Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Pregame Quote, 11/14/2023

First of all, I was excited to get our first win last weekend down in Houston. The guys played great, the most complete game this season in all three aspects. Obviously, a long time coming to get our first Big 12 win. We’ve been very close and had a lot of opportunities this year and just hadn’t come through for many reasons but, we did this week. It just shows our guys continue to fight and continue to put their time, effort and work in when trying to get better. We’re having guys play their best games this late in the season, which is awesome. We certainly want to continue that as we move forward. This week, going to West Virginia. We came back Sunday and I thought we had a great meeting, had another good practice. We’ve been game planning today. We’re excited to get back on the practice field. Several things we did great that we talked about. I think turnover margin was the biggest key. We had one but offensively we didn’t turn it over. I thought defensively, outstanding game by Coach [Bryan] Brown and his staff. They did a great job really containing the pass game, which they really wanted to do. We held them to 102 yards in the passing game, which was outstanding. One of the things that’s kind of been our nemesis is giving up some big plays in the throw game. Our guys did a great job with that. We didn’t really give up those big plays in the passing game and obviously tried to make them drive the ball and that created some mistakes for them. So, I’m really proud of that, including we started two freshmen at cornerback for this game and the guys played well. The thing that we gave up was a queue runs. Other than that, we really shut them down all night long. So that was great. Quarterback game was very efficient. Emory [Jones] had his most efficient game 13 for 16 in that regard. I thought he’d played a really good game. [Brady] Litchenberg came in and played well also. Both of those guys gave us a great chance. Cory [Kiner] has been very consistent this year. One of my most consistent players that went over 100 yards again. He’s 115 yards away from 1000. So, obviously we’d love for him to hit that mark. Our offensive line takes pride in that, our tight ends and of course the running backs. Being able to get to that milestone is something to certainly strive for you. You give credit to our guys up front. Luke Kendra has really had an outstanding year at right guard. [Dartanyan Tinsley] at left guard. Both of those guys have been very solid up front. Really the mainstay to help us get all these rushing yards and total yards for a matter of fact as well. I’m just excited about the opportunity again to play. We’re going to play West Virginia. We know (West Virginia Head Coach) Neal [Brown] from our time at Troy and our time at App State. He does an outstanding job. Their team started out hot, 4-1. They have six wins to this point. I think there’s strength in their team. It’s the offensive line. Those guys are really good up front. They’re one of the top rushing teams in the country this year. They have two really good running backs. One really big back and then another freshman that’s really showing some really good stuff this year. Very good, solid wide receivers, and then their quarterback [Garrett Greene] man he plays extremely hard. Every time you turn the TV on, if you watch West Virginia, you see him running around making plays, very feisty player. I love the way he plays as far as that goes. Then defensively, very solid defense. They are a really good football team. They didn’t play their best game last week against Oklahoma, but I think Oklahoma maybe played their best game. Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma Quarterback) played at a high-level last week. It’ll be senior day for them. We know they want to get that taste out of her mouth. So, we know we’ll get their best shot. We talked about West Virginia being a team that Cincinnati has a history with and have played a lot of ball against. We have not done very well, according to the stats here playing West Virginia but I do think this will be a natural rivalry as we move forward into the Big 12. A team that is certainly very close to us on this side on the East Coast. Both fan bases and both programs, this is going to be a great game that we will be playing each and every year.

On bringing back the passion and motivation to the team:

I just think, as a team, we’re continuing to build and come together and start playing for each other, start playing as one. I think you saw that Saturday really was the first time for the guys where they were doing that and playing complimentary football which, we really haven’t done. We played disciplined football, which we haven’t done most of the time this year. We’ve been really good in spurts off, all three phases, like really good and then also not very good at all. But we really put it together I thought in this game. The first drive was an outstanding drive by the offense. Very efficient as we went right down the field. And then scored. And then the defense goes back out and they stop them. It’s just it felt like ‚Äòokay, early in the game, we have to go get control of this game.’ And we did that. We haven’t been great coming out of halftime. We came out of halftime, on the first play, got an interception. We go down and we get a field goal. So, when we’re up 10, our guys really didn’t look back from there. We just kept playing hard and kept moving forward with it. It was a complete game, and you could just sense it throughout the week. Guys went out and practiced hard. They’ve practiced hard all year really, but I just thought there was more sense of urgency to go get this win. Whatever it takes to get this win and that’s what we have to do. Put everything else aside, let’s focus on everything we have to go out and get this. We had and you can see it on the field. They were really focused and intentional in everything that they were doing out there Saturday night.

On Corey Kiner’s progress throughout the season:

I didn’t really study how many carriers he had last year and all that or over his career, but he’s always been a powerful runner. He’s very, very strong. He breaks a lot of tackles. This year, remember, we didn’t know who was going to be the running back. We were kind of back by committee. We’ve been that way because it takes several guys but he’s kind of been the most consistent guy to show up week in and week out. He’s gotten opportunities to be able to make plays. He’s shown that maybe he’s got better vision than we thought. Man, he’s gotten some long runs this season, including on Saturday. We’re backed up and he breaks off I think a 62 yarder. He’s had some really big runs throughout this season. But I think more than anything, he’s just a hard, tough runner. That’s going to get those first downs, going to turn out those tough yards that you need. On the sideline, we’re talking about ‚Äòman, they’ve got an extra guy here’ but Cory just runs through them a lot of times when he gets those yards. All credit to him, he’s a guy who each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday he’s in a training room. He’s living in there because of the hits that he takes on Saturdays. He does a great job of getting his body prepared for the next week. And thus, he’s able to come back each and every week and be that consistent.

