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Full disclosure: I left after Gabriel hit the long pass in the 3rd after UC was stopped on 4th and 2 again. It was evident that UC was incapable of reaching pay dirt and as many of you may suspect, I don't handle losing well. So in my advancing age I've learned how to stay ahead of things to avoid feeling really ****** (it's pathetic, I know). It was still a great morning of festivities and celebrating how far the program has come. I don't regret salvaging the beautiful fall afternoon and spending some time with family and away from football.

That said, here are my observations from the game:
1) It was evident from the first play that Dontay Corleone was on a mission. Dude played out of his mind and you can tell how badly he wants to win. So very happy that he's a Bearcat.

2) First thing I noticed pregame was that OU travels with air conditioned benches- Some real SEC, it just means more, we care about absolutely nothing more than we care about football type stuff. Kind of crazy to finally see it from the opposing team in Nippert. If you removed the players and coaches you would have thought the OU sideline was the home sideline, and the Bearcat sideline was the away sideline just based on all the bells and whistles OU travels with.

3) Decent turnout as expected from Sooner fans. Most were fine except this one obnoxious, 60-something year old man behind us who was convinced every flag was going to go against OU and had to comment loudly on every play and make sure everyone knew we were playing Oklahoma and not Miami-Ohio. "YOU DON'T BEAT OKLAHOMA WITH FIELD GOALS! THIS IS OKLAHOMA, THIS ISN'T OHIO!" Over and over and over again. He wasn't wrong but man everyone (OU fans included) were tired of his **** before the end of the 1st quarter.

4) UC crowd was great. Nippert felt like it was ready to explode in the 3rd quarter with the way the Cats came out moving the ball. It really felt like a touchdown in the 3rd quarter would have totally flipped the game. Extremely frustrating effort inside the 50 from the offense again. Cue my early exit.

5) For the play-calling vs QB play debate: I lean being critical of the play calling. Understanding that it's year 1 and the offensive unit was assembled almost entirely this offseason, still it just feels like the right calls aren't being dialed up at the right time, and just an overall disjointed rhythm in calling and running plays since the 2nd half of the Pitt game. Should probably credit the OU defense but it seemed like most of the shot plays and designed QB runs were telegraphed. The OU defense seemed to always be one step ahead. I would have liked to have seen more designed rollouts/moving the pocket to give Emory a chance to make some decisions with a little more space. Football offense should not be that difficult in 2023.

6) Did Payton Singletary play? MIA

(09-25-2023 08:01 AM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  Full disclosure: I left after Gabriel hit the long pass in the 3rd after UC was stopped on 4th and 2 again. It was evident that UC was incapable of reaching pay dirt and as many of you may suspect, I don't handle losing well. So in my advancing age I've learned how to stay ahead of things to avoid feeling really ****** (it's pathetic, I know). It was still a great morning of festivities and celebrating how far the program has come. I don't regret salvaging the beautiful fall afternoon and spending some time with family and away from football.

That said, here are my observations from the game:
1) It was evident from the first play that Dontay Corleone was on a mission. Dude played out of his mind and you can tell how badly he wants to win. So very happy that he's a Bearcat.

2) First thing I noticed pregame was that OU travels with air conditioned benches- Some real SEC, it just means more, we care about absolutely nothing more than we care about football type stuff. Kind of crazy to finally see it from the opposing team in Nippert. If you removed the players and coaches you would have thought the OU sideline was the home sideline, and the Bearcat sideline was the away sideline just based on all the bells and whistles OU travels with.

3) Decent turnout as expected from Sooner fans. Most were fine except this one obnoxious, 60-something year old man behind us who was convinced every flag was going to go against OU and had to comment loudly on every play and make sure everyone knew we were playing Oklahoma and not Miami-Ohio. "YOU DON'T BEAT OKLAHOMA WITH FIELD GOALS! THIS IS OKLAHOMA, THIS ISN'T OHIO!" Over and over and over again. He wasn't wrong but man everyone (OU fans included) were tired of his **** before the end of the 1st quarter.

4) UC crowd was great. Nippert felt like it was ready to explode in the 3rd quarter with the way the Cats came out moving the ball. It really felt like a touchdown in the 3rd quarter would have totally flipped the game. Extremely frustrating effort inside the 50 from the offense again. Cue my early exit.

