Happy Thanksgiving!

News and Notes:

• I started my Thanksgiving day by running in the 100th annual Thanksgiving Day 10k Race.  It's a Cincinnati tradition and remarkable to have a 100th annual anything.
• The Bearcats basketball team lost to Gonzaga 61-59 in an OT heartbreaker.  While the loss is disappointing, the team had a good showing with two wins over ranked opponents.
• Tony Pike returns as the starter tomorrow when the Bearcats take on Illinois at sold out Nippert Stadium at noon.  The team needs a decisive win for the nationally televised audience watching on ABC.  I'll be there and can hardly wait!
• I don't know much about Illinois except that they have been inconsistent and have a poor pass defense.  UC's high powered attack should be able to take advantage, and hopefully the defense can return to early season form.
• UC once again needs Texas, Alabama, or Florida to lose this weekend to have a shot at the national championship game.  That doesn't look likely as all are favored by double-digits, although Texas A&M is giving Texas a game right now.  UC should be able to pass TCU in the BCS standings based on their strength of schedule if they win out.
• Next weeks game at Pitt is at noon.  That makes it tough to road-trip up there the day of the game, but there are cheap hotels in the suburbs with vacancies Friday night and tickets are still available for $30.  This could be the biggest game in UC history.
• Speaking of Pitt tickets, I got mine in the mail yesterday.  I thought they might be decent since it was the block allocated to UC but actually they suck.  I will be in row GG of section 505 in the corner of the stadium.  Oh well, at least I'll be there.

Bearcats Basketball wins again

For the second consecutive night the Cincinnati basketball team beat a top 25 ranked team in the Maui Invitation.  When's the last time that happened?  This time it was a 69-57 win over #22 Maryland in which the Bearcats once again outhustled the competition.

Yancy Gates led UC with 17 points and recorded a double-double for the second night in a row.  Deonta Vaughn had 16.

UC plays in the championship game tomorrow against the winner of the Gonzaga-Wisconsin game.  It's a great start for UC!!  I expect the Bearcats to start getting votes in the polls, and maybe even appear in the top 25 if they win tomorrow.

Some non-football news, Bearcats basketball beats #24 Vanderbilt

With the excitement around the success of the football team, I haven't talked at all about the men's basketball team.  This year's team appears to be the most talented of the Mick Cronin era.  The past couple of seasons have led to some grumbling about whether Cronin is the man for the job, so with this level of talent anything less than a post-season appearance would be a disappointment that would fuel that fire.

After a lackluster opening win against Prarie View A&M and an easy win against an overmatched Toledo team, the Bearcats notched an impressive 67-58 victory over #24 Vanderbilt in the Maui Invitational.  The Bearcats didn't shoot well, but played a physical, high-intensity game and dominated Vanderbilt defensively and on the glass.  Video highlights are here.

This is a great win for UC, and could set the tone for a nice season.  Last year the team started with a good record, but was criticized for the cupcake schedule and didn't look ready for Big East play.  This season, they have a few more marquee matchups which should get them ready for conference play and help their resume come tournament selection time.  Another high-caliber matchup is tonight when the Bearcats take on #21 Maryland in the Maui Invitational semi-finals.  The game is on ESPN at 7pm eastern.

WVU@UC thoughts

Another game that was closer than it should have been, but a win is a win, and the Bearcats are 10-0 for the first time ever.  This is also the 3rd 10-win season in a row, after having only 1 prior to Brian Kelly's arrival.

