Simulated Gameday Experience

Cincinnati 24, West Virginia 21

Credit West Virginia for coming out to play in the first half; they had a good gameplan and executed it as well as you’d expect.  They wanted to force Cincinnati to operate on the ground (they did, for the most part) and they wanted to use Noel Devine between the tackles (they did, for the most part).  And yet, at the end of the game, West Virginia was down ten, outplayed in bits and pieces by enough to need two scores as the clock struck midnight.

On offense, they were able to sustain most of their drives really throughout the entire game. The problem for the Mountaineers that only three of those drives started past their own 20, and one of those came right at the end of the first half.  The other two drives resulted in TDs, but every other drive save one resulted in a punt.  At the end of the day, West Virginia simply had to outgain the Bearcats by a fair amount to even have a shot at winning (for comparison purposes, Cincinnati started only two drives from their own 20 or worse).  Devine had one of his most carry-laden games of the season, rolling up 25 carries but only 88 yards; blame his sore ankle for limiting his yardage.  It’s somehow fitting that when Bill Stewart finally figures out how to call a game good enough to win against a better team that the guys he needs to win are injured; even QB Jarrett Brown had a sprained ankle.

On the other side, Cincinnati had a few nice moves – I was a fan of the “let’s use Tony Pike in advantageous red zone situations only” approach, although fantasy owners of Zach Collaros are probably still burning Brian Kelly in effigy for it – but they were plagued by lack of execution, possibly the first time all season that’s happened.  TE Adrian Robinson fumbled an opportunity away to West Virginia in the second quarter (one of those WVU drives that started past the 20) and then dropped a touchdown pass, which eventually resulted in a missed FG.  On the other hand, Cincinnati was able to move the ball consistently.

Really though, this game swung on two plays, back-to-back; down by seven and facing a fourth and 8, Jarrett Brown laced a pass into the end zone that dropped incomplete.  The next play from scrimmage, Cincinnati RB Isaiah Pead pulled out a bobbling, weaving, excuse-me-blockers-but-I-don’t-need-you-anymore run that broke all the way back across the field and ended up as a 43-yard gain.  From there, the Mountaineer will was effectively broken; the WVU defense was able to hold Cincinnati to a field goal, but that made it a ten-point margin way too late for it to really matter.

For Cincinnati moving forward, this game was a big deal.  The Bearcats needed to demonstrate they could win a game when the defense was selling out to stop the pass (although Collaros and Pike combined did go 19-for-26), as Pead went for 175 yards overall.  It’s a bigger concern that West Virginia, like UConn before it (and like Pitt in a few weeks) was able to find a lot of success running directly downfield, whether they’re via power-type runs or directly into the line via iso and dive-type runs.  It’s a matter of size, especially on the defensive line, which isn’t easily fixed.  Cincinnati should still be good enough to go undefeated at this point, but it’s going to be tougher than it looked even a few weeks ago.

Tags: Bobby Petrino wants this job, weekly reflections