5) For the play-calling vs QB play debate: I lean being critical of the play calling. Understanding that it's year 1 and the offensive unit was assembled almost entirely this offseason, still it just feels like the right calls aren't being dialed up at the right time, and just an overall disjointed rhythm in calling and running plays since the 2nd half of the Pitt game. Should probably credit the OU defense but it seemed like most of the shot plays and designed QB runs were telegraphed. The OU defense seemed to always be one step ahead. I would have liked to have seen more designed rollouts/moving the pocket to give Emory a chance to make some decisions with a little more space. Football offense should not be that difficult in 2023.

6) Did Payton Singletary play? MIA

He dropped the two most important passes in the game IMO. That trick play pass that would've gotten us inside the 5 and lit a fire under the crowd even more and the 4th down pass at OU's 22 yard line when we were still down 17-6.

(09-23-2023 04:01 PM)Bcatbog Wrote:  Play Calling:

Always take the points when they are available. When the score was 17 to 6 a FG would have put us a TD +2 behind.
On third and short when it is 4 Down territory - run it twice.
From what I could see our guys were not getting separation on deep throws. Those throws were wasted opportunities.

Overall, we hung with them well. IMO poor play calling ultimately sunk our long shot chances.

Always take the points is interesting. I get your point (almost always take points). I’m gonna watch this closely. If we would’ve taken three points at the start of the Miami game and went up 10-7, would that be better? Maybe.
aggressive playcalling also gives confidence to the team, and if you punch it in, it may take the air out of Miami. I do think coaches get too cute and lose the Sure points.

Always take the points isn't actually a thing.

A fg isn't a guarantee...particularly in college as we saw at the end of the half.

But there is statistical value in being aggressive in most situations.

The always take the points crowd lives in the anecdotal evidence world not in the real world.... and always assumes the kick would have been good.

(09-25-2023 09:20 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Always take the points isn't actually a thing.

A fg isn't a guarantee...particularly in college as we saw at the end of the half.

But there is statistical value in being aggressive in most situations.

The always take the points crowd lives in the anecdotal evidence world not in the real world.... and always assumes the kick would have been good.

What about the “Please don’t play for a FG” crowd of which I was a vocal member of especially at the end of the Miami game?

(09-25-2023 09:26 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-25-2023 09:20 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Always take the points isn't actually a thing.

A fg isn't a guarantee...particularly in college as we saw at the end of the half.

But there is statistical value in being aggressive in most situations.

The always take the points crowd lives in the anecdotal evidence world not in the real world.... and always assumes the kick would have been good.

What about the “Please don’t play for a FG” crowd of which I was a vocal member of especially at the end of the Miami game?

I'm with you there. Especially in college, you should be smart aggressive at the end of games. Playing for a fg in the NFL makes some sense if it's tied and you can burn the clock though teams do it too early. You shouldn't until your in no brainer fg range

(09-25-2023 09:26 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-25-2023 09:20 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Always take the points isn't actually a thing.

A fg isn't a guarantee...particularly in college as we saw at the end of the half.

But there is statistical value in being aggressive in most situations.

The always take the points crowd lives in the anecdotal evidence world not in the real world.... and always assumes the kick would have been good.

What about the “Please don’t play for a FG” crowd of which I was a vocal member of especially at the end of the Miami game?

Bolded, and that's certainly the feeling we get watching the red zone play calling recently. I'm not questioning the coach (yet) but I thought we were getting more aggressive offensive play calling under a leader who was a QB and would emphasize scoring in a conference historically known for putting up lots of points.

(09-25-2023 10:08 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(09-25-2023 09:26 AM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-25-2023 09:20 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Always take the points isn't actually a thing.

A fg isn't a guarantee...particularly in college as we saw at the end of the half.

But there is statistical value in being aggressive in most situations.

The always take the points crowd lives in the anecdotal evidence world not in the real world.... and always assumes the kick would have been good.

What about the “Please don’t play for a FG” crowd of which I was a vocal member of especially at the end of the Miami game?

Bolded, and that's certainly the feeling we get watching the red zone play calling recently. I'm not questioning the coach (yet) but I thought we were getting more aggressive offensive play calling under a leader who was a QB and would emphasize scoring in a conference historically known for putting up lots of points.

I think what we're see is a team with 9 new starters on offense, including QB, every WR/TE, and 4 offensive lineman. I think what we're seeing is a team with a new coaching staff and a new system. I think we're seeing a team figuring things out on the fly.

It's an issue, but for long term success I'd rather be the team moving the ball up and down the field, but having readzone issues, than the other way around. I think these things are fixable.

Their moving the ball the last two weeks (throwing out the first quarter this week) has been encouraging. Their finishing has been disastrous, but I don't think that has to be a lasting issue.

