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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — The Cougars got a nice win over the Connecticut Huskies to start out the season.
Here is a look at the game's grades:
Highly critical fans will be, well, highly critical that I don't give a higher grade than this. But I think that Taysom Hill having a great night doesn't completely cover up the fact that the holding penalties and nonsensical personal fouls at the end of plays made the offense look a bit ugly.
The offensive line looked solid for not having much of an identity going in, but Bronco Mendenhall pointed out that he would have liked to see the supporting cast to Hill play much, much cleaner. The two turnovers were sloppy and one led to a UConn touchdown drive.
Fans can certainly rejoice that this wasn't a repeat of game one at Virginia from last year. The fact that so many guys were missing on the offensive side of the ball because of team discipline leaves much room for improvement going to Texas next week. Getting Devon Blackman and Jamaal Williams back will take the offense to a new level.
I don't feel comfortable putting the defense into the "A" echelons quite yet either. If folks were watching the same game I did, it was an insufferable first half of undisciplined late hits and brain farts that made the game hard to watch at times.
The run protection was quite nice with the Cougars holding the Huskies to less than 2.5 yards rushing per attempt, but they allowed almost a 50 percent conversion rate on third downs. They have to turn these drives into more three-and-outs to put Hill and associates back on the field. Giving up 355 yards of total yards isn't terrible and their weekly goal of holding opponents to a maximum of 17 points? Check.
A forced fumble on the first snap of the season was a great omen for the team who also got a pick from veteran safety Craig Bills. Cleaning up the sloppy, drive extending penalties and getting some more help in the secondary will give them a shot to repeat against Texas next week.
Remember when Chris Farley got a D+ in "Tommy Boy"? He passed. That was the important thing, but special teams were the embarrassing friend you bring in your cool group to the party tonight for the Cougs. Extra points were barely, I mean, barely getting over those crossbars. And I was already sure that the one field goal attempt by Trevor Samson had no chance before Scott Arellano even handled the snap.
Problems got even worse on kick coverage with offside penalties, spotty coverage and short kicks. They passed, though. It wasn't pretty, but the extra points did get over the crossbars and points weren't yielded on kick or punt returns. But if this is the kicking game Cougar fans have to endure the rest of the season, invest in some Tums.
Overachievers will go to their professor during office hours and argue this one but I can't, in good conscience, give an "A" for the most penalties ever in a game for a Bronco Mendenhall coached team (15). Winning in relatively easy fashion while getting an all-around big night from your star QB is amazing, but there are bugs to work out. And by the end of the season, bigger games will weigh much heavier in the grade book.
