Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Brown

(

N.C. Brown

| The News Record)

The Bearcats tipped off the regular season last night, which automatically made November 11 one of the best days of the year. The Bearcats could’ve looked miserable and won by five and I would’ve been elated. Instead, they looked pretty fantastic, all things considered. Here’s what I saw in UC’s decisive 84–55 win over the Brown Bears.

Positives:

• Holy cow, the offense. I’m going to reign in my hot takes for at least another game or three, but this team looks very skilled and confident on the offensive end. Early in the season, you’ll usually get a few games where they look like a good Mick Cronin offense — they can pass it around the perimeter until they find a guy open enough to take a shot. When they’re hot, that looks good. Last night, they looked like a good offense, period. This has nothing to do with anything I saw on paper. This team passed the eye test with flying colors. For the most part, the offense moved quickly when it needed to, especially when the ball got to guys like Jacob Evans, Jarron Cumberland, and Kyle Washington. There were times when it slowed down, and those worked as well. No matter what lineup Mick runs out during important games, it will always have at least three guys who can score in a few ways. It sounds nice on paper. It looks fantastic in action.
• Kyle Washington will change this team. He had a good game, but it wasn’t a perfect game. Didn’t matter. He gave us a good look at what he can do over the course of 30+ minutes, and it looked fantastic. He has energy similar to Justin Jackson, but he also has offensive knowledge and confidence to go with it. He caught passes in the post and turned around for the slam. He had guys hanging on him and went with a little teardrop for the score. He once ran from below the basket to collect a loose ball outside the three point line. He had an impressive (although perhaps ill-advised) pass from the top of the key into the post to Gary Clark for the assist. He’s got all the best parts of a big man — size, energy, interior offense, basic shot-blocking ability. On top of that, he looked like an impressive passer and scorer. I can tell he’ll frustrate us at times this season, but he has so many weapons in his game.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV — GIF via OhVarsity)

• Jacob Evans is as good as advertised, at least after one game against a middling Ivy League team. I’m keeping my expectations low, because I saw how he looked at times last season when shots weren’t falling. However, he looked almost like a new player last night. Everything was easy. He made the right plays. He hit the open shots. He looked very confident. 23 points is often a season-high for any player on a Cronin team. Evans did it relatively effortlessly after not playing in the preseason due to injury. Oh, he also had a ferocious dunk that was whistled off after an awful technical call. Bearcats TV doesn’t care that the points didn’t count, and put the play in the highlight reel. Thank you.

(video via ESPN/Bearcats TV — GIF via OhVarsity)

• Troy Caupain had a Troy Caupain game. I’ve seen several people say that Troy needs to average at least 15 points this year. If he’s chasing that AAC Player of the Year, that may be the case. If he’s trying to win games and let his teammates drive the train, I think he needs to do what he did last night. 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals, one block. Stuff the stat sheet, kid. If he played more than 30 minutes and really went for it, that was the kid of game where you’ll see a triple-double. That’s what I want to see from the quarterback of my team.
• If Gary Clark can do this all year, look out. Not that this was ever an issue with Gary, but he played very within himself on Friday. His game was all layups, put-backs, and dunks. As a result, he quietly put up 14 points in just 27 minutes on 7-of-9 shooting. To go along with it: nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks.
• Jarron Cumberland is big and confident. I’m just going to keep pointing it out until I get used to it, but Jarron Cumberland has the body of a 30 year old. He does not look anything like a freshman, in stature or in playing style. You can tell he’s got it going on between the ears, because on a few occasions Friday night I caught myself thinking, “I’ve never seen a freshman confident enough to make that play.” And it’s not like they were flashy plays. At one point, he caught the ball on the wing before the defense set up, noticed he had the baseline, and took it in for an easy score. Let’s be honest, we’ve seen seniors too timid to make that play. Cumberland did it without a second thought. That will be huge.
• The Bearcats shut down Tavon Blackmon. In his media availability on Wednesday, Mick talked about how college basketball is a guard-driven game and how senior guards are invaluable. He expressed concern over Brown PG Tavon Blackmon. Last season, Blackmon averaged 13 points on 46% shooting. On Friday, Blackmon got stuffed. He finished with just six points on 2-for-13 shooting. He filled other areas of the box score, but I’m happy with completely negating the opposition’s biggest scoring threat.
• This alley-oop from Cumberland to Scott.

• THE INTRO VIDEO IS AMAZING. It won’t be on YouTube until later in the season, as the folks at UC want to keep it special for a little while. If you want to see it, you’ll have to go to the game. It’s worth the price of admission. I won’t spoil it.

Negatives:

• Troy had four turnovers. I’m willing to chalk this one up as a rusty start to the season. Last year, Troy’s only four-turnover game was on the road against UConn. Matching last year’s total on opening night, at home, against Brown is not a great look. The last time Troy had four turnovers in a non-conference game? 12/23/14 against Wagner, who cruised past UConn in Connecticut last night.
• The defense didn’t look great. I’m even less worried about this statistic, because the defense is never an issue with Cronin’s teams. They looked rusty against Brown, on top of getting away with a lot of errors because Brown isn’t the type of team that can make you consistently pay for mistakes. UC allowed 40% from outside the arc on 25 attempts, which is more than I want to see. They’ll be okay, though.