• The fans arrived early, and Nippert was loud to start.  There were still times when the fans seem to sit on their hands when they should have been on their feet.  I frequently found that when WVU had a 3rd down, there were only a handful of people in my section on their feet screaming DE-FENSE. 
• I got a chance to sit in the student section for the start of the 2nd half and the energy there was incredible.  Hopefully the entire stadium will eventually be like that.
• I thought UC played their worst football of the year in the 1st half.  Turnovers, penalties, and missed opportunities abounded.
• Zach Collaros seemed off.  I don't know if its just that teams have some film and know how to defend him now, if its the pressure of having Tony Pike healthy and looking over his shoulder, or what, but he didn't see open receivers and made some bad throws, including a very uncharacteristic interception into double-coverage.
• I think the Isiah Peah stretch was a touchdown, but I'm surprised the call on the field was overturned.  The video replays that I've seen don't seem indisputable.  It was a stupid play.  It was 1st & goal early in the game.  No reason to risk a turnover as Pead did.
• Other than that, Pead had a FANTASTIC game.  He has speed and is shifty.  If the weather turns foul, UC will need to rely more on their running game.
• The defense didn't always look solid, but came up with the plays when they had to.
• I was impressed with the WVU fans at the game.  They had an excellent turnout and were very loud.  That being said, GO TO THE PITT GAME!!  Call 1-877-CATS-TIX to see if UC still has any of their allotment left, or buy tickets online thru Pitt.  Tickets are only $30 and its only a 4.5 hour drive.  A big turnout would help inspire the team and show the bowls that UC fans will travel.
• Extended highlights here:
  
  
  

The invasion has begun

I left work in downtown Cincinnati a little early today, and saw a lot of West Virginia fans checking into hotels and walking the streets wearing their WVU gear.

West Virginia fans travel well and this game sold out a long time ago, leading me to believe that many of those tickets were purchased by WVU fans. That was the case two years ago when the Mountaineers played at Nippert. I was at that game and would guess that at least 5,000 of the fans were cheering for WVU. Bearcat fans need to rise up and drown them out!

COME EARLY, BE LOUD, WEAR RED!!!

Some fan group are planning a "Brian Kelly" chant at the end of the first quarter. If you are there, join in!

Defensive Deficiency? I Disagree.

Alot has been made of the high score posted by Connecticut in Cincinnati's 47-45 win last Saturday. Varied sites are saying things like UConn "picked apart" the UC defense, and that the game "exposed the warts, moles and scar tissue on the Big East's beauty queen". It has led to one writer from Foxsports picking West Virginia as his "Upset pick of the week" at the end of this article.

I disagree.

The belief is that the large, physical UConn offensive line wore down the smaller, quicker UC defense with their grind-it-out style of play. That would probably mean a huge time of possession advantage for UConn (similar to the Fresno State game), right? Um no. Actually UC led time of possession 32:45 to 27:15. A few long, sustained UConn drives that wore down the defense? No again. Connecticut had only one scoring drive greater than 2 minutes in the 2nd half (6:42) and only 2 in the 1st half (4:36 & 4:25).

So what's the problem then? Very simply, UConn made some very big plays in the 2nd half. Jordan Todman had a 46-yd TD run, Robert McClain had an 87-yd TD punt return, and Zach Frazer completed a 52-yd pass to Khalif Moore that setup a 1-yd run by Todman. Those 3 drives took 0:41, 0:00, and 1:30, respectively. They accounted for 22 of UConn's 35 second half points. Without those big plays, UConn still might have scored, but it would have taken more time and prevented them from having the number of possessions needed to get back into the game.

The Cincinnati defense made mistakes, but it is not a hidden flaw that has been exposed. It's a few missed assignments that gave way to the big play and a couple of big plays often result in an upset. "Everything that happened can be fixed. It was just one guy out of position here, two guys out of position there." Bearcats linebacker Marcus Waugh said. The UC defense has generally not been burned by big plays prior to the UConn game. I am sure that the defense and special teams had a good week of practice and are eager to prove that last week's game was a fluke.

While a big, physical offensive attack isn't an ideal matchup for the Bearcats defense, they proved against Fresno State that they can win against it. This week's matchup against West Virginia features an offense that relies more on speed than power, which should be a more favorable matchup for UC.

