The Cincinnati Bearcats committed to pounding the rock and rolled over the UConn Huskies 37-13 last night at a rain drenched Nippert Stadium.
UC toted it 49 times for 5.8 yards per carry on 84 offensive possessions (58%), which is exactly the kind of ratio you want to see out of this team. It was also the kind of production, a first down after every other snap, that we’d expect from this offense. The ability to lean on the running game allows the Bearcats and keep the offense as a whole on schedule instead of getting bogged down in third and longs, forcing the passing game into precarious positions to pick up long first downs.
That’s what we saw last night, a pounding rushing attack that wore UConn down over the course of the game and took pressure off of Gunner Kiel, who was fantastic getting his first start in a month. He looked as sharp as he ever has in a Bearcats uniform, slicing and dicing the Husky defense to the tune of 327 yards and two passing touchdowns while completing 74% of passes. Apparently that fire the coaches lit under him over the last two weeks is finally yielding the results they had hoped.
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And the defense, while they made it a little too easy on UConn on their opening touchdown drive, held the Huskies to just 266 yards of total offense and just 3.7 yards per play. They also picked up a pair of sacks, including remarkably Silverberry Mouhon’s first of the season, and Tyrell Gilbert snagged perhaps the best interception I’ve seen from a UC defensive back in years. It was the first time all year Cincinnati won the turnover margin.
To be honest, last night’s win was a relief. At no point other than the first half of the first quarter was the game truly in jeopardy. By the time UC scored their second touchdown 10 minutes into that frame, it was Cincinnati’s to lose and all they had to do was lean on their talent and home field advantage to lead them to victory. It was nice to finally sit back, put our feet up, and watch the Bearcats romp a lesser opponent.
But I’m not convinced that this team and the program has gotten back on its feet for good. This is UConn we’re talking about here, a team UC should dominate regardless of the circumstances. They’re no more intimidating an opponent than Alabama A&M in my mind.
The defense did allow the Huskies to stroll down the field to a touchdown on their opening drive, a resistanceless effort we’ve seen all too much this season. And while Hosey Williams’ 84 yard scamper in the fourth quarter when UConn had pretty much thrown in the towel boosted his average yards per carry to 10.8 on the day, he was only sitting at 4.7 before that run. Tion Green meanwhile averaged 5.1 and Mike Boone averaged nine.
Yet Eddie Gran still felt is necessary to split carries down the middle, a strategy that continues to baffle me.
So while yesterday certainly was entertaining from a fan perspective the Bearcats are still a 4-3 football team with several warts between the players and coaches. What I need to see as we close out this season is consistency from week-to-week. Houston is right around the corner and until we see this team play and coaches manage to their capabilities each game, I’m still not convinced they can go down there and snag a win. This is an above average football team, a fact that is undeniable, but they’ve made too many mistakes from the top down to be relied upon to win every game ahead of them on the schedule.