were understandably tired from 5 seconds of good coverage, Means chased the receiver down and saved a touchdown but not before an 18-yard gain.

• Two Drives
• 17 plays
• 10 runs, 7 passes
• 1 Field Goal
• 3rd down conversions allowed: 2/3
• Average 3rd down: 3rd and 8
• Positive plays: 0 Takeaways, 0 sacks
• Penalties: None