Game Thoughts Cincin Loss

[cyclone1209]

I will start off in saying I am excited this team has a 5-1 start. With several games to go everything is still out there for this team including a Big 12 championship game appearance (likely need to win out for that), and likely a fun bowl matchup. Some don't care about that, but I do.

Offense

• The running game looked pretty good, 151 yards rushing is a decent day at the office. I hope Hansen can come back for Colorado.
• Brett Eskildsen continues to look like a deep threat downfield, he catches almost everything and like him a lot.
• We messed up by not getting Gabe Burkle involved today more often.
• When Hansen got hurt, i'd love to see someone else OTHER THAN Sama in short yardage. Dylan Lee, Aiden Flora, somebody else. Abu cannot move a pile or break many tackles

Defense

• Jon Heacock has forgotten more about football than I know. What I am about to say is hopefully not too snarky but just how I feel.
• When Cincinnati has a 4th and 1, we had a 3 down defensive lineman front. What am I missing or is that ridiculous to anyone else? If Cincin had ran the football more often in the second half I honestly feel like that's a blowout. I am so disappointed in our limited use of defensive lineman. How is Dom Orange supposed to be effective when he goes up against 2-3 guys each play? He has to be incredibly frustrated. Why not try a 4 down front of Jace Gilbert (end), Zamir Hawk at Nose, and Dom Orange at Def. Tackle alongside Trey Verdon at D End?
• Ezeguo is proving to me he is not effective at DT against the run, and provides zero threat in pass rush. It's tough to watch.
• I want to see Heacock try something different, we have two corners out for the year. Perhaps the recipe to win is NOT to drop 8 anymore, asking our younger corners to cover for 6 seconds will not bode well for us against CU, TCU, and other teams.. It just won't.
• We need to allot some funds this off season to a stud Defensive End or Linebacker. We just seem weak there when playing good offenses. I would actually be comfortable letting a player or two walk if it meant getting a stud at defensive end.
• The defense right now is 105th nationally in sacks. There are plenty of teams ranked ahead of us in sacks who have played one fewer game (think about that). Our alignment sucks in forcing the QB to feel pressured or make a poor throw.

For those who feel differently, I am happy to welcome a debate with the defensive part of this. Who in the college ranks, or the NFL on defense has won a national championship/super bowl in a defensive front that rushes 3 down linemen (last 40 years)? I cannot think of one. Beyond that, if are walking into recruits' homes who play defensive line, who the hell wants to play in a scheme where its smashing 3 guys against 5 on every play? I think the scheme is starting to impact recruiting. If you don't believe me, who is a good defensive end we have post Will McDonald?

 

[MeowingCows]

The biggest gaps still seem to be LB and DL play. Both got better in the second half, but it was too little too late when you dug a 31 point hole before then. I'd expect more portal hunting here in the offseason (again). It's no secret that going 3-3 means you're expecting those guys to be great players who are carrying the load.

I was shocked with how much Cincy kept trying to pass in the second half for no obvious reason. They made the game way more interesting than it needed to be.

 

[CyGuy5]

The biggest gaps still seem to be LB and DL play. Both got better in the second half, but it was too little too late when you dug a 31 point hole before then. I'd expect more portal hunting here in the offseason (again). It's no secret that going 3-3 means you're expecting those guys to be great players who are carrying the load.

I was shocked with how much Cincy kept trying to pass in the second half for no obvious reason. They made the game way more interesting than it needed to be.

We really need add a DE, but the problem is they’re probably only going to be able to pull FCS guys again, and that’s a total crapshoot.

People expected Ezeogu to take a step forward this year and outside of a couple tipped passes in the K-State game he’s been a non-factor. McDonough hasn’t done much of note since those two sacks against Iowa. Obviously he was a generational player, but imagine this ISU team with a Will McDonald out there.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Bad day for sure.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I said it before, but I think that what the analyst said right after we went to the half was dead on. We needed to bring down a safety to help against the run. I think we've had the luxury of doing that a lot with two great corners, and now that we have neither, we're finding that we still need to do that if we want to stop the run.

That will put more pressure on our inexperienced corners, but we might be able to mix that up to at least keep our opponents guessing, and from there, it's just trial by fire for them. I have no doubt that they'll improve as they go. Once our offense started controlling time of possession, it helped out the defense tremendously, so we'll need a lot more of that going forward.

 

[fsanford]

The biggest gaps still seem to be LB and DL play. Both got better in the second half, but it was too little too late when you dug a 31 point hole before then. I'd expect more portal hunting here in the offseason (again). It's no secret that going 3-3 means you're expecting those guys to be great players who are carrying the load.

