Randy Edsall did not have his team ready to play today. Flat out. I have no idea whether Michigan is a top 15 or top 25 team, but they damn sure looked like one today. To sum up:
--Would you be interested in converting your third downs to first downs? We at the First National Bank Of Edsall would like to accommodate your request!
--UConn still can't defend the read-option. Its tiny defensive line was manhandled by Michigan's offensive line, giving Denard Robinson and a cast of thousands plenty of running room.
--UConn still can't develop receivers. Marcus Easley, God bless him, is proving to be the exception to the rule. One potential touchdown drop by Michael Smith, several other costly mistakes, and the one big play UConn made in the passing game came on an impossible circus catch.
--UConn's defenders are still reacting, not acting. If Robinson wanted to run for a first down, he could. If he wanted to pass it, he had a wide open receiver in a hole in the zone. It was a masterful performance by Robinson, who I really hope becomes a star.
--Zach Frazer simply has not improved from last year. He still throws the ball 175 mph, and it still sails. He didn't get much help from the receivers, but this offense already appears to have regressed back to the Donald Brown run-run-pass-fest from 2008.
Michigan had the big edge at quarterback, and that was the difference. UConn's offense wasn't even that terrible; the Huskies pushed around Michigan's defense plenty. But Robinson's complete dominance, combined with a really, really poorly-timed turnover and some very poor execution exacerbated the problem of needing to score on almost every possession.
UConn can still have a great year, and if they aren't a much better team by late October and early November, I'll eat my hat. The Big East title is still very much out there, and through Week 1 the league appears to be down. Plus, they won't be facing anyone like Denard Robinson every week.
But this...this was an absolute disaster.
In UConn's only chance to showcase itself against a name-brand non-Big East opponent this year, the Huskies looked more like one of Michigan's typical September MAC cupcake opponents. Right or wrong, the average college football fan will write off UConn for the remainder of the season. And so after all the positive chatter, with all the returning starters, UConn will return to the anonymous backwaters of college football for a little while longer.