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(11-21-2020 09:41 PM)UCBearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  how about Cole Smith today, needed all his kicks, under the radar hero for the UCF game

Yes.

And James Smith as well. Having a Punter who can salvage and flip field position is amazing. Haven't had one this good since Huber...and we've had some decent punters over the years.

Special Teams overall...minus Punt returns...is really, really good this year.

Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

I'm pretty positive Herbie and Fick are friends fwiw

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

Pretty much spot on. We showed we were clearly more talented and it was clear once we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot with the muffed punt, penalties, drops, poor reads, blown coverages, etc...

The score ended up close, but I think we showed we are clearly more talented. The gap is only widening with the recruiting classes we have brought in as long as we continue to develop that talent like we have been.

(11-21-2020 10:22 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  I'm pretty positive Herbie and Fick are friends fwiw

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

I don't doubt that, Fick is loved in Buckeye circles, but it's hard to argue that Herbie doesn't hold some sort of bias towards any team that isn't part of the "Old Guard" crashing the party. (Disclaimer - I generally like Herbie as a commentary and analyst)

(11-21-2020 10:25 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  The score ended up close, but I think we showed we are clearly more talented. The gap is only widening with the recruiting classes we have brought in as long as we continue to develop that talent like we have been.

Definitely. Ucf has been the standard in this league but they're not the team they were under Scott Frost. If not for the anxiousness on the first drive getting a couple offsides and Montgomery's drop we win comfortably. I don't think moving forward they're the standard bearer anymore. Not saying it's us but I think after the AAC title game it will be

(11-21-2020 10:25 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

Pretty much spot on. We showed we were clearly more talented and it was clear once we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot with the muffed punt, penalties, drops, poor reads, blown coverages, etc...

The score ended up close, but I think we showed we are clearly more talented. The gap is only widening with the recruiting classes we have brought in as long as we continue to develop that talent like we have been.

The AAC is recruiting better than we ever had as a conference, but we look to be still separating from the pack. It's a great time to be a Bearcat fan....Go Cats!!!

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

To the BAD add chasing 2 in first half.
False starts.

Started rewatching the game. I can’t help but notice the difference in the refs not blowing the play dead on UCF’s first TD even though his forward progress had stopped. Strangely it was the opposite when Doaks forward progress hadnt stopped yet that one was blown dead and not even able to challenge it. I know it matters little now, but just couldn’t help but notice the different way those plays seem to be handled.

(11-21-2020 10:35 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  

(11-21-2020 10:25 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

Pretty much spot on. We showed we were clearly more talented and it was clear once we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot with the muffed punt, penalties, drops, poor reads, blown coverages, etc...

The score ended up close, but I think we showed we are clearly more talented. The gap is only widening with the recruiting classes we have brought in as long as we continue to develop that talent like we have been.

The AAC is recruiting better than we ever had as a conference, but we look to be still separating from the pack. It's a great time to be a Bearcat fan....Go Cats!!!

Yea, the AAC does seem to be recruiting better at the top schools especially. Still we seem to be separating still, like you mention.

(11-21-2020 10:38 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

To the BAD add chasing 2 in first half.
False starts.

I thought about adding that, but from an analytics perspective it makes sense to always go for two. It doesn't really make sense with how we play though, so a fair argument. Defensive false starts are just what happens when you have a defense that plays as aggressive as ours. I don't like them, but I can live with them if our defense plays like ours does.

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

i agree with most of your assessment but i will disagree slightly about the bolded point. i don't think it was over analysis and if they had executed that shot gun snap, which should have been no different than any other of the 100s of shot gun snaps Ridder has received all season, then no one is talking about it. Quite frankly, i appreciate taking an analytic approach to football considering Coach Fickell cut his teeth as a player at "3 yards and a cloud of dust" U and learned under the coach sweatervest, one of the more conservative coaches out there.

i'll add this to your summary. For a little bit, this looked like Big Ten vs Big 12 football; with Coach Fickell grinding out the game and Heupel trying to land big plays with a fast paced passing attack. Honestly, if you didn't know anything about either team i don't know if you would have come away thinking that we were the higher ranked team. That said, the thing about playing with pace is that your offense finds itself on the sidelines score or punt and your defense has got to be able to absorb a lot of pressure and get stops. You can see the short passing game and run game starting to wear on their defense. As much as everyone wanted it to be about our defense vs. their offense, the difference really was our offense wearing down their defense.

