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I hadn't previously noticed that the 2019 football schedule has two bye weeks. It makes for an interesting breakdown of the schedule. The Cats open with 3 games and get a bye week. They play four games and get another bye and finish the regular season playing 5 games:

8/29 UCLA
9/7 @Ohio State
9/14 Miami, O

9/21 BYE

9/28 @Marshall
10/4 UCF
10/12 @Houston
10/19 Tulsa

10/26 BYE

11/2 @ECU
11/9 Conn State
11/16 @USF
11/23 Temple
11/29 @Memphis

I can't remember the last time we had a double bye and I don't know how much it matters with the exception of needing a breather if a few guys are banged up. I always hated the bye week if the team was on a roll and it kills the momentum.

that October schedule is TOUGH

(07-09-2019 08:33 PM)blackcattitude Wrote:  that October schedule is TOUGH

We have to come out of that stretch no worse than 2-2 but 3-1 is probably necessary and a win over UCF is a must regardless. Assuming the Cats are 2-1 going into this slate of games, it would be a difference of 4-3 vs. 5-2. Again, will the BYE help us or hurt us going into Huntington?

IMO, those last 3 games in November [2 on the road] will decide our fate.

Oh, I see. The double bye... meaning our two weeks OFF.

I thought you were referring to the two week stretch where we played Eastern Carolina and Yukon.

It's been discussed here at length, but this schedule is much, much tougher than last season. I see just four games that would appear to be a "lock" to win: Miami, Tulsa, ECU and UCONN. To me, the rest are all in play for one reason or another.

Reaching nine wins this season is a tall order and will represent another very successful season. But that will require some road wins in hostile environments such as Memphis, Houston and even Marshall. I believe this Bearcat team is up to the task but the unpredictability of football is often the result of injuries, weather and a few quirky calls from the officials.

Lots to look forward to for sure; I'm just trying to keep my expectations reasonable and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Need to be 3-1 in the non-conference, win all home games, and split at Houston and Memphis on the road to have a chance at anything this year.

Anything less than 6-2, 9-3 would probably be seen as a letdown as that is cutoff in my view for a top 25 team this year. Overall schedule is really difficult so reaching 10 regular season wins is going to take winning a lot of close games again and some luck.

I know it seems like these byes can kill momentum, but they are also very important to get the guys some rest, let them heal up from injury and to re-tool what they are doing as the season progresses. We are going to need it this year. I expect UCLA to throw everything but the kitchen sink at us-- we embarrassed them last year on national TV and basically deflated their season from the onset. I also know Miami is going to give us their best shot as well-- we've won 13 times in a row and Chuck Martin was outcoached the past 2 seasons (2017 timeout issue and throwing the ball 45 times in a monsoon). His job is on the line and this game will seal his fate (2 of their other OOC games are tOSU and Iowa).

(07-10-2019 07:14 AM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  Oh, I see. The double bye... meaning our two weeks OFF.

I thought you were referring to the two week stretch where we played Eastern Carolina and Yukon.

Nonetheless, we can't have a letdown game with either one.

What Inhate about the two byes is one of them in September when the weather is good. September should be a month where cold weather teams use each date. UC giving up September 21st sucks. Also that October 26th bye is another date where the weather might be nice.

(07-10-2019 12:57 PM)kyucat Wrote:  What Inhate about the two byes is one of them in September when the weather is good. September should be a month where cold weather teams use each date. UC giving up September 21st sucks. Also that October 26th bye is another date where the weather might be nice.

This isn't directed towards you, this topic has been brought up before, but this kind of stuff drives me nuts. I can't imagine Ohio State or anyone else worries about the weather. It seems small time to me. Maybe I am wrong.

