SB Nation - Dustin Grutza

Bearcats closer towards Big East Championship and BCS Bowl Game

Kirkendall — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:15:28 -0000

So there is good football being played in Cincinnati. The University of Cincinnati Bearcats remain in control of their own destiny for a Big East Championship and a berth to a BCS Bowl game after a 28-20 win over the Louisville Cardinals. These kids play it cool and collected, coming through when it matters the most.

Last week, against West Virginia, the Bearcats watched a 20-7 lead fall in the game's final 1:11. Terrill Byrd's third down sack in overtime forced the Mountaineers to kick a field goal during the opening overtime possession. After quarterback Tony Pike completed a 10-yard pass to Dominick Goodman (added with a Mountaineers personal foul), the Bearcats lined up with a first-and-goal at the West Virginia seven-yard line. Pike hit Kazeem Alli two plays later, scoring a touchdown to win the game by three points in overtime.

The momentum was clearly West Virginia's heading into overtime, scoring a touchdown (seven plays, 61 yards in 0:53) and a two-point conversion on a Pat White run. After the Mountaineers recovered an on-side kick, White hit Dorrell Jalloh for 21 yards setting up a Pat McAfee 52-yard field goal that sent the game into overtime. Did the Bearcats fold and panic? No. The defense held forcing an overtime field goal and the offense scored a touchdown winning only their second game in 17 all-time meetings between the two.

It seemed that the Bearcats were bound to struggle in their claim for the Keg of Nails, during a driving rain against the Louisville Cardinals Friday night. The Bearcats offense turned the ball over four times -- three inside the Bearcats own 20-yard line. Place kicker Jake Rogers missed three field goals -- though weather was a huge factor -- and Tony Pike was pulled from the game after bruising his sternum in the fourth quarter. Pike left the game completing 19 of 33 passes for 250 yards passing and two touchdowns. For a time, I was worried that this would be a let-down game. I was wrong.

After allowing an opening third quarter field goal, the Bearcats defense forced the Cardinals offense to go: punt, interception, punt, missed field goal and back-to-back turnover on downs. They didn't allow the Cardinals a second-half possession to go more than 23 yards.

With 8:20 left in the game, Dustin Grutza replaced an injured Pike and completed a critical third down pass -- 24 yards to Dominick Goodman who finished the game with 134 yards receiving on nine receptions and a touchdown. On the following play, running back John Goebel rushed for 37 yards, scoring a six-yard touchdown on the next play. That gave the Bearcats an eight-point lead. After the Cardinals were stuffed on a fourth-down quarterback sneak, and the Bearcats missed another field goal attempt, Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell threw four straight incomplete passes sealing the Bearcats win.

The Bearcats head to Pittsburgh next Saturday for what could be the Big East title game (even though they have Syracuse and Hawaii on schedule) on ESPN 2 at 7:15 p.m. If the Bearcats win out, they'll win the conference title and an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl game.

Damn fine football being played in Cincinnati.

Poll

Are you interested in talking Cincinnati Bearcats on this site?

Yes

36 votes

No

19 votes

55 votes | Poll has closed

Monday afternoon links and notes -- Lewis looking at benching Perry?

Kirkendall — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:23:45 -0000

While there's plenty of ammunition to slam Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, you have to also assume that the Bengals offense just isn't that good. Sure, we're stuck with third and long on multiple occasions, with most not being converted, but the Bengals can't pick up 4-5 yards on a run on first down. Running the football is one of the oldest forms of football; good teams run the ball well.

It's easy to blame Bratkowski; we all do it because it's easy to point the finger. But 55 times this season the Bengals have run the ball on first and 10. They are averaging less than three yards per rush. It's not like they're running every time on first down either; to date, the Bengals have passed on 58.6% of the time on first down. Good teams run the ball well. In 2005, the Bengals averaged 4.19 yards-per-rush on first down; they rushed 52.55% of the time on first and ten.

One has to wonder if the Bengals offense would be this bad no matter what offensive coordinator the team has. At some point, the players have to get it done, and they're not.

Stats.

The Bengals rushing offense has run behind Andrew Whitworth's outside shoulder 44 times for 72 yards rushing. One has to wonder when Levi Jones, Andrew Whitworth and outside (if applicable) are going to improve their league worst 1.6 yards-per-rush when running behind them.

Alternatively, the Bengals have rushed from Bobbie Williams out, 55 times for 204 yards rushing (3.7 yards-per-rush).

Chick Ludwig hits a homerun saying:

What’s incredible is that team president Mike Brown actually thinks he’s done a good job building this team — or should we say tearing it down — and his subjects think the positives outweigh the negatives for the future.

People in the front offices at Paul Brown Stadium walk around like they’re 10-time Super Bowl champions instead of a franchise that’s made one measly postseason appearance in 18 years.

Defensive backs Jamar Fletcher and Herana-Daze Jones "injured hamstrings in the first half and didn't return" against the Jets.

Marvin Lewis is "looking at benching Perry for Benson, Watson."

David reflects on the Bengals sixth loss, calling the remainder of 2008 the 2009 preseason.

Paul Daugherty wonders if you're ready to switch your loyalties from the Cincinnati Bengals to the Cincinnati Bearcats (possibly a BCS contender with Big East Championship).