(11-21-2020 10:53 PM)eroc Wrote:  

(11-21-2020 09:47 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  Postgame takeaways:

The Good
-Cole Smith got the job done
-Ridder was able to overcome the early jitters and take over
-Defense is still stout without Ponder
-Finally using our talented Tight Ends
-Doaks was running like he wanted to hurt people (I know he gets a lot of flak for going down easier than Warren, but "The Truck" was special when it comes to running after contact)
-Punting - I missed this at first because Smith is so good all the time that I've become spoiled with my expectations. (I think he will be playing on Sundays)

The Bad
-The Refs - (The AAC has to do something about how poor they are in basketball and football)
-Punt Returns - Montgomery has been pretty solid this year, but he was shaky today
-Over Analyzing stuff - When you can go up 2 scores, take it.

Overall

Great win, I think UCF is a really good football team, but we were obviously the more talented squad. I think we would have beat them by 3 scores at home.

i agree with most of your assessment but i will disagree slightly about the bolded point. i don't think it was over analysis and if they had executed that shot gun snap, which should have been no different than any other of the 100s of shot gun snaps Ridder has received all season, then no one is talking about it. Quite frankly, i appreciate taking an analytic approach to football considering Coach Fickell cut his teeth as a player at "3 yards and a cloud of dust" U and learned under the coach sweatervest, one of the more conservative coaches out there.

i'll add this to your summary. For a little bit, this looked like Big Ten vs Big 12 football; with Coach Fickell grinding out the game and Heupel trying to land big plays with a fast paced passing attack. Honestly, if you didn't know anything about either team i don't know if you would have come away thinking that we were the higher ranked team. That said, the thing about playing with pace is that your offense finds itself on the sidelines score or punt and your defense has got to be able to absorb a lot of pressure and get stops. You can see the short passing game and run game starting to wear on their defense. As much as everyone wanted it to be about our defense vs. their offense, the difference really was our offense wearing down their defense.

I get that argument, but think about this way. If we score that TD, a lot of things have to go right for UCF to even have a chance. If we don't, then all it takes is one bad play for UCF to have a chance.

The mentality is that if we run it out, the ball is in our hands. Execute & we win. But if you score the ball is in their hands. The coaches wanted to control the ball.

That was moronic to willfully eschew a TD at the end, and could have lost us the game. Put the points up and let the D do its job. Really dumb to run the last play from the gun, too. Risk of error much higher than a snap from under center.

This game highlighted what I said earlier this week. There is no AAC team that can beat us. UCF probably needs the least help from us to win. And we almost gave it to them.

(11-21-2020 11:13 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  This game highlighted what I said earlier this week. There is no AAC team that can beat us. UCF probably needs the least help from us to win. And we almost gave it to them.

I think Tulsa will be a struggle, and Temple always gives us fits, so I'm not jumping on that wagon just yet.

(11-21-2020 11:13 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  This game highlighted what I said earlier this week. There is no AAC team that can beat us. UCF probably needs the least help from us to win. And we almost gave it to them.

I think we're clearly the premier team in the AAC, but I also think it's wishful thinking to believe that we are one of the four top teams in the nation. I can see the likely contenders for those berths having a massive talent advantage, and will not be disabused of this notion until and unless we make the playoffs and actually hang with one of them.

(11-21-2020 11:19 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(11-21-2020 11:13 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  This game highlighted what I said earlier this week. There is no AAC team that can beat us. UCF probably needs the least help from us to win. And we almost gave it to them.

I think we're clearly the premier team in the AAC, but I also think it's wishful thinking to believe that we are one of the four top teams in the nation. I can see the likely contenders for those berths having a massive talent advantage, and will not be disabused of this notion until and unless we make the playoffs and actually hang with one of them.

Boston College, a team we absolutely dominated last year, gave Clemson everything they could handle this year. I think we can hang and more, and I think if we are undefeated we should have the chance to show it.