Thoughts on the Cincy game

[JasonB]

- Cincy is the best team in the league. No question. Both lines are really good, secondary is fantastic, and they have enough players on offense. Rooting for them to run the table. Legit top ten team. Tons of credit to them. This game was visibility in what we need to to become a great program, not just a good team.
- Getting a couple of other things out of the way... the clock management at the end of the first half was ,of course, a disaster. I don't think it mattered in the grand scheme of things, but they had two time outs, there is no reason not to burn one at 20+ seconds at the end of the last play. And definitely no reason when you see Shane starting to audible at 12. I get it, that you don't want to give their staff a timeout to rest and think about what they want to draw up, but Dykes and Shane both had brain farts there.
- The crowd booed heavily when we kicked a field goal when down 18. It was the right decision. The horrible call was third down when Shane kept it on the zone read. The only reason you call that on third is if you are going for it on fourth. If you were going to kick a field goal, that has to be a pass play.
- Getting on with it... Cincy's offense showed you what an impact a good WR has. They got their best WR back and it opened up the running game, made the entire offense more effective. Gray is good and will be better. But he is no Roberson, yet. Losing him and TJ makes a huge difference against a really good defense.
- Cincy played with one safety a lot because of their secondary. They had an extra player in the box to take away the run, and they pressed our receivers tight with the thought that their pass rush could get to Shane before we got open. It was a great defensive strategy, and Cincy is one of the few teams in the country who can pull it off. Once Gray went out, you could see it was going to be blitz city on Shane. Made the game a nightmare.
- Interesting try by the staff - because of how they played Gray in the first half, first play of the second half, they put Gray in motion to get him a little head start against the press. Unfortunately, they played off on that down, and he was well covered on the deep throw down the middle. It would have been nice to see that adjustment more often.
- Lots of mistakes in the game, with drops and the coaching staff and penalties... but really, when you line up against a good team in the red zone, you have to be able to run the football. Our o-line, for whatever reason, has unexpectedly regressed since last year. 71 has been called for more penalties this year than I ever remember in the past. And there is really no dominating push up front. Our oline isn't bad, they aren't getting destroyed, but they also aren't winning at the line of scrimmage. They are just kind of meh. A real surprise, a disappointment. To take that next step forward as a great offense that can succeed against really good defenses, we need a better offensive line.
- We thought we had a bunch of playmakers coming into the season... I think what we are seeing is that the depth isn't as ready as we were hoping it was.
- Our defensive secondary is really pretty good. Good corners, 1 is great, and we have a talented mix of safeties.
- Fox position is again a challenge. That position has to be a great athlete, and we just aren't there yet.
- At DE, Coxe and Paul have the frame to both be able to take on a blocker and the athleticism to win. 55 and 38 just aren't really big enough. Phillips definitely isn't big enough. We need to figure out if we are a 4-3 or a 3-4 and recruit for it, because right now we have tweeners. DE that are too small to play on the line in a 3-4, but not athletic enough to play the hybrid end/LB position in that 3-4. I wish we would run a 4 man front so that we could play a 4-2-5 nickel. Instead, we aren't good enough to run a 3-3-5 or a 3-4.
- At DT, if 57 and 40 were fully healthy, that is a hell of a tandem. If 57 comes back next year and is fit, that will be the best pair in the league. And we have a bunch of players who will be way above average as second and third teamers.

[Donnell88]

Great insights, as usual. Just wanted to add that we've been told our offensive line is bigger, stronger and more athletic than before - but I don't see much of a difference. Also, the dropped passes - it will have a negative impact on Kylen Granson's draft status and it really deflates the offence when our go-to receivers have butter fingers. We've seen this before - it's like a pandemic, one player suffers from it and it seems to infect his teammates.
Also, I hate the way the game started - instead of taking a knee in the end zone on the opening kickoff, we run it out and get flagged for holding. Now we're starting on the 10-yard line, instead of the 25.
On our second possession, it's three and out, then on the punt, we ignore the fair-catch signal and get flagged for another 15 yards, giving Cincinnati great field position at midfield and momentum they maintained throughout the first quarter.

