The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(08-23-2019 07:05 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 04:42 AM)jarr Wrote:  

(08-22-2019 11:25 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(08-22-2019 03:44 PM)dsquare Wrote:  Someone told me at lunch that Justin Williams article in the Athletic indicated Tavion Thomas hasn't practiced the past couple weeks. Doesn't appear injury related. Something akin to the doghouse. Hope that gets cleared up if it's accurate.

yeah i'd really like him to stick around. he's probably the most talented back we've ever had. honestly, he could probably be an early round pick if he came out early. not much wear and enough carries to showcase his talent

He has an opportunity to be the feature back next year. Hate to see that.

Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Not a peep has been said about this from either the coaching staff or anyone from the media that attended Camp Higher Ground. I'll defer to Chad or Dan that has been regularly covering the team.

Below is what was said from Justin Williams. And while Chad is present at Camp Higher Ground, I believe Justin is there right beside him most days. If Justin is at camp, he knows who's on the field and who isn't and whether it's injury related or not. Sounds like it's something that should get cleared up over the next few weeks but sounds like he may not get snaps against UCLA.

Tavion timeout
Sophomore running back Tavion Thomas hasn’t been injured, but has been in the doghouse and not practicing with the team for two weeks now. We’ll see how soon he gets back on the field, and how quickly he works his way back into the rotation for in-game snaps.

(08-22-2019 09:37 AM)mlb Wrote:  All I was saying is that Cronin landed a guy who played up the location but didn't say a word about Cronin or his system.

Oh, c'mon. Maybe not in the one particular article you read but that doesn't mean that's the only comment on UCLA that Nix ever made.

On Cronin

Quote:Nix told 247Sports, the site that broke the news, that Cronin was the lead recruiter. That played a big role in Nix’s decision.
“He prioritized me from the start,” Nix said to 247Sports. “As soon as he got there, and it was only him recruiting me, none of the assistant coaches.”

On Cronin's "system":

Quote:“They have a new coaching staff,” Nix told 247Sports. “They develop players well and Coach Cronin says he’s changing his system where he’s running more. It’ll be perfect for me because I like open space and passing the ball.”

(08-23-2019 10:46 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 07:05 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 04:42 AM)jarr Wrote:  

(08-22-2019 11:25 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(08-22-2019 03:44 PM)dsquare Wrote:  Someone told me at lunch that Justin Williams article in the Athletic indicated Tavion Thomas hasn't practiced the past couple weeks. Doesn't appear injury related. Something akin to the doghouse. Hope that gets cleared up if it's accurate.

yeah i'd really like him to stick around. he's probably the most talented back we've ever had. honestly, he could probably be an early round pick if he came out early. not much wear and enough carries to showcase his talent

He has an opportunity to be the feature back next year. Hate to see that.

Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Not a peep has been said about this from either the coaching staff or anyone from the media that attended Camp Higher Ground. I'll defer to Chad or Dan that has been regularly covering the team.

Below is what was said from Justin Williams. And while Chad is present at Camp Higher Ground, I believe Justin is there right beside him most days. If Justin is at camp, he knows who's on the field and who isn't and whether it's injury related or not. Sounds like it's something that should get cleared up over the next few weeks but sounds like he may not get snaps against UCLA.

Tavion timeout
Sophomore running back Tavion Thomas hasn’t been injured, but has been in the doghouse and not practicing with the team for two weeks now. We’ll see how soon he gets back on the field, and how quickly he works his way back into the rotation for in-game snaps.

The coaches have made themselves available to the media post practices just about every day. We've been posting such videos for weeks and nothing has been asked or stated about this. I'm not calling anyone out as disingenuous but I just find it a bit odd that one of the team's younger star players has NOT practiced for two weeks and no one has either asked what is the issue or a coach has not made some statement to this fact.

Part 2 game preview from a UCLA Bruins fan site [I'll post the article in parts to reduce the reading per post]...