Cincy Committed to Kelly

If you are on Facebook check out this group called "Cincy Committed to Kelly". They are selling red towels that read the same at locations around Cincinnati, and around campus prior to games.

The description from the group page says:
We've all seen how great of a coach Brian Kelly is. Let's show our support for him! Purchase a Cincy Committed to Kelly towel! All proceeds of your $3 donation benefits the Jefferson Sports Complex and the Down Syndrome Association of Cincinnati.

Thanks to our sponsors. Towels can be purchased at the following locations:
- Montgomery Inn Montgomery
- Montgomery Inn Boathouse
- Holy Grail in Clifton,
- Nothing but Net on Mt Caramel Tobasco Road
- Willie's Sports Cafe in Montgomery
- Willie's Sports Cafe Covington
- Kuhl's Hot Sports Spot - 7860 Beechmont Avenue
- Planet Collectibles inside the Beechmont Mall

A post on the group page also indicates that there will be a "Brian Kelly" chant at the end of the 1st quarter of tonight's game vs. West Virginia. If you are there, join in!

Collaros featured on ESPN

ESPN did a feature on backup QBs who have stepped in for injured starters, and featured Zach Collaros.

Game opening video

If you haven't seen a game at Nippert stadium in awhile, check out the videos below. They play them on the big screen right before the team takes the field. They usually play one of the two below, but modify them slightly each game to include recent highlights. The first is from the game vs SE Missouri, the 2nd from last weeks game against Connecticut.

Pike not ready, Collaros to start vs West Virginia

After stating on Monday that Tony Pike would start at QB for the Bearcats on Friday night against West Virigina if he was healthy, coach Brian Kelly announced today that Pike was not ready, so Zach Collaros will start instead. Since Collaros has played so well in relief, "it's allowed us now to set the bar a little bit higher for Tony in a sense that now we don't have to put him back there until he's 100 percent. He's not quite there yet." Kelly said.

Kelly said that Pike would get into the game is some capacity, but wouldn't disclose his role, saying he wanted to keep it a secret as "a tactical advantage." Regardless of who plays QB the Bearcats offense has operated at a consistently high level. For a team striving for a Big East title, undefeated season, and possible national championship game it's a nice problem to have.

Kelly to Notre Dame speculation heating up

I had hoped not to need to post about this at least until the regular season is over, but with Notre Dame's stunning loss to Navy last weekend, the speculation is heating up that Brian Kelly will leave Cincinnati to become the head coach at Notre Dame.

First, there is no guarantee that Charlie Weis will be fired.  He has done a good job of improving ND's recruiting, the results just aren't visible on the field.  Hopefully the recruiting success and perhaps a shakeup of the assistant coaching staff would be enough to save Weis's job.

Second, there is no guarantee that Brian Kelly wants to leave Cincinnati for any job.  True, there are many other schools seen as football elites, while the Bearcats are still trying to earn respectand build their program.  But Kelly has said that he enjoys building a program, that he enjoys marketing the program, and that he is happy with the support he has gotten from the fans and the administration.  If Kelly were to leave UC for ND, he would be walking into a high-pressure spotlight where he would be following in the footsteps of legends.  If he stays at UC, he can be the legend.  I wouldn't be surprised to one day see a UC game at Brian Kelly stadium if he sticks around.  That won't happen in South Bend.

There are a bunch of articles, blog posts, and message board threads popping up about this.  Here are a few:

Kelly could be Irish’s answer

Irish need to speed it up if they want to replace Weis

Notre Dame, Say Goodbye To Charlie Weis and Meet Brian Kelly

Pike to start versus West Virginia

At his Tuesday afternoon press conference, Bearcats coach Brian Kelly indicated that Tony Pike will start at quarterback for UC against West Virginia this Friday, provided that he is healthy.

Kelly said that it was a difficult decision, but that he chose Pike because his entire body of work outweighs what Zach Collaros has done in relief the past 3 weeks.

