Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Pregame Quote, 11/19/2024

Opening Statement ‚ÄúGood afternoon. When I look back at last week, I was obviously disappointed in the last four minutes of that game. I thought our guys hung in the game well for the first 55 minutes, and it wasn’t perfect, but we were still in the game. We got the deficit down to three points with 11 minutes to go, and then we gave up a 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-9, 3rd-and-7, 3rd-and-2, and a 4th-and1 on that same drive. At the end of that drive, the quarterback ran in a touchdown on a bad snap, which was unfortunate, but then it kind of unraveled from there. I believe the positives were the first 55 minutes of that game and being able to battle on the road against a good program like Iowa State. Obviously, we had some negatives, like all the penalties. We ended up with nine penalties on offense, including four false starts by the guys up front. Our punt team was not very good, and it was a multitude of things. We have to get the snap right, get the punts where they need to be punted, and then we have to cover better. In the field position battle, we did not win, which was unfortunate, and we gave up a fake punt as well to give them another first down, and I believe they got three points out of that. We have to do better in that regard, and this week is very similar to last week. We are going to the Midwest, playing a really good football team on the road at eight o’clock. The two programs, Iowa State and Kansas State, are very similar, and they are two of the best programs in the Big 12. They are coached very well, and their kids play hard. They are coming off a couple of losses, but so was Iowa State last week, so it’s very similar. We have to have a great week of practice to give ourselves a chance to go try to get this win.‚Äù

 On how they keep the rhythm in the passing game 

‚ÄúIt was tough. We mentioned this after they did not blitz us in that game last year when they came here. It was a bunch of blitzes, and they did not blitz this game, dropping eight, keeping guys back. So when you do have some penalties, now that it’s long yardage, it’s very difficult to push the ball down the field. When they have eight guys that are back eight to 10 yards, that made it difficult. We did miss a couple throws, and we had a couple drops that I thought were 12 or 18, that certainly would have helped. One of them was a running back, Evan [Pryor], was wide open out of the backfield, and that would have been a touchdown. That was 79 yards right there that you would love to have back, because that’ll put us up 10, right before halftime. But plays like that, those are momentum plays, and you have to be able to hit those plays. Just as far as the third downs, and you’re looking at dropping the coverage off and not getting in the rhythm throwing the football, there is certainly something to say for that. If you are throwing it more, they were giving up the run game pretty good for us. I thought Corey [Kiner] ran really hard in the game, he had over 100 yards again. Brendan [Sorsby] I think 141 rushing is his best- rushing output. So we did some positive things with that. We certainly needed to be able to hit some of those throws to be able to keep the chains moving as well as score a touchdown.‚Äù 

On if Iowa State’s defense was similar to Kansas State

 ‚ÄúTheir defense is similar. They are a little bit more aggressive, though. The big difference is that I think their run defense is really good. So as kind of a flip really, with Iowa State, they are very pressure-oriented, keeping everybody close to the line of scrimmage. They are playing a lot more man coverage in the back end so they can get more hats to stop the run. So, I think in that regard, it’s a little bit different, but structurally very similar. So, 3-3-5, defense. They can drop eight, you see that on film, but they also can bring a lot more pressure, and they feel more comfortable doing that as well. It’s an outstanding defense. They have a lot of good players. I think number 38, one of their defensive ends, is leading to leading the Big 12 in sacks. So they want to continue to put pressure on you, and that’s what they’ve been known to do defensively.‚Äù

On if scheming plays for wide receiver Xzavier Henderson and tight end Joe Royer

 ‚ÄúI think those are certainly two of our playmakers in the throw game. We missed a throw to Xzavier in the game, which was the one we actually hit earlier in the games, the same play. We just missed it, then he had a drop late in the game. We just did not go into the game thinking we were going to throw the ball a lot against Iowa State, just because of the structure of the defense. They are one of the top pass defenses in the country, and still are. Joe is another guy we got to be able to get him the ball, I think maybe four, five, six, seven catches a game is where he should be at and just giving him a chance and opportunity to make plays. I think it’s certainly something we have to continue to do as we work for these last two games.‚Äù 