These are much more fun to write when I have to search for negatives instead of positives. The Bearcats are back at The Shoe on Monday night to face Albany at 7 PM on ESPNU.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs BYU (“Go To Hell, Get A Job” Edition)

(

Keenan Singleton on Twitter

)

I’m running out of things to say, so I’ll keep this short and sweet.

The Bearcats got absolutely choked out by BYU yesterday, and now own a losing record in November for the first time since 2010 and the second time since 2005. Not only that, but based on what I’ve seen from this Bearcats team and what I’ve seen from the teams left on the schedule, I don’t see us winning another game. Left on the docket is a road game against a solid UCF team, a home finale (that could be an attendance catastrophe) against a pretty good Memphis team, and a trip to Tulsa to face a 7–2 Golden Hurricane team that will be trying to close the year at home with a win for their seniors.

I pray I’m wrong, but I don’t have enough evidence to call this a bowl team.

Positives:

• Another respectable defensive performance. Despite BYU’s pedestrian record, they’re a pretty good team. The Bearcats held them to 20 points on 337 yards. QB Taysom Hill went 15-for-25 for 130 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. When you’re looking for any positive, that’s good enough. I feel like this defense as a whole has outplayed themselves. We should probably be worse than we’ve been.
• Zach Edwards got his interception, joining the INT party the defense has had this season. In what has to have been an excruciang junior and senior year for Edwards, I’m happy for him each time he makes a play.
• Tion Green had a nice outing. Because UC trailed for most of the afternoon, he only got 16 carries, but he took those 82 yards for 5.1 yards per carry. He also had five catches for 22 yards.
• Devin Gray is still really good. Man, I love this kid. He had seven catches for 105 yards. If you can round up a couple yards in a few games, that’s his fifth 100-yard outing in his first nine games at the FBS level. Not many guys do that.

Negatives:

• 90% of what happened yesterday. Yeah:

[embed]https://twitter.com/KJMSingleton/status/795057563314384896[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/795263317698875392[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/795263961272881153[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/795265221799661568[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/795266521652150276[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/795268627368988672[/embed]

The national media is finally noticing what’s happening in Cincinnati.

[embed]https://twitter.com/RealNRB/status/795032213335187456[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/edsbs/status/795064719514173440[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/PaulMyerberg/status/795074787978657792[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/status/795065195752255489[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/slmandel/status/795065836025221120[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/DustinFox37/status/795067885404176388[/embed]

I think I speak for everyone when I say that I just want this season to be over, one way or another. The Bearcats are 11–11 since the start of last year, and I think we’re all over it. I’ll be at Nippert to see the Bearcats play Memphis in two weeks, but that’s more out of love and loyalty than excitement. Get me to December so we can wipe the slate clean.

Go Bearcats. Beat UCF.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts On UC vs Temple, Good Lord Help Us

(Temple Football / Twitter)

I’ve got nothing.

See you at Nippert. Go Bearcats. #BeatBYU

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs ECU

(Aaron Doster — USA Today Sports Images)

The Bearcats (finally) got back in the win column on Saturday night with a much-needed victory over the Pirates of East Carolina. Both teams entered winless in the AAC, but it was the Bearcats that were able to turn the ship around with the help of some homecoming home field advantage. I have plenty to be happy about, so this will be more fun than I’m used to. Here are the highs and lows:

Positives:

• Gunner Kiel is back and firing. Finally, the fans got what they wanted and the redshirt senior got his first start of the season. Aside from being a feelgood moment, it paid dividends on the field. Kiel finished the night at 23-for-40 for 348 yards to go with four touchdown passes. This ECU team isn’t exactly the Steel Curtain, but it was still a very sturdy performance. In one night, Kiel quadrupled the total touchdown passes of freshman Ross Trail and threw more than half of sophomore Hayden Moore’s season total. More importantly, he did it without throwing an interception. I’m so proud of this kid. I can’t imagine this season has been easy, but he remained positive on the sidelines, waited for his shot, and made the most of it. Nobody knows why someone with this potential was been benched for the first half of the year, but he’s back now and appears to be in a groove.
• Khalil Lewis had his coming out party. There were many voters in my season predictions poll that saw Lewis doing this kind of thing all season. While I disagreed, I knew he had the potential, and I’m happy to see him cashing in on it so early. 11 catches for 150 yards and three touchdowns is a massive day for any receiver, especially a sophomore who entered with 352 yards and two touchdowns in his career. After three quiet games to open the season, Lewis has turned in four straight impressive outings. He’s now a proven threat, and if Saturday is any indication, he’s the favorite target of Kiel. Look out.
• Devin Gray continues to amaze. I knew Gray would be a nice contributor right out of the gate, but I didn’t imagine he’d be doing this. I don’t think many did. Straight out of junior college, he now leads the Bearcats in receiving yards through seven games. If you’re willing to round up on some 97- and 98-yard games, he now has four outings of 100 yards or better. He’s turning into Shaq Washington. He’s piling up catches and yardage, but is lagging behind in trips to the end zone, punching it in just once (vs Houston). I’m excited to see if his numbers see an uptick playing with Kiel, who proved to be a more reliable passer on Saturday than the Bearcats have had so far this season.
• The backs got their swagger back. After a rash of underwhelming outings culminating in the UConn stinker that saw the team run for a total of two yards, the running backs turned things around on Saturday against a lackluster ECU rush defense. Mike Boone had 14 carries for 88 yards and Tion Green had 15 carries for 71 yards. Neither scored a touchdown, but they did enough to open up the passing game for Kiel, who took advantage.
• The defense continues to be tough. On Saturday they allowed 503 yards to a tough Pirates offense. What matters is they didn’t break, allowing just 19 points and forcing three turnovers to offset the yardage surrendered. The play of the game came late in the fourth quarter. After a disappointing three-and-out by the Bearcats, ECU got the ball back, threatening to score and take the lead. On 4th-and-1, the defense stuffed running back James Summers to get the ball back to the offense, who responded with a touchdown to seal the victory.
• The turnover margin was positive again. The Bearcats forced three turnovers and didn’t give the ball away, which is likely the difference in this game. The turnover margin per game is now +0.7, which is good for 26th in FBS. Last season it was -1.5, which was 124th (out of 128 teams.) Part of this is due to the offense playing smarter, but it’s mostly a defensive effort. The Bearcats defense is 7th in the country in takeaways per game (2.5). Last year they were 113th. That will make a huge difference, especially when your offense is doing enough to win like they did yesterday.

