Cincinnati @ USF

[CatsCatsCats]

Only if you don't feel Oregon St, Fresno and to a lesser extent Rutgers have any speed/athleticism. I'd without hesitation say the UC schedule has been at least as challenging as USF...

 

I wasn't questioning UC's schedule strength, I just don't know that those teams bring the amount of athleticism that USF will bring. Oregon State could be a good gauge, but I think after you get passed the Rogers brothers they aren't as quick as some of the other teams.

 

But, no I don't think that those three teams are as athletic as USF, when you look at all aspects of the game.

[swamprat]

I'm taking USF, Daniels looks to be a heck of a young quarterback. I think Cincinnati is overrated, so I'll say USF by 3. 24-21

BJ will be great, but this will only be his 3rd start. He may break all of the Big East records White and Grothe set. However, he ain't there yet.

 

He relies on his feet too much. That's cost him several sacks and one interception when he should have ate it. There are times when his arm strength, he has a cannon, plays against him and he doesn't get enough air under the ball. Last week he threw a pass on a line 30 years down field and skipped it off of the helmet of the safely on Carlton Mitchell, who had beat the safety. To gauge the velocity when it got there, the pass knocked the safety off of his feet. Had he put just a little air under it, Mitchell would have been off to the races. Potential is electric. He still has a ways to go though.

 

If BJ Daniels tears up the UC defense, like he did the Noles, I'll be shocked.

[swamprat]

Only if you don't feel Oregon St, Fresno and to a lesser extent Rutgers have any speed/athleticism. I'd without hesitation say the UC schedule has been at least as challenging as USF...

Since we don't really know how good FSU is, I'd say more challenging. 2 FCS schools and Western, leading into FSU and the Syracuse

[malachicrunch]

Just pointing out what the media has zeroed in on instead of actually learning about the team and what it does and doesn't do well...

 

Oh. pretty typical.

[swamprat]

I'm still not sure who I am picking in this one yet, but much like I have seen all season, the "experts" are way off on the strengths and weaknesses of this UC team outside of knowing Pike and Gilyard are studs and UC is ranked above tOSU....

All the experts have shown me, to this point, is that they know less about football, than we BGPers do.

[John Anthony]

USF has to taken advantage of home field. You have to throw a ton of blitz's at Pike and confuse him with the coverage. Take their passing game out of sync you have a strong chance of winning.

[SEMPERFIFALCON]

This should be a great game... I picked UC but could very easily see USF winning.

[gametime]

The only thing I am fully comfortable about in this one is Brian Kelly with almost two weeks to prepare a game plan. While I think Leavitt is a good coach, I feel he puts too much emphasis on emotion where BK has his teams very workman like in their approach...

[swamprat]

With that said, there is no doubt this is the toughest test for this UC team yet this year, and a USF win wouldn't surprise me one bit. The key for USF will be to not only pressure, but to get hits on Pike without him escaping Selvie and company. Knowing the new DC at USF very well, I just don't see him being aggressive on the front end, and instead sitting back and trying to force a few picks or fumbles. Tressey only likes to be in attack mode after the QB with a comfortable lead in obvious passing downs. If USF gets to Pike outside of that game situation it will be with a 4 and maybe 5 man rush against an O Line that has proven to be very solid so far.

Tresey has stayed true to the modus operandi you indicated when Leavitt hired him, a ball hawking defense that's soft between the 20s, but tightens up when you're inside your 20 and inside his. Lord knows he can yell and cuse with the best of them.

[swamprat]

Selvie and the rest of the DL is where I think USF has the speed and athleticism advantage. IF UC can't block them, they obviously won't be able to win.

 

I have worried about that the last two seasons as BK was left with a more Big 10 type OL from the Dantonio years, but now that UC has the more athletic spread type guys in place up front I'm not as concerned. I do agree that the game will likely be won or lost by UC based on that matchup...

The Bulls have a good defensive line. How good, I don't know, but they've forced 12 turnovers in the last 2 games (FSU and Syracuse). Jason Pierre-Paul may be every bit as good as George Selvie. FSU and the Cuse continued to double and triple up on George, leaving Pierre-Paul, Marshall, McClain, and Harris free to raise the devil in their backfields. When they took the double off, George was all over Ponder and Paulus. It's all about the front 4 and linebackers. I think the secondary is still suspect, even with Jerome Murphy and Nate Allen back there. Although the corner play as improved from last year, they have given up some big pass plays down field. UC may eat them up.

[CatsCatsCats]

The Bulls have a good defensive line. How good, I don't know, but they've forced 12 turnovers in the last 2 games (FSU and Syracuse). Jason Pierre-Paul may be every bit as good as George Selvie. FSU and the Cuse continued to double and triple up on George, leaving Pierre-Paul, Marshall, McClain, and Harris free to raise the devil in their backfields. When they took the double off, George was all over Ponder and Paulus. It's all about the front 4 and linebackers. I think the secondary is still suspect, even with Jerome Murphy and Nate Allen back there. Although the corner play as improved from last year, they have given up some big pass plays down field. UC may eat them up.

 

Pierre-Paul is the other one I was thinking about. It will be interesting to see what they can do against that UC O-Line. They may not need to rush LB's, if those guys can get after it.

[gametime]

Pierre-Paul is the other one I was thinking about. It will be interesting to see what they can do against that UC O-Line. They may not need to rush LB's, if those guys can get after it.

Tressey isn't going to send his LBs much at all unless USF is up 2 or 3 scores. It's just not his style, and he knows BK well enough to know if he does Pike will pick them apart underneath anyway. That's why I said the USF DL against the UC OL is so key...

[CatsCatsCats]

Tressey isn't going to send his LBs much at all unless USF is up 2 or 3 scores. It's just not his style, and he knows BK well enough to know if he does Pike will pick them apart underneath anyway. That's why I said the USF DL against the UC OL is so key...

 

When you recruit speed the to DL, that's not a bad strategy. Miami made a living off that when Shannon was the DC. Ideally, you would like your front 4 to be able to get enough pressure for the LB's and DB's to be able to play assignment football.

[gametime]

When you recruit speed the to DL, that's not a bad strategy. Miami made a living off that when Shannon was the DC. Ideally, you would like your front 4 to be able to get enough pressure for the LB's and DB's to be able to play assignment football.

It will be interesting to see how much BK goes with the 5 wide quick snap O that was used to put Rutgers on their heels. It's a lot more of a gamble aginst the USF front 4, but it would force Leavitt and Tressey to adjust and move out of their comfort zone quite a bit...

[CatsCatsCats]

It will be interesting to see how much BK goes with the 5 wide quick snap O that was used to put Rutgers on their heels. It's a lot more of a gamble aginst the USF front 4, but it would force Leavitt and Tressey to adjust and move out of their comfort zone quite a bit...

 

True. One of the best ways to slow a quick DL down is to keep them off balance.