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Liberty Bowl
5 Keys for Cincinnati to Score on the Vanderbilt Defense // Bearcats Nation
3. Feed the Pead: He is bar none the best player on the team and, as I’ve said all season, it only makes sense to get the ball in his hands early and often. There’s not much more to say here because you already know how dynamic of a player Pead is and is dangerous rushing, receiving, and returning the football.
The recipe for success shouldn't change at all for the UC offense, even with Zach Collaros probably starting. Isaiah Pead has to get touches, lots of them, preferably in space. He is chaos theory personified.
Surprise: Isaiah Pead is Big East's best // Big East Blog // ESPN
For Isaiah Pead, this season has been especially gratifying because of a challenge Jones issued to him when the season began. Jones wanted Pead to get himself into better shape and become more physical, because he wanted to place more of the workload on his rising senior. "I walked right out from that meeting and went to the weight room and started lifting weights," Pead said. "Coach said I have all the talent in the world, I've got all the speed but at the next level they don't look for a runner, they look for a running back. That means being elusive but also being physical. I had to get that in my game. I lifted heavier weights, and set personal bests in the bench, squat and clean."
There is no question in my mind that Pead had the biggest impact of any offensive player in the Big East. He simply did anything and everything UC needed to do to put points on the board and he played the biggest in the biggest games.
UC's Frey shows speed, drive // cincinnati.com
Basketball News
UC goes for history Friday // cincinnati.com
The Cougars from the Great West Conference are 0-12 and have lost by an average of 26.4 points. They have dropped 21 straight dating to last year and have not won a game since Feb. 5 of last season when they knocked off Texas Pan-American.
There could be as many points scored by UC as fans in attendance. zing.
Cincinnati v Arkansas-Pine Bluff Thoughts // Bearcats Blog
Football Recruiting
Early graduation gives top prospects a jump on acclimating to college life // Tampa Bay Hometeam
"I went to prom last year, so I got a taste of what that was like," said Coney, who threw for more than 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior. "I don’t feel like I’m missing all that much, so it’s cool. I can’t wait go get up there and compete. I’m looking forward to playing with guys at the next level who want what I want."
Enrolling early is obviously a huge advantage for any freshman. Look not further than Nick Temple and Dwight Jackson from the 2011 class. Both guys were in for spring and became major players in the linebacker rotation as true freshmen. The impact can be even more pronounced with quarterbacks. Enrolling early will give Bennie Coney (And Trenton Norvell) the chance to compete for the starting QB job in 2012. Not saying that either will be the opening day starter. Just that getting to campus early provides more opportunities for both young QB's to put themselves in the race.
The Future of Fifth Third Arena
UC knows it's time to update arena // cincinnati.com
"It’s going to have to be done at some point," Babcock said Wednesday. "Is it two years? Is it five? It’s served its purpose for 22 years, but we’ve got to set the course for the next 25 to 50. Now that I’ve been here and seen it and walked through it, I have a sense of urgency about it."
It simply isn't feasible for UC to build another arena. It's 100 million dollars that UC doesn't really have and can't easily finance. More than likely what will happen is renovating the lower bowl and upgrading some of the amenities. The biggest problem with building is that it was designed as a multi purpose facility 25 years ago when multi purpose facilities were all the rage. 22 years after opening Fifth Third has one function. It needs to be updated, and I think there is a way to do that, in an affordable way. I will have some more on this topic, hopefully tomorrow, but more likely at some point next week.
Today In Schadenfreude
How not to conduct a coaching search // Houston's Clear Thinkers
The natives in Houston are not happy with who has been selected to lead the Cougars into the Big East. His name is Tony Levine and no one has heard of him. Houston clearly took what is known as the "West Virginia Approach"