Everyone thought they would be ok. But I have not been impressed with these guys at all through the first 2 games. Yes I know they went to Fresno State and now are playing at North Carolina State, but this does not look like the Bearcats of the past. Coach Kelly really hurt this program in leaving for Notre Dame, and if I was Kelly I would have done the same damn thing.....I just dont think they have what it takes this year. They might be able to win the Big East, but that is even a long stretch.

lol crazy

Well damn, I mean if you of all people don't think they have a chance I suggest the UC guys on here call up the AD and have him cancel the season!

This shows that Brian Kelly is a better coach than we thought. Or maybe Butch Jones just isn't that good?

This game right now is awful. I mean the fundamentals are just missing. Horrible football, and the two worst conferences too. Way to go Big East and ACC.

Bearcats on pace to give up six fiddy...deplorable defense.

In my eyes Butch Jones looks like a horrible play caller. Against Fresno he got the lead and let of the gas, Kelly always went for the jugular, and he is getting out coached tonight, and his players are getting outplayed

Cincinnati defense is horrible probably the worst I have ever seen, and there offense is not much better.

ccrunner609;486705 wrote:UC Oline is fucking terrible

Agree 100% Looks like a 1-3 Start for the Bearcats!!!!!!

O well watch the Buckeyes.

Isn't UC possibly the best college program in the State of Ohio ????

This team is very young. There are 65 Freshmen and Sophomores on this roster. There is only one senior on two deep roster on defense (and he is not a starter). What's more, the team was hit with several players being declared inelible right before the season who were expected to contribute significantly to this team, lost several players for the season to injury (most notably WR Vidal Hazelton) and are leaning a new offense and defense to boot. We can all see the o-line blows, but that is a position group which had been poorly recruited for the past three seasons (only 13 players during that time and only 6 remain with the team).

This team will not be very good this year--- obviously. However, I expect UC to right the ship next year. These young players will gain valuable experience and be ready to play. Butch Jones has recruited pretty well so far. The players seem to want to go to battle for him.

Danny, there is a huge problem regarding a pounding at the hands of Florida, a 1-2 start, and the near certainty of a pistol whipping at the hands of the Sooners, that being recruits thinking "They are who I thought they were after all."

UC needs to show or their recruits will all be heading to the MAC where they used to go in waves.

I don't disagree with you ytown. UC will need to show some progress this year to keep the interest of the recruits. So far Butch Jones is a far better recruiter than Brian Kelly was and the players seem to like him a lot better. He actually outrecruited UC when he was at CMU the past couple seasons. The one thing that UC has in its favor of the MAC is that it is in an AQ BCS conference and in a conference with better bowl tie-ins. Those reasons alone will help keep recruits looking UC's way over the MAC and other options.

What happen to the talk from UC fans about being the best team in the state? lol!!!!

Recruiting alone doesn't win games. Ask Notre Dame.

Little Danny has been consistently the only regular UC poster and he is very realistic about UC at the same time. Try to not all be complete douchebags to him. It will be extremely difficult for some of you.

The problem with UC is simply the stigma of being the "little brother" to other schools. They were a good team last year that got dismantled against a team from a superior conference in their bowl game AFTER their coach left to go to a higher-profile college that, to be honest, was inferior on the field. ND, however, is a traditional power with that NBC-backing thing going on. There are few programs in the country that can contend with that (basically the perennial top-of-the-top teams from the best power conferences)...and a "we're starting to establish ourselves as a potential power" team has no chance. UC will get a handful of elite talent and a lot of sloppy seconds from more prestigious schools because they're in the same recruit-zone as OSU and ND. It's hard to overcome that.

As an OU grad, I think some of the reason that the MAC is getting worse and worse is because teams like UC and Northwestern have improved. Secondary teams in the region have been taking steps to be contenders and the more low-tier teams are suffering. But those secondary teams are realizing the reality that breaking through the glass ceiling and being a perennial power is a lot tougher than simply being a semi-consistent 15-30 ranked team.

