Cincinnati: What Did We Learn?

Decked said:
Cincy looked pretty damn small from the field.
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I attribute that to the Big 12 vs. Big 10 difference. That was the most obvious adjustment we needed when we switched conferences. I'll always remember Cameron Meredith at 275 lbs. being put in at DT for the Big 10 title game against Wisconsin and getting pushed around like a little kid.

I do think Cincy would fall somewhere in the middle of the Big 10 if they can keep their QB healthy. That QB run game is unusual in the conference and he's got a strong enough arm to give any defense some headaches. Solid win for us last night.
 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Here's a question: I was going a little crazy when the DL wasn't getting ANY penetration on those last Cincy drives. They'd certainly been getting into the backfield earlier in the game. But I'm wondering if they were instructed to hold the line and not risk over-pursuing which leaves the big holes that Sorsby was running through. Given that broken plays were Cincy's best weapon, it might have been a legit strategy
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My best guess is yes. Better to keep him in the pocket and try to collapse it, than do what they were doing earlier and getting up field but out of the rush lanes. That was creating gaps the QB easily took advantage of.
 
Mush Rush!

You never get deeper than the QB. Bo used it to perfection back in the day (of course he was mean and said mean things...but anyway)

The QB was their only offense. That team sucks. Their WR's are brutal.
 
Mavric said:
Jeudy graded terribly per PFF: 30.6 against the run, 35.5 overall. That's "never see the field" level stuff.
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Mavric said:
Javin Wright graded pretty mediocre overall, across all categories, while playing by far the most snaps.
Shavers graded out REALLY well.
McGahee also graded out at a "never see the field" level. Saw some comments going in about a lot of misses assignments/guessing. Unfortunate as he looked really good down the stretch last year.
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These all pretty much match what I saw. DB mentioned he was going to rewatch before coming to conclusions, but felt like we stuck with a planned DL rotation when play on the field did not justify it and I think he had Jeudy in mind. Wright blew up a screen, but every other time I noticed him it was not good. Wondering if Shavers was on a pitch count with the hammy. I really only noticed one play for McGahee, and it was indeed a doozy of a missed assignment.
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Maybe someone else has backside contain here but I don't think so, and the WR has had the ball for 5 steps at this point.
 
SuperBigFan69 said:
Mush Rush!

You never get deeper than the QB. Bo used it to perfection back in the day (of course he was mean and said mean things...but anyway)

The QB was their only offense. That team sucks. Their WR's are brutal.
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That play Javon Wright (I think it was him) had on the stunt/blitz was awful.

He barely got pushed by the guard with one hand and inexplicably just cruised on past the QB. It’s like he expected the QB to just kinda drop back another step or two and say here I am tackle me!! Way too out of control and led to a first down.
 
Being the first game, I expected some mistakes. Cinncy is a pretty good team. We have to clean up mistakes for sure. But I am positive on what I saw last night. It will get better and we didn’t lose a close one. I saw some fight, grit and effort. The trajectory is headed in the right direction.

Im not going to nitpick this team as I’ve done in years past. These kids and coaches are working hard to re establish the culture and get the team back on track.

GBR!!
 
Archy1221 said:
That play Javon Wright (I think it was him) had on the stunt/blitz was awful.

He barely got pushed by the guard with one hand and inexplicably just cruised on past the QB. It’s like he expected the QB to just kinda drop back another step or two and say here I am tackle me!! Way too out of control and led to a first down.
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Right is sooooo tall, I think he might have problems breaking down to make a play like that. I don't know, but it was bad.
 
Guy Chamberlin said:
I know fans will complain about the playcalling every single game, but Holgorson called pretty much the game we've been asking for, with a 100 yard rusher who looked solid for all four quarters and a high efficiency Raiola spreading it around to multiple weapons.
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Agreed. I thought "play calling" was great.

I put that in quotes because what a lot of fans are complaining about when they cite play calling is actually play mix, and not necessarily situational stuff. They're two different things for me. Both were good last night, IMO.

As an aside, you just can't underscore enough how costly that false start on their 1 yard line was. If that winds up being a touchdown, we probably cover the Vegas spread of 6.5 and the game doesn't wind up feeling as close as it wound up feeling.

Lutovsky also flattened a guy after the whistle in the 1st quarter which, if I recall correctly, completely killed that drive. We've been plagued with stuff like tight ends false starting unnecessarily, linemen committing dead ball fouls, and a whole host of other dumb s*** like that for so long. Make it stop.
 
Echo what has been said by many.

