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(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:05 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:59 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:50 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:31 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Great last question.....Until we lose, and he caused the loss.

I get the argument, but if you are willing to make the change after a loss why wait until he blows a chance at a Conference Championship and possibly a NY6 bowl?

Because he wins. You just don't like the look.

I don’t care how it looks, I just realize it’s not sustainable to continue winning with the type of performances we have seen from Ridder. Do you really think we can beat Memphis, SMU, or a team like Florida (saw they were predicted vs us in Cotton) with the type of performance at QB we saw last night?

Again, I want the same thing as you to win and I don’t care how we do it. The difference is you believe Ridder gives us the best chance and I believe we can’t continue to win against good to great teams with that type of performance out of our QB.

Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

So many bad takes on this. Ridder doesn't find ways to win, from what I can tell the rest if the team (D, ST, RBs) have found a way to win despite our QB play.

(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:05 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:59 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:50 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:31 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Great last question.....Until we lose, and he caused the loss.

I get the argument, but if you are willing to make the change after a loss why wait until he blows a chance at a Conference Championship and possibly a NY6 bowl?

Because he wins. You just don't like the look.

I don’t care how it looks, I just realize it’s not sustainable to continue winning with the type of performances we have seen from Ridder. Do you really think we can beat Memphis, SMU, or a team like Florida (saw they were predicted vs us in Cotton) with the type of performance at QB we saw last night?

Again, I want the same thing as you to win and I don’t care how we do it. The difference is you believe Ridder gives us the best chance and I believe we can’t continue to win against good to great teams with that type of performance out of our QB.

Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

Such a bad take. Like literally so bad. Only ranking a player off "wins" is the dumbest thing ever in a sport where at least 22 people play.

Our defense is top 5 in Turnovers caused.
Our defense is top 10 in defense touchdowns.
Our defense is 26 for points given up.

Our offense is 30 in rushing yards.
Warren is 24 for rushing TDs

Our scoring is 50 overall and total offense is 75 overall.
But wait Sweetness; how can our defensive turnovers, defensive scoring, and rushing be that good but our offense is so low?! Well I'll tell ya friends.

Our QB is 88 for completion percentage.
Our QB is 61 for passing efficiency.
Our QB is 102 in passing yards per game.
Our QB is 60 for points responsible for (all but 4 ahead are QBs)

Who's really been the reason we're winning? It certainly isn't Ridder, especially as of late.

You guys must be the same people who think an11 win pitcher with 4.25 ERA is better than a 9 win pitcher with 3.0 ERA.

Don't worry, I'll wait for your response.

(11-17-2019 08:40 AM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Ridder is 9-1. And clearly he is hurting. But go back and watch the 3rd down pass he threw to Mobdj in the last drive when we had to have it. It was a bullet. It probably hurt alot to throw it. The kid is simply a winner.

We were not going to throw the ball that much even with a healthy QB. USF is much faster than us and their secondary plays press coverage better than anyone in the AAC. From what I saw at the game, not even Pierce could get open. Temple beat USF in Tampa running over them in the 2nd half - which was UC's gameplan all week.

Another person at the game said there were receivers getting open against usf. I don't know but I have a hard time believing receivers could get open vs. Ohio State, UCF, UCLA, but not USF?

I missed the ECU game. I saw they scored some points. How did he look it that game?

There was this very argument for Munchie vs Brenden and did Brenden Kay not come in and make the offense instantly better? Yes Ridder is Good throwing the ball when fully healthy and great at running it but right now something is wrong with Ridder and I believe it has been physical for the last two weeks and it gotten worse vs USF. Bryant took snaps against Ohio state and didn't look bad. He should be given a chance. It feels like coaches are really trying to about a QB controversy.

The problem is teams have figured us out. Stop the run, don't have to worry about the pass. Throw the hell out of it and take advantage of our weak secondary. This playbook should have led to two losses in the past three games against average competition. We're going to have to put up points the next 3 games as our secondary will be taken advantage of. Have no idea if Bryant is the answer, but pretty sure we lose 2 of the next 3 games at status quo.