I adamantly agree with Daugherty's assessment:

The Bengals' defense is nothing special. But like a starting pitcher with a .500 record, it has been good enough to keep the team in games. The defense did so again Sunday, starting with the sack by Antwan Odom that caused the fumble that Chinedum Ndukwe grabbed and turned into six points.

Concluding...

Meantime, the offense put the defense in bad situations. The Jets' average drive started at their 46-yard line. Just in the first half, the Jets started on the Bengals' 46-, 34- and 24-yard lines. They had the ball for more than 12 minutes in the first quarter, when the Bengals ran just three plays and had no first downs.

For the game, the Bengals' defense spent 35 minutes on the field versus 25 for the offense.

Bob Bratkowski:

"The fact that we can't run the ball right now is absolutely killing us," Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said as he walked through the corridors inside the Meadowlands toward the team bus after the loss. "Right now, we're struggling (as an offense). We've got to find an identity. That's what we'll be working on this week.

Peter King talks about the similarities between Paul Brown and Bill Belichick.

I haven't talked about the Cincinnati Bearcats in a while. So let's get that back on track (after all, are you sure you only want to talk about the Bengals?).

The Bearcats won their fifth game of the season after sneaking past 1-5 Rutgers, 13-10 with freshman quarterback Chazz Anderson; their first Big East game of the season. Their next three games could define their entire season; and chances to winning the conference and earning a BCS Bowl game. UC's only loss came at the hands of Oklahoma -- a game in which the Bearcats were within 10 points in the third quarter.

Benefiting with an upcoming bye week, the Bearcats head to 5-1 UConn, 5-1 South Florida (at home), and 4-2 West Virginia.

Tony Pike (the second quarterback this season to go down to injury), should be back for the game against UConn.

Tony Pike has started two games this season (played in four... mop up against Eastern Kentucky and replaced Dustin Grutza injury against OU). In those two starts, Pike has completed 43 of 58 passes (74%) for 561 yards passing, five touchdowns and no picks against Miami University and Akron.

Of the eight Big East schools, six have winning records. Here's the standings.

Standings	Conference	Overall
Pittsburgh	2-0	4-1
West Virginia	2-0	4-2
Connecticut	1-0	5-1
Cincinnati	1-0	5-1
South Florida	0-1	5-1
Louisville	0-1	3-2
Rutgers	0-2	1-5
Syracuse	0-2	1-5

UC still has a problem with penalties.

With Pike returning against UConn, Dustin Grutza's broken leg could be healed within two or three more weeks.

Thursday morning links and notes -- UC Bearcats kickoff tonight

Kirkendall — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:52:37 -0000

Even though the Bengals play tonight, another local football team kicks off their season tonight. The Cincinnati Bearcats host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, tonight at 7:30pm at Nippert Stadium. Brian Kelly's first season with the the Bearcats last season finished with a 10-3 record and a 17th ranking in the AP rankings. A total of 12 starters return on offense and defense (six each), including cornerback Mike Mickens who earned the first team all-Big East.

The Enquirer's Bill Koch runs through the Big East, listing the Bearcats fifth behind West Virginia, South Florida, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers. He writes that the "Bearcats enter Brian Kelly's second season as head coach well-equipped on defense with All-America tackle Terrill Byrd and two standout defensive backs in Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith. But there are question marks on offense, beginning at quarterback." While Ben Mauk continues his effort to have the NCAA reinstatement him after his eligibility was up, Dustin Grutza will have another opportunity to remain as the team's starting quarterback. Preview tonight's game here.

Naturally, I'm a Buckeyes fan first in the college ranks. But I like seeing the Bearcats succeed; and the start of a Brian Kelly era may be generating a ton of local interest. We'll talk about them throughout the year. For now, let's get on with the Bengals.

There's an increasing belief that Ryan Fitzpatrick might become the team's starting quarterback because of the lack of protection for Carson Palmer. Even though Fitzpatrick will start tonight, having an opportunity to shine, I doubt it means anything more than auditioning for next year's free agency, where he could become the most coveted veteran quarterback available. And yes, I mean veteran by having some NFL game experience -- though it's not a lot.

Through three seasons, Fitzpatrick has started three games (all as a rookie with the Rams) and played in one game in each of the past two seasons (one with the Rams, one with the Bengals), though not attempting a pass. As a starter with the Rams, Fitzpatrick is 0-3, recording only one touchdown and seven interceptions (five in one game against the Vikings). His last pass attempt in a regular season game happened on December 18, 2005.

I've always liked Rudi Johnson -- not for just his play, but he's always been a good guy for the community. However, I think he's doing a disservice to himself by publicly showing pity for himself. "It's already been decided; the game is irrelevant," Johnson said, "The situation has already been presented. The game doesn't really matter."

However, Marvin Lewis denied any trade rumor. James Walker isn't buying it, saying "Lewis also denied interest in Chris Henry and that the team was offered two first-round picks for Chad Johnson. So we know the drill." Apparently, "we" means James himself. Lewis was truthful about Henry, only to have ownership supercede his word. As far as Lewis is concerned with Rudi Johnson, he's probably still telling the truth and ownership is doing their own thing again; which word has it, Lewis was taken aback when he learned of the rumor too.

The Ravens don't expect Ed Reed to play kickoff weekend against the Bengals.

Paul Daugherty asks what football town this is, Bearcats or Bengals? I ask, why does that matter? And I'd say high school football should be weighed in also, for this area.