Arkansas 9/3 3:30 ESPN

[Lobot]

Here's a postgame write up from Justin WIlliams ($)

https://theathletic.com/3563686/2022/09/03/cincinnati-football-arkansas/

Chief nugget here is that the defensive alignment we saw was not the defense that we prepared for.

[UC4me]

I whiffed on UK. I know we played in Lexington at least once in the 90s because I was at that one.

Was that the game where it was about 34 degrees and rain followed by snow? If so, that was miserable and I was there also.

[GangstaTakester]

I was at the game, but rewatched it today to see if my opinions changed. After watching, it is even more depressing that we lost. Some observations:

• The Arkansas crowd was a non-factor. I have never heard a quieter 70k people. I did like their "back-up" beeping on penalties.
• Ben Bryant played a pretty good 2nd half. He had the sack/fumble, but he made some passes. If he plays like that in the first half we win by 2 touchdowns.
• It sure seemed like losing our center had a big impact on the game. I don't think some of those penalties occur if you have leadership on the line. I know it is next man up, but that seemed to be 1 of 2 positions on the line that we didn't mess with much in pre-season. He had some low snaps and we just didn't seem to get lined up right. I think that gets backer with another week of practice.
• We just seemed to be a step slow on some of the outside runs. We got hands on them, but not enough to take them down. That is probably the most concerning thing to me that doesn't seem easily fixable.
• Our wide receivers are studs. They were open all day. Arkansas's game play was to have Ben Bryant beat them and he couldn't on this day. They played a cover 0 or cover 1 almost all game and we just didn't take advantage of it.
• Tucker is special on returns. Pace is an animal. Kiner is going to become something great. The big guys were huge in the middle of the D Line.
• Our kicking was bad....again. That didn't get better after watching on TV.

I think if we play this as game 3 or 4, we win fairly easily. We showed our inexperience and our jitters. I still believe this team is really good (if they can fix their stupid, stupid mistakes) and that they can run the table. We were not out physicalled against an SEC team on the road. This team can play. It was a real shame to lose this game, but I am not disheartened for the rest of the season.

[GangstaTakester]

There is still hope. Jerry Palm still has us in a NY6 bowl game against USC. Now that would be fun!

Bowl projections: Pac-12 takes major College Football Playoff hit as Georgia, Florida flex in Week 1 - CBSSports.com

[RedDog]

I was at the game, but rewatched it today to see if my opinions changed. After watching, it is even more depressing that we lost. Some observations:

• The Arkansas crowd was a non-factor. I have never heard a quieter 70k people. I did like their "back-up" beeping on penalties.
• Ben Bryant played a pretty good 2nd half. He had the sack/fumble, but he made some passes. If he plays like that in the first half we win by 2 touchdowns.
• It sure seemed like losing our center had a big impact on the game. I don't think some of those penalties occur if you have leadership on the line. I know it is next man up, but that seemed to be 1 of 2 positions on the line that we didn't mess with much in pre-season. He had some low snaps and we just didn't seem to get lined up right. I think that gets backer with another week of practice.
• We just seemed to be a step slow on some of the outside runs. We got hands on them, but not enough to take them down. That is probably the most concerning thing to me that doesn't seem easily fixable.
• Our wide receivers are studs. They were open all day. Arkansas's game play was to have Ben Bryant beat them and he couldn't on this day. They played a cover 0 or cover 1 almost all game and we just didn't take advantage of it.
• Tucker is special on returns. Pace is an animal. Kiner is going to become something great. The big guys were huge in the middle of the D Line.
• Our kicking was bad....again. That didn't get better after watching on TV.

I think if we play this as game 3 or 4, we win fairly easily. We showed our inexperience and our jitters. I still believe this team is really good (if they can fix their stupid, stupid mistakes) and that they can run the table. We were not out physicalled against an SEC team on the road. This team can play. It was a real shame to lose this game, but I am not disheartened for the rest of the season.

I agree with most of your comments. This WAS a very winnable game and Arkansas is nowhere close to the Bama or Ga teams we lost to the least 2 years, This Arkansas team is no better than .500 against their schedule and this loss will lose quality as the season progresses. Because of that, I think we need to run the table to maintain our national objective of having arrived as a program and not just a one team wonder. Unfortunately, our tough games are all on the road. This schedule is very challenging and a little unlucky in how it lays out for us.

[Lobot]

Post game QB analysis of Ben Bryant from Justin WIlliams ($)

https://theathletic.com/3569079/2022/09/06/ben-bryant-cincinnati-football/

[Lobot]

Breakdown of the Defense's play on Sat. ($)

https://theathletic.com/3575129/2022/09/08/cincinnati-football-defense/

[bearcatbret]

Comments by CLF and some decent links at the end.
Luke Fickell Discusses Ryan Montgomery Injury, Effort Level, Areas to Improve - All Bearcats (si.com)

[bearcat1518]

This right here was the key. We gave up way too many explosive plays:

“Fickell puts a lot of stock into stopping explosive plays, and Cincinnati is already over a quarter of the way to allowing last season's total after one game.

"So 13 of them defensively," Fickell said about the 15-plus yard plays UC allowed. "We had 11 on offense, which isn't bad. You know, we missed a few of them. But the reality is, you know, give up 40 last year and 13 in one game is very noticeable, and it was leverage. It's just the fundamental things, and it was tackling, and obviously, you're going to have more of those the better teams you play.”

[RedDog]

I guess as of today we all become Arkansas fans. They play another middle of the road SEC team in S Carolina which should be a decent barometer for whether Arkansas is closer to the top, middle, or God forbid bottom of the SEC. Hogs need to finish close to the top to make our missed opportunity at least a quality loss.

[RedDog]

Still not drinking the Arkansas kool-aid. You can't beat Alabama only running the ball and Ark has a minimal passing attack. Even at home, I think Ark gets run over 48-10.
I Really hope I am wrong as we need Arkansas to add credibility plus whoever plays Alabama always gets my weekly support almost as much as my second favorite team who is whoever o$u is playing.

[Lobot]

At the risk of sounding like Indiana's QB, we beat ourselves in the first half of the Arkansas game. We looked good in that game outside of Ben being off in the 1st half and the fumble and sack in the second.