Offensive Line Analysis: Week 2 Against Navy

Coming off of a hard fought victory vs Maine in week 1, The Huskies traveled to Annapolis, MD to face off against Navy.

In what could best be described as a tale of two halves, the Huskies had themselves on the ½ yard line with a chance to win at the end of the game. Unfortunately, UConn failed to convert on the goal line and fell to Navy 28-24. Staying with the theme of the game, the O-Line performance was notably different in the first and second half of this game.

Negatives

In the first half the line and the offense as a whole were struggling to get anything going against the navy defense. In a game were possessions matter so much and leaving the field without points can kill your chances to win, UConn needed to perform better.

For a second week in a row, pass protection got off to shaky start and had Shirreffs being flushed out of the pocket more than anyone would like to see. Pass protection is a always evolving skill that needs to improve over the course of a season.

If UConn continues to use this run-heavy, ball-control offense, the offensive line is going to need to improve their ability to block the run against a stacked box. While run blocking falls on more players than just the offensive line, they are the most important factor.

UConn averaged about 2.6 yards per carry during this game. You would like to see this number closer to 4 to call it a successful performance.

Looking at the offense as a whole, which also falls on the O-line, the first five drives ended with three punts and two fumbles (counting the fumble on the kick return). As a team and as an offensive line, UConn needs to find a way to get started faster and get points on the board early.

Positives

In all seriousness, the second half (and end of the 2nd quarter) looked like a completely different team out there on offense. This gives me a lot of confidence in UConn's ability to adjust at the half and remain confident in bleak situations.

Even though the ball control, run-oriented offense hasn’t necessarily been as successful as we would like, UConn nearly split time of possession with Navy, which is a pretty significant accomplishment for both sides of the ball.

When offensive coordinator Frank Verducci decided to spread the offense out, the line looked great in pass protection. They were able to give Shirreffs plenty of time to get the ball out and even room to step up and deliver his passes.

After spreading the offense out a bit, the O-line was able to really open up some holes for our running backs. This shows the benefits of opening up the offense a bit, causing their defense to spread out and play on their heels.

After those first five drives, UConn's next four drives went Touchdown, Touchdown, Field Goal, Punt, with a Jamar Summers fumble return TD in there as well. This is an incredibly positive adjustment by our coaches and players to turn it around after an abysmal start on offense.

The scoring drives were of 60, 70, and 80 yards. This is an excellent showing of how we want the offense to look during the game. Long, sustained drives that end with points is a staple of any successful offense. Again, UConn's lineman appeared to be in great shape for these long drives and were able to finish strong.

In the end, a loss is a loss and it always hurts to lose one when you are so close to winning.

While UConn did not come away with a victory this game, the Huskies showed some notable improvement over the game in week 1 and showed some great ability to adjust and fight back from what looked to be a hopeless spot being down 21-0 against Navy.

There is still plenty to clean up, for coaches as well as players. I'm excited by what this team showed and even more by the improvements I saw in the O-Line this game.