Clock in. Beat an FCS team by 62. Clock out 3 hours later. That’s how Cincinnati treats games against these programs who should be beaten up and down the field for the entire 60 minutes. No one will say that the Bearcats, who have outscored FCS teams 240 – 20 since 2006, will come out flatfooted against these opponents (looking at you Michigan and Va-Tech). You can now extend that margin as Cincinnati absolutely obliterated the Governors 72 – 10 tonight. I could use tons of ‘Isaiah Pead on Peay’ jokes here but you’ve probably heard them already. Besides, it wasn’t just Pead doing it- Eight different Bearcats scored touchdowns (Pead, Teague, Thompkins, Woods, McClung, Fearing, Legaux, Luallen). Nine if you include Collaros who passed for four touchdowns. Let’s get to the two sides of the ball.
Offense
Pure dominance. No matter if it deep balls, passes to the outside, passes down the middle, or screens, Cincinnati executed them perfectly and Austin Peay did next to nothing to stop them. Collaros had somewhat of a shaky start knocking off the rust gained over the summer but as the game wore on he looked crisp. It’s clear that the extra year in Coach Butch Jones’ system has done wonders for his understanding of the offense. He was a great athlete to begin with. Now he’s an even more dangerous quarterback. To the running game, you can’t say enough about how consistent Isaiah Pead was in this game, or at least for how long he was out there. Opening the game was his 40 yard touchdown run 18 seconds into the game on the first offensive play of the game. That’s the way to start 2011 off with a bang. When he was taken out of the game, he had scored 2 touchdowns on only 7 carries with 87 rushing yards. The starting receivers Woods, McClung, and Thompkins combined for 4 touchdowns on the first team offense. Not too shabby. I was confident Woods and McClung would be solid but Thompkins had been nursing some minor injuries throughout camp and was relatively new to the offense. He looked as polished as advertised. The offensive line gave Zach time to throw so I’m happy about that as well as giving Pead holes to run on the outside. However, they’re play up the middle (particularly out of Evan Davis) left me wincing after some plays. I was expecting them to be dominant against Austin Peay up front but they were only above average. However, on a bright note, I’m excited to see more of Austin Bujnoch. The biggest problem I saw out of the first team offense was the tight end again played no role. Starter Blake Annen was a ghost out there. Otherwise, very happy with the results.
Let’s get to the back ups. First of all, hats off to Coach Butch Jones to listening to me and pretty much sitting the first teamers once the 2nd half kicked off. The quarterbacks Munchie Legaux and Jordan Luallen need as many reps as possible and they got them. I particularly liked seeing the Wildcat formations with Luallen! Another wrinkle to this already explosive offense is never a bad thing. Both looked great on the ground as they got a pair of touchdowns. I like Munchie’s decision making and am excited to see him grow in Butch Jones’ offense. The back up running backs Winn and the freshman Poteat, Abernathy, and Teague looked like they’ve been playing college for years (well for Winn that’s true). Winn and Poteat bring a power running game while Abernathy and Teague show more shiftiness and pop. They all have a strong opportunity to back up Pead full time. The 2nd string receivers were brought in during a time when the Bearcats were up on the Governors by more than 6 touchdowns so Coach Jones didn’t throw the ball too much. Shaq Washington and Alex Chisum had a few looks but for the most part Cincinnati went to the ground in the second half. The duo did look impressive though. I had might doubts about the 2nd string offensive line but I was pleased with their performance. I don’t understand why Brendan Kay was brought in as he is not the future at quarterback- Luallen and Legaux are. They should have gotten all of the reps when Collaros left the game.
Defense
Incredible push by the defensive line. The pass rush was as expected as there was a continuous push up front to get in Jake Ryan’s face. The run defense was as good as last year and should be even better as the season continues. The biggest difference in this game? Depth. I’ve said all offseason that depth on the D-Line would make the entire unit better and we saw that tonight. Trigg, Taylor, Beard, and Stepp all came in to relieve the starters and kept them fresh. A rested Derek Wolfe is a dangerous Derek Wolfe, and he was a headache for Austin Peay’s offensive line tonight. To the linebackers, can’t say enough about J.K. Schaffer! He was a menace in the middle of the field, had a ton of tackles, a pick, and nearly two others. Ben Pooler looks massive at the SAM position and looks fully healed. It’ll be interesting to see how his knees hold up throughout the season. The secondary didn’t give up many big plays and covered well. I’m not the biggest fan of Drew Frey but he looked confident flying to the ball. As a whole, the defense looked bigger and faster than last season. Basically ditto for the backup defensive players as I like what I saw out of Temple and Clemente at linebacker. The 2nd team defensive lineman basically got tons of reps when they were rotating in for the starters so they were ready to go and continued to exert their dominance up front.
Special Teams
Ralph David Abernathy got one chance to return a kick, because Austin Peay did jack squat on offense, and he returned it 60 yards. Yep, I’d say he pretty much locked up that spot. At punt returner, D.J. Woods didn’t fumble the ball on his two opportunities. Good news! Finally, it seems like Miliano has all but locked up the starting kicking roll. He’s got a monster of a leg and easily boots the ball into the endzone on kickoffs, much like his predecessor Jake Rogers. He looked a little shaky at the beginning of the game missing the first college extra point of his career but settled down and made his next 7 extra points and a field goal. Cincinnati didn’t punt all night so Pat O’Donnell resorted to twiddling his thumbs and signing autographs on the sidelines.