Personally I was impressed with how the team played against OU
Defense: A- (+s DLine and The Don; --s DBacks played way soft and still seemed iffy)
Offense: C+ (moved the ball well, ground game; --s Red zone sucks and predicable)
Special Teams: B

IMO, at Nippert, as a clear underdog, take the points and keep the crowd in it. The crowd noise seemed to affect OU early. Vary both the offense play calling and the formations. Would be nice to bring a bit more pressure but just don't think our DBacks are there yet. Overall, it seemed like the Bearcats were 2 or 3 plays from making this a nail biter or possibly an upset but to open your first "big boy" campaign with #16 and possibly one of the 2 teams that will play for the conf championship I thought they looked far better than last week. Hopefully BYU is a different outcome

(09-25-2023 10:49 AM)Cal1362 Wrote:  Personally I was impressed with how the team played against OU
Defense: A- (+s DLine and The Don; --s DBacks played way soft and still seemed iffy)
Offense: C+ (moved the ball well, ground game; --s Red zone sucks and predicable)
Special Teams: B

IMO, at Nippert, as a clear underdog, take the points and keep the crowd in it. The crowd noise seemed to affect OU early. Vary both the offense play calling and the formations. Would be nice to bring a bit more pressure but just don't think our DBacks are there yet. Overall, it seemed like the Bearcats were 2 or 3 plays from making this a nail biter or possibly an upset but to open your first "big boy" campaign with #16 and possibly one of the 2 teams that will play for the conf championship I thought they looked far better than last week. Hopefully BYU is a different outcome

I'd actually give the D an unqualified A. Remember 2 of our starting DBs were out. At no point did we ever get just blown away. 20 points, 400 yards with only 100 on the ground. They played well enough to win. I find it interesting even in our losses teams aren't trying to run on us; most of Miami's rushing was QB flushing pocket.

If there were a panic button to hit on offense I'd do it. But I do believe offense requires more rhythm and continuity than playing defense and we have significantly less continuity on offense. Emory and the line aren't great and they did a good job of replenishing the WR group but they're just adequate I'd say. As was already mentioned on here situational execution has been the issue rather than just having no talent and not being able to move the ball at all. For a group that is basically all new I do think this is something they will improve at as the players become more comfortable with each other and coaches better identify what the strengths of the players. I expect to be in our home games and be competitive on the road against the bottom of the conference which it seems like all our road games are against what we expect to be bottom half teams.

(09-24-2023 10:12 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(09-24-2023 09:23 AM)mac6115cd Wrote:  Some of these comments are unrealistic and show a lack of perspective.

This offense was put together in less than a year. Unfortunately, it takes time and patience to build a cohesive unit which some of you don't have. OU was our toughest opponent and we have a good shot at 7+ wins.

I saw the same types of comments during Fick's 4-8 season, and we all know how that turned out.

If the bandwagon hit a pothole and some of you fall off, that's fine. You weren't fans to begin with.

I've been a Bearcat for over 40 years and there have been good time and bad times.

Sorry for the rant, but nobody should have expected instant success. That doesn't happen.

I'm with you. That doesn't mean Satterfield will ultimately be the guy, but people are being a little over the top.

Over the last 38 minutes & 40 seconds of the game. The Bearcats out gained Oklahoma 314-187. Oklahoma was averaging 600+ yards per game. UC defense was without Pace and Sammy Anderson. UC lost that segment 10-3.

My point after a pretty bad start to the game, UC mostly moved the ball up and down the field and held an elite offense in check. There is a lot to build on. The things they are struggling at are fixable.

People need to keep in mind that UC replaced basically the entire offense from last season (both in terms of players and systems). Coaching changes often come with growing pains.

Minter went 2-8-1 the year after UC went 8-3.

Dantonio went 7-5 with maybe the most talented front seven UC has had on defense (Trent Cole, Andre Frasier, Mike Wright, Tyjaun Hagler all with long NFL careers) and senior year Gino Guidugli. That team lost to an Army team that was on basically a 3 year winless streak at the time. And had the most embarrassing UC loss of my lifetime at Louisville.

Brian Kelly handled the transition best...though he also had the smoothest transition from a roster standpoint. However, even he lost back to back games to Kragthorp and Weinstandt.

Butch Jones inherited a team that ran the table the prior regular season that had a ton of talent back and managed to guide them to a 4-8 campaign.

Transitions aren't easy. UC is actually doing a lot of good things. Need to fix the things that are costing them, redzone and secondary penalties (where they were much better this week). Next three games will tell us a lot. Definitely not giving up on the season yet.

Well reasoned review. Bottom line is it takes time. But it still chaps we lost to Miami. No team with that many popped collars should be able to beat us.