CINCINNATI – Head coach Scott Satterfield, fifth year quarterback JC French IV, senior wide receiver Larenzo Fenner, and junior inside linebacker Simeon Coleman spoke with the media ahead of Saturday’s game vs. Utah.
The Bearcats and Utes will face off at 3:45 p.m. at Nippert Stadium and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Opening statement
“What a great crowd we had this past game. Particularly, our students affected the game. Texas Tech had the most penalties they had all season in our game, and a lot of that was on their offense with operation. I certainly believe our students had a lot to do with that and how loud it was. It was a great crowd. It reminded me of the Oklahoma crowd, the first season, first Big 12 game, and maybe a little bit like BYU as well last year, which I thought was incredible. I’m proud of our guys for their great execution, the way they went out and played, good mindset last week, and they were able to make a lot of plays for us, and it was a huge win. That was awesome. Moving on to next week to another outstanding football team in Utah, a team that's been one of the best teams in our league the last two years. They did make a coaching change in the offseason, but that was seamless. A guy taking over who's been there for his whole career, and you can tell that it was really simple for them. How he just took that thing over, and they just keep on going. Defensively, a lot of the same things they've been doing for years. They've always been good on defense, and the last couple of years they've been really, really good on offense. I mean, the quarterback's outstanding. The other quarterback they play as well is really, really good. The running backs are great players, strong, powerful, very fast. These guys are extremely solid in the special teams. I think last year in special teams they had two good punt returns, one for a touchdown, that really hurt us last year. This is a solid team. I think certainly worthy of a Top 10 ranking that they do have, so a big challenge for us. We have to come out and have a great week of practice to get ready to go. I’m proud of our guys last week. Some individual players, I thought, played excellently. Cole [Tabb], who I think is getting ready to win an award here today, is getting some recognition. He's had a great season for us. I mean, if you think about what he's done in just about every game, he's a big play threat, our biggest play guy that we have on offense, and such a great person as well. MJ [Cannon], what a game he had. We really missed him in that fourth quarter of the game at West Virginia, and to get him back last week and get great plays. I showed our team this yesterday, but right before halftime, when they were trying to get some points, MJ goes and makes an incredible one-handed interception, and there are 30-some seconds, and then Cole Tabb breaks off a 50-yard run. The next play we're down there, and we score with eight seconds left in the half. That was huge. That was a huge point in the game right there. I want to make a point to our team about how big that was right before halftime. Then you just take that, and it carries on to the second half. So shout out to those guys, not only great players but great people. Love being around them. I’m happy for those guys to have success. So, but on to Utah now.”
On the threat Cincinnati faces with Utah’s rushing attack
“Extremely talented. I mean, you go back to last year, going out there and playing those guys, we really didn't slow them down very much. What they can do is run and throw, but they do so much as far as stretching the defense horizontally from sideline to sideline, and it creates some thin areas in your defense. They can push the ball down the field by throwing it. The thing they do so well is that they just stay on track. They don't really have many negative plays. It's always manageable down the distance, and if you got manageable down the distance, you can run the football anytime you want to. Their quarterback, he had a great game last week against Houston. I think Houston's an outstanding team. He had 150 yards rushing, but he also threw for two. It's a difficult matchup, and I think the running back runs extremely physical, but also has the juice to take it. I think he had a 90-yard run a couple of games ago. It's certainly a big challenge.”
On the game at Utah last year and what UC needs to do this year
“We didn't play good at all. They did a great job last year shutting us down offensively. We had some yards. We maybe had 400-some yards, but it didn’t cause us to score enough points. They did it in the special teams aspect. We didn't really slow down their offense at all. It was a great environment out there. I think for us, we need to show how much of an environment we have here. I know it's Halloween, but dress up and come out yelling in this game. We're going to need to have that home field advantage because it certainly helped us last week, and we know when we play here it's different for us because of that. Hopefully, our fans will show up and be loud, and then our guys will come out and perform at a high level.”