(11-17-2019 05:09 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  the guys catching passes from Des,

?? Who are these guys catching passes from this injured version of Dez? I didn't see any of them last night.

I'm joking of course, but not entirely. How do you think these guys feel knowing they are strictly decoys when they run routes and knowing that the opposition knows they are strictly decoys? And if they were somehow to get a pass thrown their way of any distance it's likely to be wobbly and off-target (with a likelihood of being underthrown)? They want to make plays too and maybe get their shot at the NFL or at least a little personal college glory.

I think Des is a winner, but we're winning some games lately with good luck more than good QB play. It goes back to what I've said before: If just isn't fair to anybody, including Des, to keep throwing him out there when whatever injuries he has clearly makes it very difficult to throw the ball accurately and leaves him particularly vulnerable to hits and quite possibly additional injuries.

If he's somehow close to 100% next week, fine let him show it on the field. But if he's as limited as he was Saturday, you are doing wrong by the team and the player to keep him in there in my opinion, especially when you have a reportedly viable alternative.

(11-17-2019 08:08 PM)bcat1997 Wrote:  The problem is teams have figured us out. Stop the run, don't have to worry about the pass. Throw the hell out of it and take advantage of our weak secondary. This playbook should have led to two losses in the past three games against average competition. We're going to have to put up points the next 3 games as our secondary will be taken advantage of. Have no idea if Bryant is the answer, but pretty sure we lose 2 of the next 3 games at status quo.

UC has the #1 defense in the AAC. If Dez was hurt at USF don't blame him. The staff thought he was the best option to win, and UC won.

(11-17-2019 07:31 PM)Z-Fly Wrote:  I missed the ECU game. I saw they scored some points. How did he look it that game?

Really bad and bailed out by the rest of the team.
He had 12 completions for 161 yards. Almost half came on a 72 yard catch andrun by Deguara. Pretty sure the pass wasn't much more than 10 yards or so.

He was 50% on passes, 1TD and 2 picks. We scored 43 points in spite of him.
In his defense he did run for 121 yards but again...if all he can do is run why not just play Warren and Doaks? Cant tell me they throw much worse.

(11-17-2019 08:28 PM)Sweetness Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 07:31 PM)Z-Fly Wrote:  I missed the ECU game. I saw they scored some points. How did he look it that game?

Really bad and bailed out by the rest of the team.
He had 12 completions for 161 yards. Almost half came on a 72 yard catch andrun by Deguara. Pretty sure the pass wasn't much more than 10 yards or so.

He was 50% on passes, 1TD and 2 picks. We scored 43 points in spite of him.

He did run for 110 yds that game, but agree passing was ugly.

(11-17-2019 06:37 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:05 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:59 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:50 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  I get the argument, but if you are willing to make the change after a loss why wait until he blows a chance at a Conference Championship and possibly a NY6 bowl?

Because he wins. You just don't like the look.

I don’t care how it looks, I just realize it’s not sustainable to continue winning with the type of performances we have seen from Ridder. Do you really think we can beat Memphis, SMU, or a team like Florida (saw they were predicted vs us in Cotton) with the type of performance at QB we saw last night?

Again, I want the same thing as you to win and I don’t care how we do it. The difference is you believe Ridder gives us the best chance and I believe we can’t continue to win against good to great teams with that type of performance out of our QB.

Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

It’s not my eye test and you don’t have facts on your side.

Look at how many games are won with a QB that throws for 36 yards with 1:30 seconds left and let me know how often that QB wins in 2019. Even if he does win, it likely isn’t because of him since he accounted for such few yards and is almost always because of the defense, running game, Special Teams, or all 3.

Winning despite a QB’s horrible performance isn’t a good reason to keep playing him over another QB. Again, it has nothing to do with eye tests, how we look, etc... it comes from the fact that you can’t consistently win against top level competition with 78 yards from your QB. Maybe Ridder plays better, but if he doesn’t we will not beat teams like Memphis, or whoever we face in a bowl game and if by some miracle we do, it will be because of a Herculean effort from our defense, not because Ridder was so good he contributed 78 yards.

