On one hand, I really don’t care enough to write about this craptacular performance. On the other, I feel like I should, because I owe it to you, the reader. Since not all of you got to see the game, I’ll recap it just for you. And if you saw the game, I’ll throw in some pick up lines either for you, ladies, or that you can use, fellas. That way we can mix things up. Let’s get it.
West Virginia started the game with the ball. The Bearcats D held them to a 3 and out. The punt was very short. DJ Woods came charging in, but the WVU player smartly directly Munchie Leagux into where DJ was running. The ball hit Munchie, and WVU recovered. The offense came back on the field and wasted no time. Smith threw deep to a wide, wide, wiiiiiiiiiiddddddddeeeeeeee open Tavon Austin for a 32 yard TD. He was so wide open, there is no one to blame for missing coverage because there were no Bearcats near him. WVU 7-0. Pick up line 1. Was that an earthquake or did you just rock my world?
UC started at the 34 after a decent return by Woods. Isaiah Pead ran for 5, but a false start moved it back on second down. Zach Collaros didn’t worry, and hit the forgotten Ben Guidugli for 16. Collaros was incomplete, then hit short passes to Binns and Barnett, forcing UC to punt. The punt went to the 9. It didn’t stay there long. Smith hit Jock Sanders for 5, then a second down facemask added 15. WVU faced a 3-8, but Smith ran for 10. Tavon Austin took an end around for 10. Devine got 4, and Monte Taylor got Smith for a sack. Facing 3rd and long, Smith went deep, but Wes Richardson was like a hawk and used his talons to intercept the pass. UC would go incomplete, get a run stuffed, and get another run stuffed and punt to the 49.
Geno Smith had himself a drive. After a Devine run was stuffed, Smith hit Brad Starks for 14, Sanders for 13, and Starks for 9. On 3-1, Ryan Clarke ran for 2. After an incompletion and a 3 yard Devine run, WVU was facing 3-7. Smith didn’t fear the Cincinnati secondary, and took to the air. Tavon Austin abused Drew Frey, no really he did, don’t spit out your soda, for the 10 yard TD pass. WVU 14-0. Pick up line 2. Is there a mirror in your pocket? Because I can see myself masturbating in the reflection. No, that’s one I made up yesterday when my friend and I were making pick up lines more terrible.
UC took over at the 24. Pead caught a pass for 3, and DJ a pass for 6. UC went to the air on 3-1, but Collaros threw a swing pass too far out and got DJ Woods killed by Keith Tandy. You can see how happy Tandy was in the photo above. Thanks to the AP for that photo. The Bearcats defense held WVU to a 3 and out. The punt went to the UC 15.
The Bearcat offense showed some fire this drive. Collaros hit Binns for 22. Pead ran for 3, but a WVU personal foul added 15. Collaros hit Binns for 16, and just like that, the ball was at the 29. Collaros hit Anthony McClung with a pass, but there was a hold on UC on the run, so the ball moved back to the 37. Collaros fired one into Binns on the next play, getting down to the 14 as the first quarter ended. The second quarter started with Collaros throwing a fade route, or maybe just throwing it up, with Binns as his target, but it was way too far towards the back corner of the end zone, where only Keith Tandy had a chance to catch it. And he did. Turnover.
WVU hit the ground attack, with an end around to Austin for 9, and 2 runs by Shawne Alston for 13. Smith hit Starks for 9, and Devine picked up the first with 4. That’s when the UC defense got tough, stuffing 3 Alston runs, and forcing a punt. It was a touchback. UC’s offense had no fire this drive. A screen to Binns lost a yard, Collaros was sacked by Scooter Berry, and Collaros threw a terrible pass that was nearly picked by Brandon Hogan. Pat O’Donnell only got off a 35 yard punt, and WVU started at the 48. The TD drive was 1 play, so it stays in this paragraph. Smith threw across the middle to Jock Sanders. Sanders broke a weak tackle attempt by JK Schaffer, and a weaker attempt by Drew Frey, and ran the other 40 yards to complete the 48 yard TD pass. WVU 21-0. Pick up line 3. Can I take a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?
The kick was returned to the 28. The first play was a pass to Pead that WVU had sniffed out and stopped for a 5 yard loss. The next play was a pass that Collaros forced into double coverage and this time Brandon Hogan held on for the INT. He returned it to the 13, where he was pushed out of bounds. But, Collaros hit him while out of bounds, putting the ball at the 6. Shades of Syracuse all over again. WVU tried to get Devine a rushing TD, but his 2 carries went for 1 yard. Smith said “I’ll throw another TD pass,” and was a man of his word, hitting an open Sanders in the back of the end zone. 28-0. Pick up line 4. Do you know karate, because your body is kickin’.
DJ returned this kick to his average spot in front of the 30, but UC was hit with a block in the back, moving the ball back to the 18. Collaros and Pead connected for 11, but after Collaros hit McClung for 4, he threw two incompletions. WVU started at the 24, but got 18 yards on the first play, thanks to a facemask on a 3 yard Devine run. Ryan Clarke had 14 yards on 2 runs, but once again the UC defense stiffened. On 3-9, Derek Wolfe sacked Smith. I think that was the first sack by Wolfe since, I dunno, Fresno? The WVU punt went back to the Cat 8.