I was shocked with how much Cincy kept trying to pass in the second half for no obvious reason. They made the game way more interesting than it needed to be.

I think they looked better cuz there was more safety help... Too much trying to help corners in the first half

 

[1SEIACLONE]

I thought all week that this was going to be a lot tougher game than many on here, but I was surprised that the defense did not even bother to show up the entire first half. The safeties were not coming up and filling on the run game that entire first quarter.
As poorly as we played we got it back to 10 points and had two drives to keep the momentum going and ended up punting or giving the ball back, that was the game. You just had to figure they were going to break another long play and they did with that pass.
Becht did not play well at all, granted the throw for a lot of yards, but he made a lot of throws behind the receives and when he did make a good pass, they dropped quite a few.
Not going to blame the offense, they put up enough points to win today, this loss is all on the defense. It seems like we have one or two games like this a year, where they just play like crap for a half and we get toasted.

 

[harimad]

I will start off in saying I am excited this team has a 5-1 start. With several games to go everything is still out there for this team including a Big 12 championship game appearance (likely need to win out for that), and likely a fun bowl matchup. Some don't care about that, but I do.

Offense

• The running game looked pretty good, 151 yards rushing is a decent day at the office. I hope Hansen can come back for Colorado.
• Brett Eskildsen continues to look like a deep threat downfield, he catches almost everything and like him a lot.
• We messed up by not getting Gabe Burkle involved today more often.
• When Hansen got hurt, i'd love to see someone else OTHER THAN Sama in short yardage. Dylan Lee, Aiden Flora, somebody else. Abu cannot move a pile or break many tackles

Defense

• Jon Heacock has forgotten more about football than I know. What I am about to say is hopefully not too snarky but just how I feel.
• When Cincinnati has a 4th and 1, we had a 3 down defensive lineman front. What am I missing or is that ridiculous to anyone else? If Cincin had ran the football more often in the second half I honestly feel like that's a blowout. I am so disappointed in our limited use of defensive lineman. How is Dom Orange supposed to be effective when he goes up against 2-3 guys each play? He has to be incredibly frustrated. Why not try a 4 down front of Jace Gilbert (end), Zamir Hawk at Nose, and Dom Orange at Def. Tackle alongside Trey Verdon at D End?
• Ezeguo is proving to me he is not effective at DT against the run, and provides zero threat in pass rush. It's tough to watch.
• I want to see Heacock try something different, we have two corners out for the year. Perhaps the recipe to win is NOT to drop 8 anymore, asking our younger corners to cover for 6 seconds will not bode well for us against CU, TCU, and other teams.. It just won't.
• We need to allot some funds this off season to a stud Defensive End or Linebacker. We just seem weak there when playing good offenses. I would actually be comfortable letting a player or two walk if it meant getting a stud at defensive end.
• The defense right now is 105th nationally in sacks. There are plenty of teams ranked ahead of us in sacks who have played one fewer game (think about that). Our alignment sucks in forcing the QB to feel pressured or make a poor throw.

For those who feel differently, I am happy to welcome a debate with the defensive part of this. Who in the college ranks, or the NFL on defense has won a national championship/super bowl in a defensive front that rushes 3 down linemen (last 40 years)? I cannot think of one. Beyond that, if are walking into recruits' homes who play defensive line, who the hell wants to play in a scheme where its smashing 3 guys against 5 on every play? I think the scheme is starting to impact recruiting. If you don't believe me, who is a good defensive end we have post Will McDonald?

Gee, I dunno. The Giants, Patriots, Steelers come immediately to mind. Belichick loves him some 3-4.

 

[ZorkClone]

Overall I’m disappointed in the loss, but they did fight back to make it a game. So I feel less bad than after the first half.

Kicking injury bite is bad today. Kicking balls to the 10. I count 12 points likley missed. Apparently they aren’t confident to have him even kick a 32 yarder.

 

[cyclone87]

honestly didn’t play great in any phase of the game today. Still had a chance though and think we might have got the W with a healthy Konrardy. Defensive injuries puts more pressure on everyone else. We can still win some games, especially if Konrardy comes back healthy after the bye.

 

[jbhtexas]

I thought all week that this was going to be a lot tougher game than many on here, but I was surprised that the defense did not even bother to show up the entire first half. The safeties were not coming up and filling on the run game that entire first quarter.
As poorly as we played we got it back to 10 points and had two drives to keep the momentum going and ended up punting or giving the ball back, that was the game. You just had to figure they were going to break another long play and they did with that pass.
Becht did not play well at all, granted the throw for a lot of yards, but he made a lot of throws behind the receives and when he did make a good pass, they dropped quite a few.
Not going to blame the offense, they put up enough points to win today, this loss is all on the defense. It seems like we have one or two games like this a year, where they just play like crap for a half and we get toasted.