Do you hear yourself?

(11-17-2019 08:43 PM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:37 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:05 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:59 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Because he wins. You just don't like the look.

I don’t care how it looks, I just realize it’s not sustainable to continue winning with the type of performances we have seen from Ridder. Do you really think we can beat Memphis, SMU, or a team like Florida (saw they were predicted vs us in Cotton) with the type of performance at QB we saw last night?

Again, I want the same thing as you to win and I don’t care how we do it. The difference is you believe Ridder gives us the best chance and I believe we can’t continue to win against good to great teams with that type of performance out of our QB.

Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

It’s not my eye test and you don’t have facts on your side.

Look at how many games are won with a QB that throws for 36 yards with 1:30 seconds left and let me know how often that QB wins in 2019. Even if he does win, it likely isn’t because of him since he accounted for such few yards and is almost always because of the defense, running game, Special Teams, or all 3.

Winning despite a QB’s horrible performance isn’t a good reason to keep playing him over another QB. Again, it has nothing to do with eye tests, how we look, etc... it comes from the fact that you can’t consistently win against top level competition with 78 yards from your QB. Maybe Ridder plays better, but if he doesn’t we will not beat teams like Memphis, or whoever we face in a bowl game and if by some miracle we do, it will be because of a Herculean effort from our defense, not because Ridder was so good he contributed 78 yards.

Do you hear yourself?

It's not wrong. Same reason why good teams replace mediocre QBs when they're the weakest part of the team. Go back and see my previous post aboveregarding the team stats.

We're 22 starts in, we know what we've got. He finished 74th in QBR last year and he's 73rd this year. This includes his running. He's below average but maybe that's the best we've got on the roster. But it's sure not good enough to allow him to play through an injury like he did Saturday.

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(11-17-2019 08:51 PM)Sweetness Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 08:43 PM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:37 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:05 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  I don’t care how it looks, I just realize it’s not sustainable to continue winning with the type of performances we have seen from Ridder. Do you really think we can beat Memphis, SMU, or a team like Florida (saw they were predicted vs us in Cotton) with the type of performance at QB we saw last night?

Again, I want the same thing as you to win and I don’t care how we do it. The difference is you believe Ridder gives us the best chance and I believe we can’t continue to win against good to great teams with that type of performance out of our QB.

Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

It’s not my eye test and you don’t have facts on your side.

Look at how many games are won with a QB that throws for 36 yards with 1:30 seconds left and let me know how often that QB wins in 2019. Even if he does win, it likely isn’t because of him since he accounted for such few yards and is almost always because of the defense, running game, Special Teams, or all 3.

Winning despite a QB’s horrible performance isn’t a good reason to keep playing him over another QB. Again, it has nothing to do with eye tests, how we look, etc... it comes from the fact that you can’t consistently win against top level competition with 78 yards from your QB. Maybe Ridder plays better, but if he doesn’t we will not beat teams like Memphis, or whoever we face in a bowl game and if by some miracle we do, it will be because of a Herculean effort from our defense, not because Ridder was so good he contributed 78 yards.

Do you hear yourself?

It's not wrong. Same reason why good teams replace mediocre QBs when they're the weakest part of the team. Go back and see my previous post aboveregarding the team stats.

Are you a MLB manager?

Stats schmats. You don't take a guy out in a no hitter. I don't care how hard the other team's hitting him. If your fielders are catching the ball, leave him in.

(11-17-2019 09:02 PM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 08:51 PM)Sweetness Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 08:43 PM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:37 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

It’s not my eye test and you don’t have facts on your side.

Look at how many games are won with a QB that throws for 36 yards with 1:30 seconds left and let me know how often that QB wins in 2019. Even if he does win, it likely isn’t because of him since he accounted for such few yards and is almost always because of the defense, running game, Special Teams, or all 3.

