Central Florida 10/29 3:30 ESPN

[leeraymond]

I have been watching college football (and professional) a long time. Why does UC use a three-man front line and a five-man defensive box? Most teams use at least a 7-man box. Last year's team had some really good guys on the defensive side of the ball. UC was able to get by with a three-man defensive line. This year is different. That defensive line needs help. Think about this for a second. UC got beat by a BACKUP quarterback yesterday at UCF. Why NOT pressure him on every series? The UC defensive coaching strategy is very WEAK. They are NOT nearly aggressive enough up front. It is hard for a quarterback to beat you when he is running NOT to get hit. Look at how UCF's front line treated Ben Bryant. They pressured him every chance they got. UC suffers from what I call "gentleman football". UC needs to get more aggressive with their defensive line schemes and pressure. There is no way in **** UC is going to win games in the BIG 12 with a THREE-MAN defensive rush. Put some HEAT on the damn quarterback.

[Geaux Juan]

UCF had 200 more yards of offense than we had. They have a QB who can run.

They have at least two QBs that can run, and the starter was injured. Running.

[Greg7173]

I'm wondering if the loss of jake Renfro and the mysterious disappearance of Lorenz Metz isn't the reason we can't protect Bryant and run the ball effectively - well except for a handful of long runs where we catch the defense set up incorrectly or sleeping.

[Lobot]

I have been watching college football (and professional) a long time. Why does UC use a three-man front line and a five-man defensive box? Most teams use at least a 7-man box. Last year's team had some really good guys on the defensive side of the ball. UC was able to get by with a three-man defensive line. This year is different. That defensive line needs help. Think about this for a second. UC got beat by a BACKUP quarterback yesterday at UCF. Why NOT pressure him on every series? The UC defensive coaching strategy is very WEAK. They are NOT nearly aggressive enough up front. It is hard for a quarterback to beat you when he is running NOT to get hit. Look at how UCF's front line treated Ben Bryant. They pressured him every chance they got. UC suffers from what I call "gentleman football". UC needs to get more aggressive with their defensive line schemes and pressure. There is no way in **** UC is going to win games in the BIG 12 with a THREE-MAN defensive rush. Put some HEAT on the damn quarterback.

I think the answer to that we recruited a lot of these guys to a 3-3-5 scheme. Against some teams we can definitely get pressure with 3 up front and bringing a linebacker or sniper on the blitz. Against teams with spread offense and a running QB, the guy who you would normally send is assigned to the QB. In addition, you're spread wide by UCF's offensive scheme and everything is going outside where we seems to stuggle with tackling a bit. The ball comes out quickly and as a result there's no time to generate a rush. Mobile QBs and lots of motion are a problem for our defensive scheme.(See Arkansas, USF, etc. ) I said before the game I wish they'd switch up the scheme for this game becuase of this.

Buckle up for the 3 home games. You got at least two teams there that use backfield motion.

[Lobot]

Metz was injured. He and Renfro were on the sidelines at SMU. Renfo was in sweat shorts and a leg brace. Metz was fully suited up so whatever his deal was, he's probably available in an emergency?

[Lobot]

I'm wondering if the loss of jake Renfro and the mysterious disappearance of Lorenz Metz isn't the reason we can't protect Bryant and run the ball effectively - well except for a handful of long runs where we catch the defense set up incorrectly or sleeping.

Metz was injured. He and Renfro were on the sidelines at SMU. Renfo was in sweat shorts and a leg brace. Metz was fully suited up so whatever his deal was, he's probably available in an emergency?

[Lobot]

Box Score:

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...meId/401415644

[bearcatbret]

Metz was injured. He and Renfro were on the sidelines at SMU. Renfo was in sweat shorts and a leg brace. Metz was fully suited up so whatever his deal was, he's probably available in an emergency?

I think yesterday should have been considered an emergency.

[Bearcat93]

Interesting quote from Fickell below. My feelings about Fickell’s in game decisions, particularly yesterday but common enough to make you wonder, are well summarized here. It makes no sense whatsoever to not have 10-12 plays for Evan every game, particularly as it would open up our struggling run game. Not giving Kiner a single snap when he’s averaging 4.5 per carry and almost a TD per game (coming off his Tulsa avg of nearly 9 per)? These decisions conflict with what is happening on the field. There’s an over commitment to a single QB approach this we have all seen is very inconsistent. I’d like to see us flex more to what this team needs and less conservative thinking.


From Cincinnati.com:
While Kiner was relegated to the sideline, as was dual-threat, backup quarterback Evan Prater. Fickell said his plan all along was to stick with Bryant.

"We felt like that's what we needed to do, and if Ben was able to go we needed to stick with it," he said. "Evan was ready to roll. Not that it would change a whole lot. Maybe it would loosen up the run game a little bit, help us out a little bit, I think that's where we have to really look at it and see the other ways we can use all of our guys the best way possible."

[red_n_black_attack]

UCF had 200 more yards of offense than we had. They have a QB who can run. The better team won today. Question.... if UC, UCF, and Tulane all have one AAC Conference loss, what two teams play for the championship?

B.C.

That can only happen if Tulane loses to UCF and then Tulane beats UC. In that scenario, UC has two conference losses and UCF faces Tulane in CCG, even if Houston wins out to only have one conference loss.

1. I personally doubt UCF beats Tulane and UC could get to CCG by beating Tulane. If Tulane beats UCF and we lose to Tulane, Tulane will host Houston in CCG
2. If UCF beats Tulane, then Tulane loses to UC then the CCG will be Houston against UCF
3. If UCF loses to Tulane and UC beats Tulane, then CCG will be UC versus Tulane
4. Lastly, if UCF beats Tulane and Tulane beats UC, there could be a three way tie between Houst, UCF, and Tulane. In that scenario, Houston gets screwed based on OOC losses/ranking.

Lets root for Tulane to play us undefeated in conference play, lose to us, then come back to Cincy for CCG.

Though I doubt UC wins out and I have to tip my hat to UCF for being the better team Saturday. UC has several of the same issues we had after earlier close wins to supposedly inferior teams. I do not see those issues being adequately addressed or resolved.

[red_n_black_attack]

I’m relaxed. Everything you said is true except for this team winning out. That’s not going to happen. The home win streak ends this year.

I think you are right as I look at it with my mind. ECU has a super senior QB. Navy has the option, and Tulane is simply a really good team. It has been frustrating watching a few UC mistakes get amplified. My heart says UC "can win out", but I do not think that will happen either.

[True Bearcat]

Cincinnati started using the 3-3-5 a few years back to counter the fast paced passing attack of AAC teams such as UCF, Houston, ECU, SMU, and Memphis. Now teams have film on how to run the ball extremely well against it. I do not know why the coaching staff stays in it instead of sending another lineman in.
The Fickell quote from above reads to me like he was second guessing himself on the use of Kriner and Prater. When Prater came into the game UCF walked 8 into the box, and dared him to throw. When Bryant was in UCF believed they had the defensive backs to cover the WR's in man coverage, and blitzed almost every play. UCF coaching staff saw that pressure at Bryant's feet although they weren't sacking him or hitting him every play caused his passes to be very inconsistent. Back to Prater if he entered the game I am not sure if he a good enough passer to get them to drop the pressure. I know for sure he would not "outrun" multiple blitzers. UCF had a very good game plan, and look for it too be duplicated here on out

[Lobot]

Some post mortem from Justin WIlliams from yesterday ($)

https://theathletic.com/3740336/2022...ickell-bryant/