TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – Every receiver knows that dropped passes happen occasionally, no matter how reliable and usually sure-handed the receiver is.
But when it actually happens, especially in a rivalry game, as it did to the University of Cincinnati's Devin Gray last week in the Bearcats' 21-17 come-from-behind win at Miami, it's still difficult to deal with.
Gray, a senior from Reno, Nev., was wide open at the Miami 40-yard line with the Bearcats' trailing, 7-3, early in the second quarter. Had he caught the on-target pass from quarterback Hayden Moore, Gray had a clear field ahead of him and an almost sure touchdown.
"I just wanted to make a play," Gray said Tuesday. "I took my eyes off the ball and was looking straight towards the end zone and just got a little bit too anxious. But it happens. I've gone through the play, I've analyzed it and I'm ready to move on. I'm over it now. I did a lot of thinking about it. I've just got to go do my job and my responsibility and just make plays."
Gray wasn't the only UC receiver to drop a pass against the RedHawks. There were six UC drops overall. All those drops can wear on the quarterback and the head coach, who has to find a way to make sure his receivers understand how damaging they can be without causing them to lose confidence.
"They've just got to believe in what we're telling them," said UC coach Luke Fickell. "Sometimes I think people are committed to a lot of the things we've done and sometimes you worry that they don't want to let you down, like your own kids. If you drop a ball, it doesn't let me down. If you quit trying and quit practicing and quit doing the things that you need to do that give us an opportunity, that's when we would be let down.
"They've got to believe in that. They've got to feel that confidence that we have in them to continue to play, even if they drop the ball. We've got to find a way to get them back. They just need to let it fly and play aggressively."
A week earlier it was senior wide receiver Kahlil Lewis who had a costly drop against Michigan when a long pass from Moore slipped through his arms near the sideline a few yards shy of the Wolverines' end zone.
Lewis, who leads the Bearcats in receptions with 15 catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns, bounced back against Miami by catching a touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter as the Bearcats' were making their dramatic comeback and then snaring the 2-point conversion pass that pulled UC to within three points with 2:52 left. He had seven catches for 83 yards overall.
The senior from Miami, Fla., was so troubled by his drop against Michigan that he said he stayed after practice each day last week for an extra half hour to catch 100 passes before he knocked off for the day.
"It won't happen again," Lewis said. "I'm working towards that and I'm just ready to make big plays and contribute like I normally do. You know, you make those plays all the time, but it happens to everybody. It's something you do every day, that you've been doing since you were little, but it just happens."
Just as important as a receiver's reaction to his mistake is how his quarterback handles it. Does he get in the receiver's face? Does his body language on the field reflect his frustration and affect the rest of the team? Does he stop throwing to that receiver?
To his credit, Moore did none of that.
"We talked to him (and backup quarterback Ross Trail) before the year started," Fickell said, "that when things go well you've got to find a way to push it to everybody else and celebrate and give the praise to others. And when things go wrong, we've got to be able to accept it and take it, not show the emotions and not get down on people. Because if all of a sudden the quarterback gets down on a receiver, he's gonna feel like I'm on trial every time and now that's when all they're gonna do is just grasp the ball and fall to the ground. (Moore) has done a good job. I didn't see the body language. I didn't see the demeanor. There were no palms in the air."
Said Moore: "I have to just keep them up. I have to keep myself up and keep them up. That's the only thing you can do. You can't think about it. You've just got to go to the next play. I tell them, I believe in you and you believe in me. Let's just go do it and get past it."
Still, it's not in a coach's DNA to let mistakes go unnoticed. So Gray can expect an earful if he drops a pass during practice this week.
"On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we're gonna be all over 'em," Fickell said. "That's where you've got to put the heat on and make sure they know that we're counting on them and their teammates are counting on them. They know we've got confidence in them. We know they can catch the football."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – Every receiver knows that dropped passes happen occasionally, no matter how reliable and usually sure-handed the receiver is.
But when it actually happens, especially in a rivalry game, as it did to the University of Cincinnati's Devin Gray last week in the Bearcats' 21-17 come-from-behind win at Miami, it's still difficult to deal with.
Gray, a senior from Reno, Nev., was wide open at the Miami 40-yard line with the Bearcats' trailing, 7-3, early in the second quarter. Had he caught the on-target pass from quarterback Hayden Moore, Gray had a clear field ahead of him and an almost sure touchdown.
"I just wanted to make a play," Gray said Tuesday. "I took my eyes off the ball and was looking straight towards the end zone and just got a little bit too anxious. But it happens. I've gone through the play, I've analyzed it and I'm ready to move on. I'm over it now. I did a lot of thinking about it. I've just got to go do my job and my responsibility and just make plays."
Gray wasn't the only UC receiver to drop a pass against the RedHawks. There were six UC drops overall. All those drops can wear on the quarterback and the head coach, who has to find a way to make sure his receivers understand how damaging they can be without causing them to lose confidence.
"They've just got to believe in what we're telling them," said UC coach Luke Fickell. "Sometimes I think people are committed to a lot of the things we've done and sometimes you worry that they don't want to let you down, like your own kids. If you drop a ball, it doesn't let me down. If you quit trying and quit practicing and quit doing the things that you need to do that give us an opportunity, that's when we would be let down.
"They've got to believe in that. They've got to feel that confidence that we have in them to continue to play, even if they drop the ball. We've got to find a way to get them back. They just need to let it fly and play aggressively."
A week earlier it was senior wide receiver Kahlil Lewis who had a costly drop against Michigan when a long pass from Moore slipped through his arms near the sideline a few yards shy of the Wolverines' end zone.
Lewis, who leads the Bearcats in receptions with 15 catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns, bounced back against Miami by catching a touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter as the Bearcats' were making their dramatic comeback and then snaring the 2-point conversion pass that pulled UC to within three points with 2:52 left. He had seven catches for 83 yards overall.
The senior from Miami, Fla., was so troubled by his drop against Michigan that he said he stayed after practice each day last week for an extra half hour to catch 100 passes before he knocked off for the day.
"It won't happen again," Lewis said. "I'm working towards that and I'm just ready to make big plays and contribute like I normally do. You know, you make those plays all the time, but it happens to everybody. It's something you do every day, that you've been doing since you were little, but it just happens."
Just as important as a receiver's reaction to his mistake is how his quarterback handles it. Does he get in the receiver's face? Does his body language on the field reflect his frustration and affect the rest of the team? Does he stop throwing to that receiver?
To his credit, Moore did none of that.
"We talked to him (and backup quarterback Ross Trail) before the year started," Fickell said, "that when things go well you've got to find a way to push it to everybody else and celebrate and give the praise to others. And when things go wrong, we've got to be able to accept it and take it, not show the emotions and not get down on people. Because if all of a sudden the quarterback gets down on a receiver, he's gonna feel like I'm on trial every time and now that's when all they're gonna do is just grasp the ball and fall to the ground. (Moore) has done a good job. I didn't see the body language. I didn't see the demeanor. There were no palms in the air."
Said Moore: "I have to just keep them up. I have to keep myself up and keep them up. That's the only thing you can do. You can't think about it. You've just got to go to the next play. I tell them, I believe in you and you believe in me. Let's just go do it and get past it."
Still, it's not in a coach's DNA to let mistakes go unnoticed. So Gray can expect an earful if he drops a pass during practice this week.
"On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we're gonna be all over 'em," Fickell said. "That's where you've got to put the heat on and make sure they know that we're counting on them and their teammates are counting on them. They know we've got confidence in them. We know they can catch the football."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.