Butch Jones decided to not run the ball out of the shadow of the goal posts, and that was a mistake. Collaros fired 2 incompletions, and on 3-10, he was flushed out of the pocket. As he was being taken to the ground for a safety, he threw the ball away for an intentional grounding, which was a safety. WVU 30-0. Pick up line 5. Are you from Memphis? Because you are the only Ten I see.
UC held WVU to a no gain by Devine and 2 incompletions. The comeback was on. Starting at the 18, Collaros hit Pead for 10, McClung for 14, and Binns for 15 and 12. Collaros was then incomplete, sacked by Julian Miller for a yard loss, and incomplete. Jake Rogers connected from 49 to end the half. WVU 30-3.
DJ Woods started the second half by breaking a nice return to the 39. After an incompletion, Zach hit Woods for 2 and ran for 6. On 4-2, Pead got a carry up the middle, he broke a tackle, got to the outside and was gone down the left sideline for a 53 yard TD. WVU 30-10. Pick up line 6. There is a pencil in my pocket, but that’s not causing the bulge in my pants. Thank Brian Sipp for that.
WVU started at the 20 off a Jake Rogers touchback. Smith and Devine got 1 and 3 yards respectively, and a 3rd down Smith pass was incomplete. But, John Hughes’ hand hit Smith’s helmet, which drew a flag. Devine got 8, Clarke 3, Smith hit Sanders for 19, Devine got 6 and 5, Smith hit Starks for 7, and Devine capped it with a 13 yard TD run around the right end. Yes, all those plays happened in a row. The UC defense was deflated by the penalty. WVU 37-10. Pick up line 7. Roses are red, violets are blue, the back seat of my car is a good place to screw.
The rest of the game had things happen, so I’ll summarize. UC got a first down and punted. WVU ran the ball 13 times for 75 yards, taking 6:30 off the clock, but were stopped at the 1. UC punted. WVU held the ball for 5:41 and punted. UC punted, WVU fumbled, UC fumbled, WVU took a knee.
West Virginia had 29 first downs, were 7-16 on 3rd down, racked up 419 yards of offense, 245 yards rushing, had 2-20 in penalties and had 2 turnovers. Cincinnati had 15 first downs, were 0-12 on 3rd down, had 281 yards of offense, 221 passing, 10-96 in penalties, and had 4 turnovers.
Geno Smith was 15-25-174-4 TDs-1 INT. Noel Devine had 17-77-1 TD, Shawne Alston 18-75 on the ground. Jock Sanders had 6-95-2 TDs receiving, while Tavon Austin added 2-42-2 TDs-19 rushing yards. Brandon Hogan and Keith Tandy had INTs.
Zach Collaros looked rusty back as the starter, going 25-45-221-2 INTs. It was his second career 2 INT game, Louisville was the first, and his first start without a TD pass this season. It was his second start of his career without a TD pass, as he didn’t throw any against WVU last year. It was the first game in his career where Collaros had a rating under 100. Isaiah Pead had only 8-78-1 TD on the ground. He added 19 receiving yards. Armon Binns had 10-115 as the only UC receiving target on this day.
3 positives and 3 negatives time.
Positives
- The defense was solid at times. They faced short fields on the first TD (32), second TD (49), third TD (48), and fourth TD (6). The third TD was obviously on them with their poor tackling.
- Armon Binns hasn’t been the most flashy receiver UC has had, that would be DJ, but I’ll be dammed if he doesn’t get it done week in and week out after his slow start.
- Jake Rogers field goal was said by someone on twitter to be the best kick of his career. So there’s that.
Negatives
- The pass defense was once again shit. The first TD there was no one around Austin. The second TD Austin blew away Frey. The third TD was horrible tackling. The fourth TD was blown coverage in the back of the end zone.
- The running game never got off the blocks. UC had 16 carries total. That includes sacks on Collaros. Once it was 7-0, the coaching staff gave up on the run. I guess they didn’t watch the tape from last year when Isaiah Pead ran all over the WVU defense.
- The team seemed to not try very hard. They didn’t look like they cared. If they don’t care, the fans sure as shit don’t care.
The Syracuse loss was a terrible loss, and this loss is pretty much just as bad, if not worse. I don’t really know how we won a game in conference. I do, Louisville’s secondary is horrible, and Collaros and Binns are very good. The 3 wins UC has are all pretty weak. Louisville is the best win. The losses are starting to mount in number, and in number of defeat. UC needs a crazy scenario to win the conference. Yeah, they can still win the conference. But, they need a crazier scenario to get to a bowl game, and that’s to win out. After seeing what we’ve seen against Syracuse and West Virginia (and South Florida and NC State and Fresno State), I don’t see it. The Bearcats could very well finish with 3 or 4 wins. A lost season.
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