We didn't play our best game but some of that was due to Tulsa. That was the best defense we played this year and they have some beasts in the trenches. They are a tough ass team and now I understand why they gave Okie St. such a tough game early in the season. They don't quit. They scrap. They don't panic.
I want to give some love to Cole Smith. Poor weather conditions. He had a blocked field goal earlier in the 4th Q. Everything on the line. He didn't look too confident reading his facial and body expressions prior to the kick. And...he just nails it despite all that.
So happy for our players, the staff, the fans, and the university! What a season it was. What a program building win!
Speaking of the fans who were at the Nip - hats off to you!!! Fuggin warriors! Gave some energy to the team no doubt. I know a few from Bearcat Banter were there braving the conditions. Well done!
I know Big Fick gets a bonus for conference champs and a NY6 bowl appearance but I hope his staff gets something as well. Much deserved!
(12-20-2020 12:15 AM)RuckleSt Wrote: Takeaways from the game
The good
-Kick and punt returns were great
-Pierce was incredible (I hope he can stay healthy and have a legendary Senior season)
-The composure of this team is impressive (things didn't bounce our way, but they never panicked. That is coaching)
The bad
-Run defense was not good
-Fumbles - (Tucker, Ford, and Ridder)
-Penalties (I've never seen so many false starts)
-O-line really struggled
-Freakish catch by Tulsa that should have been a pick (Cincinnati luck can be summed up in that one play)
in terms of good, i would add Ridder's performance. This is exactly the type of game that he would have had multiple TOs early in the season, and might have lost last season. i know it's not on par with his performances of late but he kept his head, made some big time plays and didn't let the moment overwhelm him.
Definitely agree, I guess I've become spoiled and just expected him to get the job done. He played pretty great, and made plays when we needed them.
It might be awhile before I can go to bed tonight. This game was both ugly and beautiful, and I'm basking in the glory. Go Bearcats, lets get a big scalp in a few weeks.
Just got home. Cold, wet and tired. Glad to be AAC champions but weirdly feels more like relief than excitement. Gutsy win when a lot of things weren't clicking. A lot of credit to Tulsa, though. They earned my respect tonight.
We didn't play our best game but some of that was due to Tulsa. That was the best defense we played this year and they have some beasts in the trenches. They are a tough ass team and now I understand why they gave Okie St. such a tough game early in the season. They don't quit. They scrap. They don't panic.
I want to give some love to Cole Smith. Poor weather conditions. He had a blocked field goal earlier in the 4th Q. Everything on the line. He didn't look too confident reading his facial and body expressions prior to the kick. And...he just nails it despite all that.
So happy for our players, the staff, the fans, and the university! What a season it was. What a program building win!
Speaking of the fans who were at the Nip - hats off to you!!! Fuggin warriors! Gave some energy to the team no doubt. I know a few from Bearcat Banter were there braving the conditions. Well done!
I know Big Fick gets a bonus for conference champs and a NY6 bowl appearance but I hope his staff gets something as well. Much deserved!
Fans were great - even the shirtless nuts. Also want to shout out to the band and cheer squad for helping to make the best of the limited attendance and weather! You are appreciated!
(This post was last modified: 12-20-2020 02:26 AM by Bearhawkeye.)
We didn't play our best game but some of that was due to Tulsa. That was the best defense we played this year and they have some beasts in the trenches. They are a tough ass team and now I understand why they gave Okie St. such a tough game early in the season. They don't quit. They scrap. They don't panic.
I want to give some love to Cole Smith. Poor weather conditions. He had a blocked field goal earlier in the 4th Q. Everything on the line. He didn't look too confident reading his facial and body expressions prior to the kick. And...he just nails it despite all that.
So happy for our players, the staff, the fans, and the university! What a season it was. What a program building win!
Speaking of the fans who were at the Nip - hats off to you!!! Fuggin warriors! Gave some energy to the team no doubt. I know a few from Bearcat Banter were there braving the conditions. Well done!
I know Big Fick gets a bonus for conference champs and a NY6 bowl appearance but I hope his staff gets something as well. Much deserved!
Fans were great - even the shirtless nuts. Also want to shout out to the band and cheer squad for helping to make the best of the limited attendance and weather! You are appreciated!
In years to come 58,310 will claim to have been at the game. Kudos to Montgomery his recruiting classes the last 5 year #8 or #10 in the AAC. How does he win? Perhaps transfers?
We went. It was cold and wet.
We sat in the Shank (extra cold and extra wet).
Every time we thought UC would pull away and put the game on ice...they didn't.
But they persevered.
Was so relieved at 0:00.
Very happy for the team, coach, university and fans!
This team has done everything they have been asked to do. They should be rewarded with a spot in the CFP. I know they won't be, but they should be.
Both sides knew that Tulsa's QB wasn't good enough to beat Cincy. it was probably the biggest surprise/disappointment that it took Coach Freeman as long as it did to make the adjustment to a four man front to choke off their run and get more pressure on Smith. All that said, i'm glad Tulsa didn't make the change.
(12-20-2020 10:02 AM)mptnstr@44 Wrote: We went. It was cold and wet.
We sat in the Shank (extra cold and extra wet).
Every time we thought UC would pull away and put the game on ice...they didn't.
But they persevered.
Was so relieved at 0:00.
Very happy for the team, coach, university and fans!
This team has done everything they have been asked to do. They should be rewarded with a spot in the CFP. I know they won't be, but they should be.
I had asked if anyone else thought Covid had an effect on us once the game ended and listening to the Bearcat Bounce Podcast I heard Brendel say there were like 70 people affected including staff and a lot of it was actually Covid and not just contact tracing. Makes me more convinced then ever that we were significantly impacted by Covid. From the presnap penalties to giving up more yards in the run game than normal I definitely feel it was a bigger factor than some realize or expected.
Will be interesting to see how we perform against Georgia.
(12-21-2020 10:46 AM)C1ncy4Life Wrote: I had asked if anyone else thought Covid had an effect on us once the game ended and listening to the Bearcat Bounce Podcast I heard Brendel say there were like 70 people affected including staff and a lot of it was actually Covid and not just contact tracing. Makes me more convinced then ever that we were significantly impacted by Covid. From the presnap penalties to giving up more yards in the run game than normal I definitely feel it was a bigger factor than some realize or expected.
Will be interesting to see how we perform against Georgia.
To Fickell's credit, he was pretty candid about dealing with it but never tried to pre-emptively suggest that the game would be tough to win as a result. I don't think he wanted to give any of the players "an out" before securing a championship.
With that said, another bye this coming Saturday certainly has to help with healing and strengthening. And as another observer shared with me, Tulsa's big lines were probably the best experience UC could have gained Saturday before facing an SEC power.
Yeah, there's no doubt that COVID + the resulting layoff had a major impact on the game. Under normal circumstances, I think we win that game pretty comfortably. All we needed to do was win though, and the goal was accomplished. Very proud of our guys toughing it out against a good Tulsa team in less-than-ideal circumstances.
1.88M viewers for the Bearcats and the Tulsa Hurricane this past weekend. We’ve had 4 games crack that 1M viewer list which is most in the conference (UCF had three).
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