The Cincinnati Bearcats, in one of their final preps for Alabama A&M this Saturday, practiced in Nippert Stadium, with the monstrous new press box casting a shadow over the field, in order to acclimate themselves to the turf.
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Unlike at Camp Higher Ground, the coaches and players were quieter today. Maybe it was the 90 degree heat from the blazing sun overhead. Maybe it’s the fact that the Bearcats are going through the motions of practice, chomping at the bit to finally face someone across from them that isn’t on their team. It’s probably a little of both but I’d chalk that up to their focus right now. I’m betting this team is so in a routine, so ready for the season to begin that they’re just acting likes it’s just another day at the office. Business as usual, basically, and that bodes well for this season.
That was especially so for the defense, which was much maligned last year, but continued to display encouraging signs at practice. Gunner Kiel had a few passes in the redzone during 11-on-11’s go for touchdowns but when the offense was forced to convert long third downs near midfield, the defense made them punt more often than not. They weren’t spectacular, intercepting passes left and right, and the offense did complete a few long passes. Kiel and this receiver corps are going to do that a lot to opposing secondaries, even their own. However, the defense did a lot of the little things right and that’s certainly something we couldn’t say for whole games at a time in 2014.
The bottom line, Cincinnati’s first team defense looks more confident and fundamentally sound than last season. They might not be the second coming of the 2008 UC defense but they’re a long way from the sieve they were in 2014.
Here are some additional observations from today’s practice.
- Punting was a major issue last season as neither true freshman Sam Geraci nor senior John Lloyd could get a handle on the position, or the football for that matter. But Geraci was rather excellent today, averaging 40-45 yards on punts and forcing fair catches most of the time. This was only at practice during ideal conditions but still, he looked as sharp as ever.
- True freshman Kahlil Lewis will be installed with the first team offense in redzone situations. He got a ton of reps there today and, while he had a little trouble lining up exactly in the perfect spot (Shaq had to point it how to him), Lewis has the talent to shine in the position. He caught a pair of touchdown passes today, one of which over the much larger Kevin Brown.
- I’d be curious to see if Eddie Gran tries to utilize the tight ends more in the offense this year, despite the wide receivers being the focus of the offense. Several times DJ Dowdy lined up in the regular position along the line with Tyler Cogswell as the H-Back with both catching passes from the quarterbacks. Dowdy and Cogswell were also targets on several tunnel screens today. The more options the better!
- Transfers Jamil Kamara and Avery Peterson are on the practice squad, along with Brayden Beard, but continue to participate heavily in wide receiver drills.
- At one point Chris Moore spent part of his time between drills trying to palm his helmet. Yea, there wasn’t a whole lot of noteworthy things going on at practice today.
- Leviticus Payne, however, was putting in extra work along the sidelines, practicing catching one handed passes. You know he’s primed for big things this year.
- Linebacker Eric Wilson had a nice pick of Ross Trail and he celebrated, naturally, by lighting a campfire with the football. I chuckled.
- Hayden Moore continues to display the kind of talent of a future star quarterback. He laid a beautiful pass into Nate Cole’s arms on a corner route and he did so with ease. Not a lot of signal callers can display that kind of touch on the ball.
- I found it interesting that workers were still installing exteriors windows on the 500 level of the new Nippert Stadium press box. With three days until kickoff, they’re cutting it a little close it seems.