Winning despite a QB’s horrible performance isn’t a good reason to keep playing him over another QB. Again, it has nothing to do with eye tests, how we look, etc... it comes from the fact that you can’t consistently win against top level competition with 78 yards from your QB. Maybe Ridder plays better, but if he doesn’t we will not beat teams like Memphis, or whoever we face in a bowl game and if by some miracle we do, it will be because of a Herculean effort from our defense, not because Ridder was so good he contributed 78 yards.

Do you hear yourself?

It's not wrong. Same reason why good teams replace mediocre QBs when they're the weakest part of the team. Go back and see my previous post aboveregarding the team stats.

Are you a MLB manager?

Stats schmats. You don't take a guy out in a no hitter. I don't care how hard the other team's hitting him. If your fielders are catching the ball, leave him in.

Yea. For one game when he's pitching good. When he has 4.5 era and has given up 4 runs by the 3rd inning you don't run him out until the 9th because you've scored 5.

Next.

Still nothing on Ridder's injury status. I have a feeling the staff will keep this close to the vest for the Temple game. I came across this article from Down The Drive. Is this guy reading our Board LOL?!

Quote:Why Desmond Ridder Will Not Be Benched
Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 9-1 on Saturday but have been struggling on offense the last few weeks.

Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 9-1 with a 20-17 win over USF on Saturday and are now 20-3 the last two seasons.

Yet, despite this incredible success (which follow some of the program’s darkest days) people are furious and calling for changes to the offense.

Changes should almost certainly happen, but here’s the thing with the changes. You cannot blame one person.

Desmond Ridder is struggling. He played poorly on Saturday and hasn’t played particularly great all season. There are times where he makes the wrong read in an RPO play, he misses wide receivers down the field (either doesn’t see the open man or just inaccurate throws) and he occasionally holds the ball too long. Those are mistakes that are solely on Ridder and must be fixed. But benching him, and plugging in a new quarterback and assuming that he will do all of those things to perfect and magically solve the offense’s problems is a little naive.

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has done a really poor job calling plays and putting Ridder into a position to have success. It doesn’t help that the offensive line has often times played poorly. And it also doesn’t help that the wide receivers occasionally struggle with separation and lack the ability to make plays on the ball. The best passing plays of the year have been the ones where Ridder hits a guy in stride or the ball hits the receiver right on the number.

If any change should be made, it’s probably to the offensive coordinator position, but at this stage in the season, with 4* games left, it’s too risky to shake things up. Denbrock knows his players better than anyone and is a veteran coach. He needs to figure it out, as opposed to letting Gino Guidugli call plays for the first time in his career during the biggest stretch run the program has had in 10 years.

Now let’s try and get inside the mind of a 20 year old quarterback. You know your play calling is failing you and you aren’t sure what to do, as far as run that play or audible. You aren’t sure how long your offensive line is going to protect you for, so you are scared about how long you have to make a decision. You are worried that the pass to the wide receivers must be absolutely perfect or they wont catch it or it could be picked off. All of those things must be weighing on Ridder’s mind and that could really be affecting his confidence and his ability to make plays.

I’m not saying Ridder is solely responsible for leading the Bearcats to 9 wins and 20 the last two years, but he has certainly had a hand in it and you can identify several plays in each win that was him maximizing his talents to lead his team.

The offense was bad on Saturday. Brutal. And Ridder has no doubt struggled in 2019 and it’s not acceptable. I said during the ECU game that benching him for Ben Bryant wouldn’t have been the worst idea because it could have given the team a jolt. I was very, very wrong. Because Ridder made plays with his legs to help the Bearcats win.

