While the Bearcat fans I encountered after the game were happy with the win, the big concern was UC's inability to stop the run.

Admittedly, allowing 290 yards on 57 carries is alarming, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

For starters, Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews is a stud. The nation's leading rusher going into the game finished with 145 yards on 38 carries, meaning that UC actually held him 4 yards below his weekly average. Cincinnati will not face a better running back during the regular season.

Secondly, UC's defensive strategy was to take away the big play. Mathews entered the game with four TD runs of 60-or-more yards, and the Bulldogs had four receivers averaging more than 15 yards per catch. With cornerbacks Dominique Battle and Chris Williams out with injuries, Marcus Barnett moved to defense, and the coaches weren't going to leave him isolated in many one-on-one situations.

You can see the rest of the column at:

http://gobearcats.com/ot/dan-hoard-column.html

Quote:For starters, Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews is a stud. The nation's leading rusher going into the game finished with 145 yards on 38 carries, meaning that UC actually held him 4 yards below his weekly average.

Good point.

(09-27-2009 03:26 PM)Bourgeois_Rage Wrote:  

Quote:For starters, Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews is a stud. The nation's leading rusher going into the game finished with 145 yards on 38 carries, meaning that UC actually held him 4 yards below his weekly average.

Good point.

Plus he averaged under 4 yards per carry.

After hearing post game about the injuries to our DBs and the strategy employed to cope with them for this game I'm satisfied with the defensive effort and results. Tackling should have been better but there were very few big plays given up. I just give credit to Fresno - they converted on 3rd and sometimes 4th to get just what they needed for a first down and didn't self destruct (besides the Carey pick) with fumbles, penalties, mistakes or a lot of interceptions that would have killed their lengthy drives.

I was not happy with the td at the end of the first half on 2nd and 21.....that is alarming to me.

(09-27-2009 04:59 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  I was not happy with the td at the end of the first half on 2nd and 21.....that is alarming to me.

i don't remember BK and Co. (including players in the post game) discussing that because everyone was wrapped up in the gaudy numbers for Matthews. To my untrained eye it looked like a blown coverage. Realistically, no unit will grade out at 100% and mistakes will sometimes happen. Strictly my opinion, but that seems like something that is correctible, with the first step being the return of our normal personnel to the starting lineup.