Tuberville won't tip hand on UC starting QB
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 1:55 p.m. EST November 10, 2014


Munchie Legaux has been a key factor for the Bearcats recently, with Gunner Kiel (ribs) ailing.(Photo: The Enquirer/Gary Landers)

Munchie Legaux and Gunner Kiel both will see playing time at quarterback for the University of Cincinnati in its football game Thursday night against East Carolina, but it is unclear who will start.

UC coach Tommy Tuberville said that Kiel (bruised ribs) has improved physically, with UC having an open date this past weekend. Usual starter Kiel was replaced by Legaux after just one play in UC's 38-14 win over Tulane on Oct. 31, with Kiel clearly still hurting.

Tuberville said after the Tulane game that Legaux had earned the chance to start against ECU. The update Monday from Tuberville was that he will not publicly name a starter this week.

"There's no reason to," Tuberville said. "Both (quarterbacks) have been working with the first team. I have a lot of confidence in both. We'll look at several things, including the weather."

The forecast high for Thursday is 36 degrees, with temperatures falling throughout the game.

Against Tulane, senior Legaux completed 16-of-24 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Sophomore Kiel started the game, threw an interception on his first play and never returned.

Kiel has started all eight games for UC this year, and he leads the AAC with 20 touchdown passes. Legaux, who returned this year from a serious knee injury, has relieved Kiel in each of the past two games.

UC (5-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) is among several teams still harboring hopes of winning the AAC, along with East Carolina (6-2, 3-1 AAC).

Memphis leads the AAC with a 4-1 conference record, followed by UC, East Carolina and UCF all at 3-1. Each eventually will play eight AAC games.

ECU GLANCE: East Carolina was ranked No. 21 before being upset in its last game, 20-10 by Temple on Nov. 1 in Philadelphia.

ECU had five fumbles and 12 penalties in the game, which was played in a driving rain. ECU held a 428-135 edge in yardage but was stopped repeatedly by penalties and turnovers.

ECU senior quarterback Shane Carden directs the country's No. 3-ranked passing attack. Carden is averaging 349 yards passing per game and has thrown 18 touchdown passes.

NFLDraftScout.com (CBS Sports) ranks Carden the No. 6 available quarterback for the 2015 draft, projected as a third- or fourth-round pick.

ECU senior wideout Justin Hardy needs 19 catches to set the NCAA career record, held by former Oklahoma standout Ryan Broyles (2008-11). Hardy has 331 catches, while Broyles had 349.

Hardy this year has 65 catches and averages 102 yards receiving per game, with six touchdowns. Hardy is projected as a second- or third-round NFL draftee by NFLDraftScout.com.

ECU coach Ruffin McNeil is 35-24 in his fifth year at the school.

"Ruffin McNeil has done an excellent job of bringing in athletes," Tuberville said. "It's a good football team that has played some tough competition."

ECU beat then-No. 17 Virginia Tech 28-21 in September, just one week after the Hokies upset Ohio State. ECU followed its Virginia Tech win with a 70-41 rout of North Carolina.

TICKET WATCH: UC athletic director Mike Bohn said the school has 26,000 tickets out for the ECU game and is hoping to reach 29,000. The combination of cold weather and TV (ESPN2) could also affect the crowd.

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Quote:UC vs. East Carolina

Thursday, 7 p.m. at Paul Brown Stadium

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WLW-AM (700)

Records: UC 5-3 (3-1 AAC), East Carolina 6-2 (3-1 AAC)

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/ucathlet.../18802597/

Are we really crossing our fingers to get to *29,000 for the best home game on the 2014 slate?




* = tickets distributed

(11-10-2014 10:30 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Are we really crossing our fingers to get to *29,000 for the best home game on the 2014 slate?




* = tickets distributed

Sure, cold weather and fans don't like PBS. Hell we have people complaining about bowl games that are no different than the Pizza Bowl and International Bowl. Many posters here are about the opponent and not UC. They are arrogant. No different than saying my JD is ivy league and a UC JD is not as good. Locally offense or defense does not sell tickets, the opponent sells tickets. This is why we are not P5, and it has always been the case. The Alumni base is bad bad bad.

Wut?

(11-10-2014 11:05 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Wut?

Come on Rath, you know this. If we were playing 5-5 Michigan the place would be packed.

(11-10-2014 11:10 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 11:05 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Wut?

Come on Rath, you know this. If we were playing 5-5 Michigan the place would be packed.

Not on a cold Thursday night in November when the game is on television.

But I will be there.

(11-10-2014 11:16 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 11:10 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 11:05 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Wut?

