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Quote:UC escapes Fresno State
Two big defensive plays save day for Bearcats
By Bill Koch • bkoch@enquirer.com • September 26, 2009
Fresno State finally found a way to slow down quarterback Tony Pike and the high-powered University of Cincinnati offense.
It’s simple really. All you need is a bruising Ryan Mathews to carry 38 times for 145 yards and a ball-control offense that keeps Pike and his mates off the field for all but 16 minutes.
The Bulldogs (1-3) worked that strategy to perfection Saturday, holding UC to seven second-half points and producing 443 yards of offense.
There was just one problem: They still lost.
The Bulldogs rolled down the field again to the UC 32 where they faced another 4th-and-2.
Thanks to a fourth-quarter interception by senior linebacker Craig Carey with Fresno State driving for the go-ahead touchdown, the 14th-ranked Bearcats were able to turn back the Bulldogs, 28-20, before 32,910 fans at Nippert Stadium.
“It was a tough, physical football game and we knew that coming in,” said UC coach Brian Kelly. “I’m glad they’re not in the Big East, I can tell you that.”
UC (4-0) was clinging to a 21-17 lead when the Fresno drove from its own 35-yard-line to the UC six, where they faced 4th-and-2. On the first play of the fourth quarter, quarterback Ryan Colburn dropped back looking for fullback Reynard Camp. Instead, he hooked up with Carey, he picked off the pass at the 8 and returned it to the UC 29.
“Before the play I noticed the running back staring at me,” Carey said. “I got a weird feeling that the play was going to come that way. I was actually blitzing. I kind of came off my assignment a little bit. I saw the quarterback throw it and it just ended up in my hands.”
The UC offense, which had been on the field for only 51 seconds in the third quarter, made the most of its second possession of the half, moving 71 plays in six plays to score on Pike’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Mardy Gilyard to give the Bearcats a 28-17 lead with 13:09 remaining.
“That gave us the separation we needed,” Kelly said.
Fresno’s Kevin Goessling kicked a 49-yard field goal with 8:09 left to pull the Bulldogs back to within eight points at 28-20 and after UC failed to move past midfield, Fresno took over for one last drive at its own 8 after Jake Rogers’ 42-yard punt.
A delay of game penalty pushed them back to the 37, then with 45 seconds to go, Colburn threw to Chastin West for what would have been a first down, but UC safety Aaron Webster’s jarring hit separated West from the ball and sealed the win for the Bearcats.
“During practice all week we talked about them running slants,” Webster said, “about how that’s a good portion of how they get their yards. When the quarterback went back he looked at the receiver the whole time. I just broke. Luckily when I broke, the ball was right there and I just tried to put all of my 215 (pounds) into him.”
The UC offense played well when it got the chance. Pike completed 18 of 26 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Gilyard caught 9 passes for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns.
But because of Fresno’s perfectly excecuted game plan, the Bearcats didn’t get much time to show what they could do with the ball. Pike stood on the sideline for all but seven seconds of the final 8:55 of the second quarter and watched helplessly for the first 6:22 of the third.
“It’s tough not being on the field that long,” Pike said, “but the camaraderie we have with our offense and how in sync we are, where most teams might struggle a little bit, I think we pick up where we leave off really well.”
The numbers weren’t pretty for the UC defense, which surrendered 290 rushing yards, but it prevented the Bulldogs from making big plays and came up with the crucial stops at the end of the game.
“We said, ‘Absolutely we must not give up a big play, run or pass or we’re going to lose this game,’ ” Kelly said. “We really battled to do that. At times you go, ‘Man, can we get off the field, here?’ The way I decided to conduct this game, I knew it was going to come down to we were going to have to make a couple of big plays late.”
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...002&Ref=AR
That's funny.
Fresno State played a damn good game, but they never had the lead and they needed a TD and a 2-pt conversion just to tie the game!
I always thought an "escape" was coming from behind to beat a team that you should.
300 yards and 3 TD's is really slowing down.
well, go to the enquirer web front page and you'll notice that the most attention is directed to:
Quote:Bras, bras everywhere!
Today is the deadline to drop decorated bras off to be judged at the Bras with Flair on Fountain Square contest next week. We'll also announce the winner of our Breast Cancer Survivor Makeover during next week's contest. | Photos: Bras across the bridge
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
good thing journalism is alive and well here.
Don't forget about the "Latest Video" on the right hand side. Something about Chad Johnson from 2006.
hmm....KRotch usually has some jab about how UC did this or that in front of xamount thousands of fans...usually when the game is far from a sell out......wonder why he didn't include a blurb about the excellent attendance and the great looking whiteout???
