That was ugly. I think I spent more time covering my eyes and cringing than actually watching the game. I’d like to tip my hat to Drew Frey, Wes Richardson, the defensive line, and overall tackling on defense for that. I couldn’t be more thankful for their efforts. I had predicted that Cincinnati would go down in this game but had admittedly given all of those areas too much credit for only a 28 – 24 loss. Tennessee scored 42 points through pretty much the 3rd quarter. For the mathematically challenged readers out there, that’s two touchdowns per quarter. I don’t care how many points Cincinnati can score, that ratio just going to get it done. On a positive note the Bearcats did force two turnovers without giving up the ball. They’re now +7 on the season. But, before I get into my position breakdowns of the game, let’s see how the Bearcats fared with my pregame points of emphasis for the team.
Surprisingly, based on this they actually didn’t do too bad.
- UC’s D-Line vs. UT’s O-Line: Failed. Maybe it was the quick passes. Maybe it was simply Tyler Bray’s ease of reading the defense. But on every play Cincinnati’s strength on defense did next to nothing to create a pass rush. Don’t get me wrong, the run defense was stout but stopping Tennessee meant shutting down the passing game and for the Bearcats that starts with the defensive line. They had exactly 0 sacks. Thus, the secondary gave up over 400 yards through the air.
- Cincinnati’s WRs vs. Tennessee’s Secondary: Passed. I’m especially impressed with Kenbrell Thompkins who seems to be meshing well in this offense. He’s been as advertised. As a whole he, Woods, and McClung consistently got open and made plays. UT’s secondary is talented (although young) and the starting trio performed very well against them.
- How will UC’s O-Line protect Zach: Passed. The offensive line was my biggest concern heading into this game. Like Cincinnati, the Volunteers’ strength on the defense is their line, and the Bearcats’ opposing unit had a lot to prove. They only allowed 1 sack and provided Zach a good pocket to work with. If they can perform like they did yesterday, the offense will remain explosive.
- Isaiah Pead needs to get his numbers: Passed. A 65 yard touchdown on his first rush from scrimmage. He finished the day with 14 carries for 155 yards. Pead did his part and allowed the offense to stay balanced and put up almost 400 yards of total offense.
- The Kicking/Punting games: Passed. Outside of a blocked 47 yard field goal, Miliano did well hitting a 23 yarder later in the game and making both of his extra points. He’s really done well stepping up into the #1 kicker role. Pat O’Donnell was his usual self with the typical power and accuracy.
But beyond those points, the Bearcats played extremely poorly, especially the linebackers and secondary. Let’s break it down:
Coaching – Grade: D
Where to begin? Well I liked the offensive gameplan. The Bearcats were going punch for punch with the Volunteers and showed absolutely no fear driving up the field. At no point did I feel nervous about Zach throwing a pick, Pead fumbling the ball, or the offensive line allowing everything but the kitchen sink through. The coaching staff should be commended for that preparation. But their calls on 4th and short twice and along the goal line in the 3rd quarter made me pull my hair out. They should have learned from the horrid quarterback dive in week 1 that this wasn’t Cincinnati’s strengths. To try basically the same play against the likes of an SEC school is pure stupidity, especially when the Collaros and his receivers were on the same page all afternoon. Why not try a quick slant, stag, or curl to get the 1st down? That’s what this armchair quarterback would have done.
I can’t speak about about the coaching staff without focusing on Kerry Coombs. I like his enthusiasm, his ability to motivate, and his recruiting. But my God does he have no clue how to coach a secondary. Time after time the Bearcats were caught with their pants down as a Tennessee receiver sat in the softest zone coverage I’ve ever seen. Coming into this game, zone was preferred over man to prevent Tyler Bray from throwing over the top. But that didn’t stop him from completing 15 – 20 yard passes over the middle and to the sidelines. No adjustments were made at half time to prevent this. Tennessee continued to exploit it and put up 17 more points. Oh, and did I mention how his love affair for Drew Frey and how he’s a bigger burden on this secondary than sticking John Hughes back there? Frey is not a BCS caliber safety and continuously bites on the simplest of play actions. Does anyone remember Rutgers, South Florida, and West Virginia last year? Well apparently this coaching staff doesn’t remember and thinks he’s improved since then. He hasn’t. Frey isn’t the only issue back there but he’s certainly the biggest. The icing on this shit cake is that he is still a starter and no one has somehow supplanted him, including highly touted JUCO Malcolm Murray, Pat Lambert, or anyone else. I find it hard to believe that Frey is REALLY the #1 option back there with all the mistakes he’s made.
