Belk Bowl Summary: Bearcats Pasted By North Carolina 39-17

Dec 28, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels linebacker Norkeithus Otis (8) sacks Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendon Kay (11) during the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

That was embarrassing. North Carolina hit Cincinnati in the mouth early and ground them into the ground as this game wore on. It was not a fun one for Bearcats fans. Here’s a breakdown of the game.

What Worked?

• The defense in general. Cincinnati held an explosive Tar Heels offense to just 343 yards this afternoon. That was impressive. But they were hampered by an offense that couldn’t give them any rest on the sidelines and a special teams unit that forced them to play close to their own goal line. If either of those units had performed at an average level, Cincinnati’s defense wouldn’t have surrendered 32 points in the Belk Bowl.

What Didn’t?

• Let’s start with the pass protection. Clearly the offensive line was reeling from the losses of seniors Austen Bujnoch and Sam Longo. But they had to play better than they did this afternoon. Outside of Cory Keebler, their replacements weren’t exactly new to the role. Cureton had split time at left guard and Parker Ehinger was the starting right tackle before moving over to guard today. They weren’t that terribly inexperienced yet allowed Kay to get sacked several times today and caused a safety.
• Even though his offensive line gave him little protection, Brendon Kay did himself little favors by holding onto the football for seemingly days. Receivers were running open underneath but for whatever reason he didn’t see them, ate the football, and was sacked. He just never looked comfortable today, displaying happy feet all game long, and overthrew receivers when he did have time. It was a very un-Kay like performance from the 6th year senior and cost the Bearcats in the Belk Bowl.
• Punt return coverage. The Bearcats avoided disaster in the 1st half when a Ryan Switzer return was negated by flag. Yet Cincinnati opted to challenge him again and they got burned big time. In the third quarter with the game relatively close, John Lloyd booted it right to Switzer who only had evade about five Bearcats (the others had already overshot the play) en route to the endzone. That was a shot to the nether regions.
• Kick return coverage. See above.
• None of UC’s playmakers stepped up. Chris Moore dropped two critical catches and Shaq Washington saw a touchdown passes skim off of his fingertips (although it was somewhat overthrown by Kay). Conversely, UNC’s Eric Ebron caught 7 passes for 78 yards, QB Marquise Williams completed 58% of his passes for 171 yards and a touchdown, and DE Kareem Martin notched a safety. Cincinnati needed performances like that out of their playmakers today and didn’t get it.

What Now?

• The Bearcats are 9-4. On the surface that’s the mark of a successful season. But all of Cincinnati’s wins were against patsies. The loss to South Florida never should have happened and the one to Illinois just never made sense. Combined with the loss to Louisville and demolition at the hands North Carolina today and it’ll leave you scratching your head. Against that schedule and with these losses, a 9-win record is fairly disappointing. But it’s better than the 4-wins in Butch Jones’ first season.
• Overall, despite stalwarts like Brendon Kay, Greg Blair, Austen Bujnoch, and Anthony McClung graduating, Cincinnati has a lot to build on heading into the 2014 season when they should be favored to win the American Conference.