On Cole Tabb and the transfer portal
“You don't really know what you're getting with some of these guys. You're vetting them, you're looking at their film, you're going back to some high school film as well. Cole was a guy you saw some big play capabilities there, and he had a solid year at Stanford. But you don't really know how it's going to fit, particularly within your scheme and how you do things and your offense, and same with J.C. [French]. George Southern's a different kind of offense. You put them in ours. All right, how's he going? How's he going to work? So I think you don't really know, but you're looking for attributes. You're looking for some other things outside of just the football piece of it. What makes Cole so good? He can run, and he's such a smart player. He's so smart, and he understands things that we're trying to get done. He puts himself in a great position to be able to make plays. We'd hope for him to be this good, and it's just been a really good fit for us, our offense.”
On the talent difference between this team and last year’s
“We had some high-end talent last year with some guys that were really special, a little freaky with their size, speed, and the type of things they could do. We have some talent kind of spread out this year. The thing about this team is that it's just such a connected team that plays so well together. I think that matters when you're thinking about a football team where you need to have 11 guys that are playing as one on really all three phases. And this team, they're fun to be around, and I think they think they play off each other, and they really pull for each other. When you get that, then you can have something special. Whenever we have all our guys, and we're locked in like that, we're pretty good. I think maybe it showed a little bit in West Virginia. You get a couple of injuries or a couple of guys out here and there, and it's not as good, and it showed up. Tt was great to have them all back this past week, and we showed what we're capable of.”
On throwing two interceptions vs. Texas Tech, snapping his streak of pass attempts without a pick
“Obviously you are trying not to flinch whenever you throw those interceptions. It was pretty crucial that we had a drive like that. It was very satisfying as an offense and cool to see that we were able to bounce back from that, which is our standard in the first place. It was cool to have it like that.”
On the improvements he has made to his running game
“That is something I try to emphasize. It is obviously just being a little bit more athletic so you can extend plays and reduce the third downs. Making plays and extending plays is a huge part of playing quarterback. That is something I have been honing in on this year. I think it is a big part of our offense. Got to keep that going.”
On tight end Lyviel Waters and his increased role in the offense
“He continued to make plays throughout the offseason. I thought he could be a weapon. He is a very athletic tight end. He is a 20-21 mile per hour guy, so he can fly. He is going to continue to do good things for this offense.”
On deciphering Utah's defense
“You have to just try to find keys throughout the week. Film study is huge. Again, being a quarterback, you got to really hone in on the defense and what their main picture is like. Then if it is not like that, something is up. Just really understanding the film and kind of meeting with the coaches. I think they are doing a great job right now putting a plan together and trusting that plan.”
On getting his first touchdown of the season vs. Texas Tech
“It was just a great opportunity. Great pay calling by the head coach, and it was a surreal moment to be put in those positions and make those plays.”
On the improvements in the wide receiver room since week one
“We got way better. We improve week to week. Coach [Vijay] Stingley always tells us to get better every week, and we always find something that we lack in the last game. We just try to improve that as much as we can before we get into the next game.”
On strategies they can use on other teams that were used against Texas Tech
“We just went out there and we just played like we knew how to play. The last couple weeks were not going how we wanted it to go, so we just knew we had to go out there and give it our all and play.”
On the difference between the West Virginia game and the Texas Tech game
“It was important to get back to what we do and remember who we are as a defense, especially coming off two losses. It was important that we focus on the little details and the little stuff in the defense to get things done”
On Utah quarterback Devin Dampier
“He’s definitely a key part to this game. Keeping him contained, limiting his arm and his legs, he can throw a lot back there. He likes to run and throw the ball. He is definitely a great player.”
On how Coach Satterfield motivated for the Texas Tech game
“It was important for him to put that confidence back in us. He told us everything that was going to happen for the game. He told us they were going to storm the field. So him having that confidence, it was definitely great for the rest of us to get on board with him.”
On playing against a team that uses two quarterbacks at the same time
“This is my first time, but it will be very important for us to have good eyes, to be very detailed. They like to do a lot of shifts and motions to mess with your eyes. It is important to stay focused.”
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