On the decision to not start Jordan Young:

We talked about being disciplined and doing the things to be disciplined. He was undisciplined early in the week. So, we were like ‚Äòlisten Rayquan [Adkins] is going start until you get your mind right. You’re going be a decent player but you have to do the right things, and I’m talking on and off the field.’ When you do that, then you play better. And I think that really send a message. I thought he went out and played very well once he got an opportunity to get back in the game.

On if Ryan Montgomery being healthy makes a difference:

I’m glad you brought up. Ryan, I think missed five weeks, maybe in the middle of the season. He brings a level of poise at the running back position. He can do all three things, he can catch the ball in the backfield as we saw on the first touchdown, he can protect, and he also can run. He has really good vision as well. It’s been awesome to have him available and back. We didn’t even know if he was going to be back this past week as well, he’s still dealing with some injuries. He was kind of a game time decision whether we were going to play him or not if he was able to go and I’m glad he did. I’m glad he was able to go because he certainly gives us that extra piece out of the backfield catching the ball. I think that’s probably his main strength, but also in punt returning, we put him back there for that. He’s a very talented player that’s had to deal with some injuries throughout his tenure here, but it’s nice to be able to have him out there. It takes a little bit of the pressure off Corey [Kiner] and some of those other running backs as well.

On how he feels about the uncertainties of outcomes in the Big 12:

It’s been like that all season. We’re dealing with a lot of parity in college football, but particularly in the Big 12. You’re starting to play all these games, and we’ve been saying this week in and week out, everybody’s kind of beating each other. How many is it, five teams that are in second place right now? At the bottom, there’s five teams that have two wins. There’s so much parity in this league that anybody can beat anybody. Whoever shows up with a great game plan and with inspired players. We’re dealing with 18- to 23-year-olds each and every week. I think matchups play a big part in this, people don’t really talk about matchups, but there’s certainly something to speak of with that. Whether you’re playing at home or away, what’s the weather like? There’s a lot of things that happen. Also, momentum, like Central Florida this weekend. They started with a touchdown and then Oklahoma State got a fumble, then they (UCF) got another touchdown. They have that momentum and never gave it up. I thought the same thing in Oklahoma vs. West Virginia game. As you’re watching it, Oklahoma just started rolling. And next thing you know, their scores kind of lopsided. It’s hard sometimes to stop the momentum when teams grab it and go with it.

On if there is a challenge of being in a league without a top dog?

I think it’s good because you always have a chance. You feel like every game you’re going into, if we have a great plan and our guys play hard and execute, we have a great chance to win the game. I think that’s great. I don’t think it’s as fun for everybody, if you go into the game and you’re 25-point underdogs, you know you may not have a chance to win. In this league, everybody has a chance. The tough thing is, we’re playing nine games now in this league as opposed to having the four-nine conference that some of the other leagues still have, so that makes it more difficult to win. Each week you see these opponents and that makes it more difficult to try to win a lot of these games.

On the comparison between offensive/defensive lines:

Absolutely. I mentioned this earlier, but I think the strength is their offensive line. And of course, Zach Frazier, the anchor of that offensive line in West Virginia is one of the best centers in the country. He does an outstanding job, he’s strong, plays with great balance, and always seems to be in a great position. Of course, Dontay Corleone and the guys up front line, do an outstanding job with our D line. This game will be one if you like watching the big guys up front that’s going to be the matchup to watch for sure.

On the current coaching firings in college football:

When you’re thinking about being a coach you don’t really think about getting fired. You don’t think of the negative piece of it. You’re doing it because you love the sport, you love the camaraderie and all those things, you’re not thinking of getting fired. When I got into coaching back in the late 90s, it wasn’t the money that’s involved now. I think when you start dealing with the big-time money crazy things are going to happen. That’s what we’re seeing happening year in and year out. Here’s the other thing, because I don’t think it’s not healthy for the sport to see firings before the season’s over. I don’t like it. We always talk about this, we’re doing this for the student-athletes. Well, you’re not really, if this is what’s happening, because you’re not even giving those guys a chance to finish the season. I know why they’re doing it because of the rules we’ve created now with the transfer portal and the early signing period in December. Everybody signs their high school players early. If you don’t make a change or move on to try to hire somebody in early December, you don’t have no chance to be able to sign any players. While I get why they’re doing that, it’s crazy. What kind of coach do you have to be if someone wants to pay you that much money not to coach it’s crazy. Then the other thing so many of these guys that are hired at these big-time universities are going to be the Savior for these programs and they get hired and then five years later, their records look the same or worse than the one that they got rid of before. What we are doing, is a crazy profession. There’s no question about it. It’s more popular than ever. Everybody loves it. Everybody loves watching college football, for many, many reasons, but it is a great sport, and that’s why we do it. It’s why we coach.