[HubbaHubba]

Agree with all of Jason's post except he must of been watching a different secondary than I was. They looked confused, couldn't keep up with the receivers and when they did figure out which receiver to cover got faked out of their socks multiple times. If Cincy would have had a better passer we would have been even more humiliated.

[Terry Webster]

One of the things that stuck out to me what Cinci's overall speed on defense. They really are fast.

[JasonB]

I think the most disappointing aspect to me on the team is the OL.

We have a 4 year starter, two three year starters, a two year starter, and an Auburn transfer.

We should be getting more out of that unit.

[BUS]

Two cents for two thoughts.

Oline is not good and has no push for the running game. Not talking just about this game - All this year.

Two, This D scheme does not work with the people we have. Please go to four , two and nichel.

BEAT navy.

[SMU_Alum11]

I think the most disappointing aspect to me on the team is the OL.

We have a 4 year starter, two three year starters, a two year starter, and an Auburn transfer.

We should be getting more out of that unit.

Bad coaching maybe? I mean by all accounts of your breakdown, it would suggest that we should do better.

[JasonB]

I think the most disappointing aspect to me on the team is the OL.

We have a 4 year starter, two three year starters, a two year starter, and an Auburn transfer.

We should be getting more out of that unit.

Bad coaching maybe? I mean by all accounts of your breakdown, it would suggest that we should do better.

I don't know.

There are so many things floating around - no spring practice, less offseason weight room work, less physical practices - that can impact the offensive and defensive lines. I don't know if we can just throw it on the coaching in this very, very weird year. I mean, look at Navy. What the hell. They are getting absolutely abused on both sides of the line in some of these games, and we never, ever see that.

[docabel]

I think the most disappointing aspect to me on the team is the OL.

We have a 4 year starter, two three year starters, a two year starter, and an Auburn transfer.

We should be getting more out of that unit.

Bad coaching maybe? I mean by all accounts of your breakdown, it would suggest that we should do better.

I don't know.

There are so many things floating around - no spring practice, less offseason weight room work, less physical practices - that can impact the offensive and defensive lines. I don't know if we can just throw it on the coaching in this very, very weird year. I mean, look at Navy. What the hell. They are getting absolutely abused on both sides of the line in some of these games, and we never, ever see that.

I remember hearing during Navy's first game vs BYU that Navy had almost no live/hitting practices leading up to the game (aka the June Jones approach) and especially for an offense like the triple option that was a recipe for disaster.

[ojaipony]

Agree with everything here. Those dropped passes were huge. 14 points during critical moments in the game were wiped away. Cannot be over stated.

[ponyboy]

It was a winnable game. I’m proud of that. I have no idea how they scored their final two touchdowns because I’d turned the game off by then. They were the better team. Great benchmark. I am pissed at how they used intimidation — I would be pinning that on the bulletin board for next year.

[ponyboy]

Oh, and I was shocked at how well we played their run. Except when their QB took off with the ball.

[Terry Webster]

I bet if we play them again (which would be the championship) we won't drop 10 passes.

[SMU_Alum11]

I think the most disappointing aspect to me on the team is the OL.

We have a 4 year starter, two three year starters, a two year starter, and an Auburn transfer.

We should be getting more out of that unit.

Bad coaching maybe? I mean by all accounts of your breakdown, it would suggest that we should do better.

I don't know.

There are so many things floating around - no spring practice, less offseason weight room work, less physical practices - that can impact the offensive and defensive lines. I don't know if we can just throw it on the coaching in this very, very weird year. I mean, look at Navy. What the hell. They are getting absolutely abused on both sides of the line in some of these games, and we never, ever see that.

Very true that its a weird year but you would think every team suffers from that. I understand Navy since they're only choice is diamond in the ruff recruiting then hopefully building them up through practices, etc. For us against Cincy, you would think covid would be an equal disadvantage. Maybe it's like what you and PP pointed out that they're raw measurables are what beat us: taller and bigger then throw in drop passes.

[JasonB]

Our approach to practice has been much more conservative compared to other teams.

One one hand, it has kept the team Covid free.

On the other hand, there isn't as much contact, and there isn't a scout team available for simulating the opponent.

We aren't at the extreme Navy was at before the season started, but we are closer to that extreme than some of the colleges that have been going all out.