He's such a Doucheosarus Rex.....
the whiteout was impressive as hell on the tv coverage.
i tell you what, i was there today and i think escape is definitely the word for it. the pick by carey should have been a touchdown for fresno, their guy was wide open. i cant believe uc gave up almost 300 yards rushing and won. the only thing stopping fresno today after the first quarter was pretty much their own penalties moving them back.
gilyard was a beast receiving, and pike was good, not great. offense did score very quickly but didnt score but also sputtered midway through 4th quarter when they had chance to put game away.
but hey a win is a win....others not so lucky today. but some work needs to be done on defense, cause the line was not so hot. on top of rushing yards, their qb had ALL DAY to throw. I dont think there was a sack...if im right that is 6 straight quarters with no sacks.
(09-26-2009 05:57 PM)gruehls Wrote: [ -> ]the whiteout was impressive as hell on the tv coverage.
it was pretty impressive at the game too....i was sitting in 116 row 5 and looking up and all around stadium it looked awesome.
(09-26-2009 06:08 PM)50Cent Wrote: [ -> ]i tell you what, i was there today and i think escape is definitely the word for it. the pick by carey should have been a touchdown for fresno, their guy was wide open. i cant believe uc gave up almost 300 yards rushing and won. the only thing stopping fresno today after the first quarter was pretty much their own penalties moving them back.
gilyard was a beast receiving, and pike was good, not great. offense did score very quickly but didnt score but also sputtered midway through 4th quarter when they had chance to put game away.
but hey a win is a win....others not so lucky today. but some work needs to be done on defense, cause the line was not so hot. on top of rushing yards, their qb had ALL DAY to throw. I dont think there was a sack...if im right that is 6 straight quarters with no sacks.
I wrote in the game thread and post game threads that the defense is working on the fly. They suffered some casualties which led BK to protect the secondary, the most inexperienced unit of the defense, at the cost of the front 7. Second, it's difficult to sack a team that doesn't really pass. Fresno ran an overwhelming amount of the time. in those times where they did pass a number of those were short passes or screens which mitigates some of the pass rush.
So BK played a contain type defense where they didn't give up any big plays, allowing Matthews and Co. to rack up yards but not points. The tradeoff was a W for the good guys.
i know that the rushing numbers are gnawing away at a lot of fans. it was a tradeoff. We got the W against a tough team. it's a great day for the Bearcats!
(09-26-2009 06:28 PM)eroc Wrote: [ -> ] (09-26-2009 06:08 PM)50Cent Wrote: [ -> ]i tell you what, i was there today and i think escape is definitely the word for it. the pick by carey should have been a touchdown for fresno, their guy was wide open. i cant believe uc gave up almost 300 yards rushing and won. the only thing stopping fresno today after the first quarter was pretty much their own penalties moving them back.
gilyard was a beast receiving, and pike was good, not great. offense did score very quickly but didnt score but also sputtered midway through 4th quarter when they had chance to put game away.
but hey a win is a win....others not so lucky today. but some work needs to be done on defense, cause the line was not so hot. on top of rushing yards, their qb had ALL DAY to throw. I dont think there was a sack...if im right that is 6 straight quarters with no sacks.
I wrote in the game thread and post game threads that the defense is working on the fly. They suffered some casualties which led BK to protect the secondary, the most inexperienced unit of the defense, at the cost of the front 7. Second, it's difficult to sack a team that doesn't really pass. Fresno ran an overwhelming amount of the time. in those times where they did pass a number of those were short passes or screens which mitigates some of the pass rush.
So BK played a contain type defense where they didn't give up any big plays, allowing Matthews and Co. to rack up yards but not points. The tradeoff was a W for the good guys.
i know that the rushing numbers are gnawing away at a lot of fans. it was a tradeoff. We got the W against a tough team. it's a great day for the Bearcats!
Eroc, your post is exactly on target. BK said all week that Fresno liked to throw it down field, and that big plays were the key to their success.
During the practice week he talked about keeping the ball in front of the defense was the key to winning. Then his pregame comments on TV were about limiting big plays. Then at halftime he said he liked the defensive play except for the one breakdown in coverage that resulted in the late first half score. Then his postgame comments were about being happy with the decision to limit big plays.
How many long passes down field did Fresno attempt? You have to give up something to secure something else.
As we all know that when BK is asked about his offense, he replies that its from a head coaching perspective not an offensive coordinator. His philosophy is based on winning not pretty statistics. Today we saw that same philosophy as it applies to the defense. And once again the Bearcats came out on the winning side - by eight points.
(09-26-2009 05:20 PM)gruehls Wrote: [ -> ]well, go to the enquirer web front page and you'll notice that the most attention is directed to:
Quote:Bras, bras everywhere!
Today is the deadline to drop decorated bras off to be judged at the Bras with Flair on Fountain Square contest next week. We'll also announce the winner of our Breast Cancer Survivor Makeover during next week's contest. | Photos: Bras across the bridge
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
good thing journalism is alive and well here.
