November 11th Jump Off

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West Virginia Week

With time running down, West Virginia looks to correct problems on punt, field goal units // The Washington Post

"It’s universal," said Steve Dunlap, West Virginia’s special teams coach on punts and kickoffs. "I mean, at times we play really well. Sometimes we don’t. If we had all the answers we could fix it right away, so obviously we don’t. We just need to play a complete game."

Bearcats Breakfast 11.10.11 // Paul Dehner

"That may be the key to victory is running the ball," Pead said. "I am up for the challenge, the line is up to the challenge. We may run the ball a lot, we may not, it's whatever the coach is feeling at the time. But if we are ready to run the ball 30, 40, 50 times I am down for it."

12 Bearcats on Steele Mid-Season Big East Team // Bearcats Blog
Isaiah Pead, Derek Wolfe, J.K. Schaffer and Pat O'Donnell make the first team

BIG EAST Midweek Report // Rivals.com

The BIG EAST standings show that Cincinnati has a somewhat comfortable lead as the Bearcats take a 3-0 league record into Saturday's game against West Virginia and already own a head-to-head win against second-place Louisville. Cincinnati has had to come from behind in the second half in each of its three conference games, however, making the trip to the top spot anything but smooth. The Bearcats have been accustomed to the top of the standings in recent years, winning outright BIG EAST titles in 2008 and 2009. Cincinnati, which reeled off 13 wins during that stretch, take a six-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Paul Brown Stadium.

Punting woes // Post-Gazzette

West Virginia vs. Cincinnati Game Preview // WVU Mountaineer Sports

Pead is averaging over 100 yards per game and also has eight touchdowns this season. Last year, West Virginia was able to take Pead out of the game and forced Collaros to put the ball in the air as he threw it 45 times. WVU breezed to a huge 27 point win so if the Mountaineers are able to repeat this, they should find success.

I am not a coach, but if I was I would sell out to stop Pead. Zach is capable, but he has a well earned reputation for making at least one WTF decision per game.

Bearcats rank fifth nationally in turnover margin // Charleston Daily Mail

The Mountaineers are even in turnover margin, and have caused and lost 14 turnovers. They were even in a turnover-free game against Marshall and even despite three turnovers against Maryland and won both games. WVU was minus-4 against LSU and minus-2 against Syracuse and lost both. The Mountaineers forced four turnovers and lost one in the win over Rutgers.

14 takeaways frankly stunned me when I started looking at WVU's statistics. WVU typically forces turnovers in spades. At least that's how I remember them

Mountaineers expect a fight out of Cincinnati  //  Charleston Daily Mail

"I don't know how to fix it," Holgorsen said. "I talked about it all week and then we didn't have any energy on the sidelines. We were dead. There wasn't a whole lot of excitement when good things did happen for us."

Basketball

Talking Hoops with Raphielle Johnson // Bearcats Blog

Do you think UC could do some damage come March? Yes, and here's where Cashmere Wright comes into play. Guards are of great value in March, especially floor generals who can control the action and get their team the shots they want to take as opposed to what the opponent is dictating. Wright should have an even more mature game, and he won't lack for weapons to get the ball to. The Big East will test them, and given the non-conference schedule I could see UC being a bit under seeded for their talent come Selection Sunday. That could set them up nicely.

Other Bearcat News

Speedy Dayeesha Hollins sparks UC women // cincinnati.com

The 5-foot-6 Winton Woods graduate - known by friends as "Day" - is about to embark on her first season with the Bearcats. She arrived at UC by way of Michigan, where she started 34 games and averaged 12 points and 3.4 rebounds and was named to the 2010 Big Ten All-Freshman team.

DeNormandie Named to BIG EAST All-Freshman Team // gobearcats.com

University of Cincinnati men's soccer forward Cole DeNormandie (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) was named to the BIG EAST Conference all-Freshman team on Thursday night at an awards ceremony held on the eve of Friday's conference semifinal matches at Red Bull Arena.

DeNormandie becomes the first Bearcat to earn BIG EAST all-Freshman honors since UC joined the conference in 2005. He is the sixth all-freshman honoree during head coach Hylton Dayes' tenure at UC.

Bearcats Host IPFW For Regular Season Opener // gobearcats.com

Fans can take advantage of the 11-11-11 promotion, in which they can purchase 11 tickets for only $11. Additionally, fans can enjoy dollar night at the concessions stand, in which Aramark will provide $1 hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, bottled water and small soda. Senior citizens in attendance receive a $1 per person admission for groups of 10 or more. There will be a halftime performance by the Milford High School Cheer Team and select members of the team will be available for postgame autographs.

Swim/Dive Set For Road Meets At Pitt, WVU // gobearcats.com

Cleary To Work CollegeBaseballInsider.com Coaches Clinic // gobearcats.com

Bearcats Laid Ground Work For Future During 2011 Season // gobearcats.com

On paper, the season didn't go as planned as the Bearcats completed the campaign with a mark of 6-11-1 overall and 2-7 in the BIG EAST. But a closer look is required to fully understand what really happened for the Bearcats this fall. What the record doesn't show is that five freshmen started at any given point during the season. It doesn't show that injuries to 2010 all-conference selection Matt Bahner (0 matches played) and top defender Roger Thompson (3 matches played) forced Dayes' hand with inserting younger players regularly into the line-up.

The future is bright for Bearcats Soccer

Nationally Recognized

Support RAINN and the #ProudPSUforRAINN Campaign // Black Shoe Diaries

TOM RINALDI REPORTS FROM EVERYWHERE // Every Day Should Be Saturday
And now for some whimsy

Reading This Will Make You Snarky

The New Inquiry // The Resentment Machine
just read it. quoting a paragraph doesn't quite do it justice