The CheckerBoard

So, last night I watched the Cincinatti-UConn game to start getting some insight into what they have been running on Offense-Defense.

This is what I picked up on first blush.

OFFENSE - It looked very similar to what Chaney was running this year. They were working out of the pistol almost every down. There were some differences in that there was a little bit more spread features than Chaney used. But during that UConn game there offense was pretty potent. They also run the ball a lot more than Chaney. One thing I didn't have a chance to look at was short yardage situations. I didn't get to watch the whole game, but at least in the first half they were never in a short yardage situation. The commentators kept commenting about how Cincinnati led the Big East in rushing and was talking about how UConn had a stingy run defense. So, the first thing I noticed was Cincy barely ran. They blew up UConn with the pass. So these guys are adaptable.

DEFENSE - Standard 4-3. But it is an aggressive 4-3. It reminded me a lot of the Chavis years actually.

OVERALL - His guys played hard. Real hard. A thing that impressed me was watching the WR's block. Those guys were throwing their bodies into it every play. I want to go back and watch the Louisville and Rutgers games. The run game wasn't that impressive during that game that I saw. UConn was stuffing it every play. At the same time, I did see with our big bodies a chance we could probably open some big holes.

On first impression, it definitely looks like something that something that could work at UT. Let's put it this way, think the offense we had this year combined with a defense that could have actually played. Would have translated to some wins.

At the same time, I need to go back and watch some more tape on the D. I can't base too much off that game because UConn's offense sucked. I mean really sucked.