Sept. 9, 2009

(5:10 p.m.): If you remember last year’s UConn-UC game, you remember what a disaster that game was for the Bearcats.

A 40-16 pounding that had people questioning what kind of team the Bearcats ultimately would be. Quarterback Tony Pike having to leave the game at halftime because he had lost feeling in his arm. The inability to stop Huskies running back Donald Brown. The 0-for-25 stat on third downs.

It was brutal. And you know what the Bearcats did the next day? They practiced. They had to practice, in fact, because South Florida was coming to town five days after UConn pasted UC. That Sunday workout, though, was a huge event. You could make the argument that it turned around the entire season.

If you need a reminder why, read my UC-USF Rock ‘N Roll Party from after the game.

Which brings us to this point: UC is used to playing short weeks, and a Saturday game vs. Southeast Missouri State after a Monday evening game at Rutgers is not a big deal to the Bearcats.

“When you look at a seven-day week, yeah, it’s tough,” linebacker Demetrius Jones said. “But we’ve been preparing for this since January. It’s not like we didn’t know we had to play Southeast Missouri on Saturday. The coaches have done a great job with scouting reports and the game plan and how they’re going to go straight out this week. As players, we’re just following the regular routine.”

The day after the game, the Bearcats practiced, and by Thursday, the team should be back to its normal routine.

“Preparation for us was a bit frenetic in the sense that we had to practice right after a game,” BK said. “I know a lot of programs do that. I’ve never really subscribed to that. I’ve always given that day off. But we had to come in and get ready for practice.”

But it’s not only about practicing. It’s about staying sharp. A bad practice the day after a game doesn’t accomplish anything. A good practice, though, can make all the difference.

“That’s the biggest thing,” Pike said. “The offense, in general, has to stay consistent. You can’t have a game like that and then come back the next week and not put up offense and the points we need to put up. We’re going to build through that through the year.”

The most-important thing BK saw coming out of the Rutgers game wasn’t necessarily the final score (though, let’s be honest, that was somewhat key). Instead, it was how the newest Bearcats responded to playing away from Nippert Stadium.

“To open on the road with 26 first-time travelers – players that had never traveled before, they didn’t know where the busses are, they didn’t know you pick up your hotel key at the lobby – our seniors did a great job of making it seamless,” he said. “The biggest concern you have as a football coach is the uncertainty how the team is going to handle themselves on the road. I never really talk to them on Fridays, but I got all of them all together and said, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but you’re doing all the right things leading up to it.’”

The first 5,000 fans that arrive for the Southeast Missouri game will get free Brian Kelly bobbleheads. In his career, this is the third bobblehead that’s been made in Kelly’s likeness. He’s noticed a disturbing trend.

“The problem we’re having is that they’re getting wider and wider,” BK said. “That’s not a good thing – if you’re tracking bobbleheads. I wasn’t exactly on board with the way it came out. In future reference, I think I would pose for my bobblehead.”

It sounds like, coming off the 47-15 pounding of Rutgers, tickets – for Saturday’s game and for season passes – are beginning to fly out of the windows at UC on a regular basis. Someone asked BK if he wanted to see a sell-out for the SEMO game.

“If there were 10 people in the stands, we’d play hard for four quarters,” BK said. “I figure if I was in the marketing department or in ticket sales, I would think they’re hoping for a sellout. But we’re going to show up and play.”