Tuesday means media luncheon day. There might be a little more buzz around this game and you know what that means....I need to get there early before the extra media eat all the cornbread. Delicious.
My stomach informs me we need to move forward quickly.
Let's eat...
--- The finger pointing has begun in Morgantown. A team in disarray arrives in Cincinnati with more questions than answers. Dave Hickman writes they are pointing toward last season when they opened the season 1-2 in Big East play and eventually caught then 3-0 Pitt to tie for the conference title.
Jack Bogaczyk talks about a clear disconnect between players and new coach Dana Holgorsen.
John Antonik is even pointing at the explosive offense for their third-down conversion percentage (44 percent, not a bad number).
Oh yeah, and don't forget special teams. Andrea Adelson points out punts of 12 and 11 yards against Louisville weren't helpful.
I'll point to the turnover game. WVU only created 14 turnovers thus far this season, that's 73rd in the country and sixth in the Big East. UC fans know all too well what happens when you don't force turnovers. (Hint: 4-8)
From the Stats You Don't Need to Hear to Understand the Importance Department: The top three teams in the country in turnover margin (Oklahoma State, LSU, Cincinnati) are a combined 25-1.
--- Expecting anything other than a close game Saturday would be a mistake.
Not even taking into account all of UC's Big East games have been decided by a total of 15 points, take a look at the last four games in this series.
Year Site Result
2007 Cincinnati 28-23 WVU
2008 Morgantown 26-23 (OT) UC
2009 Cincinnati 24-21 UC
2010 Morgantown 37-10 WVU
2011 Cincinnati ????
Only last year's game during UC's retooling season was not a dramatic finish. Also, take into consideration apparently nobody can play a two-possession game in this conference and a blowout result in either direction would be considered a massive upset.
--- Reminder: Ring of Red game Saturday. Wear red. Don't be that guy.
--- Butch Jones made another pitch to fans to make Paul Brown Stadium feel like a home-field advantage. I'd claim it felt like a heck of a home-field advantage last year against Oklahoma. With a galvanized fan base that traveled heavy to Pittsburgh, expectations are for big numbers at PBS. Let's hope so.
--- Was talking to an NFL scout this weekend about Isaiah Pead. He said he thinks Pead will be a great pro and be selected earlier rather than later than his projected spot. He pointed to last year's game against Oklahoma when Pead was the best back on the field against a quality defense in Oklahoma. That included Dallas' DeMarco Murray.
Pead certainly loves PBS. In two games there he has 41 carries for 320 rushing yards and a touchdown.
--- Remember, more blog posts coming today. We'll have the Tuesday lunch following the presser and thoughts following tonight's hoops exhibition against NKU. Follow all of it on Twitter (@pauldehnerjr).
--- Randomness...
--- This is the true story, of seven strangers, picked to kill a network...
--- Attention Star Wars nerds: Carrie Fisher lost 50 pounds. No word on bringing back the earmuffs haircut.
--- This my Tommy G shout out of the day. The video pretty much summarizes the cruel mental torture Browns fans endure.
"You are a factory of sadness!"
--- 10 Facebook statuses gone horribly wrong from Mental Floss.
--- Somebody paid $31,200 for John Lennon's tooth. Don't let your kids know about Tooth Fairy inflation rates.
--- Zach Collaros and Isaiah Pead ballin' out of control against WVU in 2009 at The Nipp.
My stomach informs me we need to move forward quickly.
Let's eat...
--- The finger pointing has begun in Morgantown. A team in disarray arrives in Cincinnati with more questions than answers. Dave Hickman writes they are pointing toward last season when they opened the season 1-2 in Big East play and eventually caught then 3-0 Pitt to tie for the conference title.
Jack Bogaczyk talks about a clear disconnect between players and new coach Dana Holgorsen.
John Antonik is even pointing at the explosive offense for their third-down conversion percentage (44 percent, not a bad number).
Oh yeah, and don't forget special teams. Andrea Adelson points out punts of 12 and 11 yards against Louisville weren't helpful.
I'll point to the turnover game. WVU only created 14 turnovers thus far this season, that's 73rd in the country and sixth in the Big East. UC fans know all too well what happens when you don't force turnovers. (Hint: 4-8)
From the Stats You Don't Need to Hear to Understand the Importance Department: The top three teams in the country in turnover margin (Oklahoma State, LSU, Cincinnati) are a combined 25-1.
--- Expecting anything other than a close game Saturday would be a mistake.
Not even taking into account all of UC's Big East games have been decided by a total of 15 points, take a look at the last four games in this series.
Year Site Result
2007 Cincinnati 28-23 WVU
2008 Morgantown 26-23 (OT) UC
2009 Cincinnati 24-21 UC
2010 Morgantown 37-10 WVU
2011 Cincinnati ????
Only last year's game during UC's retooling season was not a dramatic finish. Also, take into consideration apparently nobody can play a two-possession game in this conference and a blowout result in either direction would be considered a massive upset.
--- Reminder: Ring of Red game Saturday. Wear red. Don't be that guy.
--- Butch Jones made another pitch to fans to make Paul Brown Stadium feel like a home-field advantage. I'd claim it felt like a heck of a home-field advantage last year against Oklahoma. With a galvanized fan base that traveled heavy to Pittsburgh, expectations are for big numbers at PBS. Let's hope so.
--- Was talking to an NFL scout this weekend about Isaiah Pead. He said he thinks Pead will be a great pro and be selected earlier rather than later than his projected spot. He pointed to last year's game against Oklahoma when Pead was the best back on the field against a quality defense in Oklahoma. That included Dallas' DeMarco Murray.
Pead certainly loves PBS. In two games there he has 41 carries for 320 rushing yards and a touchdown.
--- Remember, more blog posts coming today. We'll have the Tuesday lunch following the presser and thoughts following tonight's hoops exhibition against NKU. Follow all of it on Twitter (@pauldehnerjr).
--- Randomness...
--- This is the true story, of seven strangers, picked to kill a network...
--- Attention Star Wars nerds: Carrie Fisher lost 50 pounds. No word on bringing back the earmuffs haircut.
--- This my Tommy G shout out of the day. The video pretty much summarizes the cruel mental torture Browns fans endure.
"You are a factory of sadness!"
--- 10 Facebook statuses gone horribly wrong from Mental Floss.
--- Somebody paid $31,200 for John Lennon's tooth. Don't let your kids know about Tooth Fairy inflation rates.
--- Zach Collaros and Isaiah Pead ballin' out of control against WVU in 2009 at The Nipp.