Kelly would have lost those same games with this band of misfit toys. Accept it UC...you ain't ready to sit at the Grown Ups table yet. Pains me to agree with anything Heretic says but he pretty much nailed it.

Little Danny;486763 wrote:I don't disagree with you ytown. UC will need to show some progress this year to keep the interest of the recruits. So far Butch Jones is a far better recruiter than Brian Kelly was and the players seem to like him a lot better. He actually outrecruited UC when he was at CMU the past couple seasons. The one thing that UC has in its favor of the MAC is that it is in an AQ BCS conference and in a conference with better bowl tie-ins. Those reasons alone will help keep recruits looking UC's way over the MAC and other options.

I agree. Being in the Big East and having a BCS tie in is a huge advantage for UC. If they can stay competitive then I fully expect the recruits to keep coming. Maybe not the same recruits that OSU gets, but I still think they will be a step above the MAC recruits and steal one or two from OSU.

CinciX12;486797 wrote:Little Danny has been consistently the only regular UC poster and he is very realistic about UC at the same time. Try to not all be complete douchebags to him. It will be extremely difficult for some of you.

All true. lol

Heretic;486838 wrote:The problem with UC is simply the stigma of being the "little brother" to other schools. They were a good team last year that got dismantled against a team from a superior conference in their bowl game AFTER their coach left to go to a higher-profile college that, to be honest, was inferior on the field. ND, however, is a traditional power with that NBC-backing thing going on. There are few programs in the country that can contend with that (basically the perennial top-of-the-top teams from the best power conferences)...and a "we're starting to establish ourselves as a potential power" team has no chance. UC will get a handful of elite talent and a lot of sloppy seconds from more prestigious schools because they're in the same recruit-zone as OSU and ND. It's hard to overcome that.

As an OU grad, I think some of the reason that the MAC is getting worse and worse is because teams like UC and Northwestern have improved. Secondary teams in the region have been taking steps to be contenders and the more low-tier teams are suffering. But those secondary teams are realizing the reality that breaking through the glass ceiling and being a perennial power is a lot tougher than simply being a semi-consistent 15-30 ranked team.

Good points. Let's be honest, in college football you have the elite's (OSU, USC, TX, FL, etc.) and then you have everyone else. The teams that fall into the second category have less margin of error than the upper crust. Consistently being a top 25 is very difficult to do at those schools since any one thing can become a major setback. Face it, there really is not a reason for any of the elite schools to ever be a sub .500 team because of the advantages they have in terms of recruiting and less coaching transition (albeit, it has happened before).

As I indicated before on either this or another thread, this UC roster is comprised of 65 Freshmen and Sophomores. That is not going to cut it at the BCS level regardless of how good those kids are, particularly at positions like OL and DL. Sure you get the one or two that are really good, but you can't expect a team to excel at this level with such youth.

A major problem for UC is that they are on their third coaching regime in six years. The kids that are seniors this year are the kids that were recruited the year Mark Dantonio left and a little known from CMU named Brian Kelly took over. In the world of recruiting, those types of classes are called shell classes. They are called shells because inevitably, the class is disrupted by coaching changes and the kids who were initially targeted end up going elsewhere due to the change. Likewise, the new coach has little opportunity and time to get guys of substance on board. For this reason, UC has a very small and frankly, not a very good senior class. UC's freshman class this year, is in the same boat. However, you don't expect freshman to compete right away anyway

To show what kind of good sport I am, I am attaching something funny that was posted on UC's Scout Board. Trust me, the fans are ticked at what is going on with this team:

Once Kelly left not only did it hurt the team and program mentally (they thought they had their guy to take them to the next level), but that coaching void just can't be replaced because Kelly was probably the best coach Cincinnati was going to possibly ever see.

With that said, Cincinnati isn't an elite program and no one should pretend them to be just because they overachieved last year. Losing those first two games certainly are not acceptable, but they can still end with a solid year.