Come on Rath, you know this. If we were playing 5-5 Michigan the place would be packed.

Not on a cold Thursday night in November when the game is on television.

But I will be there.

All of the games are on TV, unless we are playing SE Bum **** State U.
If ECU was 9-0 or Michigan was 5-4, what contest draws my butts in the stadium?
(even if ECU beat Michigan earlier in the year). Come on you folks are way to smart to spin this.

(11-10-2014 10:51 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 10:30 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Are we really crossing our fingers to get to *29,000 for the best home game on the 2014 slate?




* = tickets distributed

Sure, cold weather and fans don't like PBS. Hell we have people complaining about bowl games that are no different than the Pizza Bowl and International Bowl. Many posters here are about the opponent and not UC. They are arrogant. No different than saying my JD is ivy league and a UC JD is not as good. Locally offense or defense does not sell tickets, the opponent sells tickets. This is why we are not P5, and it has always been the case. The Alumni base is bad bad bad.

Totally confused. Is your JD ivy league or UC? Both have their merits if you practice in Cincy.

I saw that Gene Chizik will be one of the announcers.

I am with Superfly here. This town/fan base is awful when it comes to supporting UC athletics. I have made the point but I think we legitimately only have around 25-30k fans, 15-20K who show up to home games most weeks and another 7500-10k who go to bowls. It is loyal, passionate bunch but very small. To get the optimum turn out for a game and draw interest of the casual fans all the ducks have to be in a row-- opponent, weather, good season, game time, etc.

(11-11-2014 08:54 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I am with Superfly here. This town/fan base is awful when it comes to supporting UC athletics. I have made the point but I think we legitimately only have around 25-30k fans, 15-20K who show up to home games most weeks and another 7500-10k who go to bowls. It is loyal, passionate bunch but very small. To get the optimum turn out for a game and draw interest of the casual fans all the ducks have to be in a row-- opponent, weather, good season, game time, etc.

I don't know why people still act like this is shocking news. UC has had a good football program for what? Maybe 10 years? And as has been mentioned ad nauseum, Cincinnati has professional sports that have a wider appeal.

(11-11-2014 09:05 AM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(11-11-2014 08:54 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I am with Superfly here. This town/fan base is awful when it comes to supporting UC athletics. I have made the point but I think we legitimately only have around 25-30k fans, 15-20K who show up to home games most weeks and another 7500-10k who go to bowls. It is loyal, passionate bunch but very small. To get the optimum turn out for a game and draw interest of the casual fans all the ducks have to be in a row-- opponent, weather, good season, game time, etc.

I don't know why people still act like this is shocking news. UC has had a good football program for what? Maybe 10 years? And as has been mentioned ad nauseum, Cincinnati has professional sports that have a wider appeal.

Right.

Round & round we go. Same commentary. Zzzzzzzz

There's a football game to be played and people wanna talk attendance. Attendance?!?! :::in my Allen Iverson voice/ Jim Mora voice:::

Sheesh. Get over it.





mc

(11-10-2014 10:30 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Are we really crossing our fingers to get to *29,000 for the best home game on the 2014 slate?




* = tickets distributed

Good questions. Does "tickets distributed" also include a certain expectation of student attendance? I'm guessing it does.

I have mixed feelings about the AD making attendance projections before each home game. If he errs on the conservative side, we can say attendance exceeded expectations; if the opposite happens it's labeled a disappointing crowd.

Short of a winter storm watch, freezing rain or the white death this game has all the attributes that consistently contribute to a poor turnout in our fair city. ECU is probably better than two thirds of the B10 this season but would more Cincinnatians turn out for a B10 also ran like the Hawkeyes? You betcha, as our friends in Iowa would say.

This is life in the AAC; ECU, a team with a sizable fan following that travels well, gets relegated to a Thursday night game. My guess is they'll have less than a thousand of their fans in PBS. So I'm not a pessimist; I believe UC will move up to the P5 someday and crowds will return for big name opponents as they've done in the past. But after the uninspired start for this 2014 squad it's unrealistic to expect the casual fans to jump back on the bandwagon for this one.

I'll be there; most on this board will too. Onward and upward.

(11-10-2014 10:51 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  Sure, cold weather and fans don't like PBS. Hell we have people complaining about bowl games that are no different than the Pizza Bowl and International Bowl. Many posters here are about the opponent and not UC. They are arrogant. No different than saying my JD is ivy league and a UC JD is not as good. Locally offense or defense does not sell tickets, the opponent sells tickets. This is why we are not P5, and it has always been the case. The Alumni base is bad bad bad.

