The stakes were high for the Bearcats as they came into the 2015 season. Unlike in the Big East era when all Cincinnati had to do was win the conference to earn a BCS Bowl bid, a task they’ve pretty much gotten down to a science, UC has to jump through more than a few obstacles to play among college football’s elites. The term “BCS” is but a forgotten memory, and thankfully I might add, but high-profile bowl games are very much on our collective radars.
In order to get there for UC they basically had to win their conference, outright if possible, and be tabbed as the highest ranked team among the Group of Five schools. With an offense as loaded as it was and the experience and depth finally rearing their heads, 2015 looked like it would be the season of the Bearcat.
Not anymore. Nope, we can pretty much just thrown all of our preseason hopes and predictions out the window at this point.
UC’s already lost to Temple and Memphis, putting themselves two games behind in the AAC standings. They’re 2-2 with matchups against undefeated Miami (FL) and BYU along with a road game against Houston on the docket. The Access Bowl is but a distant memory at this point, let alone a shot at the AAC Championship. Do you see Temple losing three conference games or Memphis and Houston losing two? I can’t.
Perhaps the most dejecting thing about all of this is that these losses aren’t from lack of effort from the players.
It’s rare that you see a team roll up 752 yards of total offense and still come out on the wrong side of the scoreboard. It’s rarer still to see a redshirt freshman break a school’s single game passing record and not be on the winning side. Plus Cincinnati’s comeback effort against Temple was about as gritty as they come.
Of course, because the fates of the universe won’t let us Bearcats fans have nice things, both games ended in interceptions.
My only qualm last night was Cincinnati’s strategy on defense, if you could call sitting in a three- and four-deep shell while rushing with just the defensive linemen even a strategy. Sure, stopping or even slowing down the fifth best offense in the country is no easy task. No one’s expecting the Bearcats to become the ’85 Bears overnight but I’d rather defensive coordinator give these players a better chance to be successful.
When you see Memphis constantly attacking the line of scrimmage with six blitzers or more and getting to the quarterback while Cincinnati is apparently comfortable rushing with just their defensive line and seeing zero success, it’s frustrating.
Look, I get Clink’s idea going into this game; the secondary is young and vulnerable so keeping more of them in zone coverage hedges against the big play. The problem is that Memphis was torching UC’s defense with big plays, anyways. Paxton Lynch was staring downfield at eight or more Bearcats and still picking them apart. So why not try something different in the second half, like sending Leviticus Payne off the edge, which has worked in the past?
I don’t get it but that’s why I’m sitting here and not being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to coach the game of football.
Otherwise, though, I thought for the most part UC played well. And the result of last’s nights game doesn’t mean we can’t continue to cheer on this team, who are very much still in line for a bowl game. We owe the players, 18-22 year olds who give up big chunks of their lives to dedicate themselves to a game we as fans sometimes take for granted. Players who spent hours, multiple times a day, in the grueling Southern Indiana heat in the middle of August to better themselves and become a team all of us could be proud of. And I for one am proud of them, I’m just disappointed in the results.
Go Bearcats. Beat the Hurricanes.