iNTERESTING Q AND A WITH MARVIN.  He seems to the leaning towards the positive side talking to media outside of Cincy.

LETS talk about this...this afternoon on WLW...that's before and after UC Hoops

 Right now he's back to where he generally would be, and that's a good thing. But unfortunately right now we're playing with a little different quarterback so our style of offense is a little different than it's been.

Pulling two thoughts from an NFL blogger about the Bengals and Jets...from a guy named Gregory Cox.....

First your Bengals.

Jacksonville (3-4) @ Cincinnati (0-8): Just when the Jaguars appeared to be back on course they exit their bye week with a home loss to Cleveland. Now they're in a three-way tie four games behind AFC South leading Tennessee. This setback was most troubling because the other defeats came to teams with a combined 17-4 record, but the Browns have been erratic and did I mention it was at home? Now they play the other Ohio team and one that is really slumping. The Bengals are coming really close to quitting on the season. Cutting Rudi Johnson who has been their best running back in recent seasons at the last minute has produced an inept running game with only one team having a worse average rush than their 3.4 yards. With Carson Palmer out the situation on offense worsens. Their combined effort from the position this season has produced 13 turnovers and 28 sacks, the bulk of which are on Fitzpatrick.

Can the Bengals turn in an effort like their first three quarters against Pittsburgh two weeks ago? It's more likely than you might think. This will be an all out assault for them because their bye week is on deck. Jacksonville's defense is struggling against the run allowing 4.4 yards per carry and isn't very good against the pass either. The Jags have just 9 sacks, the third lowest total in the NFL, despite drafting two defensive ends in the first round. Harvey held out and has none while Groves has 1 ½. They are in the bottom half of the NFL allowing 230.6 passing yards per game and have allowed 12 touchdown passes, fourth most. Fitzpatrick has the targets to take advantage of this if he can protect the football.

The other side of this equation is Jacksonville trying to take advantage of a struggling defense. The Bengals haven't held a team under 20 points since opening day when they were facing rookie Joe Flacco's Ravens in his first NFL start. They are similarly not strong against the run (4.3 average rush allowed) and much worse against the pass. Cincinnati has allowed teams to complete 65.9% of their passes and the third most touchdown strikes (13) and second fewest sacks (6). If Garrard can dissect this defense at his leisure it will be difficult for Fitzpatrick to match drives with him. I don't think it's a fourth straight loss by double digits though: Jacksonville 26, Cincinnati 17

Thought this was interesting on the Jets.....

Here's what I can't figure out about the J-E-T-S. They are fourth in the NFL averaging 4.6 yards per carry yet only 8 teams run the ball less than they do. What in the world are they doing passing the football up 24-21 in scoring range? I don't care if it's Favre or God himself lined up at quarterback it makes no sense. When will this team commit to the run? Thomas Jones has two games with 20+ carries this season and it's no accident both times he finished with 100+ yards rushing. The Bills have a pretty good run defense bolstered by Stroud so this week might not be the best time to change the game plan. Then again Buffalo's secondary has performed pretty well.

1 td   8 picks

42 td passes 28 picks

Travis my producer looked this up.  Matt Grothe's stats first against UC and then against everyone else. 

ET was as always very good this morning.

On the JOSEPH play which has gotten lots of talk this week for not tackling Walters, he doesn't blame the cornerback for his poor play as of late.

"That's teaching man. Some of the mistakes aren't physical. They are mental."

ET likes Marvin....but.....

"Disappointed that Marvin and the coaches not teaching Joseph properly."

As an athlete, ET like Joseph alot....but..

"If you can't play technique, you are going to get beat."

As far as Brian Kelly...he likes him big time.

"Never met a coach who put me in a mindset of coaching.  He cares.  He cares about his players."

Always thought ET would make a wonderful coach.

Hats off to UC.  You could also feel the home field advantage thru the TV, which is something that wasn't there not to long ago.

This comes from UC

POSTGAME NOTES

TEAM 

•          Final score: Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1 BIG EAST) 24, No. 24/23 USF 10 (6-3, 1-3 BIG EAST) 10

•          Cincinnati Captains: Dominick Goodman (16), Mike Mickens (21), Corey Smith (42), Torry Cornett (49). USF: Matt Grothe (8), Tyrone McKenzie (27), Jake Griffin (77), Andrew Ketchel (85).

•          Cincinnati won the toss and elected to receive. Rutgers defended the north end zone.

•          UC scored first for the seventh time in eight games this season and is now 6-1 when getting on the board first.

•          On the opening drive of the game, the UC offense ended a string of 25 straight third downs without a conversion with a 13-yard pass to Dominick Goodman on a 3rd and 9. UC ended the game 5-for-10 on third downs.

