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

Was at Nipp at Night Friday, listened to CLFs post game a couple of times and have read the board here a bit since the game. Here are questions and takes:

**If, as CLF said, this is just who this team is and whether we like it or not, this is what we are going to get and we need to accept that then are the team's struggles more of a coaching philosophy stubbornness thing than a talent thing? 10 games into the season and the game plan is the same each week.
**CLF wants to be a power running team to set up the pass, I get it and that would make holding leads and resting the D guys easier... BUT in his own words, that's not who THIS team is. Maybe THIS team has to pass the ball to run it but the play calling has to change to allow that
**The BB vs EP thing has been dead for 9 weeks. Say that... and say that the coaches haven't felt that the timing was right to introduce the EP package - for whatever reason, momentum, BBs ego, EPs lack of grasping the O, it doesn't matter. Again, like CLF said, we have the package - we just haven't felt comfortable using it. Again, is that stubbornness or smart coaching?
**Same thing on the D side. For almost all of the Fickell regime, UC has been an aggressive - bring constant pressure - make the opposition make the correct right now decision defense. IMO, we've spent more time this year in base 3 or 4 man fronts with no pressure and it has exposed our young defensive backfield and along with the offensive ineffectiveness, led to the D spending an inordinate amount of time on the field. Bring back the pressure, it should lead to more TOs and rest for the D which leads to a fresher defensive group in the 4th Q
**Not asking for a QB1 change at this point, it would probably be too disruptive to the offense, but is BB that classic "looks great in practice" guy that is not as effective when the bright lights are on? He's been productive in spurts this year but he's also been his own worst enemy IMO. The safety on Friday was BB for the year wrapped up in one play. A P5 (or even P6) 5th year dude has to know I'm in my own end zone. I have one fast read, maybe two and then I have to throw it 5 rows deep in the stands and come back for another play. Period. Now, I'll also agree that the long developing route tree didn't help there but the play calling is a rant deserving of it's own post

I realize as a fan I'm spoiled now... but even I can see that if THIS is who this Bearcat team is, then the game day, game time philosophy and decisions has to shift to their actual real time strengths not what the coaches want to do or be.

I've been saying it for 5 weeks. It's not having a bad game. It's just what this roster and staff are this season.

Need to improve both the staff and roster heading into next season.

We need to switch to pass first - not run first. The first down plunges into the line are predictable failures. It makes me wonder if Ben is allowed to audible when it should be clear the play is not going to work.

We cannot be run first with our backs who seem to have no peripheral vision at the handoff or patience before picking a hole. Watch how Mitchell would find another way if the first option was not available.

Giving up first down puts Ben in a hole and he gets the frustration. The frustration belongs on Gino and Fick. Guys, the current plan does not work.

Note how UCF closed with an 8 minute plus drive last night. Our teamis simply not capable of that.

Eh, I think everyone watching can see that this team is actually better than what they're putting on the field at times. I don't think it makes sense to conclude that "who we are" is a team that plays like a top 25 team for 1 quarter and then spends the other 3 trying to bleed the clock.

(11-13-2022 08:47 AM)Cal1362 Wrote:  **Same thing on the D side. For almost all of the Fickell regime, UC has been an aggressive - bring constant pressure - make the opposition make the correct right now decision defense. IMO, we've spent more time this year in base 3 or 4 man fronts with no pressure and it has exposed our young defensive backfield and along with the offensive ineffectiveness, led to the D spending an inordinate amount of time on the field. Bring back the pressure, it should lead to more TOs and rest for the D which leads to a fresher defensive group in the 4th Q

BB was horrible on Saturday but I trust the coaching staff to know who is the best option.

What bothers me more is in this comment above. The UC coaching staff shows no ability to adjust defenses mid-game. They sit back in those 3 or 4 man fronts and allow the opposing team to slowly adjust their offense and figure us out. UC did the exact same thing in the UCF game, keeping Ivan Pace as the QB spy even after their QB got hurt and they put in the backup. That was the exact time they should have unleashed Pace to go after the backup QB and get him pressured and rattled. I'm not a fan of Tressel's coaching style.