The way the offense has played is absolutely not acceptable. And changes must be made. But here’s the thing with Ridder and here’s the thing with everyone who wants him benched - it’s not going to happen. Maybe it should, but it won’t. Luke Fickell is simple not going to bench a QB who has helped lead the team to 20 out of 23 wins. What kind of message does that send to the team? To recruits? That as soon as you start to struggle, you are done. That’s Mick Cronin style (pulling a player after a mistake). The response to this is going to be, “the message it sends to the team is we want to win”. But haven’t the Bearcats been winning? Ridder has been the guy for 1+ seasons now and has been a huge part of countless wins. They have found a way to overcome his struggles the last few weeks and are winning in spite of him, no doubt. What makes you think the backup is the best guy for the job?

What makes you think the backup, in this case Ben Bryant, can hit WRs in stride? Can help his WRs create separation? Can make much better decisions than Ridder? Will Bryant have enough time to make those better decisions? Who is calling the plays for Bryant, is it still Denbrock? If you don’t have faith in Denbrock calling plays with Ridder, what makes you think he is going to suddenly maximize Bryant’s strengths and call the right plays? And most importantly, can Bryant do what Ridder does with his legs? Because the last time I checked, that’s how he has impacted this team lately, by running the ball well and putting up big first downs in key situations.

The answer to some or all of those questions MIGHT be yes. It might be no. Are you really willing to risk the AAC Championship and Cotton Bowl on a hunch that you might be smarter than the head coach that watches his players every day in practice? I trust Fickell’s judgment. And I trust RIdder to get it figured it out. And I recommend you do too. Whether you want him benched or not (and wanting it is a valid thought), it is simply not going to happen and it would benefit everyone to just keep supporting Ridder and believe in his abilities to help Cincinnati beat Temple and Memphis.

Sage Advice

That spiel would make a lot more sense if it didn't ignore the primary FACT that Ridder is hurt (Fickell himself has said this even if they aren't giving out details) and the injuries include his throwing shoulder and possibly his wrist and other body parts. We are not talking about a bad game or even a slump.

I'm sure Coach Fickell will be reaching out to all of you experts at his earliest opportunity. It's painfully obvious that his knowledge of the game and of his team's strengths and weaknesses doesn't measure up to ours.

If you're going to win with Trent Dilfer, you better have the 2000 Ravens defense on the other side of the ball.

(11-17-2019 08:43 PM)Def Berkkat Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:37 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:25 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 06:05 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(11-17-2019 05:59 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Because he wins. You just don't like the look.

I don’t care how it looks, I just realize it’s not sustainable to continue winning with the type of performances we have seen from Ridder. Do you really think we can beat Memphis, SMU, or a team like Florida (saw they were predicted vs us in Cotton) with the type of performance at QB we saw last night?

Again, I want the same thing as you to win and I don’t care how we do it. The difference is you believe Ridder gives us the best chance and I believe we can’t continue to win against good to great teams with that type of performance out of our QB.

Your "realization" comes from your fan-dom - unless you played or coached FBS football. Mine too. But I have facts on my side - Ridder finds ways to win. Your paranoia expects a loss - sad really.

This is a historic season for UC. But it doesn't measure up to your "eye test". You might need glasses.

It’s not my eye test and you don’t have facts on your side.

Look at how many games are won with a QB that throws for 36 yards with 1:30 seconds left and let me know how often that QB wins in 2019. Even if he does win, it likely isn’t because of him since he accounted for such few yards and is almost always because of the defense, running game, Special Teams, or all 3.

Winning despite a QB’s horrible performance isn’t a good reason to keep playing him over another QB. Again, it has nothing to do with eye tests, how we look, etc... it comes from the fact that you can’t consistently win against top level competition with 78 yards from your QB. Maybe Ridder plays better, but if he doesn’t we will not beat teams like Memphis, or whoever we face in a bowl game and if by some miracle we do, it will be because of a Herculean effort from our defense, not because Ridder was so good he contributed 78 yards.

Do you hear yourself?

Yes and it makes perfect sense to most people. What makes you think the team couldn’t win with another QB. Ridder is average at best, and that’s when he’s healthy, which he clearly isn’t. I find it hard to believe he presents the best option to win and beyond that, if he is injured it isn’t fair to him, Bryant, or their teammates to continue playing him in this condition.