UConn will begin their 2014 season next Friday enveloped in a sense of hope for the first time in years. Really, for the first time since the final whistle blew in their Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma on New Year’s Day of 2011, and since Randy Edsall snuck off into the shadows of Maryland.
Edsall’s departure begat Pasqualoni, which begat losing records, which begat the ACC choosing Louisville over UConn to join their conference.
None of this is news, but it’s still amazing to think that it was only three months before Kemba Walker won a championship, that UConn football was viewed as a program on the rise — replete with recent rosters of college stars like Dan Orlovsky, Donald Brown and Jordan Todman. They were winning, and they were exciting.
In 2003, the inaugural season of Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Orlovsky (as a junior) threw for 3,485 yards and 33 touchdowns. The following season he would again pass the 3,000 yard mark and lead UConn to their first bowl appearance in the program’s (very brief) DI history — which they won.
As UConn’s profile grew, so did their attendance. Topping out in 2005, fans flocked to the Rent to see this great new product — an exciting team that could compete with top-tier schools by airing the ball out — and later, with a bevy of dynamic running backs. They were rewarded with a lot of wins, including a drubbing of SEC heavyweight South Carolina in the 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl.
When Pasqualoni arrived, that died. UConn’s defense remained stout, but the offense was paltry at best. And the crowd responded. After averaging 38,248 per home game during the 2010 Fiesta Bowl season, last year only 30,932 showed up to watch another disappointing and uninspiring team.
As UConn looks to rebuild its image behind new coach Bob Diaco, they need to put a winning product on the field. It’s no secret that the people of Connecticut love a winner — as is evidenced by how many Yankees fans appeared after 1996, and how many Red Sox fans appeared after 2004 (you know it’s true).
Yet, after the past few years of disappointing teams, an immediate resurgence back into national prominence seems a bit unlikely. The more important near-term goal of Diaco’s team should be to put an entertaining product back on the field. They need to employ a style of play that will draw fans into the Rent and leave them wanting more, even if the team happens to lose that day.
Diaco is a defensive-minded coach. And that will be important, as UConn builds long-term, but offense is going to be what sells tickets. Hopefully that takes the form of newly-minted starting quarterback Casey Cochran. With senior wide receiver Geremy Davis down field, Cochran certainly will get his opportunities to shine.
If he does, and UConn can recapture some of their offensive prowess lost when they hired a scarecrow to coach the team, the seats will start to fill back up, and UConn will again be a program on the rise. However, until UConn puts an exciting and marketable product back on the field, they aren’t going to convince people to pay for it.
