UC Notes and Bearcats Bowl Preview

There are quite a lot of bits of this and that flying around surrounding the Bearcats today. We’re going to hit some quick notes, and then a preview of what’s going down at the Bearcats Bowl. Like the events and what have you, not exactly a straight up preview of what to expect on the field. I’ll mention some things I want to see, but I’m not going to get too in depth about the battle to be the back up SAM linebacker.

• The biggest news of the week was Isaiah Pead getting injured yesterday. Pead had a knee collision with a teammate, left the field under his own power, and is waiting an MRI to find out if there is major cause for concern. He’s on crutches now. It’s just a knee bruise. Isaiah will be ready to go for when things get serious. He’s not going to play tomorrow.  Darrin Williams is going to get a lot of the touches from reports.
• The NFL draft is going down tonight at 6pm for rounds 2 and 3. Mardy Gilyard has been projected to be a late second-third round pick. It could be Mardy’s big night, and we here at Bearcats Blog wish him the best. Hopefully, he stays in Cincinnati. He has seemed to want to, and I would like him to. 
• Tony Pike has also been talked about as a third round pick. 2 quarterbacks were taken in the first round, Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow, and I’m not quite sure how things are going to shake down. Tony is grouped on the, I guess third level, of QBs, after the previously mentioned first rounders, and Colt McCoy and Jimmy Claussen. I have no doubt Tony Pike will get drafted. I hope it’s tonight. We also wish Tony Pike the best in his future NFL success. Hope you don’t go to Cleveland.
• There will be posts up when the players get drafted. In case you have a life tonight, Bearcats Blog has you covered. 
• The following bits are a couple weeks old, sorry, but I haven’t covered them in much detail, so they’ll go here. Offensive lineman CJ Cobb had ankle surgery a couple weeks back. Everything went swimmingly for CJ. He got injured the first Saturday spring practice. He will return when fall practice starts, much to the delight of the Cincinnati offensive line. 
• Demetrius Jones, former Notre Dame QB, and linebacker, has left the program. There is no news on where he is heading. It could be a Division II school, or whatever they are calling it these days. It would be his third team. Too bad things didn’t work out for him. Here’s hoping he finds success and happiness on his next stop. 
• The following notes are from the hoops world. As you recruiting gurus have heard, Marquis Teague has spurned Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville and Purdue, and is going to attend evil Kentucky. Teague said he almost chose Louisville a couple times, but waited. This would have been a huge get for UC, but they were never really in the race it seemed. Teague was going to play his ball in Kentucky, and now it’s at Kentucky.
• The NCAA Tournament is expanding, but to 68 teams. Rush the Court has some great blurbs from other great writers about the expansion. The Tournament will be on CBS and Turner Sports. The weird part is that in 2016, the finals will be on TBS. They have playoff baseball now yes, but that’s just fucking weird. The pregame show will follow Saved by the Bell reruns at 5:05. 

The Bearcats Bowl is tomorrow night. It’s going to be televised by FSN Ohio for those of you who can’t make it to Nippert. There is plenty of motivation to do so though. If you have kids 8th grade or younger, show up around 2 and register for the on field kids’ clinic. It’s free. Some UC players will be there to teach the youngsters a thing or twelve, as will the UC coaching staff. After that’s over, the players will sign autographs from around 4:30-5. Starting at 5, the Family Zone opens up. It’s what you normally get for pregame Bearcats entertainment. You only have to worry about that for half an hour, because the Nippert gates open at 5:30. The first 5K fans get a poster. The more important thing is to try and get behind the bench, because Coach Butch Jones will let a few fans call plays. I recommend a fumble rooski. The game starts at 7.

Here are a few things that are worth taking a look at. The defense is going to be rebuilt. It’s going to be very interesting to see what they have in store for the, what should be, high powered offense. Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson are competing for the starting job, more like ‘competing’ am I right, and that should be interesting to watch as well. Like mentioned up top, Darrin Williams is going to see quite a bit of the ball, as he is the last running back left standing it appears. The new look Butch Jones offense has me very excited. All in all, it should be an exciting day. It’s our first look at the new Bearcats. It’s our introduction to Coach Butch Jones. It’s football.