(07-10-2019 08:23 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I know it seems like these byes can kill momentum, but they are also very important to get the guys some rest, let them heal up from injury and to re-tool what they are doing as the season progresses. We are going to need it this year. I expect UCLA to throw everything but the kitchen sink at us-- we embarrassed them last year on national TV and basically deflated their season from the onset. I also know Miami is going to give us their best shot as well-- we've won 13 times in a row and Chuck Martin was outcoached the past 2 seasons (2017 timeout issue and throwing the ball 45 times in a monsoon). His job is on the line and this game will seal his fate (2 of their other OOC games are tOSU and Iowa).

I completely agree with this post. UCLA will be loaded for bear against us. They have some speedy backs and their O-line will be much better. Miami, for all its recent stumbles, has been recruiting at a very high level within the MAC and actually ahead of some Power 5 schools. In fact, Miami's recruiting the last two years has not been much below UC's. It's amazing to me that recruits would want to play in a stadium that frequently is 80-85% empty, but perhaps the academic quality of Miami is a draw for Ohio kids. Who knows. It certainly isn't for recent football success.

(07-11-2019 02:00 PM)vabearcat Wrote:  

(07-10-2019 08:23 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I know it seems like these byes can kill momentum, but they are also very important to get the guys some rest, let them heal up from injury and to re-tool what they are doing as the season progresses. We are going to need it this year. I expect UCLA to throw everything but the kitchen sink at us-- we embarrassed them last year on national TV and basically deflated their season from the onset. I also know Miami is going to give us their best shot as well-- we've won 13 times in a row and Chuck Martin was outcoached the past 2 seasons (2017 timeout issue and throwing the ball 45 times in a monsoon). His job is on the line and this game will seal his fate (2 of their other OOC games are tOSU and Iowa).

I completely agree with this post. UCLA will be loaded for bear against us. They have some speedy backs and their O-line will be much better. Miami, for all its recent stumbles, has been recruiting at a very high level within the MAC and actually ahead of some Power 5 schools. In fact, Miami's recruiting the last two years has not been much below UC's. It's amazing to me that recruits would want to play in a stadium that frequently is 80-85% empty, but perhaps the academic quality of Miami is a draw for Ohio kids. Who knows. It certainly isn't for recent football success.

Bolded, I've read that too and it's a little shocking given the poor game day experience and limited exposure of the MAC. UC flips from being the hunter last season following two four win campaigns to being the hunted. You know Miami, ECU and UCONN will throw everything they have at us in hopes of the upset. Hopefully we're not on the edge of our seats with fake punts, fake field goals, gimmick plays and constant fourth down conversion attempts.

Instead, here's hoping for some good old fashioned beat downs by our 'Cats this season. Nippert will be a big factor once again.

^^^^
Miami, Ooh recruiting?

Miami Football was pretty good when I was there 2002-2006. With a good coach, I think they can be pretty successful, not much different than UC. There are a lot of ball players in this part of the world.

(07-11-2019 02:00 PM)vabearcat Wrote:  

(07-10-2019 08:23 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  I know it seems like these byes can kill momentum, but they are also very important to get the guys some rest, let them heal up from injury and to re-tool what they are doing as the season progresses. We are going to need it this year. I expect UCLA to throw everything but the kitchen sink at us-- we embarrassed them last year on national TV and basically deflated their season from the onset. I also know Miami is going to give us their best shot as well-- we've won 13 times in a row and Chuck Martin was outcoached the past 2 seasons (2017 timeout issue and throwing the ball 45 times in a monsoon). His job is on the line and this game will seal his fate (2 of their other OOC games are tOSU and Iowa).

I completely agree with this post. UCLA will be loaded for bear against us. They have some speedy backs and their O-line will be much better. Miami, for all its recent stumbles, has been recruiting at a very high level within the MAC and actually ahead of some Power 5 schools. In fact, Miami's recruiting the last two years has not been much below UC's. It's amazing to me that recruits would want to play in a stadium that frequently is 80-85% empty, but perhaps the academic quality of Miami is a draw for Ohio kids. Who knows. It certainly isn't for recent football success.

What are you talking about?

