TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – For University of Cincinnati football coach Luke Fickell, the most frustrating thing about the Bearcats' 35-24 loss to Temple last week was that it seemed to him that they had regressed. That's not a good sign near the end of his first season as head coach.
OK, it's hard for a team that has won only three games to take a step backwards, but at the very least the Bearcats don't appear to be improving. The penalties keep piling up – 23 in the last two games for 230 yards. They continue to turn the ball over at critical junctures. They still have trouble pressuring the quarterback. And last week they added a new wrinkle when they allowed a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after the Bearcats had pulled within six points.
"I'm frustrated that we haven't been able to move a little bit forward," Fickell said. "We've talked about these things from the get-go. We really put an emphasis on them in the bye week and we've got to make strides in these last two weeks."
Fickell will look for that improvement again this week when the Bearcats (3-7 overall, 1-5 in the American Athletic Conference) face East Carolina at noon Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, N.C.
The Pirates (2-8, 1-5) have lost five of their last six games, while UC has lost six of its last seven. Statistically, ECU ranks last in the AAC in scoring defense, allowing 45.0 points per game, and in total defense, giving up 554.4 yards per game. The Bearcats counter with an offense that's last in scoring (20.9 points per game) and total offense (356.0 yards per game).
ECU has thrown more passes than any other team in the league with 443, but the Pirates average only 6.8 yards per completion, the second-lowest in the league behind UC's 5.8. They've been intercepted 13 times, more than any other AAC member. UC has picked off the fewest passes in the league with four.
Defensively, ECU has been so bad that head coach Scottie Montgomery (5-17 in two years at ECU) replaced defensive coordinator Kenwick Thompson on Sept. 10 with Robert Prunty. If that second name sounds familiar, it's because Prunty was the associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at UC under Tommy Tuberville the last two seasons.
"They've kind of gone back and forth where they've had different guys controlling the defense," Fickell said. "What's happened to them is they've given up so many big plays. Houston had a ton of big plays down the field on them. When you give up those big plays defensively, that's what's put them behind the 8-ball a bunch."
ECU has used two different quarterbacks – Thomas Sirk and Gardner Minshew. Two weeks ago against Houston, Minshew set ECU and AAC records when he completed 52 passes in 68 attempts for 463 yards in a 52-27 loss. Last week, he was 25-of-52 for 228 yards in a 31-24 overtime loss to Tulane.
One reason the Pirates throw so much is that they have a tough time running the ball. They rank last in the league, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
There's still an outside chance that if the Bearcats win their last two games, they could receive an invitation to a bowl game with a 5-7 record. Last year, three teams – North Texas, Mississippi State, and Hawaii – played in bowl games with losing records. Hawaii and Mississippi State both won their games.
"I don't think we've talked about it a whole lot," Fickell said, "but there definitely is a chance. If we can get this one this week, then we'll probably have a little bit more to talk about and a little bit more of an idea of where we go with that with our guys, but it's not out of the question, not at all."
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 – For University of Cincinnati football coach Luke Fickell, the most frustrating thing about the Bearcats' 35-24 loss to Temple last week was that it seemed to him that they had regressed. That's not a good sign near the end of his first season as head coach.
OK, it's hard for a team that has won only three games to take a step backwards, but at the very least the Bearcats don't appear to be improving. The penalties keep piling up – 23 in the last two games for 230 yards. They continue to turn the ball over at critical junctures. They still have trouble pressuring the quarterback. And last week they added a new wrinkle when they allowed a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after the Bearcats had pulled within six points.
"I'm frustrated that we haven't been able to move a little bit forward," Fickell said. "We've talked about these things from the get-go. We really put an emphasis on them in the bye week and we've got to make strides in these last two weeks."
Fickell will look for that improvement again this week when the Bearcats (3-7 overall, 1-5 in the American Athletic Conference) face East Carolina at noon Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, N.C.
The Pirates (2-8, 1-5) have lost five of their last six games, while UC has lost six of its last seven. Statistically, ECU ranks last in the AAC in scoring defense, allowing 45.0 points per game, and in total defense, giving up 554.4 yards per game. The Bearcats counter with an offense that's last in scoring (20.9 points per game) and total offense (356.0 yards per game).
ECU has thrown more passes than any other team in the league with 443, but the Pirates average only 6.8 yards per completion, the second-lowest in the league behind UC's 5.8. They've been intercepted 13 times, more than any other AAC member. UC has picked off the fewest passes in the league with four.
Defensively, ECU has been so bad that head coach Scottie Montgomery (5-17 in two years at ECU) replaced defensive coordinator Kenwick Thompson on Sept. 10 with Robert Prunty. If that second name sounds familiar, it's because Prunty was the associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at UC under Tommy Tuberville the last two seasons.
"They've kind of gone back and forth where they've had different guys controlling the defense," Fickell said. "What's happened to them is they've given up so many big plays. Houston had a ton of big plays down the field on them. When you give up those big plays defensively, that's what's put them behind the 8-ball a bunch."
ECU has used two different quarterbacks – Thomas Sirk and Gardner Minshew. Two weeks ago against Houston, Minshew set ECU and AAC records when he completed 52 passes in 68 attempts for 463 yards in a 52-27 loss. Last week, he was 25-of-52 for 228 yards in a 31-24 overtime loss to Tulane.
One reason the Pirates throw so much is that they have a tough time running the ball. They rank last in the league, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
There's still an outside chance that if the Bearcats win their last two games, they could receive an invitation to a bowl game with a 5-7 record. Last year, three teams – North Texas, Mississippi State, and Hawaii – played in bowl games with losing records. Hawaii and Mississippi State both won their games.
"I don't think we've talked about it a whole lot," Fickell said, "but there definitely is a chance. If we can get this one this week, then we'll probably have a little bit more to talk about and a little bit more of an idea of where we go with that with our guys, but it's not out of the question, not at all."
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.