I agree with this decision to a point. On one hand, a starter who is performing as well as Pike was before his injury should not lose his job because of injury. On the other hand, the team is on a roll and very comfortable with Collaros. I would hate to see another QB change disrupt team chemistry. I don't think it will.

What I would love to see is an offense like Florida used to run with Tim Tebow and Chris Leak where both Pike and Collaros would share time behind center. This would force defenses to game plan for both quarterbacks and switch tactics on the fly. You could even line both of them up side-by-side in the shotgun. The defense wouldn't know who was getting the ball. If it was Pike, Collaros is athletic enough to be an effective receiver out of the backfield. If Collaros took the snap, defenses wouldn't know if he was going to run or pass.

Brian Kelly has often been called an offensive genius. I can't see him completely benching Zach Collaros with the way he's played and the versatility he brings to the position. We will find out on Friday.

Cincinnati 47 Connecticut 45 Highlights

Some extended highlights from the #5 Bearcat's win Saturday night at Nippert.

Too close for comfort

UC escaped with a wild 47-45 win versus Connecticut on Saturday. In a weekend that saw #4 Iowa and #8 Oregon lose, Cincinnati was fortunate to get a win.

The atmosphere at Nippert stadium was excellent. As always, fans were asked to "come early, be loud, wear black" and they did all of those things. Playing in primetime on ABC made for an electric environment. However, as the game wore on and Connecticut kept coming up with big plays in the 2nd half, you could feel the energy ebb as fans grew nervous. After the game, it was reported, that Brian Kelly had to give his players a pep talk to remind them that they had won and should celebrate. Maybe the fans need a pep talk too. I've never seen a crowd depart a stadium in such a sullen mood after a win. Everyone has become so used to the Bearcats cruising to victory, that we weren't ready to enjoy a hard-fought win.

The UC offense was spectacular with 711 yards of total offense and no turnovers. Zach Collaros had a brilliant performance. Mardy Gilyard was unstoppable and Armon Binns continues to make teams pay for covering him one-on-one. Credit also has to go to Jake Rogers, who has been shaky at times. He was perfect and accounted for 17 points on 4 field goals and 5 extra points, some in pressure situations.

The defense looked good for a half, but Connecticut beat them up in the 2nd half. You have to give UConn credit--even down 20 in the 2nd half they never quit. This is a good team that has now lost 5 games by a combined 15 points. The Huskies have a huge offensive line--their smallest starter is 315 pounds--and a bruising fullback that wore down the smaller quicker Bearcats defense. Even from my seats in the upper deck I could tell that some of the Connecticut lineman were the size of a small mountain.

Even championship teams have some close games, and winning those games makes you better. "It was actually good for our guys," Kelly said. "Because we hadn't been in this kind of adversity all year." So now the players, and fans, have a short week to prepare for West Virginia on Friday, which struggled to get their offense going in a win over Louisville this weekend. I imagine it will be a spirited week of practice for the Bearcats. The close game against UConn should refocus the team and coaches, especially on defense, going into the final three games. It couldn't have come at a better time.

Games of the week

Besides the high rankings and national attention that UC has received, one big difference for me as a fan this season has been the fact that I am much more interested in the outcome of other top 25 games. In previous seasons, I rooted for teams in Big East games that impacted Cincinnati, but that was about it. Now I look at all the top teams, which has been fun.

So besides UC, what teams do Bearcat fans need to root for this weekend? The Bearcats are #5 in the BCS rankings, which is composed of #5 in Harris poll, #7 in coaches poll, #5 in computer rankings (5,5,7,5). Here are games that could affect Cincinnati's standings in the polls and computer rankings

-Boise State (7,4,5,8) @ Louisiana Tech--Boise is becoming less of a threat to bump UC, as their weak schedule is causing their computer ranking to fall.

-Syracuse @ Pittsburgh (13,15,14,14)--Pitt, like UC, needs to keep winning to help raise the stature of the Big East in the eyes of voters.