On the mindset of the team 

‚ÄúSunday, it was a little bit somber. Everybody’s disappointed. Yesterday was a great bounce back from our guys. We met with the guys on Monday, our leadership grou, and they were fired up, hungry to get back out on the field this week. We have another opportunity and that’s what you want. As I told them, if we’re 10-0, 5-0, 0-10, doesn’t matter this week. None of that matters. It’s how you come to work every day, how you prepare this week. How much enthusiasm are you going to have the day, when we go out there and practice and I think yesterday, any indication, they’ll be ready to go.‚Äù 

On the philosophy of the traditional cadence

 ‚ÄúWhen you’re on the road, sometimes it’s more difficult to hear a voice cadence and people yelling and talking all that, but you that is the distinct sound. There can be 80,000 people, and you can hear that clap. It’s kind of crazy. When we first started doing it many years ago, I didn’t really believe it, but it worked. That’s why everybody just kind of jumped to the clap but you can work silent cadence. If you do that, you’re a little bit laid off the ball up front. You work the cadence with the clap, and then hopefully it‚Äôs distinct enough where only your guys hear that and then you’re able to go. But obviously, there’s some issues with it at times, but certainly I feel like it’s more on the road than it is at home for us. Something we will keep working on. We’ve been using the clap now probably 6, 7, 8 years, something like that, it’s been good.‚Äù 

On snap counts and playing time

 ‚ÄúWe’re just rolling with these guys that we have right now. I think Xzavier ended up with 55 snaps Saturday this past game. You have to roll with the guys that we feel like give us the best chance to win. You know, let those guys play. Hopefully we’re able to get the ball to them, obviously, a lot more than we did this past weekend.‚Äù 

On seeing receivers struggling to get open this late in the season 

‚ÄúWell, I think it’s a little bit of both. I think it’s who we’re playing. I think it’s how their structure, their defense has been, where they’re putting their safeties. And you know, certainly early in the season, we had a lot more opportunities, I felt like, but as the season’s going on, it’s not as much. I think probably the last best game we had throwing was Texas Tech. And I also think Texas Tech’s weakness is their pass defense, so I think we have to give credit to who we’re playing and how their structure is and how they play. How good are they? And Colorado, to me, they had a really good man-to-man scheme, and so we had a hard time getting open, therefore we didn’t. Our completion percentage was not very high. This past weekend, these guys dropped a bunch of guys into coverage trying to deter you from throwing the football. So, we took advantage of the run game. So, I mean it’s a little bit of both. I think sometimes it‚Äôs having problems getting open, but other times, I think, some of the teams we’re playing structure to stop some of that.‚Äù 

On having to stop Kansas State‚Äôs quarterback Avery Johnson and running back DJ Giddens 

‚ÄúAnother good running back in the Big 12. These guys are already over 1,000 yards. Number 31 he can go. He’s a really good running back. They have a good offensive line too. They blocked really well. I think the quarterback, he’s tall, can really run, has a big arm, it looked like early, maybe mid-season, because I think he may have tweaked something against, I forget who it was against, maybe Colorado, and so he didn’t run as much. And I think now they’re probably getting healthy, and they probably feel like he gives them a good chance. Let’s try to run them a little bit more. So, we’ll probably see some of that as well.‚Äù 

On what needs to be done with the team going forward 

‚ÄúI think we have to continue to grow and as we move forward, particularly these next two weeks, we have to be able to, in the passing game, do a much better job in that and getting the ball down the field. We all feel like that. That’s certainly something that we have to get better at. I think we will continue to expand on everything that we’ve done offensively, which we had a solid year. Offensively, we just missed opportunities, and we‚Äôve had a few turnovers the last couple weeks. You know, where [Brendan] Sorsby hadn’t been turning the ball over, and he’s got four in the last two games. So that certainly doesn’t help you win. I mean, we all know that. And if you go back and look at a lot of these games, Kansas State the last two weeks, the turnovers are what keeps you from winning. I mean, it’s just the bottom line. And so you got to take care of the football. Defensively, it‚Äôs about trying to figure out ways how we can get the ball back. We have four interceptions, which is, I think, last in the Big 12. We have to do a better job with that, as you think about in the offseason, trying to find some guys that can help with that. Is it more of a pass rusher? So now you put more pressure on the quarterback to get it out earlier and drop some better cover guys. So it’s just a little bit of both. So those are the things, I think, obviously, the weaknesses that we have that we have to get better at.‚Äù 