Article Link:
Bruins Opponent Preview

Quote:UCLA Bruins Football 2019 Season Preview Part 2: Cincinnati Running Game

Hello again! Welcome to part 2 of our season preview series covering UCLA’s first opponent, the Cincinnati Bearcats. Previously, we looked at the Bearcats’ passing offense, and how they might fare against the strength of UCLA’s defensive line and secondary. In this installment, we will take a deep dive and look at the strength of Cincinnati’s offense, their rushing attack, and examine how UCLA will attempt to stop it.

The pride and joy of the breakout season under third-year head coach Luke Fickell, the Cincinnati rushing attack set the AAC on fire in the 2018 season, with the team rushing for a combined 3,100 yards (15th in the NCAA) and an absurd 38 rushing touchdowns on the season (T-8th in the NCAA). The Bearcats returning every single major rusher from the 2018, with the sole exception of graduated quarterback Hayden Moore, who was fifth on the team in total rushing yards. Suffice to say, the Bearcats are loaded for bear when it comes to the run game.

Michael Warren II
When UCLA arrived at the Rose Bowl in 2018, they did not expect to face a running back like Michael Warren II (5’11, 223 lbs), who only rushed for 324 yards and a single touchdown his freshman year. But Michael Warren caught UCLA on the chin, rushing for 142 of the 1,329 yards he would gain in the 2018 season, along with scoring all three of the Bearcats’ touchdowns. Suffice to say, Warren is the real deal.

Warren’s greatest strength is his balance and ability to change direction. If his line fails to create a hole for him to run through, rest assured that Warren will find daylight somewhere else, and get there in a hurry. This ability makes him exceptionally difficult to defend, as any commitment by the defense to the point of attack just give Warren other lanes to run through. He also utilizes this ability in the open field to put defenders on their heels and gain additional yardage.

This is not to say that Warren is slow or gets pushed around. Warren doesn’t have elite acceleration, speed, or strength, but he is excellent in all of those areas, which combined create an all-purpose back that you can rely on in short, long, or goalline situations. Last but not least, Warren has excellent vision, allowing him to see holes that may be closing, and others that may be opening, and make the decision that will net his team additional yardage.

Quote:Rest of the Cincinnati Rushing Attack

Behind Warren, Cincinnati returns two other accomplished running backs in sophomores Tavion Thomas and Charles McClelland, who together ran for nearly 1,000 yards along with 10 touchdowns in the 2018 campaign. The Bearcats also celebrate the return of Gerrid Doaks, who in 2017 led the team with 513 rushing yards, and will look to return to form in the 2019 season.

Thomas (6’2, 234) is the traditional power back, thriving in short-yardage and goalline situations where his size is difficult to contain. Like Warren, he also possesses excellent vision and solid quickness for a player is size, and is deceptively fast in the open field. Look for Cincinnati to rely on Thomas in short-yardage situations, or to give Warren a change of pace.

Lastly, do not discount the running ability of quarterback Desmond Ridder. As I mentioned in my previous post, Ridder possesses excellent mobility, running for 572 yards and five touchdowns in 2018. He has enough speed to beat defenders to the edge on broken plays, and make him a terror to contain in the zone-read game, forcing defenses to choose to contain the excellent stable of Bearcat running backs or contain Ridder. Rarely in 2018 were they able to contain both.

Quote:Bearcats Rushing vs. UCLA Defense

Ultimately, the success of the Bearcats rushing attack will come down to their offensive line, which as I mentioned in Part 1 only returns one player who started all 13 games in 2018. If the line can form some cohesion by gametime on August 29th, expect Luke Fickell to rely heavily on the rushing attack all game long.

But the Cincinnati line will be facing a formidable defensive line which returns every starter. 363-pound nose tackle Atonio Mafi will be flanked by 280-pound Osa Odighizuwa and 336-pound Otito Ogbonnia, all of whom are, per Spring and Fall camp reports, in excellent shape and far more advanced technically than they were in 2018. UCLA will rely on them to anchor their defense, allowing their linebackers to make plays, under the blanket of their talented and deep defensive backfield.

