TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati campus will be a portrait of blue skies, sunshine and fall colors Saturday, alive with the sights and sounds of homecoming.
First-year UC head football coach Luke Fickell is looking forward to it.
"We're excited to get back home," Fickell said, "excited to play at 4 o'clock, excited for homecoming. For me, for the first time at homecoming here, I'm excited to see what kind of guys come back, what kind of former players that I don't know, people that don't live here or don't always come to every single game, but will have an opportunity to come back this week. I'm excited for our players, for our coaches, for myself to hopefully see some of those guys and for them to get a first-hand look at the progress and the things that we're doing as a program."
That's a lot of excitement to cram into one paragraph, but what would really excite Fickell, his players, former UC players, alumni and fans is a UC victory when the Bearcats take on SMU at Nippert Stadium.
UC (2-5 overall, 0-3 in the American Athletic Conference) has lost four straight overall and seven straight AAC games dating to last season. SMU, meanwhile, comes to town with a 4-2 record, 1-1 in the American, boasting a high-powered offense that ranks second in the conference with 506.7 yards per game and in scoring offense with an average of 43.8 points. The Mustangs will be well-rested after their bye week.
Sophomore quarterback Ben Hicks ranks third in the league in passing with an average of 278.7 yards per game and has thrown 15 touchdown passes against five interceptions. Wide receiver Trey Quinn leads the league with 54 catches for 587 yards with five touchdowns. His running mate, Courtland Sutton, has caught 31 passes for 489 yards and seven touchdowns.
"They present a lot of threats," said UC defensive end Kimoni Fitz. "Their quarterback is probably the best quarterback that we've played all year. We're gonna respect him a lot. We've all got to be disciplined in the pass rush. We've got to put a force up for our defensive line and let the backs do their things."
Unlike South Florida's Quinton Flowers and Central Florida's McKenzie Milton, Hicks is more of a pocket passer who doesn't look to get outside and run.
The Bearcats lead the league in pass defense, but that's probably because opponents have pretty much had their way with the UC defense on the ground, where the Bearcats are allowing 220.3 yards per game. SMU is no slouch in the running department. The Mustangs rank sixth in the league with 190.3 yards per game.
Fickell said he saw improvement in his defense last week at USF. The Bearcats allowed 33 points, but seven of those came on a pick six at the end of the first half. The UC defense allowed only two touchdowns.
"When you see confidence, you see guys that are aggressive and that's what we saw," Fickell said. "We missed some tackles that really hurt us, but for the most part even when there were missed tackles, they were missed with better leverage. They were missed with an aggressive approach and that's where we've got to continue to build. You saw a little bit more belief in the things that they we're doing. That next step is having the confidence to make those plays."
The Bearcats haven't held a lead since the end of their Sept. 16 win at Miami (Ohio). Their offense, which has struggled all season, will face an SMU defense this week that has issues of its own. The Mustangs have allowed 436.8 yards and 31.0 points per game. But they're tied for first in the league with 21 sacks. Defensive end Justin Lawler leads the league with six.
Junior Hayden Moore will start at quarterback for UC as he has in every game this season, even though he left last week's game after he was hurt while getting sacked. He was replaced by Ross Trail, who saw his first playing time of the season.
"(Moore) hurt a ligament or something on his throwing arm," Fickell said, "kind of what he did the week before as well. The same thing happened later in the game in the third quarter when he got sacked and he turned the ball over. The hand goes a little bit numb and it gets a little bit difficult on a quarterback at that time. But he's our starting quarterback."
The Bearcats hope to solve their recurring problem with penalties. They've committed 50 of them, which ranks in the middle of the pack, but they're disturbing to Fickell nonetheless.
"Especially when you pride yourself on being disciplined and fundamentally sound the penalties are a big, big deal," Fickell said. "We've got to make sure as we move forward that we're not seeing the same things over and over and over again. There are some things where we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. We've got to do a lot better."
Fickell could say that about nearly every phase of UC's game. But Saturday is a new day, a day to celebrate the past. Perhaps it's also the day for the Bearcats to celebrate an end to their losing streak as they head into their bye week.
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015.
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati campus will be a portrait of blue skies, sunshine and fall colors Saturday, alive with the sights and sounds of homecoming.
First-year UC head football coach Luke Fickell is looking forward to it.
"We're excited to get back home," Fickell said, "excited to play at 4 o'clock, excited for homecoming. For me, for the first time at homecoming here, I'm excited to see what kind of guys come back, what kind of former players that I don't know, people that don't live here or don't always come to every single game, but will have an opportunity to come back this week. I'm excited for our players, for our coaches, for myself to hopefully see some of those guys and for them to get a first-hand look at the progress and the things that we're doing as a program."
That's a lot of excitement to cram into one paragraph, but what would really excite Fickell, his players, former UC players, alumni and fans is a UC victory when the Bearcats take on SMU at Nippert Stadium.
UC (2-5 overall, 0-3 in the American Athletic Conference) has lost four straight overall and seven straight AAC games dating to last season. SMU, meanwhile, comes to town with a 4-2 record, 1-1 in the American, boasting a high-powered offense that ranks second in the conference with 506.7 yards per game and in scoring offense with an average of 43.8 points. The Mustangs will be well-rested after their bye week.
Sophomore quarterback Ben Hicks ranks third in the league in passing with an average of 278.7 yards per game and has thrown 15 touchdown passes against five interceptions. Wide receiver Trey Quinn leads the league with 54 catches for 587 yards with five touchdowns. His running mate, Courtland Sutton, has caught 31 passes for 489 yards and seven touchdowns.
"They present a lot of threats," said UC defensive end Kimoni Fitz. "Their quarterback is probably the best quarterback that we've played all year. We're gonna respect him a lot. We've all got to be disciplined in the pass rush. We've got to put a force up for our defensive line and let the backs do their things."
Unlike South Florida's Quinton Flowers and Central Florida's McKenzie Milton, Hicks is more of a pocket passer who doesn't look to get outside and run.
The Bearcats lead the league in pass defense, but that's probably because opponents have pretty much had their way with the UC defense on the ground, where the Bearcats are allowing 220.3 yards per game. SMU is no slouch in the running department. The Mustangs rank sixth in the league with 190.3 yards per game.
Fickell said he saw improvement in his defense last week at USF. The Bearcats allowed 33 points, but seven of those came on a pick six at the end of the first half. The UC defense allowed only two touchdowns.
"When you see confidence, you see guys that are aggressive and that's what we saw," Fickell said. "We missed some tackles that really hurt us, but for the most part even when there were missed tackles, they were missed with better leverage. They were missed with an aggressive approach and that's where we've got to continue to build. You saw a little bit more belief in the things that they we're doing. That next step is having the confidence to make those plays."
The Bearcats haven't held a lead since the end of their Sept. 16 win at Miami (Ohio). Their offense, which has struggled all season, will face an SMU defense this week that has issues of its own. The Mustangs have allowed 436.8 yards and 31.0 points per game. But they're tied for first in the league with 21 sacks. Defensive end Justin Lawler leads the league with six.
Junior Hayden Moore will start at quarterback for UC as he has in every game this season, even though he left last week's game after he was hurt while getting sacked. He was replaced by Ross Trail, who saw his first playing time of the season.
"(Moore) hurt a ligament or something on his throwing arm," Fickell said, "kind of what he did the week before as well. The same thing happened later in the game in the third quarter when he got sacked and he turned the ball over. The hand goes a little bit numb and it gets a little bit difficult on a quarterback at that time. But he's our starting quarterback."
The Bearcats hope to solve their recurring problem with penalties. They've committed 50 of them, which ranks in the middle of the pack, but they're disturbing to Fickell nonetheless.
"Especially when you pride yourself on being disciplined and fundamentally sound the penalties are a big, big deal," Fickell said. "We've got to make sure as we move forward that we're not seeing the same things over and over and over again. There are some things where we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. We've got to do a lot better."
Fickell could say that about nearly every phase of UC's game. But Saturday is a new day, a day to celebrate the past. Perhaps it's also the day for the Bearcats to celebrate an end to their losing streak as they head into their bye week.
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015.