That just makes me want to
I wished a lawsuit could be filed against these so called sports
"journalists" in Cincinnati. It's sad and if I wasn't raised in this
city and didn't know the lack of real sports journalists....I would swear
it is almost like a silent vendetta by the editors of these local rags
that are incahoots with the lousiest {sp} owner in the history of any
*SPORTS FRANCHISE* in the USA to just keep the crimp on this university and this football team in general.
It is sad. It is pathetic. And there is absolutely no reason in the world
for the lack of coverage that this team receives IMO.
Thanks for letting me rant. I feel my ears getting warm. Bastards!:noisycricket:
gregg
i miss the Post.
the enquirer has turned into the newspaper version of cincinnati magazine.
(09-26-2009 08:18 PM)gruehls Wrote: [ -> ]i miss the Post.
the enquirer has turned into the newspaper version of cincinnati magazine.
I really miss Lonnie Wheeler, the last professional in the city......
(09-26-2009 07:42 PM)Ragpicker Wrote: [ -> ] (09-26-2009 06:28 PM)eroc Wrote: [ -> ] (09-26-2009 06:08 PM)50Cent Wrote: [ -> ]i tell you what, i was there today and i think escape is definitely the word for it. the pick by carey should have been a touchdown for fresno, their guy was wide open. i cant believe uc gave up almost 300 yards rushing and won. the only thing stopping fresno today after the first quarter was pretty much their own penalties moving them back.
gilyard was a beast receiving, and pike was good, not great. offense did score very quickly but didnt score but also sputtered midway through 4th quarter when they had chance to put game away.
but hey a win is a win....others not so lucky today. but some work needs to be done on defense, cause the line was not so hot. on top of rushing yards, their qb had ALL DAY to throw. I dont think there was a sack...if im right that is 6 straight quarters with no sacks.
I wrote in the game thread and post game threads that the defense is working on the fly. They suffered some casualties which led BK to protect the secondary, the most inexperienced unit of the defense, at the cost of the front 7. Second, it's difficult to sack a team that doesn't really pass. Fresno ran an overwhelming amount of the time. in those times where they did pass a number of those were short passes or screens which mitigates some of the pass rush.
So BK played a contain type defense where they didn't give up any big plays, allowing Matthews and Co. to rack up yards but not points. The tradeoff was a W for the good guys.
i know that the rushing numbers are gnawing away at a lot of fans. it was a tradeoff. We got the W against a tough team. it's a great day for the Bearcats!
Eroc, your post is exactly on target. BK said all week that Fresno liked to throw it down field, and that big plays were the key to their success.
During the practice week he talked about keeping the ball in front of the defense was the key to winning. Then his pregame comments on TV were about limiting big plays. Then at halftime he said he liked the defensive play except for the one breakdown in coverage that resulted in the late first half score. Then his postgame comments were about being happy with the decision to limit big plays.
How many long passes down field did Fresno attempt? You have to give up something to secure something else.
As we all know that when BK is asked about his offense, he replies that its from a head coaching perspective not an offensive coordinator. His philosophy is based on winning not pretty statistics. Today we saw that same philosophy as it applies to the defense. And once again the Bearcats came out on the winning side - by eight points.
You guys are both right. Normally you can count on almost any team to screw up a lot of their drives via a penalty, fumble or even a missed block on 3rd down. Fresno just did a terrific job of executing to keep drive after drive going.
That Freson offense was the football equivalent of playing the Billikins under Charlie Spoonhour.
The Enquirer's demise has been pretty amazing. The quality from everything from the reporting to the layout to the editing has just fallen off incredibly. I find myself reading it less and less. But cincinnati is far from alone here. Take a look around the nation. The papers are dying and people are turning to bloggers and internet media for news and turning away from the major networks and papers.
(09-26-2009 11:24 PM)Murph29 Wrote: [ -> ]The Enquirer's demise has been pretty amazing. The quality from everything from the reporting to the layout to the editing has just fallen off incredibly. I find myself reading it less and less. But cincinnati is far from alone here. Take a look around the nation. The papers are dying and people are turning to bloggers and internet m edia for news and turning away from the major networks and papers.
Honolulu still has 2 newspapers (the morning Advertiser and the afternoon Star), but they are both going downhill rapidly. The Sunday paper is $2.00. They have more writers than the Enquirer, but I think the Hamilton Journal does also.
Hawai'i is going through a horrible economic time. There are no tourists and the schools aren having to take 17 days unpaid leave this year. They have asked their coaches to take no pay.
Really don't know what they are going to do.
(09-26-2009 11:24 PM)Murph29 Wrote: [ -> ]The Enquirer's demise has been pretty amazing. The quality from everything from the reporting to the layout to the editing has just fallen off incredibly. I find myself reading it less and less. But cincinnati is far from alone here. Take a look around the nation. The papers are dying and people are turning to bloggers and internet media for news and turning away from the major networks and papers.
The enquirer's always been a worthless rag. First headline I read in it: "LET'S FIRE RALPH STAUB." Voyeuristic journalism is a part of living in Cincinnati. UC did good today. That's what counts.