Cincinnati will try to keep the ball away from the Bruins offense, which they must know will only be improved from their meeting in 2018 (indeed it would be hard to be worse), and Fickell and company must surely know Chip Kelly remains one of the finest offensive minds in football. With Warren and company leading the rushing attack, Fickell will then attempt to get Ridder comfortable, keeping the UCLA defense on its heels struggling to contain both the run and successful pass. Suffice to say if UCLA allows Warren to repeat his 2018 performance, keeping the UCLA offense off the field, it will have a difficult time escaping with a win.

If Mafi and his cohort can plug running lanes and give the Bruins linebackers freedom to make plays, UCLA can put far more pressure on Ridder than he would prefer, and the Bruins can rely on their secondary to contain any deep pass attempts. In the end, the goal of the UCLA defense, as it likely will be all season, will be to contain opposing offenses and get the Bruin offense the ball back, allowing Chip to utilize his strengths as a playcaller.

Quote:Advantage: Draw

While Cincinnati boasts undeniable rushing talent, it will have to rely on an unproven offensive line to create running lanes and give Warren, Ridder, and company room to thrive. They will face the capable defensive line of the Bruins, but the Bruin linebackers are largely unproven, and it remains to be seen if the defensive lineman have developed as much as they appeared in camp. Not to mention the rushing defense of UCLA left much to be desired in the 2018 season, so time will tell if true improvement has been achieved in the offseason.

It will be a game of cat and mouse in 7 days, and the gridiron will reveal whether Warren will have a repeat of his 2018 performance, or if the UCLA defensive line is up to the challenge. I predict this will be *the* fascinating matchup of this game.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this Season Preview, where we will examine the Cincinnati defense, and how they will stack up against Year Two of the Chip Kelly offense at UCLA! Thanks for reading!

Their preview is missing Gerrid Doaks. Have a feeling he is going to have a great season since teams will be keying on Warren.

(08-24-2019 09:50 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Their preview is missing Gerrid Doaks. Have a feeling he is going to have a great season since teams will be keying on Warren.

They mentioned him.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

https://www.downthedrive.com/2019/8/15/2...rt-stadium

Last time a Pac12 team came to Nippert. Fun memory! I believe we should schedule a home/home with that conference at least once a decade.

(08-23-2019 12:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 10:46 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 07:05 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 04:42 AM)jarr Wrote:  

(08-22-2019 11:25 PM)Lush Wrote:  yeah i'd really like him to stick around. he's probably the most talented back we've ever had. honestly, he could probably be an early round pick if he came out early. not much wear and enough carries to showcase his talent

He has an opportunity to be the feature back next year. Hate to see that.

Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Not a peep has been said about this from either the coaching staff or anyone from the media that attended Camp Higher Ground. I'll defer to Chad or Dan that has been regularly covering the team.

Below is what was said from Justin Williams. And while Chad is present at Camp Higher Ground, I believe Justin is there right beside him most days. If Justin is at camp, he knows who's on the field and who isn't and whether it's injury related or not. Sounds like it's something that should get cleared up over the next few weeks but sounds like he may not get snaps against UCLA.

Tavion timeout
Sophomore running back Tavion Thomas hasn’t been injured, but has been in the doghouse and not practicing with the team for two weeks now. We’ll see how soon he gets back on the field, and how quickly he works his way back into the rotation for in-game snaps.

The coaches have made themselves available to the media post practices just about every day. We've been posting such videos for weeks and nothing has been asked or stated about this. I'm not calling anyone out as disingenuous but I just find it a bit odd that one of the team's younger star players has NOT practiced for two weeks and no one has either asked what is the issue or a coach has not made some statement to this fact.

Because they don't have to...

