1. Game Links:

Game Recap
Stats
Notes
Highlights

2. Grades.

3. Failure Across the Board. This may be easier to write because there’s so much that went wrong, but then again, there’s only so much you can say about a complete failure. For the record, I watched most of the 1st half and had to leave to go help with an event and missed all of the 2nd half. I don’t know that I needed to watch the 2nd half to know what happened. The offense wasn’t prepared. The defense was exposed as being a not as good as the stats said that they were. The coaching was exposed and whatever gripe you may have had about the offense or the defense, it was exposed.

4. Pedaling, But Going Nowhere. That’s what it feels like watching this offense yeserday. It feels like trying to get somewhere on a stationary bike. You can pedal all you want, but there’s just no movement. Last week I wrote that it felt like Will Hammond took a step forward, and this week he and the offense definitely took 2 steps back. Hammond had 6 yards an attempt on 227 yards passing. No touchdowns and there were comments made after the game that the defense has more touchdowns than Hammond has passing. I’d also add that a non-descript situation stuck with me from the first half. It was like 3rd and 7 and Texas Tech was in Cincinnati territory around the 30-ish yard line. Texas Tech obviously needed points, but they needed to keep the drive alive and continue driving down the field. There were a couple of options that were available for Hammond, but he threw the ball deep, basically a jump ball to Eakin and the defender that was at best a 50/50 ball. The defender knocked the ball down, largely because Eakin had to jump and it just wasn’t the right ready. Underneath that play was Terrance Carter was likely open for the 1st down. That’s my problem with Hammond, which is that I need him to realize that the there are times to take chances, but there are other times where you need to keep the drive alive and continue to pressure the defense. I sometimes feel that Hammond lacks that recgnition.

5. 252 Rushing Yards. The vaunted Texas Tech defense didn’t stack up at all. What looked like a good start was really a mirage, the defense ended up giving -6 yards in the 1st quarter, which means that the rest of the way, Cincinnati dominated the line of scrimmage. I wrote before the game that this would be the matchup to watch and that was absolutely true. The dexas Tech defense failed in that respect.

6. Not-Special Teams. It was interesting watching Cincinnati kickoff because they actually trusted their special teams to cover kickoffs rather than just kick them through the end zone. J’Koby Williams had a very nice return for 38 yards, but the other 3 returns, the coverage units only allowed 20 yards a return. That’s probably not a big deal, starting at the 20 rather than the 25, but that also means that the return team isn’t accustomed to actually having to block. I counted 4 penalties on special teams. That’s 4 of the 12 total penalties were on special teams: an illegal formation, an unnecessary roughness, a holding on a punt return, and 2 holding calls on a kickoff (on the same kickoff so only 1 was accepted). So that’s actually 5 total.

7. Advanced Stats.

• Hammond was 8 of 14 on short passing, while Frech was 11 of 12. The easy stuff should be easy, but it’s not. However, on medium passing (5 to 14 yards) Hammond was 14 of 15 and if I were to guess, that was in the 2nd half when the offense was scrambling to try to get back.
• Texas Tech was 3 of 15 on 3rd down and the average distance was 8.5 yards. That’s been a problem all year. There were 5 3rd and long and Texas Tech missed on all of them and was 2 of 4 on 3rd and short. That’s a line issue.
• Interestingly the average 1st down gain was 7 yards.
• On the defense, Cincinnati averaged nearly 8 yards on 1st down, 7.8 to be exact.

8. Idle Thoughts.

• I sometimes think that other than J’Koby Williams, this team likes guys who can beat you and his success is dependent on the offensive line doing their job.
• I also feel that Terrance Carter is not being utilized to the best of his abilities. I am not smart enough to explain why, but a guy with his size and speed should make a bigger impact than 3 catches for 14 yards.
• The Texas Tech offense mustered 47 yards of offense in the 2nd quarter and 71 in the 3rd. It wasn’t until the 4th quarter that the offense was going and the game was out of reach.
• I saw the 1st intentional grounding and I don’t know why Hammond didn’t get the ball past the lien of scrimmage. Yes, he was being rushed, but I don’t know why he couldn’t just wing the ball further than the line of scrimmage. I understand the 2nd was more of the same. That’s something he should know what to do.

9. Coach Comments.

10. Tortilla Tossin’ Players of the Game. None this week.