We're 8-2. Ranked #22 in the country. Both losses were by a touchdown or less, and were on the road against ranked teams.

If that is really "who we are" in what should be a rebuilding year, then I am ecstatic.

I think people are more bothered by the fact that we continue to look like a poorly coach team way too often than they are about the two losses. Our big wins are what? SMU and ECU? Hasn't exactly been murderers row this season.

(11-14-2022 10:30 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I think people are more bothered by the fact that we continue to look like a poorly coach team way too often than they are about the two losses. Our big wins are what? SMU and ECU? Hasn't exactly been murderers row this season.

this. its about being the best that you can be (sorry for the cliche), not just good enough to squeak by from game to game, and hope that the opponent looks worse than you do. the cats play their best and lose, no problem. they look sloppy and undisciplined, and lose, i think that the fans have a right to question - what can they do to look / play better

(11-14-2022 10:15 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  We're 8-2. Ranked #22 in the country. Both losses were by a touchdown or less, and were on the road against ranked teams.

If that is really "who we are" in what should be a rebuilding year, then I am ecstatic.

As Kenyon Martin's tattoo says .... "Never Satisfied"

(11-14-2022 11:29 AM)dave108 Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 10:30 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I think people are more bothered by the fact that we continue to look like a poorly coach team way too often than they are about the two losses. Our big wins are what? SMU and ECU? Hasn't exactly been murderers row this season.

this. its about being the best that you can be (sorry for the cliche), not just good enough to squeak by from game to game, and hope that the opponent looks worse than you do. the cats play their best and lose, no problem. they look sloppy and undisciplined, and lose, i think that the fans have a right to question - what can they do to look / play better

Bolded, do opponents look worse because of UC's excellent defense? Granted, it's a different level of defense than last year's best team ever, but when SMU hangs 27 on UC and 77 on Houston it suggests the Bearcats are a top 25 team still.

(11-14-2022 11:54 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 11:29 AM)dave108 Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 10:30 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I think people are more bothered by the fact that we continue to look like a poorly coach team way too often than they are about the two losses. Our big wins are what? SMU and ECU? Hasn't exactly been murderers row this season.

this. its about being the best that you can be (sorry for the cliche), not just good enough to squeak by from game to game, and hope that the opponent looks worse than you do. the cats play their best and lose, no problem. they look sloppy and undisciplined, and lose, i think that the fans have a right to question - what can they do to look / play better

Bolded, do opponents look worse because of UC's excellent defense? Granted, it's a different level of defense than last year's best team ever, but when SMU hangs 27 on UC and 77 on Houston it suggests the Bearcats are a top 25 team still.

i think the cats have played and beaten some bad teams this year, in less than overwhelming fashion. at times, they have looked good. at other times, not so much. not trying to call out any player / position group / side of the ball. to me, its a total team effort, good or bad.

It's pretty clear that we have a great head coach and a lot of accumulated talent but we have some significant holes to fill and need to have some Come To Jesus talks about how some of the coaches are performing.

We are moving to a P5. We need to make sure our P5 head coach has P5 OL, QB and staff as well heading into next year or it's not going to be an easy transition.

(11-14-2022 12:14 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  It's pretty clear that we have a great head coach and a lot of accumulated talent but we have some significant holes to fill and need to have some Come To Jesus talks about how some of the coaches are performing.

We are moving to a P5. We need to make sure our P5 head coach has P5 OL, QB and staff as well heading into next year or it's not going to be an easy transition.

It's interesting because a year ago many UC fans thought Gino was the heir apparent to eventually take the throne from Fick. IDK what they'll elect to do this off season... if they clean house on that side of the ball it will be interesting to see where the new staff is drawn from.

People love to blame coaching but I think most of our offensive issues are going from an elite college qb to a good college qb (and up a lesser extent from an elite college running back to ok running backs).

I think the defense has been pretty damn good.

We hired and promoted a bunch of G5 staff the season before going P5. The guys we lost, we emerald lost for a reason. Their replacements...other than Gino and the West Side Jesus I honestly can't name any of them off the top of my head.