(08-25-2019 11:21 AM)TheUnruly1 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 12:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 10:46 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 07:05 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 04:42 AM)jarr Wrote:  He has an opportunity to be the feature back next year. Hate to see that.

Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Not a peep has been said about this from either the coaching staff or anyone from the media that attended Camp Higher Ground. I'll defer to Chad or Dan that has been regularly covering the team.

Below is what was said from Justin Williams. And while Chad is present at Camp Higher Ground, I believe Justin is there right beside him most days. If Justin is at camp, he knows who's on the field and who isn't and whether it's injury related or not. Sounds like it's something that should get cleared up over the next few weeks but sounds like he may not get snaps against UCLA.

Tavion timeout
Sophomore running back Tavion Thomas hasn’t been injured, but has been in the doghouse and not practicing with the team for two weeks now. We’ll see how soon he gets back on the field, and how quickly he works his way back into the rotation for in-game snaps.

The coaches have made themselves available to the media post practices just about every day. We've been posting such videos for weeks and nothing has been asked or stated about this. I'm not calling anyone out as disingenuous but I just find it a bit odd that one of the team's younger star players has NOT practiced for two weeks and no one has either asked what is the issue or a coach has not made some statement to this fact.

Because they don't have to...

Could Thomas be a redshirt candidate?

(08-25-2019 07:27 PM)Edgebrookjeff Wrote:  

(08-25-2019 11:21 AM)TheUnruly1 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 12:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 10:46 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  

(08-23-2019 07:05 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Not a peep has been said about this from either the coaching staff or anyone from the media that attended Camp Higher Ground. I'll defer to Chad or Dan that has been regularly covering the team.

Below is what was said from Justin Williams. And while Chad is present at Camp Higher Ground, I believe Justin is there right beside him most days. If Justin is at camp, he knows who's on the field and who isn't and whether it's injury related or not. Sounds like it's something that should get cleared up over the next few weeks but sounds like he may not get snaps against UCLA.

Tavion timeout
Sophomore running back Tavion Thomas hasn’t been injured, but has been in the doghouse and not practicing with the team for two weeks now. We’ll see how soon he gets back on the field, and how quickly he works his way back into the rotation for in-game snaps.

The coaches have made themselves available to the media post practices just about every day. We've been posting such videos for weeks and nothing has been asked or stated about this. I'm not calling anyone out as disingenuous but I just find it a bit odd that one of the team's younger star players has NOT practiced for two weeks and no one has either asked what is the issue or a coach has not made some statement to this fact.

Because they don't have to...

Could Thomas be a redshirt candidate?

I wondered this as well.

Given Doaks injury history i'd hold my breath on any redshirts.

https://247sports.com/college/ucla/Artic...134763708/

2nd ucla starting lb out.

https://youtu.be/jOuwluLnY_4

No TT on the 2 deep.

(08-25-2019 10:40 PM)Bearcat419 Wrote:  No TT on the 2 deep.

Unless for some reason they list 4th stringers on the 2 Deep now, that shouldn't be anything particularly noteworthy.

(08-26-2019 03:59 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(08-25-2019 10:40 PM)Bearcat419 Wrote:  No TT on the 2 deep.

Unless for some reason they list 4th stringers on the 2 Deep now, that shouldn't be anything particularly noteworthy.

They aren't listing 4th stringers, but they are going as deep as co-3rd stringers at some positions, including RB and true Frosh Ryan Montgomery is listed as the co-3rd.

(08-26-2019 05:19 AM)eroc Wrote:  

(08-26-2019 03:59 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(08-25-2019 10:40 PM)Bearcat419 Wrote:  No TT on the 2 deep.

Unless for some reason they list 4th stringers on the 2 Deep now, that shouldn't be anything particularly noteworthy.

They aren't listing 4th stringers, but they are going as deep as co-3rd stringers at some positions, including RB and true Frosh Ryan Montgomery is listed as the co-3rd.

Hmm...that's fishy then. Either redshirt, academic ineligibility, or disciplinary.