:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/4423694/129279268.jpg)
Follow Down The Drive on Facebook/twitter and check out the store.
Football News
Battle to be examined today // UC Athletics Blog
Based on Dominique Battle's injury history I would be stunned if he was back for the WVU game, let alone Pitt.
Cincinnati ranking 'great for fans, program' // cincinnati.com
UC is No. 24 in the AP poll this week, No. 24 in USA Today after coming from behind to win at South Florida on Saturday. "It’s great for our fans, it’s great for our program," UC coach Butch Jones said Monday. "It’s getting back on what we refer to as the national stage. It’s great for recruiting. But there’s a lot of football left to be played. We’re going to be challenged, especially in the month of November."
Seriously. How does Bill Koch have a job? He is paid to cover 1 team and he can't even bother to get things right.
A quiet clamoring emerged the last few weeks to see the Zach Collaros of old show up. You know, the guy posting gaudy passing numbers in a quick-strike offense. Sure, Collaros owned a completion percentage of 62 percent or better in every game but one this year and, sure, he'd accounted for 15 touchdowns in six games. But this fan base is spoiled in the area of passing offense.
Whit Babcock News
Stepping into uncertainty // cincinnati.com
.Q: What does a good athletic director do? A: If I have to break it down, the simplest leadership role of an athletic director boils down to character and competence. If I prove to have character in what I say and I shoot people straight and I'm the same publicly as I am privately, I believe that's absolutely key. At the same time, I've got to have competence. I've got to be able to have some victories under my belt and show people that I know what I'm talking about. All of us in athletics, especially our coaches, need to be looked at as teachers first of our student-athletes and then we engage a community. I think we're a rallying point for the university, something to build around.
This was seriously the fourth thing Bill Koch asked Whit Babcock. In related news Bill Koch is a complete moron.
Getting To Know The New UC AD Whit Babcock // Dan Hoard
You knew Butch Jones from when you both worked at West Virginia. Did you call him right away when you heard that the job was open? It was pretty darn quick. Just to say, "Tell me about it. Tell me everything about Cincinnati.' It was really exciting to get the job last Saturday and then watch the football team beat South Florida. (UC's Sports Information Director) Doug Mosley put me on the phone with Butch right there in the locker room after the game. His voice was cracking with emotion and man, he's a special coach. I'm sure we have a number of special coaches - I don't know them yet - but to hear his voice cracking with emotion...I can see why his players want to run through a wall for him. I'm a big fan of Butch Jones.
Other Bearcat News
Volleyball Battle of the City Set for Tuesday Night // gobearcats.com
The Cincinnati Bearcat volleyball team will take on cross-town rival Xavier University Tuesday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena. The match will serve as the team's Dig for a Cure game, raising money and awareness for breast cancer. The Bearcats are led on the season by senior Missy Harpenau and junior Jordanne Scott. Harpenau averages 3.44 kills per set and 0.31 aces per set, both numbers leading the team. Scott, who was just named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this week, posts a team-high .277 hitting percentage.
UC Moves Up to Sixth After Two Rounds at Pat Bradley Invitational // gobearcats.com
Around The Big East
Pitt Football: Tino 2010 Vs. Tino 2011 // Cardiac Hill
Okay, we all know his numbers are down from last year. By how much? In 2010, Tino completed 65% of his passes to 62% this year. In 2010, he threw for nearly 2,600 yards while he's only on pace for about 2,100 this year. In 2010, he had 16 passing touchdowns and is only on pace for 8.5 this year. In 2010, he had nine interceptions, but has seven already this year and is on pace for 12.
New York City's College Football Team: What Did Friday Night Tell Us? // Big East Coast Bias
The latest TV ratings from Friday night's two Big East football games show the Rutgers-Louisville game on ESPN2 having more than twice the viewers in New York City than the Syracuse-West Virginia game on ESPN, a meeting that featured a ranked team (the Mountaineers). Both games started at 8. Rutgers-Louisville drew a 1.45 share in New York City compared to 0.7 for West Virginia-Syracuse, according to the Nielsen ratings released today.
Big 12 surprise: USF could be wild card // Sporting News
There is some quiet buzz, though, that the Big 12 might be interested in invading the South to select USF. Adding the Bulls would facilitate recruiting in the rich Florida talent scene and would put the conference into the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.
Nationally Recognized
NCAA weighing $2,000 payments to student athletes // ESPN
NCAA president Mark Emmert says he supports a proposal to allow conferences to increase grants to student athletes by $2,000, to more closely approach the full cost of attending college, beyond the athletic scholarships athletes receive for tuition, fees, room, board, and books
Band-Aid on a bullet wound
Daugherty's referring to this, an Ohio gym teacher on trial for sleeping with five of her students, plying some of them with alcohol. It's not particularly objectionable that the apparently undersexed Daugherty obsesses over whether the teenagers took physical pleasure in the act. It's not even the fact that these teacher-student relationship stories are more about abuse of power and trust than whether someone is old enough to consent. It's that Paul Daugherty, writing a column nominally about sports, decided to wonder aloud about a woman facing 16 counts of sexual battery and decided to do it in that hacky one-sentence-per-paragraph style. Unforgivable.
And here I thought I was the only one who found Doc to be completely unbearable
The College Football Alphabetical, Week 8: Les Miles, Ambidextrous Krav Maga Expert // SBNation.com
Reading This Will Make You Snarkier
'Groupon Is A Disaster' // Business Insider
Only a few months ago, Groupon was the Internet's next great thing. Business media christened it the fastest growing company ever. Copycats proliferated. And investors salivated over the prospect of Groupon going public. Today, the startup that pioneered online daily deals for coupons is an example of how fast an Internet darling can fall. Groupon, which had to delay its initial public offering of stock this summer after regulators raised concerns about the way it counts revenue, is discounting its expectations for the IPO. In June, it was valued as high as $25 billion, but in a regulatory filing Friday, the company said it expects a valuation less than half that, at between $10.1 billion and $11.4 billion.