Part II: More From UConn Offensive Coordinator George DeLeone

By On September 20, 2012 · 7 Comments

 

What’s goin on?

More from my interview Tuesday with UConn offensive coordinator George DeLeone. Here he talks about running the ball and diversity on first down against Maryland and beyond

“We have struggled running the ball. We made some progress against Maryland,” DeLeone said. “Our run consistency, which is the most important thing I care about – how many run attempts do you have that go over four yards – was were up around 49 percent and our goal is 40 something percent so we made some progress there.

“I think there was an emphasis to run the ball, allright, in this specific case. The other emphasis we have to understand is, we’ve got to put this team and our quarterback, which did not happen against N.C. State, in manageable third down situations.

“Against N.C. State it was second-and-13, third-and-18. If you want to come down and call those plays, go right ahead. What I’m saying is, this was an attempt to get the game changed on our side. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t. We fell down more on third down than we did anywhere else but I thought that was a conscious attempt to get the chains on our side because second-and-10, you throw an interception, now you’re behind the chains again. We couldn’t do that this game.

“The other thing you have to realize too is I’m a great believer in complimentary football. Right now, under the direction of Don Brown and the defensive coaches, our defense is playing lights out – bottom line. So, don’t turn it over; score, kick to score, punt the ball over the opponents 30. Give our defense the long end of the field to defend. That’s part of it. That’s not real flashy but that’s part of our philosophy here. Play to the strength. Our defense right now is playing lights out. All that goes into some thoughts like this.

What’d you think of Chandler Whitmer’s play?

“He didn’t turn the ball over other than the fumble,” Deleone said. “I told our football team if we don’t turn the ball over we can win games. I think that’s going to be true because of our defense…We made progress without turning the ball over, there were no forced balls except maybe one. I think that’s where we are.”

DC

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7 Responses to Part II: More From UConn Offensive Coordinator George DeLeone

  1. JD says:
    September 20, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    He better do something b/c the AD isn’t going to let this ride for too long…

    Oh and it doesn’t matter about the schematics just get points on the board and everyone will be happy.

  2. Artie A... says:
    September 20, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    I look at it as every man every day has to make decisions on the job. This using the tools you have to work with.
    Why would you not use some of the other tools in the box to see if they work a little better than what might be a favorite that is simply just getting by?
    Play to your strengths of course but now the D is down two starters, how long do you want them on the field.
    This is a O coach saying we are playing to give our D a good position on the field? I have always thought it was the other way around. I have never heard anything like this from a coach before.
    Gotta give him credit for speaking his philosophy…..
    Can’t say I agree, this while we play games that we should be favored in.

  3. ROADRUNNER says:
    September 20, 2012 at 4:23 pm

    It appears that Deleone has no confidence in the QB. Seems he is worried about an interception on 2nd and 10. So he would rather run the ball and “hope” for some yardage. We know what that has yielded like Deleone said “long 3rd down scenarios”..They are worried the QB will throw an interception…so If I’m a defense opposing UCONN ..and its 2nd and 10…here comes a running play and stuff the box….

  4. White Dog 777 says:
    September 20, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    UCONN needs to utilize their full arsenal of running backs. I will use the Boilermakers as an example. Purdue has one of the best running attacks in the country and they used 5 running backs and gained 392 yards rushing in a 54-16 victory over Eastern Michigan last week. Senior running back Akeem Shavers opened up the scoring for the Boilermakers with a 40-yard touchdown run. Sophomore running back Akeem Hunt took a shovel pass 50 yards to the end zone and also scored on a 56-yard run. Sophomore running back Brandon Cottom added his first career touchdown, a 87-yard run up the middle. Here are some quotes regarding the Purdue run game: “I felt like if I got out in the open field, I was a free man,” Hunt said. “The coaches kept telling us to run the ball, and the look in our offensive linemen’s faces kept telling us to keep running the ball and we made it happen.” And another: “I think our running backs can play well, especially with how they alternate and use us,” Hunt said. “Brandon (Cottom) can be a full back and a running back. We saw that today; he can break tackles and he’s a physical runner. Raheem is a physical runner and he has speed. Shavers has speed and power too. We have some great talent there in the backfield.” I say in addition to McCombs we need to get Joe Williams (SPEED & size), Max DeLorenzo (Quickness & size) more involved in the run game. That will in turn open up the passing attack! Need more play action…

  5. Chris says:
    September 20, 2012 at 10:00 am

    I’m not a fan of Coach DeLeone’s play calling but I have to be fair. He’s absolutely right about playing to the teams strengths.

    My criticism is that we’re being way too conservative. I love McCombs, but he is not the kind of pound and ground back that you want to run between the tackles all day long. What I took from Coach White’s response is that they have zero confidence in any other RB on the roster right now. Maybe kids can’t get a grasp of the play book or are having issues picking up a blitz, but maybe it’s time see what some others kids bring to the table.

    Me specifically, I’d like to see Lyle around 20 carries per game and have Joe Williams see what he can do in live action for a few carries per game. Coaches aren’t infallible to make mistakes. Marcus Easley couldn’t get on the field for the first 3 games in 09 and then 1 long TD catch against Pitt put him on the path to the NFL.

    An adequate offense and we can win 8 games this year. But we have some work to do in order to get to adequate. I’m still cautiously optimistic.

  6. Fobe says:
    September 20, 2012 at 8:56 am

    Would love to know how many times over the last 12 years (@Syr and UConn), that George has “vowed to fix the offense”. Seems like it’s an every year statement.