TicketsOct. 12, 2009
(5:59 p.m.): Before the bye week, Brian Kelly talked about the need to self-scout his squad, to fix the defense's third-down conversion percentage, to tighten up his offensive scheme, to get the Bearcats right.
But perhaps the best news he received during the off-week was that three potential impact players who have been out with injuries – running back John Goebel (hamstring), receiver D.J. Woods (flu), and linebacker Curtis Young (knee) – will, in some form, play this Thursday at USF.
Goebel hasn't played most of the year, but against Miami University, he participated on special teams to get a feel for the game once again. It remains to be seen, however, how much impact he'll have on the UC offense. That's because Jake Ramsey has been tough this season (a 7.7 yards per rush average, three touchdowns) and Isaiah Pead (5.8 and three, respectively) has impressed as well.
Where does Goebel fit in when those two Bearcats running backs are playing so well?
"Any time you have three players at a position that can help you, it's not easy," BK said after Monday's practice. "But we have to find a way to get him involved. He may not like his role. But certainly he can help us win. He's a guy who's pretty good on the perimeter. He catches the ball very, very well, and he's 230 pounds – a big, physical player."
Meanwhile, D.J. Woods will battle with Marcus Barnett this week in practice to see who gets more snaps vs. the Bulls, though both likely will see playing time at that receiver spot. Woods, after all, has been pretty good this season, but Barnett was impressive vs. the RedHawks, catching six passes for 54 yards with Woods out and a week after Barnett started at cornerback.
Adding Young back to the linebacker mix will also help. Walter Stewart has been ferocious, and Craig Carey has made a big play or two. With Young – who's been out since the Sept. 12 Southeast Missouri State game – returning, at least part time, that addition will provide even more depth for the Bearcats.
"He looks better," BK said. "He won't play 72 plays, but he certainly will contribute on Thursday. It's going to be a conditioning element for him. But if I was to put a number on it, if we could get 30 plays out of him, I'd be happy."
So, what about that self-scout from the bye week? What did BK find?
"More than anything else, we're on the right track," he said. "We have to play a little bit better defensively in terms of mistakes. We made a lot of mental errors. Maybe that's where some inexperience caught up with us. Offensively, just fine-tuning some things. We have to get more touches for Mardy (Gilyard), try to get him more involved with what we do offensively."
That last quote kind of caught me by surprise. Gilyard, as you probably know, leads the team with 38 catches (Armon Binns, who's No. 2, has 22), 517 yards (Binns has 279) and seven touchdowns (four more than anybody else).
For two practice periods today – about 10 minutes – crowd noise to simulate what UC might hear at Raymond James Stadium was piped over the sound system at Nippert Stadium. It was loud (and somewhat annoying), but I wondered if it really made an impact on how a football team prepares for a road game.
Tony Pike confirmed that it does, in fact, help.
"The biggest thing in playing in a spread offense, when we're trying to get to the line, it's what play are we running with the offensive line?" Pike said. "It's good for us to be able to go up and down the line when they can't hear and make sure we're getting the calls right. With the receivers, they're all going off hand signals anyway so it doesn't really bother them. But for me and the offensive line, (the piped-in crowd noise) is a big help."
Speaking of Pike, somebody asked him what he thought about the Tony-Pike-for-Heisman talk.
"I just laugh at it right now," he said. "It's week 5."
Well, week 6, but you know what he meant.