Recruitment Rankings:

2017:
UC:63
Miami: 94

2018:
UC - 47th
Miami - 130 (11 in the MAC)

2019:
UC: 79 (only 16 recruits)
Miami : 91

The only year they were that close was in 2019 when UC only gave out 16 scholarships to incoming freshman and Miami gave out 29. The small class hurt UC's ranking while a huge incoming class gave Miami a boost.

Yeah Miami has recruited well for a MAC school (particularly one that has only 5,000 butts in the seat except for when they play us or Ohio). Of course they haven't recruited as well as us the past 3 years. More important than the recruiting ranking, is you to look at the average composite scores of the athletes.

2019- UC 83.81 Miami 80.62
2018- UC 84.43 Miami 79.25
2017- UC 82.70 Miami 79.7

That's a significant variance. That being said, I do stand by my point that Miami will not be an easy out this fall for the reasons I stated earlier. Martin is fighting for his job, the players were embarrassed the past couple seasons and this game is their Super Bowl. There are a number of guys on their roster who wanted to come to UC but were an inch or two shorter, a few pounds lighter or a step slower than the guy we picked over them. They'll have a serious chip on their shoulders.

(07-12-2019 09:01 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Yeah Miami has recruited well for a MAC school (particularly one that has only 5,000 butts in the seat except for when they play us or Ohio). Of course they haven't recruited as well as us the past 3 years. More important than the recruiting ranking, is you to look at the average composite scores of the athletes.

2019- UC 83.81 Miami 80.62
2018- UC 84.43 Miami 79.25
2017- UC 82.70 Miami 79.7

That's a significant variance. That being said, I do stand by my point that Miami will not be an easy out this fall for the reasons I stated earlier. Martin is fighting for his job, the players were embarrassed the past couple seasons and this game is their Super Bowl. There are a number of guys on their roster who wanted to come to UC but were an inch or two shorter, a few pounds lighter or a step slower than the guy we picked over them. They'll have a serious chip on their shoulders.

If we're their "Super Bowl" then they're a combo of the Vikings and Bills.

(07-12-2019 06:07 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  Miami Football was pretty good when I was there 2002-2006. With a good coach, I think they can be pretty successful, not much different than UC. There are a lot of ball players in this part of the world.

Miami football was pretty good when Ben Roethlisberger was their quarterback. The rest of their roster was not very impressive, but an NFL hall of fame quarterback covers up a lot of deficiencies in a MAC football team.

(07-12-2019 06:41 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(07-12-2019 06:07 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  Miami Football was pretty good when I was there 2002-2006. With a good coach, I think they can be pretty successful, not much different than UC. There are a lot of ball players in this part of the world.

Miami football was pretty good when Ben Roethlisberger was their quarterback. The rest of their roster was not very impressive, but an NFL hall of fame quarterback covers up a lot of deficiencies in a MAC football team.

Miami, Oh Yeah! has had more poop seasons than good ones going back to 2000. They've finished above .500 only 7 of the last 19 seasons. Cincinnati football has finished above .500 14 of the last 19 seasons by comparison.

(07-12-2019 08:11 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(07-12-2019 06:41 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(07-12-2019 06:07 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  Miami Football was pretty good when I was there 2002-2006. With a good coach, I think they can be pretty successful, not much different than UC. There are a lot of ball players in this part of the world.

Miami football was pretty good when Ben Roethlisberger was their quarterback. The rest of their roster was not very impressive, but an NFL hall of fame quarterback covers up a lot of deficiencies in a MAC football team.

Miami, Oh Yeah! has had more poop seasons than good ones going back to 2000. They've finished above .500 only 7 of the last 19 seasons. Cincinnati football has finished above .500 14 of the last 19 seasons by comparison.

I've been a UC football season ticket holder since 2007, so I'm pretty knowledgeable about both sides. The crowds seemed pretty large back then, but winning does that. I was just saying, there are enough scraps left over in this area to create a good MAC team with a good coach.

The guy after Ben went to the NFL too and backed up Peyton, if I remember correctly.