Offense – Grade: A
- Quarterback: Collaros played very well working through his progressions and spreading the ball effortlessly to his main receivers. The touch on his scoring pass to Adrien Robinson was perfect. He continues to prove his expertise of Butch Jones’ offense. So far this season he has thrown 6 touchdown passes without a pick. He started off just as well last season so it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep that ratio high.
- Runningback: Isaiah Pead was monster, scoring on his first touch with a 65 yard run. He rushed for over 150 yards and kept the offense balance as mentioned while adding in some nice tape for his highlight reel. It was just another indication that he’s in for a monster senior year. George Winn did a good job blocking out when lining up with Pead in the backfield next to Collaros.
- Receivers/Tight Ends: Thompkins looks very comfortable in this offense. He, Woods, and McClung were consistently open and made some nice catches. They showed why this offense is going to be very dangerous this season.
- Offensive Line: One of their most impressive performances of the Butch Jones era. I felt they played better against Tennessee than Austin Peay. On pass plays they gave Zach a nice pocket to work with and picked up the blitzes the Vols threw at them. They allowed a sack and after the gaping holes they allowed for blitzers last season, it’s a marked improvement. On running downs, they generally created holes for the backs. The main problems I saw were on the short yardage plays like the two 4th downs that made me puke in my mouth and the goal line situation in the 3rd quarter.
Defense – Grade: D
- Defensive Line: I was most disappointed in this unit mainly because I expected much more out of them with their 8-9 man rotation. Cincinnati’s pass rush was putrid with the aforementioned 0 sacks, which was basically the only way to contain Tyler Bray and his receivers. They were impressive on run defense despite the yards given up. It looks like, as was the case in 2010, this will be the strength of the unit.
- Linebackers: The poor tackling started here. They aren’t the biggest players (thank you, Brian Kelly) but I expected better tackling out of battle hardened seniors like J.K. Schaffer and Maalik Bomar. I expected more out of a group that emphasized fundamentals this offseason.
- Secondary: Worst unit of the bunch and we’re still seeing the same problems we saw last year, namely, large gaping holes that wide receivers easily settled into. I can blame the players enough but at some point Kerry Coombs’ coaching ability comes into question. I think I covered my beef with Coombs above so let’s get to the rest of them. Like the linebackers, there was again poor tackling. Too many times Tennessee receivers gained an extra 5 or 6 yards because the corners couldn’t wrap up and settled for just diving at their legs and calling it a stop. Fundamentals here were surely lacking.
I walked out of this game with a lot more answers than the previous weekend. It’s clear the offense will continue to be the strength of this team. Collaros and his receivers were in sync the entire game and will continue to cause headaches for defensive coordinators the rest of the season. The major improvement from 2010 to 2011 appears to be the offensive line, which allowed only one sack today and is finally working like a cohesive unit. Austin Bujnoch is going to be a star at right guard. Oh, then there’s Mr. Isaiah Pead, who continues to amaze. There’s nothing bad you can say about his play. To the defense. Ugh. What a trainwreck. They implemented a solid gameplan to contain the Vols but execution looked like they hadn’t done any planning at all. The performance of the defense depends entirely on the defensive line as the secondary isn’t talented enough to do it on their own. The pass rush was horrid today and thus the secondary got picked apart. But quite frankly that unit would have probably been Swiss cheese. They’re just terrible.
On to Akron. Go Bearcats. Beat the Zips.