- Still lack that killer instinct. Up 13-3 at half, get the ball to start the 3Q. Getting a TD drive there would have effectively ended the game. Instead we give them a short field off a failed 4th down and they score to make it a ball game. Or just get one more 1st down at the end of the game and ice it, but we go backwards.

- I get they were running a cover 3 and not giving up deep stuff, but 5.8 ypa passing is brutal. (Last year for the season we averaged 6.8 ypa, good for 96th in the country. 5.8 ypa would have been good 131st.) You have to find a way to either get the ball downfield or have guys break some tackles and get more chunk plays in the passing game.

- Run defense was baaaaaaaaad. GIving up 7.0 ypc to a Big 12 team is not good at all. Yes, they have a QB that was a good runner, but we gave up 6.6 ypc to everyone not named Sorsby.

- And finally Rhule's talking game, our video team, and our social media team is way better than our actual football team.
 
Regarding the playcalling, one thing I really loved seeing was Holgerson content running the ball consecutively until it was stuffed.

There was the drive early in the 2nd quarter where we were gashing them consecutively for at minimum 4-5 yards per rush, at least 3 or maybe 4 plays in a row before the defense stopped the run for no gain. I really don’t think I can remember seeing that for years.

I’m sure it happened more recently but it reminded me of student body left/right with Ameer against PSU in 2012.
 
SuperBigFan69 said:
The next two games should have been the first two games but with that said...3-0 with an undefeated Michigan team coming to Lincoln will be fun.

Win that and at 4-0 NU is probably sitting around the top 20-15 or so.
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The team tonight has no chance of beating Michigan. The game will have some hype, but this "Playoff dark horse" and "Top 15-20 if we beat Michigan is what hurts us. The product I saw last night is a 6-6 season due to how manageable the schedule is.

Positives

- EJ looks good. Shifty, doesn't fumble.
- TE #1 looks dependable
- We didn't hear about C Wright in the secondary. Why? Because apparently he graded out at 95+ he was so good.
- Probably most notable - we won a close game, through adversity, and it was the first game of the season. When was the last 1st game win by 3 or less against a power 4 type school? You have to go back to the 20th century (2013 Wyoming was a three point win but not a Power X type school I'm speaking to).

Negatives

- We beat a team, in an effectual home game, who will likely not make a bowl and fire their coach...by three points. Three points after winning the turnover margin by +2 and their coaches going away from the 2nd grade game plan we had ZERO answer for - QB just run the ball up field.
- The DLine was not good. If you have no moves to get by you linemen, push them back. We could do neither.
- Behind the Line, there were too many times the LBs looked unnatural. They got shook too easily by a single RB move, their pass rush was stiff.
- 57 Pritchett did the exact same thing that has been his achilles heel in offseason play. False starts.
- Dylan still looks lazy and casual when dropping back. There's almost a lack of purpose and crispness. Hard to describe.
- We have no depth in key areas like RB
- Playcalling looked pedestrian on Offense; Defensive blitzes to generate pressure yielded very little
- Where's the real speed? Especially on O; quick toss sweeps, anything to the edge...there was nothing that looked fast.
- Hartzog has one use case - go get the ball in zone coverage. That's it. He's not fast. He's not shifty and burstable. He's small. But he does have a nose for the ball. If he's in man, his WR will have a record day.
 
Savage Husker said:
Regarding the playcalling, one thing I really loved seeing was Holgerson content running the ball consecutively until it was stuffed.

There was the drive early in the 2nd quarter where we were gashing them consecutively for at minimum 4-5 yards per rush, at least 3 or maybe 4 plays in a row before the defense stopped the run for no gain. I really don’t think I can remember seeing that for years.

I’m sure it happened more recently but it reminded me of student body left/right with Ameer against PSU in 2012.
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I’m pretty sure it was the goal line series where Pritchett false started and shot us in the foot, but I remember them running two consecutive off tackle power runs from the I formation right after it gashed them for the first time at one point.

I actually thought the play calling was quite good. A lot of the running game being stuck in neutral was the OL not *quite* being quick enough to their spot to nail their blocks or EJ making a bad cut, but the scheme was good and the big play opportunities are there. DB thought so during the game as well.

That said they were uber conservative and the final drive playcalling was atrocious. Bad clock management to boot trying to play not to lose at the end, too.

Overall feel good about the offense and scheme but that endgame stuff needs tightened up ASAP.
 
Did I think at any point Cincinnati would take over the game- No.

Did I think at any point we would take over the game-Yes

The takeaway- it was our game to lose and we made the few big plays we had to, but we’re still playing to not lose-rather than win. The only improvements were special teams and a dog of a running back. I’ll take 1-0, but I’m not too bullish. And Cincy sucks
 
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