UConn Huskies head football coach Bob Diaco held his weekly pregame press conference on Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of Saturday’s game against the Temple Owls (4 p.m. kickoff) and talked about a myriad of things.
His opening statement which is usually just a short few moments, went close to 10 minutes this week.
He got things started off with a quote in regards to the game film in “it’s never as good as you think it is and it’s never as bad as you thought it was”. He said he and the coaching staff thought the latter in their review of the game film.
He said once again, the early turnover hurt and the penalties were an issue.
Diaco thought the players did a great job of protecting the ball overall with the exception of the blind side hit on Chandler Whitmer (there was nothing Whitmer could do). He said they focused on holding the ball during practice.
He said it was a wash in turnover margin as each team had one big one.
He stated the team produced more negative plays in this game.
He said they addressed five plays that defined the game. Before he listed them though, he said the style of play created an opportunity for a chance for the game to be different.
The five plays that defined the game were
- Max DeLorenzo‘s run for 8.5 yards when they needed nine yards.
- Kamal Abrams drop late in the game.
- The strip/sack of Whitmer.
- The pick/rub play that South Florida ran on 4th and 10 where they scored the touchdown.
- The 3rd and 16 draw run that USF ran. The defense was called for a draw. By allowing the 1st down, it kept the drive alive and USF kicked what turned out to be the winning field goal.
He was asked about why they want to run heavy offense and he stated that he made that decision. Four of the first 12 plays were pass plays that had things that caused losing.
- hold
- strip/sack
- intentional grounding
- chop block
So with those four things happening on the four pass plays, he decided to eliminate the things that cause losing. He did say the weather did play a little role but it was the losing element primarily.
He also did it to see if the opponent does something to cause losing (they did with Byron Jones pick-six). And after all that they still had a chance to win.
He stated the running game has improved. They were fundamentally better.
Diaco said he made the call to go strictly run with his gut.
He stated the offensive line and tight ends need a lot of work in run and pass game. They have made an improvement in the run game and have some ways to go. But they have a longer way to go in the passing game.
He said he was very pleased with the play of Whitmer. He said three of the four big plays this season have had true freshman at point of attack. He stated the way to fix it is just to keep correcting the mistakes.
Diaco stated that it’s hard to throw the ball when the QB doesn’t have time and will continue to do so and try to get it to the playmakers like Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx. To do that, they need to do a better job in protection.
He talked about how Temple is a go fast offense, that they have a downhill running attack and triple-option style. He said that puts the second level defenders in a run/pass situation and that’s a fundamental challenge.
He said P.J. Walker has a strong arm and can make the all the throws plus can run the ball. He said Temple LB Avery Williams plays the game like it should be played. He said Temple was a well-coached team.
He stated that Tim Boyle was able to play. That the information that ESPN got was neighborhood talk. He said Boyle has no injury but has manageable pain that goes away. It became inflamed on Wednesday during a drill. He said Boyle should play on Saturday.
He talked about Junior Lee‘s special teams play. He had five tackles on special teams against USF. Diaco said Lee has a knack for the ball, he’s confident, goes full speed and aggressively makes the tackle. He said he intends to make the tackle and isn’t one of those guys that tries to make it.
Diaco said the defense keeps getting better. He said it was easier to progress and improve on defense. He’s been very pleased with the realistic plans the defensive coaches have put together.
He said he’s very excited about the young guys on defense.
He stated he’s never been in this type of situation as a coach. He said he’s not not playing upper classmen but there is just more younger guys playing on the team. He stated the young guys are very talented.
He talked about a funny moment where the team was sitting in a meeting room and they expected him to blow up but that’s not his coaching style.
He said that using four RB’s doesn’t affect their rhythm. They have Max and three great running backs. He said if one of them really gets going they’ll continue to get the ball.
He finished up by saying that the two minute offense ran well because they all had good situational awareness of what was going on but added it is easier to move the ball against the prevent defense.
One final thing he said during the press conference was that while Angelo Pruitt‘s UConn career was over, his playing career wasn’t. He said Angelo will be ready for the spring to participate in stuff to go on to the professional ranks.
We’ll have more from this week’s press conference coming up over the next three days leading up to Saturday.
