July 7th Jump Off
by Chris Bains on Jul 7, 2011 8:00 AM EDT
in The Jump Off
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Bearcat News
Big East position rankings: Linebackers - Big East Blog - ESPN
We all know how UC's linebackers aren't exactly stellar, but I'm not sure if they're last in the league. Who came in at 7th? Syracuse, who lost two of their starting LBs and the remaining starter is moving to MLB for the first time. So based on that logic, UC's JK Shaffer and Maalik Bomar (two 3rd year starters) along with whoever fills in at the third linebacker spot (Temple, Blair, Pooler, etc.) are worse than a Syracuse linebacking corp with countless question marks. Yep, makes sense to me!
Miami (OH) extends Home-and-home Football Series with Cincinnati & Marshall
Looks like the Victory Bell series will continue through 2018 at least. Did anyone really think Cincinnati was going to cut off my Redhawks just because UC was in a BCS conference and has dominated Miami for the past 5 years? This is one of the longest rivalry games in all of college football and, if anything, provides a solid warm up game for the Bearcats heading into Big East play. The one change I'm not in total disagreement with is moving the game away from a home-and-home series to at least 2-1, in that Miami travels down to Nippert twice as much as the Bearcats go to Yager Stadium. That makes sense as Cincinnati fans have been dominating Oxford the past couple of years and that trend doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon.
SLAM ONLINE | » Next in Line - Shaq Thomas
Just an inspirational story about Shaq Thomas's rough childhood and how he embraced basketball as a tool to calm and comfort him. This Jump Off really doesn't do the interview justice. One thing's for sure, he will be welcomed into the Bearcat basketball family with open arms. Hell, with all of the hype around his basketball skills alone, most of us have already done just that. Beyond his impact on the court, Shaq will be a great representative of Cincinnati and could easily become a fan favorite this fall as he will see some playing time as a true freshman. Glad to have you, Shaq!
Recruiting
BearcatReport.com - Cincinnati leads for 2013 RB
UC's recruiting of Warren Central just doesn't stop. Most recently, the Bearcats have put 2013 RB/TE Marcus Evans in their crosshairs. While UC-bound Deionte Buckley will be RB-1 this fall, Marcus will probably see some playing time because of Warren Central's ground-pound offense. Deionte will need rest at some point and Marcus will be given the rock to spell him. UC has quite a few people influencing Marcus in his decision. Obviously the coaches will be on him constantly, but already four of his teammates have verballed to Cincinnati. On top of that, former Bearcat Dorian Davis played for UC and is probably in his ear quite a bit.
Around the BEast
The Ten Games That Will Determine the Big East in 2011 - #1 Pittsburgh at West Virginia - Big East Coast Bias#
As you probably guessed, the Backyard Brawl finished #1 on the games that will determine the Big East next year. For the record WVU-USF, which came it at #2 should have been bumped up to the top spot because the game will actually determine the Big East title in 2011 most likely. The Backyard Brawl has the bad blood and the history, but the game simply won't determine the Big East champ in 2011. This is mainly because I think Pitt is going to have a whale of time adjusting to Todd Graham's spread offense with all of those players the Stache brought in for his traditional pro-style attack. This is going to be a down year for the Panthers who I think will get rolled by the Mountaineers.
Around the Nation
NCAA could see 'fundamental changes' in way it operates - USATODAY.com
Seriously. The NCAA is a joke of an organization that doesn't even know how to enforce it's own rules. Idiotic ineligibility rulings aside (Kenbrell Thompkins, Vidal Hazelton, Dyjuan Lewis), the NCAA is continuously criticized for its inconsistent rulings, confusing standards, and outright hypocracy. The running joke surrounding the O$U investigations is that Cleveland St. is about to get the Death Penalty, implying that the NCAA protects its money makers but punishes the little guys to no end (UC included). The adminstrators can do all the talking they want about how they don't care about the money but the organization's actions speak far loud than words and their credibility is plummeting.