-Texas (2,2,2,3) @ Central Florida--A loss by any of the other undefeated teams helps UC. This would be a huge one, but is unlikely.

-Iowa (4,7,6,2) @ Northwestern--Iowa is a huge threat to UC. If only 3 teams go undefeated and Iowa and Cincy are two of them, Iowa likely gets the nod over UC for the chance to play for the national championship. This is a game that Iowa should win, but they haven't dominated anybody and anything can happen in conference play.

-Oregon (8,8,8,8) @ Stanford--Oregon is hot right now and attracting a lot of attention. Their loss to Boise State will keep them behind Boise and UC, for now.

-Alabama (3,3,3,2) @ LSU (9,9,9,9)--This game could have a huge impact on the national championship. If LSU wins out it would knock both Florida and Alabama out of contention for a spot in the title game, and open a spot for a non-SEC team, unless LSU leapfrogs everyone for the spot.

-TCU (6,6,4,6) @ San Diego State--TCU has been coming on like a freight train, and thanks to alot of love from the coaches (which UC doesn't get), trails the Bearcats by only 0.002 points in the BCS standings.

- Florida (1,1,1,1) @ Vanderbilt--Like Texas, Florida isn't likely to lose this one, but it would really open things up if they did.

Vote early, vote often, vote Bearcats!

ABC Coverage Map for Connecticut @ Cincinnati

It seems that ABC is making UConn @ UC their top game Saturday night.  They are sending their #1 broadcast team of Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, & Lisa Salters to Nippert to cover the game. 

Here is the coverage map for the game. 

While it seems the UC game is being shown to a small percentage of the country geographically, on a population basis, 46% of the country will get UConn @ Cincy, 35% will see Oklahoma @ Nebraska, and 19% will get USC @ Arizona State.  Not bad, but I would like for more voters and fans in SEC and Big 10 country to see the UC game.  UC needs a strong performance on a national stage to overcome the bias in the polls.

Cincinnati Football Tickets available

The UConn @ Cincinnati game this Saturday at 8pm was originally listed as a sellout, but UConn has returned their allotment, so tickets are now available.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.CATSTIX.com, by phone at 1-877-CATS-TIX, or in person at the Athletics Ticket Office in the Richard E. Lindner Athletics Center in Varsity Village. It's going to be a beautiful night for football. Let's sell this out for the national TV audience.

In addition, UC has received their allotment of tickets for the final game of the season at Pitt. This game may decide the Big East championship and possibly UC's undefeated season. These tickets may be ordered by calling 1-877-CATS-TIX, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. through 6 p.m. Tickets are only $30 and its only a 4.5 hour drive (287 miles) from the UC campus to Heinz field in Pittsburgh. If you don't want to drive, UC is offering two bus trips through Provident travel. One is an overnighter, the other is not. Details are here.

I already have my tickets and would love to see Bearcat fans buy the entire allotment we've been given and more. Additional tickets are still available for $30 through the Pitt website. Let's make this a home game!!

UC @ Syracuse highlights

Here are some extended highlights from UC's win over Syracuse.

Bearcats in primetime vs UConn

I have been absolutely buried at work and haven't posted in awhile. Things are easing up now, so hopefully I can be more active here.

This weeks game time between UC and UConn was dependent on the schedule makers at ABC/ESPN. On Sunday they announced that the game will be regionally televised on ABC at 8pm EST. Other games to be televised at the same time on ABC are #12 USC @ Arizona St, and #24 Oklahoma @ Nebraska.

Hopefully at least a third of the country will get to see the UC game. With a dominant performance the Bearcats have a chance to show alot of people still unfamiliar with them how good they are. The following week UC can further boost their profile with a nationally televised game on ESPN2 on Friday night when they host West Virginia.

This Saturday's game is a "blackout" game, so: Come early, be loud, wear black.