Thursday, September 19, 2019

Taking Care of Business



                Saturday marked 14 years in a row the Bearcats have beaten the Miami Redhawks.  Most of those games haven’t even been close.  Miami had a stretch of games during Tuberville and the one year following Tuberville where they had their opportunities, but as the Fickell era of UC football gets rolling it has become increasingly clear Miami missed their window.  The Bearcats are likely to continue beating down the Redhawks for years to come.   Despite the slow start, ultimately, this year was no different.  The Bearcats took care of business and now get a week off before maybe the key 3 game stretch of the season. 


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                The biggest nonconference test of the season for the 2009 Bearcats also came at OSU.  Week three in 2009 the Bearcats made their way out to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers.  The Beavers were coming off a 9-4 season (7-2 in the PAC 12).  This Beaver team would go all the way up to number 13 in the rankings by December.  It was a real test for the Bearcats, one the Bearcat passed again with flying colors.  This was the one game I was not able to attend in 2009, but I can remember exactly where I was.  I was house/dog sitting a house and partying with friends. 
                I spent the day drinking beers and ziplining into the pond with a few others who came to enjoy the weekend with me.  Honestly, if I wasn’t going to be at the game it was a perfect way to spend the lead up to the game.  The Bearcats started slow, not scoring in the first quarter.  However, the defense held Oregon State to two field goals and the Bearcats were only down 6-0 after 1.  Much as it did against Rutgers, the offense took off in the second quarter.  The Bearcats had touchdown drives on 9 plays, 80 yards, 9 plays 77 yards and 3 plays 60 yards, to take a 21-8 lead into the half. 
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                Likewise, it was a slow start for the Bearcats against the Redhawks.  If it felt like the Bearcats were going backwards for a while, it’s because they were.  The Bearcats’ first drive went for negative 13 yards and after a Miami touchdown their second drive went for -6 yards.  It’s no surprise Bearcat fans were a little anxious when Miami kicked a field goal to take a 10-0 lead.  However, after that Miami drive the defense and offense both seemed to get it together and the UC talent took over.  They held Miami scoreless the rest of the half.  UC responded to the 10-0 deficit with a long touchdown drive of their own.  The teams traded punts for a while after, but the Bearcats put the ball in the endzone to end the half.  The key play on that drive was Fickell opting to go for it on 4th and 6 from the Miami forty.  Ridder completed an 11 yard pass to Medaris and capped off the drive with another Michael Warren TD run.  All in all 14-10 didn’t feel great, but it could have been a lot worse. 


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                After a blistering second quarter the 2009 Bearcats didn’t play a particularly clean second half against Oregon State.  The Beavers started the half with a quick touchdown drive and the Bearcat offense did very little in response.  They had a 3 and out followed by an interception then another 3 an out.  Their 3 third quarter drives totaled 48 yards.  Oregon State kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 3 (21-18).  As they had in the second quarter the Bearcat offense responded.  They immediately marched down the field for a touchdown drive stretching the lead back out to 10 with about 8 minutes left in the game.  The defense forced an interception and the offense moved the ball again before missing a field goal that would have put the Bearcats up 13.  By that time there was only 1:30 left in the game and everything was still well in hand.  The Bearcats escaped a good Oregon State team with a 10 point win in a game they mostly controlled despite playing two fairly poor quarters.  Oregon State was a PAC 10 contender and the Bearcats had proven to be clearly the better team. 




                The second half of the battle for the Victory Bell was the dominant performance Cincinnati fans have grown to expect in that game.  The Bearcats started with a touchdown drive and never really looked back.  The defense suffocated Miami for the entire second half.  The Bearcats forced a 3 and out on 3 of Miami’s 6 second half drives.  The other drives included a 4 play drive ending with a turnover on downs, a 5 play drive with one first down and then one drive where Miami moved the ball a little bit before kicking an irrelevant field goal.  The defensive dominance allowed the offense to find itself with a couple big plays.  Ridder connected with Geddis for a 51 yard TD, then Warren broke off a 73 yard touchdown run on the next UC drive.  It was 35 to 13 by the time the game entered the fourth quarter.  There was no doubt UC would be keeping the bell in Cincinnati.
                The second half performance can’t overshadow the clear issues that need to get corrected.  The offensive line has really struggled at times.  Those first few drives UC had no room to do anything.  Miami pushed the line around more than they should have been able to, forcing Warren to break tackles or make people miss in the backfield and putting Ridder under some pressure.  Additionally, Ridder continued to struggle finding receivers when his primary target is taken away.  Right before the half there was a key play where Deguara broke wide open, Ridder had time, but didn’t see him and dumped off to Warren.  Those kind of plays happen too often.  When his first read is there, Ridder can be very accurate.  He threw some great passes today, particularly the Geddis TD pass and the Deguara TD.  3 weeks in and it is still hard to know what to expect from this team going forward.  They soundly beat an inferior Miami team, but once again showed the issues that could hold them back. 



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                So the Bearcats head into a bye week with the record everyone expected.  They won both games at Nippert and won them both rather convincingly and lost to an elite Ohio State team.   They showed plenty of concerns but enough positives to remain optimistic about the season to come.  The three weeks following the bye will likely define their season.  Their final nonconference game is a road test at a solid Marshall team, picked by many to win CUSA.  Ridder and the offense struggled on the road last season and though it is unfair to hold OSU against them too much, it didn’t do anything to alleviate that concern.  The defense should be able to largely limit Marshall.  If the offense does its part they should get out of Huntington with a win, but it will be a real test. 
                That test is followed by the biggest game of the year.  The Bearcats almost certainly can’t win the conference without a home win over UCF.  Giving UCF the tiebreaker in the division likely will wrap up the division and even if it doesn’t (maybe a 3 way tie with Temple is conceivably still in play) it makes it essential for UC to win at Houston and at Memphis (in addition to holding serve home against Temple).  If UC is to be an AAC contender, they must win against UCF.  And UCF could be as good as ever.  Real tests, real opportunities.  The Bearcats took care of business against Miami and retained the Victory Bell for the fourteenth straight season.  The season will be defined by weeks to come. 

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