If it were a company, they'd upgrade the personnel to reflect the new market dynamics. A lot of this staff isn't P5 quality.

I just looked..

We've brought in our assistant coaches from:
Hope College
Center College
Eastern Michigan
Central Michigan
Liberty
Grad Assistant at UC
Quality Control at UC
Temple
Guy who got fired at Ohio State

(11-14-2022 10:15 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  We're 8-2. Ranked #22 in the country. Both losses were by a touchdown or less, and were on the road against ranked teams.

If that is really "who we are" in what should be a rebuilding year, then I am ecstatic.

I never thought this to be a rebuilding year. Last year was just the best season in school history. We're back to normal this year, which is very good but definitely not great. Hoping we continue growing the program toward regular greatness with P5 resources, but as of now this is the program.

(11-14-2022 01:21 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I just looked..

We've brought in our assistant coaches from:
Hope College
Center College
Eastern Michigan
Central Michigan
Liberty
Grad Assistant at UC
Quality Control at UC
Temple
Guy who got fired at Ohio State

Thats honestly shocking. Ficks initial staff had more impressive previous jobs. P5 resources cant get here fast enough.

(11-14-2022 12:03 PM)dave108 Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 11:54 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 11:29 AM)dave108 Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 10:30 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I think people are more bothered by the fact that we continue to look like a poorly coach team way too often than they are about the two losses. Our big wins are what? SMU and ECU? Hasn't exactly been murderers row this season.

this. its about being the best that you can be (sorry for the cliche), not just good enough to squeak by from game to game, and hope that the opponent looks worse than you do. the cats play their best and lose, no problem. they look sloppy and undisciplined, and lose, i think that the fans have a right to question - what can they do to look / play better

Bolded, do opponents look worse because of UC's excellent defense? Granted, it's a different level of defense than last year's best team ever, but when SMU hangs 27 on UC and 77 on Houston it suggests the Bearcats are a top 25 team still.

i think the cats have played and beaten some bad teams this year, in less than overwhelming fashion. at times, they have looked good. at other times, not so much. not trying to call out any player / position group / side of the ball. to me, its a total team effort, good or bad.

Here's what gives me (and I think others) indigestion:
UC: 28
USF: 24
(USF is 1-9 and fired their Head Football Coach. And the game was played at Nippert.)

UC: 29
SMU: 27
(SMU is now "Bowl Eligible" at 6-4)

UC: 27
ECU: 25
(ECU is also "Bowl Eligible" at 6-4 and is 3-3 in Conference...Game was played at Nippert.)

That's three wins over marginal teams by 4 points or less. And two of those wins (@SMU and ECU) were "down to the wire" affairs that we had, literally to hang on to win.

A little more comfortable margin of victory:

UC: 31
Tulsa: 21

UC: 20
Navy: 10

We have two games where, suddenly a 10 point MoV looks "Comfortable" in comparison. That's still a less-than-two score margin of victory, meaning that these games were still in contention all the way through.

That's HALF of our current schedule so far that have been in real question. And I didn't even include the Indiana game that left most of us feeling unsettled about...and that was a BAD IU squad at Nippert.

Speaking as a fan, this year just feels like no game is a "safe" game. So we go into the Temple week thinking "Hey, this one should be a straightforward game against a 3-7 opponent." But there's every likelihood that this is going to be a competitive game in Philadelphia.

I miss feeling confident.

(11-14-2022 02:05 PM)cincy7718 Wrote:  

(11-14-2022 10:15 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  We're 8-2. Ranked #22 in the country. Both losses were by a touchdown or less, and were on the road against ranked teams.

If that is really "who we are" in what should be a rebuilding year, then I am ecstatic.

I never thought this to be a rebuilding year. Last year was just the best season in school history. We're back to normal this year, which is very good but definitely not great. Hoping we continue growing the program toward regular greatness with P5 resources, but as of now this is the program.

After losing 9 players to the NFL from the best team UC has ever produced, I expected a drop off, but we're meeting preseason expectations (O/U 10 wins).

If we handle Temple and Tulane (as we should), we're in the AAC Championship game in Orlando. Win that and it's the Cotton Bowl.

Overall, pretty good.