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UC-Miami should be 2-1; also
when the game is in Oxford, it is not televised (it is on-line on ESPN360).
LB Ratings
Our linebacking corps just has a lot to prove. No way they are the worst in the conference but last year was rough due to the fact that we had zero depth at the position. Our guys just got worn down as the season went on with not much in the way of substitution. I’m hoping Tentman can step in and play at a high level this year after recovering from his injury. That guy is a physical freak. I’m excited about Antwan Darling as he really impressed me as a true frosh last year on special teams and then got some action rotating in a LB. The roster shows him at 225 lbs. which is great to see. Also, Corey Mason is now listed at 6’3, 233 lbs. so I expect him to give us quality reps. That doesn’t even factor in Greg Blair and Ben Pooler who are both physically ready to play at this level. Even if they give us 10 snaps a game I’ll call that a big victory. Not to mention Temple and Jackson who will have been with the team for 8 months prior to the start of the season. Jackson is going to be a star for us. Temple, in my opinion, is better suited as a SS but he can help us this year at OLB. Phillips and Alston (hope he makes it) should redshirt unless the staff decides to use them on special teams.
It’s clear from the guys I’ve listed, though, that our depth is worlds away from where it was last year. Most of these guys are just unproven but we didn’t even have the bodies last year as guys we counted on (Tentman, Dorian Davis and Robert Martin) weren’t around for one reason or another which also carried over to special teams. As we all know, though, getting a few good linebackers for the 2012 class will be key.
In terms of pure, proven production UC's linbackers are probably 5th, maybe 6th.
But I think they will have a big year this season. This group will be far more productive because, for a start, J.K. and Maalik won’t have to play every single snap like they did last year. They played very well early in the year but the reps wore them down at the end of the year. The other reason the linebackers will be better is because the defensive line is going to be much better. Brandon Mills is no longer a starter so they will play the run much better. In his place will be Walt who is finally going to be playing his natural position. That’s addition by subtraction as far as I am concerned. Walt was good against the run but a disaster in coverage. This defensive line is the deepest since 2008 and it is going to give the linebackers a ton of time to run around and make plays.
For the record I disagree about Temple. He is a natural Will. He just doesn’t have the hips to play safety at this level, too stiff. He is better suited for linebacker in this defense.
Great comment on Walt
He was definitely a liability as a LB in passing situations and putting him on the defensive line upgrades both that position, and the linebacking corp because his replacement will probably have better coverage skills. Great point, Matt.
Interesting re: Temple
I guess I need to see more of him. I guess I was going more on his stature. I know last year at the Nike combine Temple only checked in at 5’9 and 190 lbs. That’s been over a year ago so things can definitely change. I didn’t really get a good look at him this spring either other than just snippets here and there.
Height for a linebacker...
…is like cup size for a model. Yes obviously bigger is better, but a little bit more size isn’t really going to make someone produce at a higher level.
Our LB Ranking on AA's blog does not surprise me;
as I noted on yesterday’s Jump Off the blog is designed to stroke the egos of WVU/Pitt/Syracuse fans. Also, from what I have seen so far, I don’t get the feeling she thinks highly of UC in general (as opposed to Brian Bennett who frequently complimented the Bearcats). As the person who ran the non-AQ blog in the past, she probably spent a good part of her time writing how UC did not deserve an BCS Bowl Bid in 2008 and 2009.
The problem with Brian Bennett was that if the article wasn't from Koch, he wouldn't post a UC article at all
Which is why I have taken it upon myself to create a great relationship between DtD and the Big East blog on ESPN. There is no better time than now when Koch is in his offseason slumber (and still collects a paycheck). When football season starts up and Koch wakes up and produces his mind-numbingly stupid articles, I’m hoping ESPN will continue to reference us over him.
Just because someone disagrees with you
doesn’t mean they are biased. Adelson has done a great job picking up where Brian Bennett left off. She is a knowledgeable, and talented writer. That doesn’t mean I agree with her on everything, for instance in these pre season unit rankings she is going far too much off of past performance rather than trying to project for forward.
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