Cincinnati 31 Tulane 12

[Walter]

Wasn't pretty at times but UC improves to 8-0. 

Offense has to improve down the stretch, but defense looked much better in the 2nd half. 

Tulsa up next at Nippert next Saturday. 

 

[John Anthony]

UC looked unimpressive again.  Tulane generally gives up 600 yards a game, UC got 350.  UC might have their hands full vs. SMU.

@Walter what do you attribute this lackluster mid season play too?

[Walter]

17 minutes ago, John Anthony said:

UC looked unimpressive again.  Tulane generally gives up 600 yards a game, UC got 350.  UC might have their hands full vs. SMU.

@Walter what do you attribute this lackluster mid season play too?

To be fair, Tulane also usually puts up 450 yards per game and only had 260 today. 

Just think it's a 2 game road slump. I expect them to play much better next week at home.

Ridder has to improve though. Des is holding the ball way too long in the pocket, leading to sacks and bad decisions. Also forcing throws. Needs to get back to the short and intermediate stuff that had NFL scouts all over him, instead of always looking for the big play.

I also think he needs to be more willing to run. He is too good of an athlete to not use his legs as an added dimension that the defense has to account for. 

I mentioned the play calling in the update thread. No creativity right now. Getting zero push up front yet Denbrock continues to call runs up the middle that lead to little to no gain. Run off tackle for 6-8 yard gains and then we see another run up the middle. No jet sweeps to get Tucker and his 4.3 speed involved. No passes to Ford out of the back field (did score on a wheel route today that was wide open but first time it has been called). Rarely see screens called. 

Possessions have also been limited due to Tulane and Navy running a lot and running the play clock down in between snaps. 

Need to get off the field on 3rd down and tackle better. That's been an issue defensively as well. 

Hopefully these past two games were just a case of them being over confident. SMU doesn't worry me. No defense and you aren't beating UC by throwing 30 times. Secondary and D line are too good and will force turnovers.

[John Anthony]

3 minutes ago, Walter said:

To be fair, Tulane also usually puts up 450 yards per game and only had 260 today. 

Just think it's a 2 game road slump. I expect them to play much better next week at home.

Ridder has to improve though. Des is holding the ball way too long in the pocket, leading to sacks and bad decisions. Also forcing throws. Needs to get back to the short and intermediate stuff that had NFL scouts all over him, instead of always looking for the big play.

I also think he needs to be more willing to run. He is too good of an athlete to not use his legs as an added dimension that the defense has to account for. 

I mentioned the play calling in the update thread. No creativity right now. Getting zero push up front yet Denbrock continues to call runs up the middle that lead to little to no gain. Run off tackle for 6-8 yard gains and then we see another run up the middle. No jet sweeps to get Tucker and his 4.3 speed involved. No passes to Ford out of the back field (did score on a wheel route today that was wide open but first time it has been called). Rarely see screens called. 

Possessions have also been limited due to Tulane and Navy running a lot and running the play clock down in between snaps. 

Need to get off the field on 3rd down and tackle better. That's been an issue defensively as well. 

Hopefully these past two games were just a case of them being over confident. SMU doesn't worry me. No defense and you aren't beating UC by throwing 30 times. Secondary and D line are too good and will force turnovers.

You always have the best UC analysis.  I think I wouldn’t have been as worried over the last two weeks, if they both aren’t 1 win teams.  

[Walter]

22 minutes ago, John Anthony said:

You always have the best UC analysis.  I think I wouldn’t have been as worried over the last two weeks, if they both aren’t 1 win teams.  

I'd worry but I'm honestly just enjoying this ride. It's college football and anything can happen on any given Saturday. Frustrating to watch, but winning and being at your best every week isn't easy.... Especially when there's so much outside noise and attention on the program right now. 

UC has always been in a situation where they were going to need help to get in the CFP so I'm just going to enjoy the wins and see how things end up after championship Saturday in 5 weeks. 

 

[hrcarrier]

UC is definitely better than what they have shown today and last week. 

[John Anthony]

2 hours ago, Walter said:

I'd worry but I'm honestly just enjoying this ride. It's college football and anything can happen on any given Saturday. Frustrating to watch, but winning and being at your best every week isn't easy.... Especially when there's so much outside noise and attention on the program right now. 

UC has always been in a situation where they were going to need help to get in the CFP so I'm just going to enjoy the wins and see how things end up after championship Saturday in 5 weeks. 

 

This is where my frustration comes from.  Had UC dusted everyone, or at least, covered in their remaining games, I don’t think they would have needed that much help.

[gchs_uk9]

2 hours ago, Walter said:

UC has always been in a situation where they were going to need help to get in the CFP so I'm just going to enjoy the wins and see how things end up after championship Saturday in 5 weeks. 

I'm sure this will come up in the "who should make it" conversation, but keep in mind Oklahoma only beat Tulane by five on their home field. Cincinnati obviously has to keep winning but I think they still hold some trump cards over a few teams in the running. Here's hoping the committee recognizes that as well.

[MJAlltheWay24]

Didn't get to watch but followed on my phone. Glad they played better in the 2ne half.

Looking forward to getting back into Nippert next week!

[theguru]

8 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

Didn't get to watch but followed on my phone. Glad they played better in the 2ne half.

Looking forward to getting back into Nippert next week!

You spared yourself some pain. 

[Walter]

47 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

I'm sure this will come up in the "who should make it" conversation, but keep in mind Oklahoma only beat Tulane by five on their home field. Cincinnati obviously has to keep winning but I think they still hold some trump cards over a few teams in the running. Here's hoping the committee recognizes that as well.

Oklahoma beat Tulane by 5 (UC by 19)

Michigan State beat Indiana by 5 (UC by 14)

Oklahoma State beat Tulsa by 5 

Ohio State beat Tulsa by 21 but it was a 7 point game up until the final 3 mins when OSU got two pick 6's to put the game away.

No clue if the committee will use common opponents to compare teams but so far UC has performed better against 2 of the 3 teams.

Really important for UC to get back on track against Tulsa next week and have a similar outcome to what we saw against UCF and Temple. 

Fick mentioned in his post game that these past two games they've had limited possessions so have to be more efficient and also have to make adjustments earlier than what they have. 

 

[Walter]

1 hour ago, John Anthony said:

This is where my frustration comes from.  Had UC dusted everyone, or at least, covered in their remaining games, I don’t think they would have needed that much help.

Maybe... They were never going to beat every team the way they beat Temple and UCF. Teams are going to try gimmicks and things they don't normally do.

Navy and Tulane were smart and ran the ball to shorten the game and try to keep the UC offense off the field. Navy ran 67 times, Tulane 43 times. Navy also passed 16 times. Which is crazy for them and the triple option offense. 

Fick mentioned in his post game that Navy is always tough to prepare for and there's usually a hang over the week after facing a triple option offense. He was spot on. 

[Walter]

 

[Walter]

 

[Walter]