30 points is enough to win where? 11 Big 12 teams are averaging over 30 ppg. Cincinnati was averaging nearly 40 ppg coming in. The defense is hobbled with injuries. The offense needed to step up and score like the other top teams in the Big 12, and they didn't come close. 3 of ISU remaining opponents are scoring over 35 ppg. The offense needs to figure it out...fast.

 

[cyatheart]

30 points is enough to win where? 11 Big 12 teams are averaging over 30 ppg. Cincinnati was averaging nearly 40 ppg coming in. The defense is hobbled with injuries. The offense needed to step up and score like the other top teams in the Big 12, and they didn't come close. 3 of ISU remaining opponents are scoring over 35 ppg. The offense needs to figure it out...fast.

Yeah, you need 30 to just be competitive most weeks.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Overall I’m disappointed in the loss, but they did fight back to make it a game. So I feel less bad than after the first half.

Kicking injury bite is bad today. Kicking balls to the 10. I count 12 points likley missed. Apparently they aren’t confident to have him even kick a 32 yarder.

ISU actually outscored UC in the 2nd (15-14), 3rd (7-0) and 4th (8-7) quarters. However, that first quarter 17-0 by UC = Woof!

Big mistake (late) not kicking the FG to cut it to 6. Might not have mattered, but it also might have made the Bearcats pucker up. Either way, ISU needed two scores and should have taken the 3 when available.

Time to flush this one, get some guys healthy and off to Boulder for a good old fashioned Big 8 Game!

 

[1SEIACLONE]

30 points is enough to win where? 11 Big 12 teams are averaging over 30 ppg. Cincinnati was averaging nearly 40 ppg coming in. The defense is hobbled with injuries. The offense needed to step up and score like the other top teams in the Big 12, and they didn't come close. 3 of ISU remaining opponents are scoring over 35 ppg. The offense needs to figure it out...fast.

We have won 2 games this year scoring less than 30 points, this loss is on the defense, when they gave up 31 on the first half and never forced a punt. The way they played today changed what the offense was trying to do, because we were playing catch up from the kick off onward.

 

[2020cy]

Can’t sleep walk first Q. Defense lost first half. Offense lost second half. Had chances.

 

[jbhtexas]

We have won 2 games this year scoring less than 30 points, this loss is on the defense, when they gave up 31 on the first half and never forced a punt. The way they played today changed what the offense was trying to do, because we were playing catch up from the kick off onward.

Actually three, and those games were won with a much healthier defense. And one of those wins was against a G5 team. Things have changed. The defense is hurt and likely isn't going to be stifling teams any more. The offense scoring to needs to be up where the competition is. It is what it is.

 

[kevdiv48]

I thought all week that this was going to be a lot tougher game than many on here, but I was surprised that the defense did not even bother to show up the entire first half. The safeties were not coming up and filling on the run game that entire first quarter.
As poorly as we played we got it back to 10 points and had two drives to keep the momentum going and ended up punting or giving the ball back, that was the game. You just had to figure they were going to break another long play and they did with that pass.
Becht did not play well at all, granted the throw for a lot of yards, but he made a lot of throws behind the receives and when he did make a good pass, they dropped quite a few.
Not going to blame the offense, they put up enough points to win today, this loss is all on the defense. It seems like we have one or two games like this a year, where they just play like crap for a half and we get toasted.

This. With the beatdown the D incurred in the first half, we still had 2 chances late squandered to narrow the gap. Couldn't capitalize and gave Cinci the opportunity to hit the home run that ultimately sealed it.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Of all of the days for ISU to go tharn, they choose a day where there is ground to be gained! Penn State lost. Texas is losing, etc. Dangnabit!

 

[deadeyededric]

We aren't good enough to go undefeated. Tough loss on the road. Moving on to next week

 

[1SEIACLONE]

Actually three, and those games were won with a much healthier defense. And one of those wins was against a G5 team. Things have changed. The defense is hurt and likely isn't going to be stifling teams any more. The offense scoring to needs to be up where the competition is. It is what it is.

I tend to think the defense will not play like they did the first half, so they will be better. The offense is what it is, Becht had a C+ game today, he threw a lot of passes behind or high, not giving the receivers the ability to catch and run with the ball.