Negatives:

• Where on earth was this six games ago? Tuberville knew this was coming when he gave the start to Kiel, and now we’re experiencing it. After the team struggled through six games largely due to bad quarterback play, we finally got to see the proven senior that everyone has been begging for, and he turns in the best game of the season and picks up the first conference win. Say what you want about injuries and practice reps and playbook knowledge, I’ve been saying that there’s no way I’m willing to believe that a freshman deserves to start over a proven senior. Saturday proved it, as Kiel did more in his first half than Trail did in two games. I still don’t understand it, but I’m happy we finally get to see the veteran instead of the over-his-head freshman or the hobbled-and-inconsistent sophomore.
• Too many yards. I mentioned this above, but 503 yards is just too many. Timely takeaways and a good outing from Kiel saved them, but you can’t bank on those against tougher competition. This ECU offense ranks 18th nationally with 485 yards per game, so Saturday wasn’t super alarming to me. However, I worry about that number coming from a defense that looked like the bright spot for six games. We need them to remain sharp if we’re going to turn the season around, and allowing 503 yards is not a great sign.
• Whatever this is.
• The penalty that brought back the 100-yard kick return by Boone. It didn’t end up making a difference, but I was excited to see the first kick-off returned for a touchdown since Ralph David Abernathy IV in the 2011 Liberty Bowl vs Vanderbilt.

Saturday was the first time I felt really good about a game since Week 2 against Purdue. Following that win, the Bearcats went 1–3 with the only victory coming against lowly Miami. There wasn’t much to feel good about until Saturday happened.

The fans needed that. The players needed that. Lord knows the coach needed that. More than anything, Gunner Kiel needed that. The #GunShow is back, and I couldn’t be more excited to see how he fares next weekend against one of the country’s stingiest pass defenses. Temple is ranked 13th nationally in passing yards allowed per game, and they’ll provide an early test for Kiel. I think he’s up for it.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs UConn, The Continuing Tailspin

(Stephen Slade / UConnHuskies.com)

The tailspin that started in the fourth quarter of the Houston game three weeks ago continued on Saturday in Hartford. More of the same, you could say. In 2011 or 2012, more of the same would mean a win. In 2016, more of the same has come to mean a cripplingly depressing performance against any team that lines up opposite the Bearcats. Against Miami or Purdue, more of the same will still get you the win. Against an AAC that’s getting increasingly stronger, more of the same means losses like Saturday.

If you’ve been following me on Twitter for more than a week, I’m sure you know I’m a Browns fan. My undying devotion to the consistently hapless Browns is bad for my health, but I’ve been able to count on the Bearcats balancing that out. Lately, the two teams seem to be blurring together. It’s a sad state of affairs when Murphy’s Law is taking out my two favorite football teams every weekend. Like so many Browns teams I’ve known, you can count on the 2016 Bearcats to be poorly coached, ridden with mistakes, unenthusiastic, and on the short end of every 50/50 call by the referees.

However, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again here: Like my devotion to the God-forsaken Browns, my love for these Bearcats is unwavering. I’ll be there for homecoming (both physically and mentally) and I expect to win.

I suppose I should wade into the muck that is the UConn game, so let’s go:

Positives:

(LOL.)

• Hayden Moore came back. Regardless of my membership in the Gunner Kiel Fan Club, I think starting Hayden Moore every week is what’s best for the present and future of this team. It’s becoming clear that Gunner is not going to start a game as long as Moore and Ross Trail can walk, so I’m ready to move on from the idea entirely. Let’s keep Hayden healthy and let’s make sure he takes every snap for the remaining six games.
• Hayden Moore looked pretty good, at least comparatively. Looking pretty good––comparatively––is a step in the right direction for a team with UC’s current resume. I’m not jumping up and down over Moore’s play, but I’ll certainly take it. He finished 29-for-55 for 315 yards with an interception. The interception was a badly thrown ball, but it’s the kind of thing you can accept if he’s going to toss two or three touchdowns to go with it. Unfortunately, those never came. Considering his injury status earlier in the week, I think it’s safe to assume the ankle wasn’t exactly 100%. For that reason, I’m happy with that stat line (minus the lack of touchdowns).
• Devin Gray is really good, and so is Nate Cole. I’m sorry we only get one more year of Gray, and I’m sorry that Cole was buried on the depth chart until his senior year. Unfortunate timing for him to only have a single season to show his stuff. He’s good.
• The defense played well. They weren’t fantastic, but they looked pretty good, especially considering the offense did absolutely nothing to help. When you lose the time of possession battle 35–25, it’s hard to keep making stops. Allowing 20 points against UConn should be good enough to win if your offense is functioning at normal capacity. I’m not sure how to account for the two UConn touchdowns. Giving up big plays is a bad sign, especially against an inept offense. It’s also probably not a good sign when fatal mistakes are coming from a senior leader like Zach Edwards. Hard to say if those mistakes are a sign of poor coaching and preparation or if they’re simple outliers that won’t happen again. I don’t know anymore. I’ve said all season that this defense is worth watching, and I still believe that. This group plays with some swagger, and we’ve sorely missed that for a couple years.
• UC won the turnover battle. It’s a small thing that’s gravely important, and we were terrible at doing it last year. Let’s keep it going this season.
• Josh Pasley got his redemption. Heck of a game, kid. A lot of kicking is pure confidence, and Pasley’s had to be shaken after the start to his season. He was the entire offense on Saturday, and he did his job, going 3-for-3 with a long of 43 yards.
• We don’t play next week. I know this sounds cynical, but I mean it earnestly. This bye week couldn’t come at a better time. Let’s get Hayden Moore back to 100% and do some serious soul-searching while we’re at it.
• The program continues to progress towards some kind of D-Day. If you’re of the opinion that Tuberville is the man for the job, Saturday’s loss was a big negative for you. The man you think is right for UC lost an ugly game. If you’re of the opinion that Tuberville is unfit to coach at UC, Saturday’s loss was at the very least a step in the “right direction.” I know it sounds bad, but sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. I don’t know if that’s the case with this football program, but we’ll find out. The last thing I want is to get stuck in the middle ground of lukewarm success and fan support. Stagnation is the enemy. I think it’s always best to be trending in one direction or the other. Obviously my wish is to be trending positively, but the next best thing is to have an obvious negative trend to catch everyone’s attention. Things got worse on Saturday. Maybe we’ll look back in a year or two and say it ultimately paved the way for a better Bearcats football team.

Negatives:

(I’ll try to keep these brief and under control.)

• The Bearcats are 0–3 in the American. On top of this sounding absolutely terrible, there are stats to back up how absolutely terrible this is. The last time the Bearcats started 0–3 in the conference was in 1999. That team finished 3–8, but also had a Top 10 upset of Wisconsin. This team is in danger of a disastrous finish, but there will be no massive win to serve as a party favor for attending. UC is in a Group of Five conference, and they are in last place. Dead last.
• The Bearcats didn’t score a touchdown. What a mess. I believe the last time UC failed to find the end zone was against #22 Rutgers in 2012. Aside from the fact RU was ranked, the Scarlet Knights also finished 4th in the country in points allowed that season. They had a good defense. Getting held out of the end zone by this UConn team is infinitely worse.
• Three drives stalled in the red zone. Again, this cannot happen, especially against this UConn team. If you can do math, you’ll realize that Bearcat touchdowns on those three first half trips that ended in field goals would mean a 21–20 win, even with the complete lack of scoring after halftime.
• There was a complete lack of scoring after halftime. So much for halftime adjustments. Most coaching staffs can take a beating in the first half and correct things at halftime to improve scoring chances and tighten up defensively in the second half. This coaching staff does the opposite. You want the most embarrassing Bearcats football stat I’ve ever been privy to? UC is getting outscored 64–6 in the second half of conference games this season. That makes me want to barf. Across the board in conference play, the Bearcats have played solid in the opening half only to get outplayed, out-coached, and outclassed after halftime. I don’t care who you are, that is the mark of a bad team and a bad group of coaches. Say what you want about the guys wearing headsets, but that stat is indefensible.
• The running game is still a ghost town. In a development nobody saw coming, the tag-team duo of Tion Green and Mike Boone has been mediocre at best. The pair averaged 1.8 yards on 12 carries Saturday. On the season, they’re averaging a combined 3.9 yards per carry. That’s not good, and is only putting more stress on a QB staff that’s banged up to begin with. I don’t know who to blame on this one, and it’s probably not on one guy’s shoulders. I just have a hard time believing these two forgot how to run the football in the offseason.
• Tuberville tossed someone under the bus… again.This time it was Hayden Moore. Following a first half in which his offense stalled three times inside the red zone, Tuberville pointed to Hayden Moore’s overthrows as the reason for the team’s underwhelming play. Moore missed some shots, and the interception was not a good look. However, how about owning up for some bad play calling? How about putting some blame on a running game that finished the day with two rushing yards? Maybe give the opposition some credit for clamping down your offense. At the very least, bite your tongue and give a non-answer before trotting towards the locker room. Hayden Moore must feel like an absolute dunce when his head coach publicly throws an entire team’s worth of blame on his shoulders after a pretty decent first half. The QBs this season haven’t been stellar, and that comment isn’t going to help anything.

It’s growing increasingly difficult to watch this team, but I implore you guys to stick with them. I’ll be at homecoming, and hopefully a good crowd shows up. If you’d like to voice your unhappiness, the best way to do that is by joining in the effort to #BlackoutHomecoming. The theme for the game is red, but a large group of fans has decided to wear black as a small act of protest against the current direction of the program. I’m on board with this idea because it supports the players and the team while still demonstrating our position as a fan base. There are ways to be heard without simply giving up. Please do not give up. There is a disconnect between talent and production, and this team can still win games if it can close that gap. We’re not dead yet.

Go Bearcats.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs USF, the Final Straw in the Tuberville Era?

(GoBearcats.com)

Writing this weekly column and picking out positives from the games grows harder and harder. This week, I don’t even have “a win is a win” to fall back on. The Bearcats lost, decisively, to the South Florida Bulls. On the surface, this isn’t exactly a catastrophe. Despite the reputation that USF has earned among Bearcats faithful, the Bulls are a good team. They have been since the beginning of last year. They should win at least eight games this season.

So, why did an “understandable” loss ignite the most rip-roaring firestorm I’ve seen from UC Twitter? Here’s a closer look.

Let’s look at the negatives:

(Trying to control my rage here.)

• The starting quarterback never stood a chance. Redshirt freshman Ross Trail started the game for the Bearcats, and wasn’t yanked off the field until the end of the third quarter, following a pick six. Trail has now thrown six interceptions this season against just one touchdown. He’s thrown two pick sixes, which means he’s thrown more touchdowns to the defense than to the Bearcats. Look, I like Trail. So far, he’s shown me nothing that leads me to believe he can’t compete in the future. I like his skill set, but the kid isn’t ready. The fans know it, and you gotta believe Trail himself knows it by now. Throwing him into the fire at this point is bad coaching, a slap in the face to your players and fans, and terrible for Trail’s confidence. Put your kids in a position to win. Don’t hang some poor freshman out to dry because you’re less worried about winning football games than you are about teaching a lesson to a senior quarterback with 50 career touchdowns.
• The QB battle looks like an absolute sham. I have been on Gunner’s side since the start of fall camp, but I learned to accept the Hayden Moore era as it was forced upon us. Hayden didn’t blow me away, but he was getting the job done until he got injured against Houston and struggled late as a result. Now that Hayden is hurt, Tuberville can’t hide behind excuses anymore. Following camp, he boasted about having three quarterbacks who could run the team. While that sounds fantastic, it’s nothing more than a lie. This team has three quarterbacks: An injured sophomore, a freshman in over his head, and a senior who Tuberville refuses to play. I had a pretty good theory for “The Gunner Issue,” but Saturday debunked it. After an unconfirmed report that the offensive staff “forced” Tuberville to finally insert his senior, Kiel left the field at the end of a drive and exchanged some words with his head coach. While this anger from Gunner is refreshing to see, it unfortunately seems to substantiate the theory that Gunner was planted at #3 on the depth chart as an act of spite by Tommy T. I had doubted this theory, but now it looks like the only possible answer. There’s no conspiracy theory. Tuberville stuck his senior and the end of the bench and Gunner is angry. To make things worse, Tuberville referenced Kiel just once in the postgame press conference, and it was only to bring up his turnover problems last year.
• Tuberville quit. Again. Last season against BYU, Tuberville enraged the fan base by waiving the white flag in an important non-conference game. Trailing by two scores with four minutes remaining, Tommy decided to call it a night and punted the ball to the Cougars, who ran out the clock for the win. In a season full of anger and heartbreak, that may have been my low point. On Saturday, with the Bearcats facing an 18-point deficit at the onset of the fourth quarter, Tuberville thought it would be a good idea to try a 48-yard field goal with UC’s backup kicker who is currently 2-for-5 on the year to go with a pair of badly missed extra points. Aside from the message that sends to fans, what must that feel like for the players? You don’t land on a big-time college football team without being extremely competitive and confident. What does it feel like when your own head coach has clearly given up on you? Sure, pulling off an 18-point comeback is immensely difficult, but with their senior quarterback finally returning, I know for a fact those players were gearing up for a fight. A long field goal attempt in that situation with that kicker may as well just be a punt with a full quarter of football remaining.
• Tuberville still can’t win the big game, especially against teams in the American. Here’s a full list of 8-win AAC teams Tuberville has beaten in his time at UC: Houston 2013, ECU 2014, Houston 2014. The ECU game was nearly given away on the worst play call I’ve ever seen, and the Houston game later that year saw the Bearcats hang on for dear life after Kiel left with a second-half injury. In that same stretch, Tuberville has lost six games against 8-win AAC teams. 3–6 against good teams may not sound like a train wreck, but it is. (Especially considering Houston and USF should be joining the 8-win club this year, pushing TT’s record to 3–8.) For a program that was dominating a power conference a few years ago, you’d think knocking off a few good AAC teams would be possible. For a coach with tenure in the SEC and Big 12, you’d think knocking off a few good AAC teams would be possible. Don’t get me started on bowl games.
• The Bearcats are 3–2, but the season is on the verge of being a dumpster fire. The Bearcats have started 0–2 in the conference for the second consecutive year, essentially ending championship hopes as quickly as they started. Losing two conference games is bad enough, but doing it to open the season, at home, against the best team from each division is worse. 3–2 is nothing to jump off a bridge over, but stop and consider the future of this season. Before Tuberville can think about finishing at a respectable 8–4, he has to worry about getting his team back on his side. The 2010 Bearcats folded under Butch Jones, finishing 4–8 because he lost the locker room. The 2016 Bearcats are teetering on the edge. Tuberville has to get his kids motivated to play. He also has to start Gunner Kiel, which seems unlikely given their sideline spat on Saturday, which surely only added fuel to the fire between the coach and QB. This team has the talent to win eight or nine games this season, but there are a lot of intangibles that go into a successful year, and I don’t think we have any of those.

On the bright side:

(Yikes, this is tough this week.)

• We’re still 3–2. In a five game stretch, losing two games is not good. Over the course of a full season, losing two games is pretty great. Wins and losses are all that matter, and if this team and this coaching staff ever decide to maximize potential, there’s a scenario where we finish the regular season 10–2. Do I think that’s possible? Absolutely. Do I think it’s likely? Not really. Having said that, there is some precedent for it. In 2013, the second weekend of October kicked off a six-game winning streak. In 2014, the third week of October kicked off a seven-game winning streak. The league is better than it was in those years, but we still have the ability. If there’s one thing Tuberville has done well, it’s handle bad teams and string together wins in the second half of the season.
• Gunner finally threw a pass. Surely Tuberville can’t put the cat back in the bag, right? Unless Hayden is back to 100% and starting, I simply can’t fathom Tommy running Ross Trail back out there against UConn. Saturday was an unmitigated disaster, but we may have worked ourselves into a spot where Tuberville has no choice but to start his fifth-year senior. Given the way he ended last season and started this one, you gotta believe Gunner is chomping at the bit to get out there and prove himself again.
• Tuberville accepted responsibility. Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels like the first time Tommy has come out and taken the blame. As a head coach, you have to accept responsibility for what’s your fault, and take the fall for a lot of things that aren’t. Tuberville typically does neither. Maybe Saturday was a wake up call. It means very little, but at least it’s something.
• The Bearcats fan base is on the same page. Cincinnati sports fans live in a constant state of divisiveness. Even just in regards to the Bearcats, the fan base can rarely agree on anything. There are fans that still clamor for Bob Huggins at every turn. There are fans that want to run Mick out of town. There are fans that want Cronin on a lifetime contract. There are fans that thought Butch Jones was great and fans that never liked him. Towards the end of last season, the line on Tuberville started to move. There are fewer and fewer fans on his side, myself included. In my life as a sports fan, I’ve never picketed for a coaching change. It’s just not my style. Suddenly I find myself boiling over with frustration about UC football. If Tuberville buried his head in the sand up to this point, now he knows for sure: His approval rating is in the garbage, and the overwhelming majority of UC fans are finally on the same page. Between the team’s performance on Saturday, the vocal displeasure inside the stadium, and the tidal wave of vitriol on Twitter, this should be a wake up call. It felt like a program-altering loss.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/782400045010128896[/embed]

Where do I stand?

I’m not anti-Bearcats, and I never will be. I refuse to give up on UC, ever. That said, for the first time, I’m firmly standing on the anti-Tuberville side of the fence. If this current trend continues, I think it’s time to pull the plug at the end of the season. Do I think they’ll fire him? Not really. Can Tuberville win me back? Sure. Pulling out eight or nine wins and a bowl game this year would probably extend my personal leash.

I’ve always been somewhat annoyed by the entitlement of UC fans. Especially when it comes to basketball, Bearcats faithful seem to think anything short of elite national prominence is worthy of firing. In this case, I think that mentality is a good thing. We all went into the game against #6 Houston expecting to win. That was probably unwarranted, but I love that the expectations for the program remain high.

The only remaining defense of Tuberville’s tenure is that he takes care of lowly teams. At a place like Purdue, that’ll get the job done. At Cincinnati, that’s not good enough. The city, the program, the fans, and the players deserve better than mediocrity. If Tuberville can’t deliver more than mediocrity over the next seven or eight games, he doesn’t deserve to be here. He’s making a lot of money to coach in a conference that’s not immensely difficult in front of fans that are very supportive without applying much pressure to win like at OSU or Texas. This is a good gig, and I think we’re all starting to get the feeling that we’re being taken advantage of.

If there’s one thing you take from this rant, let it be this:

Do not give up on this team. I know the coaching staff, especially Tuberville, hasn’t earned much loyalty in the past few years. However, if anyone is more disappointed than the fans, it’s the players. These kids had a choice of where to spend their college careers, and they chose the University of Cincinnati. They chose us, so let’s stick with them. It would be easy to give up and stop attending games, but the players don’t deserve that.

Show up at Nippert. Make noise. When the time is right, make your displeasure known. Just remember who your frustration is directed at, and don’t let these kids play in an empty stadium. That would only make things more depressing. We have two weeks off to simmer down and take a break from football in Clifton. Let’s beat UConn, lick our wounds in the bye week, and come out strong to Nippert for Homecoming against ECU. The season isn’t dead yet, and neither am I.

Go Bearcats.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Miami

(UC/Joseph Fuqua II)

In the 2015 edition of the Battle for the Victory Bell, redshirt freshman Hayden Moore committed four turnovers before collecting himself and driving the Bearcats down the field to victory in the fourth quarter. In the 2016 edition, redshirt freshman Ross Trail committed three turnovers before collecting himself and driving the Bearcats down the field to victory in the fourth quarter.

It was a maddening game for a bevy of reasons, but we pulled it out and there are a handful of things I’m pleased with. Here are the ups and downs:

Positives

• We won. Never whine after a win.
• That’s 11 straight against Miami. Like it or not, they’re a rival. I’ll take a rivalry win over a rivalry loss. Despite the fact that we’ve underwhelmed against the RedHawks for four straight seasons, I feel like the Battle for the Bell has never been more lopsided. Two straight years we’ve begged for Miami to beat us, and they have refused. The Bearcats at most frustrating are still better than Miami, it would appear.
• The uniforms are great. Red and black is the best color combo in sports, and this proves it.
• The tunnel (pictured above) is back! The combo of smoke and tunnel seems like the winning formula. I hope this continues.
• Ross Trail performed when he had to. With the score tied, he went 4–for-4 as part of a 12-play drive spanning 5:28 that ended with a Tion Green touchdown to win the game for the Bearcats. He made a handful of mistakes, but that’s expected of a freshman in his first start. All that matters is the win, and he brought it home. Plus, from a percentage standpoint, 25-for-38 is a good look for any quarterback, especially a freshman.
• The running backs returned to form after an abysmal showing against Houston. Tion Green and Mike Boone combined for 157 yards on 37 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Nothing flashy, but they moved the chains and scored some points. I’ll take it.
• The defensive front looked great. We all went nuts about the lack of pressure early this season, but on Saturday they pinned their ears back and it paid off. Miami running backs combined for just 74 yards at 3.5 yards per carry. Miami QB Billy Bahl was sacked five times, fumbled once, and threw a critical interception in the red zone. This year’s defense is “bend, don’t break” and I love it. They’re getting the job done every week.

Negatives

• Saturday snapped my 24-game Nippert attendance streak, dating back to the beginning of the 2011 season. It felt downright disgusting to watch a game at Nippert on television.
• The announced attendance––38,112––is a bit of a letdown for this game, and the figure seems to be a bit of an exaggeration if I’m being honest. It wasn’t an embarrassing crowd by any means, but it was nothing special by Victory Bell standards. (A third consecutive student section sellout was nice though.)
• I don’t understand the QB situation. Not even a little bit. Tuberville essentially named Hayden Moore the starter on Tuesday, but cautioned that he’d make a switch if there were turnover issues. By Saturday, Moore was apparently too hurt to even dress. Rather than start veteran Gunner Kiel, Tuberville gave the ball to Ross Trail, a freshman whose career stats are 1-for-2 for two yards and an interception (which was returned for a touchdown). After announcing before the game that Kiel could see playing time alongside Trail, Tuberville declined to make a QB change, even with the Bearcats losing and Trail struggling to avoid freshman mistakes. At this point, I’m reluctant to believe that Gunner will ever throw another pass for the Bearcats. As Neal Slaton pointed out, if he’s not better than a mistake-ridden freshman, why is he even on the team?
• Bryce Jenkinson is out for the year. This sucks, because I love Bryce Jenkinson.
• Lastly, as Bearcats Sports Radio points out, the fanbase is extremely restless. I’m typically above the restlessness, and even I’m feeling it. We’re four games into the season and a 5–7 finish with a Big 12 snub seems as likely as a 10-win season with a Big 12 invite. Warranted or not, it feels like the whole program is up in the air, and that feeling is really not fun. I have no idea where we’ll be in three months, and that’s scary.

Despite the rocky start to the season, the Bearcats are 3–1 with a chance to make a name for themselves against one of the conference’s better teams next weekend at Nippert. I think there are signs this team can be really good, and next week will be an opportunity for them to prove it.

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Houston

(UC/Joseph Fuqua II)

I’m not in the business of recapping a game everyone saw. If you want the rundown, check here. I’ll just jump right into positives and negatives.

POSITIVES:

• Holy cow, that defense. Where did that come from? Forget the yardage, football has always been about bending without breaking. The Bearcats defense did a lot of bending on Thursday night, but rarely broke. With 12 minutes left in the game, they had the nation’s #6 team held to TWELVE points. Last year’s defense would’ve gotten absolutely torn limb from limb by this Houston team.
• More forced turnovers. This is one of the biggest things last year’s team was lacking. If your defense is struggling and giving up yards on a long drive, you can totally redeem yourself with a turnover. We didn’t do it last year. Last night we did, and it kept us in the ballgame with a Top 10 team. Going into the game, I figured we’d have a really good shot to win if we could be opportunistic on defense, and we were.
• Antonio Kinard is a machine. That’s it.
• Honestly, I thought Hayden Moore played pretty well… at least for most of the night. Was it an impressive outing, in total? No. Am I ready to bench a guy who’s putting up good numbers after he struggled against one of the best defenses in the country? Absolutely not. Hayden made a lot of tough throws to move the chains on Thursday, despite the fact that he was constantly in 3rd-and-long situations, it felt like.
• The receivers continue to impress. There was some worry about how the Bearcats would look without that elite WR class that left after last season. They look alright to me. Nate Cole is the veteran we need, Devin Gray is living up to his billing as a big play-maker, Avery Johnson continues to be a reliable target, and Khalil Lewis gives you an extra option while also being a home run threat.
• THIS PLAY!

[embed]https://twitter.com/FootbaIl_Tweets/status/776609159785517057[/embed]

• The student section was unreal. Just a hair over 40,000 showed up last night, and nearly 20% of those fans were students. 7,813 was a student section record for Nippert, and it felt like it. I’ve seen a lot of games in Clifton, but I’ve never felt the student section quite like that. Better than Louisville 2013 and Miami (FL) 2015, which were two of my favorite nights at Nippert.

[embed]https://twitter.com/uofcincy/status/776604175077629952[/embed] https://twitter.com/38Godfrey/status/776600051078598656[embed]https://twitter.com/GoBEARCATS/status/776575098895687686[/embed]

NEGATIVES:

• The offense. For how much we continue to rip on the Eddie Gran offense, at least he seemed to play the cards he was dealt. When the only thing working against Memphis last year was the pass, he said “Heck, let’s just let the freshman throw it every single play.” I understand that you make a game plan going in and that you’d love to stick with that. However, sometimes the opposing defense makes the game plan for you. The Bearcats were simply not going to run the football last night. After a miraculous 10-yard scamper from Mike Boone late in the fourth quarter, the rushing attack finished with a combined 20 carries for 43 yards. Rushing 20 times for 2.2 yards per carry is irresponsible play-calling. The Bearcats lost the time of possession battle badly, holding the ball for fewer than 22 minutes. If that isn’t bad enough, we seemed to spend half that time futilely running for one yard. Everyone watching the game could see that there would be no running game. The passing game, meanwhile, was having a good bit of success, despite the bad situations the running game kept putting the Bearcats in. Sometimes you gotta scrap the game plan when a better one becomes available. Should’ve done it last night.
• The offense is worse than our defense. Two pick sixes, a safety, and a field goal that wasn’t taken. That’s 19 points our offense coughed up. You will never beat a Top 10 team doing that.
• The predictable fan reaction. Really, guys? You’ve watched all that has happened since the beginning of 2013 and coming up short against #6 Houston is where you draw the line in the Tuberville tenure? Look, I’m not about to draft up a contract extension, but at least reserve your outrage for a time when he does something he’s not supposed to do, like show up completely unprepared for a bowl game or raise the white flag in a marquee out-of-conference game against BYU. You can’t call for Tuberville’s head after every loss. He did a great job against Purdue, and had us in Thursday’s game all the way into the fourth quarter.
• The press conference. I need to stop watching these. Have you ever seen Tuberville accept responsibility for anything? It’s one of the reasons I love Mick Cronin’s leadership. Mick is really tough on his guys and holds them accountable, but he accepts responsibility for his mistakes and very rarely calls out a player in a press conference. For Tuberville to open the press conference saying the defense played well enough to win but the QBs made bad decisions is insane. At the time of Hayden Moore’s first interception, the Bearcats trailed 19–16. You know why we weren’t already winning at that point? We simply gave away three points by refusing to kick a field goal, and then we called a running play on our own one-yard line to give up a safety. The score easily should’ve been 20–17 in favor of UC at that point, considering we would’ve kicked a PAT after Nate Cole’s TD catch. I’m not saying the players were blameless last night, and certainly Hayden Moore’s interception when trailing by three points was huge, but it would’ve been refreshing to see Tuberville do something other than throw his own players under the bus. Again. “We practiced well. We prepared well. Our guys were ready to play…We just didn’t have enough to beat a very good football team.” Translation: Don’t blame me.

Overall, I’m not anywhere near to jumping off a bridge after that game. Through three games, this team, especially its defense, is much better than I anticipated. We’ve got some things to work on, to be sure, but if we play with the intensity of the Purdue and Houston games, we’re gonna do a lot of winning this season. The Battle for the Victory Bell is just around the corner, which is always fun. I’m having a hard time feeling down. Go Bearcats.