The reaction, of course, is not a reaction. It's an overreaction. Ah, social media. As Geno Auriemma once said: "One of the problems with the Internet is every stupid person who didn't know they were stupid now knows they are stupid because the Internet has given them an opportunity to prove that."

And so it didn't take long in the wake of Saturday's season-ending football defeat to previously winless Southern Methodist for the dullards, dim bulbs and dolts to suggest that UConn drop football. Alabama-Birmingham did such earlier last week … and if you can't beat SMU …

Let me just say this: If you espouse such a theory, you are what Thomas Wolfe had in mind when he wrote, "it's like trying to spark in minds that have no flint in them."

UConn football is necessary if the university is ever going to escape Elba, otherwise known as the American Athletic Conference. Necessary. Important. Vital. Because without it, you might as well be back in the Big East, relevant only during basketball season and completely out of the money.

Now I get that ideas lacking restraint rarely gather attention. Hence, the "let's drop football" drivel. But seriously? It's dumber than the one-out bunt.

This doesn't suggest the program isn't a disaster. Nor does it suggest athletic director Warde Manuel, whose work here has been otherwise exemplary, has the right guy as the head coach. But if nothing else, this season illustrated that turnarounds can happen quickly. Read: Memphis. If you remember, Memphis, in the 2013 season finale, looked as pathetic as UConn did Saturday. The Tigers rebounded this year to share the AAC title.

The wiseguys have taken to calling UConn coach Bob Diaco "Bobby Fiasco" and "Bobby Debacle." Not saying they're wrong. But we're all hideously shortsighted if we believe he doesn't deserve more time to implement his plan.

I just don't know the plan. I have no idea his football acumen. But I do know that his answers to our questions are often a cross between Casey Stengel and Vivian Stringer. Our own Wizard of Odd. Fables, parables and long-winded stories that rarely seem to scratch the problems where they itch.

I'd suggest that Diaco drop the most-insightful-guy-in-the-room stuff for next season and just coach his team better. Forget about trying to sound like Socrates or Tony Robbins answering questions. I admit to getting snowed in the offseason when he went off talking about the importance of Vitamin D. Thought it was fascinating. Turns out I'd rather have 50 Vitamin D deficient studs who swarm to the ball, block someone on occasion and throw it to somebody wearing the same color jersey.

No denying he wasn't left the '86 Giants here. But he didn't distinguish himself Saturday when he brought the better team on the field, had a 20-6 lead against Dead Program Walking … and lost the game. That's on him. Period. As is his insistence that progress was made this season when the scoreboard showed otherwise. And that's how we measure progress. On the scoreboard. Then, now, always.

Lest we forget that UConn graduates are sprinkled throughout the National Football League. The Huskies earned a spot in the defunct Bowl Championship Series. Randy Edsall showed it could happen here, even in a small concrete stadium too many miles from campus. The problem: Former athletic director Jeff Hathaway hired the wrong guy to replace him.

And it's a perfectly fair question to wonder if Manuel did the same.

Just take the "drop football" stuff and keep it moving. Try harder next time to concoct an original thought. UConn football is the missing piece here. The missing, necessary piece to the great exodus.

Here's hoping for better things in 2015.

Now the rest of the scholars can forget football for a while and focus on why Auriemma and Kevin Ollie "can't win close games."

Short memories.

Small minds.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius