TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – After a bye week, reporters who cover college football teams frequently ask the coach if he thought the bye came at a good time.
That didn't happen this week at the University of Cincinnati because coach Luke Fickell, perhaps anticipating the cliché question, beat them to the punch.
"It was a much-needed bye, a much-needed break in a lot of different ways," Fickell said. "It came at a good time and it came at a really tough time. To come up to a bye off a really big victory, I think you can build some momentum and use it in the right way. A bye after a loss like we had, one that's gut-wrenching, that comes down to overtime when you have all the chances in the world to win the football game, makes it very difficult. I think you heard some of our guys say that, that I wish we got to go right back out and play because that taste in your mouth after a game like that is very difficult."
Two weeks after the Bearcats dropped a 31-28 overtime decision to SMU, some of the players said they were still smarting. The bye week might have given them a chance to clear their minds. It might even have helped some of them heal from a minor injury, but they really wanted to play another game. If they could have played again the next day, they would have.
"It was pretty miserable last Saturday sitting around," said offensive tackle Korey Cunningham. "I went hunting last Saturday morning. I was sitting in the woods and I was like, man, I'd really rather be playing right now. We've had that bitter taste in our mouths going on two weeks now. I'm ready to get back on the field."
Cunningham and his teammates will get their chance at 4 p.m. Saturday in New Orleans against Tulane at Yulman Stadium against a Green Wave team that has its own problems. Tulane is 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, and has lost three straight, most recently a 56-26 beat-down at the hands of No. 24 Memphis last week. The Green Wave trailed in that game, 35-0, early in the second quarter, having allowed 418 yards while producing just 20 yards of its own to that point.
The Tulane game is the first in a four-game stretch against teams with losing records to close out the regular season for the Bearcats, who must win them all to avoid their second straight losing season, something that hasn't happened at UC since 1998 and 1999 when they went 2-9 and 3-8. The Bearcats (2-6, 0-4) have lost five straight overall and eight consecutive AAC games dating to last year. More than a year has passed since UC defeated East Carolina on Oct. 22, 2016 for its last conference victory.
Tulane's only conference win was a 62-28 decision over Tulsa. The Green Wave ranks seventh in the league in scoring offense with 32.9 points per game and seventh in scoring defense allowing 31.4 points. Tulane has allowed 229.1 rushing yards per game, which could be a good sign for a UC offense that posted a season-high 249 rushing yards against SMU, getting 91 yards from redshirt freshman Gerrid Doaks.
Led by running back Dontrell Hilliard, the fifth-leading rusher in school history with 2,625 career yards, the Green Wave ranks 15th nationally in rushing offense with 248 yards per game. Junior quarterback Jonathan Banks has averaged 132.3 passing yards per game with nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Tulane leads the league in passing defense, allowing only 204 yards per game.
"They've had some consistency in the things that you see offensively," Fickell said. "They play sound defensively too. If you break down their games, you'd say the last two weeks they got beat up pretty bad. But those last couple of weeks are really not indicative of who they are. Their quarterback is going to keep them in a lot of things because of his ability to run the football, his ability to run the option."
UC, which has been outscored, 79-37, in the first quarter, hopes to get off to a fast start this week. Considering how excited the Bearcats are to play after a week off, they'll certainly be motivated.
"It was extremely hard," said senior safety Carter Jacobs. "A lot of us wanted to get back out on the field after going down in overtime like that. Not being able to play hurt a little bit, but that week off really helped us out. We got out legs back. The speed and tempo in practice has been picked up and a lot of us are a lot more energetic now."
The schedule is much kinder to the Bearcats from here on out, and although it may sound ludicrous to even think in such terms, if they win their last four games they could still finish at .500 and qualify for a bowl game.
For now, though, they'll settle for simply winning one game.
"I was thinking about that when I was coming over here," Cunningham said. "I was looking back and we haven't had that win since Miami of Ohio. It's just like, man, I want to have that feeling again. That's all I'm trying to feel right now, that feel of a victory."
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 – After a bye week, reporters who cover college football teams frequently ask the coach if he thought the bye came at a good time.
That didn't happen this week at the University of Cincinnati because coach Luke Fickell, perhaps anticipating the cliché question, beat them to the punch.
"It was a much-needed bye, a much-needed break in a lot of different ways," Fickell said. "It came at a good time and it came at a really tough time. To come up to a bye off a really big victory, I think you can build some momentum and use it in the right way. A bye after a loss like we had, one that's gut-wrenching, that comes down to overtime when you have all the chances in the world to win the football game, makes it very difficult. I think you heard some of our guys say that, that I wish we got to go right back out and play because that taste in your mouth after a game like that is very difficult."
Two weeks after the Bearcats dropped a 31-28 overtime decision to SMU, some of the players said they were still smarting. The bye week might have given them a chance to clear their minds. It might even have helped some of them heal from a minor injury, but they really wanted to play another game. If they could have played again the next day, they would have.
"It was pretty miserable last Saturday sitting around," said offensive tackle Korey Cunningham. "I went hunting last Saturday morning. I was sitting in the woods and I was like, man, I'd really rather be playing right now. We've had that bitter taste in our mouths going on two weeks now. I'm ready to get back on the field."
Cunningham and his teammates will get their chance at 4 p.m. Saturday in New Orleans against Tulane at Yulman Stadium against a Green Wave team that has its own problems. Tulane is 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, and has lost three straight, most recently a 56-26 beat-down at the hands of No. 24 Memphis last week. The Green Wave trailed in that game, 35-0, early in the second quarter, having allowed 418 yards while producing just 20 yards of its own to that point.
The Tulane game is the first in a four-game stretch against teams with losing records to close out the regular season for the Bearcats, who must win them all to avoid their second straight losing season, something that hasn't happened at UC since 1998 and 1999 when they went 2-9 and 3-8. The Bearcats (2-6, 0-4) have lost five straight overall and eight consecutive AAC games dating to last year. More than a year has passed since UC defeated East Carolina on Oct. 22, 2016 for its last conference victory.
Tulane's only conference win was a 62-28 decision over Tulsa. The Green Wave ranks seventh in the league in scoring offense with 32.9 points per game and seventh in scoring defense allowing 31.4 points. Tulane has allowed 229.1 rushing yards per game, which could be a good sign for a UC offense that posted a season-high 249 rushing yards against SMU, getting 91 yards from redshirt freshman Gerrid Doaks.
Led by running back Dontrell Hilliard, the fifth-leading rusher in school history with 2,625 career yards, the Green Wave ranks 15th nationally in rushing offense with 248 yards per game. Junior quarterback Jonathan Banks has averaged 132.3 passing yards per game with nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Tulane leads the league in passing defense, allowing only 204 yards per game.
"They've had some consistency in the things that you see offensively," Fickell said. "They play sound defensively too. If you break down their games, you'd say the last two weeks they got beat up pretty bad. But those last couple of weeks are really not indicative of who they are. Their quarterback is going to keep them in a lot of things because of his ability to run the football, his ability to run the option."
UC, which has been outscored, 79-37, in the first quarter, hopes to get off to a fast start this week. Considering how excited the Bearcats are to play after a week off, they'll certainly be motivated.
"It was extremely hard," said senior safety Carter Jacobs. "A lot of us wanted to get back out on the field after going down in overtime like that. Not being able to play hurt a little bit, but that week off really helped us out. We got out legs back. The speed and tempo in practice has been picked up and a lot of us are a lot more energetic now."
The schedule is much kinder to the Bearcats from here on out, and although it may sound ludicrous to even think in such terms, if they win their last four games they could still finish at .500 and qualify for a bowl game.
For now, though, they'll settle for simply winning one game.
"I was thinking about that when I was coming over here," Cunningham said. "I was looking back and we haven't had that win since Miami of Ohio. It's just like, man, I want to have that feeling again. That's all I'm trying to feel right now, that feel of a victory."
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.