1. Steven Taylor is having a great year but he had a monster night. 9 tackles, 2 sacks and a pick six. Two sacks are great but the timing is what makes them special: his second sack backed Cinci up to the 1 and we were able to get the safety on the next snap (his first sack came the play after Cinci picked up 3&15 - effectively ending the drive).
Taylor has 5.5 sacks on the year and could well break the season- and career- records here.
2. Tuberville's decision not to kick in the 2nd quarter was idiotic. His decision to not kick after TD in 4th quarter was idiotic. Instead of being up 3 at the half and up 8 in the 4th, Cinci led just 3:06 of gametime. If they are up 8, it changes what we do and how we chase points. Take. The. Points.
3. We are rushing for 2.77 ypc in our two FBS games so far. These are probably the two best defenses we will play (Louisville will be banged up by late November) so there's no cause for alarm yet. But we need to start getting the RBs on track next week. OL play has not helped to this point, either. We were barely over 100 yards rushing (on 38 attempts) going to the 4th last night when we had worn them down. I'm concerned about our rush game.
4. What can you say about 1.5 ypc and 97 total rush yards given up by this defense? We have scored 18 more points than rush yards given up.
5. We are at 270 plays in 3 games and ran 93 last night (despite never really going fast). We're averaging 35 snaps more a game that our opponents - which is insane. But our dependence on Ward is problematic - in 2 games, he's had the ball in his hands on 70% of snaps (76 throws, 44 rushes). Unless we start blocking someone and he learns to slide feet-first, he'll be susceptible to injury all year.
6. Greg Ward Jr is now 7-1 in league road games, 14-2 overall in the league, 11-1 away from home, and 22-2 overall. In the 11 wins away from home, average margin of victory is 18.5.
Taylor has 5.5 sacks on the year and could well break the season- and career- records here.
2. Tuberville's decision not to kick in the 2nd quarter was idiotic. His decision to not kick after TD in 4th quarter was idiotic. Instead of being up 3 at the half and up 8 in the 4th, Cinci led just 3:06 of gametime. If they are up 8, it changes what we do and how we chase points. Take. The. Points.
3. We are rushing for 2.77 ypc in our two FBS games so far. These are probably the two best defenses we will play (Louisville will be banged up by late November) so there's no cause for alarm yet. But we need to start getting the RBs on track next week. OL play has not helped to this point, either. We were barely over 100 yards rushing (on 38 attempts) going to the 4th last night when we had worn them down. I'm concerned about our rush game.
4. What can you say about 1.5 ypc and 97 total rush yards given up by this defense? We have scored 18 more points than rush yards given up.
5. We are at 270 plays in 3 games and ran 93 last night (despite never really going fast). We're averaging 35 snaps more a game that our opponents - which is insane. But our dependence on Ward is problematic - in 2 games, he's had the ball in his hands on 70% of snaps (76 throws, 44 rushes). Unless we start blocking someone and he learns to slide feet-first, he'll be susceptible to injury all year.
6. Greg Ward Jr is now 7-1 in league road games, 14-2 overall in the league, 11-1 away from home, and 22-2 overall. In the 11 wins away from home, average margin of victory is 18.5.