•          UC improves to 4-2 vs. ranked opponents in the Brian Kelly Era. This is the Bearcats first win this season vs. a ranked opponent and first at home since knocking off then-No. 16 UConn, 27-3, last season on Nov. 10.

•          The Bearcats now own a 4-2 lead in the series with USF having won four of the last five contests.

•          UC improves to 17-0 when leading after three quarters under Brian Kelly.

•          Attendance: 31,175 – The 10th-largest crowd in Nippert Stadium history.

INDIVIDUAL

•          20 or more consecutive starts: Trevor Canfield (33), Dominick Goodman (26), Adam Hoppel (20), Mike Mickens (42), DeAngleo Smith (21).

•          Senior wide receiver Dominick Goodman pulled in quarterback Tony Pike’s first attempt of the night and has now caught a pass in 28 consecutive games.

•          Senior defensive back Mike Mickens broke the school record for career interceptions with his 13th career pick five minutes into the first quarter. The interception pushed him past Blue Adams (1998-02) and Jocelyn Borgella (1990-93). The ensuing 58-yard interception return set up UC’s first score of the game, a two-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore tailback John Goebel.

•          Goebel’s two-yard plunge put the Bearcats up, 7-0, six minutes into the game. The score was his team-leading fifth rushing touchdown this season year.

•          Pike’s 49-yard pass completion to senior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard late in the first quarter was UC’s longest pass play from scrimmage since the two hooked up on a 67-yarder in the Akron game. The play led to UC’s second score of the night, a 32-yard field goal by Jake Rogers.

•          Sophomore kicker Jake Rogers put Cincinnati back on top, 10-7, with a 32-yard field with 3:42 left in the first quarter. It was his ninth consecutive field goal this season.

•          Junior defensive end Curtis Young picked up his second sack of the season to end of Bulls first drive of the second quarter. He now has 5.5 for his career.

•          Pike and Gilyard hooked up with 9:17 left in the second quarter for the Bearcats only passing touchdown of the game, a 26-yard bubble screen to put UC up, 17-7. The touchdown reception was Gilyard’s team-best seventh of the season. For Pike it was his eighth passing score.

•          The Gilyard touchdown ended the Bearcats’ longest scoring drive (yards) of the season as they drove 91 yards on 12 plays in 4:12.

•          Sophomore tight end Ben Guidugli pulled in an acrobatic one-handed reception for 33 yards in the second quarter, the longest reception of his career.

•          Senior defensive end Lamonte Nelms picked off his second career pass and first this season with 4:21 left in the first half to end a USF drive at UC’s 32-yard line. Nelms picked off the ball after senior defensive end Connor Barwin batted the Grothe pass into the air.

•          The Bearcats outgained the Bulls 281-172 yards in the first half thanks to Pike’s 14-of-19 passing for 227 yards.

•          UC’s Nelms ended USF’s first drive of the second half with his fourth sack of the season.

•          Senior defensive back DeAngelo Smith made his first interception of the season midway through the third quarter off Grothe. He also picked Grothe in last season’s 38-33 win.

•          In the last two games vs. USF, the Cincinnati defense has picked off Grothe seven times – three times this season and four times last year.

•          Moving back over to the offensive side of the ball to play in the jumbo package, defensive end and former UC tight end Connor Barwin pulled in his sixth career receiving touchdown and first of the season from one yard out. The touchdown put UC up 24-10.

•          Zach Collaros took over at quarterback from Tony Pike midway through the fourth quarter for Cincinnati.

•          Barwin, a defensive end, ended the game with two passes defended – half of UC’s total of four.

•          Twice in the fourth quarter the UC defense forced the Bulls to turn the ball over on downs inside the UC 10-yard line.

Jason Maxiell is one of my favorite NBA players and not because of UC.  Not that it hurts he played for UC.  But, players with his heart are fun to watch. 

He can buy you lunch the next time around.  Detroit gives him 20 million over the next 4 years.

The 25-year-old Maxiell is in the final year of his contract and decided to stick with the team that drafted him 26th overall in 2005 instead of becoming a free agent after the season.

Nice pick and run by Mickens.

Kentucky opened practice for the first time since 1992.  I don't count open practices in post season when nothing happens.  Very athletic.  Not very good shooting.  Non-stop effort.  I was surprised how hard they work....and at times when someone sits out for a few minutes, they are running sprints on the side, or you see 6 10 Josh Harrelson go thru drills and dives on the floor going after loose balls while practice is going on, and he's not being punished.

As Jack "Goose" Givens, the hero of the 1978 NCAA champs and an old friend said, it's night and day comparing the athletes this year vs. last year.

When you add the players, coaches, and managers....there were over 30 on the court.  I've never seen so many working out for any college team.