On comparing games week to week 

‚ÄúIt’s so hard to look at any other week. I don’t think you can do that this year in college football. What you do one week compared to the next week, it’s impossible. It’s matchups between the teams that are different. Some teams match up better with other teams. I think it’s also injuries, who’s playing, who’s not playing, and then it’s also where you’re playing and when you’re playing, whether it‚Äôs at home, or if it‚Äôs at night. All that stuff comes into play, it’s a real thing. I think it’s really easy to sit back and just look at somebody’s schedule or to look at a team, and think this team beat that team, and that team beat this team, but you don’t really dive into it. Like, where it was at, who was playing, who was out, all those things matter. But at the end of the day, you have to look at this one [upcoming] week. How do we match up at Kansas State? How can we play better to go get this win? I think that’s ultimately what it comes down to.‚Äù 

On the punting game 

‚ÄúLast two weeks he has not been there. He has to punt the ball better, bottom line. We also have to cover better. It starts with a snap, and then the next thing is the punt. We have to get good hang time. Some people think, well, you just boom the ball. That’s not necessarily it. We have to get hang time, and we have to get in the spot where our guys were covering. It all matters, if you punt up a low kick and you punt a little bit away from our cover guys, they’re going to get some yards. A lot of it comes back to that, but that’s his job, and he’s been outstanding his whole career. The last couple of weeks have been uncharacteristic for him. We anticipate him getting it back. We‚Äôll work on all this all week. His brother, Max [Fletcher], will also be punting this week. Both of them will get good looks this week. We have to do a better job with it because it is such a critical part and such a fine line between winning and losing. Whether you’re starting on the 41 or compared to the 25 I mean, that’s huge. That could be three points per drive. That adds up at the end of the day so we have to do a better job with that. Max is a redshirt so he could play and still get four games.‚Äù 

On the defensive tackle Dontay Corleone and team injuries

 ‚ÄúI think he’s doing better. We certainly had several guys that got dinged up in the game, but I think most of the guys are trending in the right way, and hopefully, will all be available this weekend.‚Äù 

On false starts at Iowa State 

‚ÄúWe worked on it all last week, because we never played at Iowa State and how loud it was. We had the speakers going loud and we had guys holding speakers in the huddle. We were trying to make it loud. We had the D-line on the scout teams making noises and shifting and moving. We didn’t have any issues in practice. We simulated it as much as we could. When you get in the game, things happen, and it was four different guys. It wasn’t the same person every time. I don’t know if it was a rhyme or reason for it. We’ll continue to work on it and try to get better with it because we’re putting our offense in some bad situations when that happens.‚Äù 

On discussions with referees before the game on defenses jumping offsides

 ‚ÄúI believe there are times where defenses try to do things to make the offense line or the offense jump offsides, whether it be shifting, moving, yelling a call or smacking a guy on the butt to move over. All these things could affect offenses, and when it does affect the offense, then they’re going to do more of it. This has been happening more and more to us, because we are falling prey to it. Hopefully, if we eliminate that then we will hear or see more of that as we move forward.‚Äù 

On teams manipulating the game clock when substituting on defense 

‚ÄúI believe this is something that needs to be looked at. I understand where it came from to get the defense time to sub if you are subbing. I liked it before when they didn‚Äôt hold it. If we sub, you better be ready to sub right now and they better be sprinting on and off. This will speed things up as well. The way it is now is if the clock gets to 18 seconds and the offense subs, they will get a delay of game if we sub and that’s what they’re telling us. They are going to hold it for three to four seconds, you don’t have to sub and then all of a sudden, right before he comes down, you start to sub and then they’re right back up again. They allow you to jog on and then jog slowly off and depending on who the referee is, they will speed it up sometimes or they will warn you. I tell the referees that the coaches and the players are going to go as much as you give them. They’re going to take every bit of it and then some. This is definitely an issue and a problem. We did it against Iowa State and they had to call time out, and they got a five-yard penalty in the game. Everybody’s doing it, so I think it is something that is going to be looked at. I believe they will also look at the injured player who decides to fall down. Those are two things that I think are certainly prominent now in college football.”