I'll cut through the "JD" stuff, as I am too dense to understand that But I basically agree. The one thing I will ammend, is that, we are not P5 because we don't LIE about our poor attendance

(11-11-2014 09:12 AM)indycat Wrote:  Short of a winter storm watch, freezing rain or the white death this game has all the attributes that consistently contribute to a poor turnout in our fair city. ECU is probably better than two thirds of the B10 this season but would more Cincinnatians turn out for a B10 also ran like the Hawkeyes? You betcha, as our friends in Iowa would say.

Yeah, we answered that last year, when we packed the Nip for a lousy Purdue team in 100+ degree conditions.

(11-11-2014 08:54 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I am with Superfly here. This town/fan base is awful when it comes to supporting UC athletics. I have made the point but I think we legitimately only have around 25-30k fans, 15-20K who show up to home games most weeks and another 7500-10k who go to bowls. It is loyal, passionate bunch but very small. To get the optimum turn out for a game and draw interest of the casual fans all the ducks have to be in a row-- opponent, weather, good season, game time, etc.

Pretty much agree; however, I think UC's fan base support next season will be between 25k and 40k. Hardcore base is somewhere between 15k and 25k. Overall it is still a lot better than it was 10 years ago.

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Cincinnati Reds fan bases are made up of families which depresses week night (school night) attendance.

(11-11-2014 09:27 AM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  

(11-10-2014 10:51 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  Sure, cold weather and fans don't like PBS. Hell we have people complaining about bowl games that are no different than the Pizza Bowl and International Bowl. Many posters here are about the opponent and not UC. They are arrogant. No different than saying my JD is ivy league and a UC JD is not as good. Locally offense or defense does not sell tickets, the opponent sells tickets. This is why we are not P5, and it has always been the case. The Alumni base is bad bad bad.

I'll cut through the "JD" stuff, as I am too dense to understand that But I basically agree. The one thing I will ammend, is that, we are not P5 because we don't LIE about our poor attendance

Exactly. I recall watching a Pitt vs. Virginia Tech game a few weeks ago on a Thursday night that looked like there was less than 25k people there. Of course, 'official' attendance was just over 43k.

(11-10-2014 10:51 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  Hell we have people complaining about bowl games that are no different than the Pizza Bowl and International Bowl.

You have to see the difference between UC playing in those previous bowls vs UC today. Those bowls all came prior to the BCS games, Liberty and Belk. We were on our way up - and I went to all of those minor games.

But we are now clearly on the way back down. And that's what I've been bitchin' about for 2 years. And I do, sorry BJ and others, look for every possible angle to bring it up. Because our reality is the 2nd half of the Memphis game, the lack of ticket sales for Thursday (it will even look worse on TV with the no shows and folks in the Club), and the empty stadium in early Dec against a mediocre Houston team.

You are right. Our alumni and fan base is not strong. Anyone over 35 and under 70 knows how bad support was for UC football during their undergrad days. It was if the program didn't exist - even demoted to I-AA for one season. No one cared, the papers didn't cover the team, and there was no culture built. Only those students who came to UC under the Big East and watched great football develop still support the team by tailgating and coming to games. So that is an improvement. But what will happen if this life inside a mid-major continues?

(11-11-2014 09:05 AM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(11-11-2014 08:54 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I am with Superfly here. This town/fan base is awful when it comes to supporting UC athletics. I have made the point but I think we legitimately only have around 25-30k fans, 15-20K who show up to home games most weeks and another 7500-10k who go to bowls. It is loyal, passionate bunch but very small. To get the optimum turn out for a game and draw interest of the casual fans all the ducks have to be in a row-- opponent, weather, good season, game time, etc.

I don't know why people still act like this is shocking news. UC has had a good football program for what? Maybe 10 years? And as has been mentioned ad nauseum, Cincinnati has professional sports that have a wider appeal.

What professional sports? A bad bad bad Bungles team. A bad Reds team. A Reds team that has a hard time attracting fans as well. This is a poor sports town, unless you happen to be high school fball. At the end of the day it's just excuses.

(11-11-2014 09:05 AM)BeerCat Wrote:  I don't know why people still act like this is shocking news. UC has had a good football program for what? Maybe 10 years? And as has been mentioned ad nauseum, Cincinnati has professional sports that have a wider appeal.

We keep mentioning it ad nauseum, because what makes us nauseous is that it doesn't have to be that way. Many posters have different opinions on why we sit in purgatory, but all (except maybe one) would agree life would be better with UC in a P5.