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September 26, 2024 • 15 mins
Keegan Nickoson from Bearcat Journal joins the show to preview UCs trip to Lubbock to face Texas Tech.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Malegger. If you're looking for a place to
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Speaker 2 (00:11):
Cincy three sixty is back on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Welcome back sincey three sixty ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station,
A service of our friends at Penn Station. We've been
all over the map today, a ton of Bengals, the
Little Reds, some FC Cincinnati there with Tommy g And
now let's turn our attention to the Cincinnati Bearcats, the
hero Cincinnati Bearcats that this city didn't even know they needed,
and yet here they are. Scott Sudderfield's bunch three and

(00:41):
one with a huge opportunity on the road Saturday night,
eight pm against Texas Tech. Let's talk a little more Bearcats.
Let's do so with the man covering the Bearcats for
barcat Journal dot Com. Keegan Nickoson joins us. Right now.
What's up, Keegan?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Nothing much? Yeah, I didn't expect there to be so
much pressure on southside fielding the Bearcats. But now the
ben will start. It's kind of kind of just happened naturally.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah, it's it's now not a pressure too, it's a
pressure to lead the city right now. If you're Scott Sadderfield, Keegan,
Let's start with the defensive side of the ball because
I made the statement on Saturday against Houston that it
felt like watching a little bit of Iowa State from
last year, which is what you wanted when Tyson Vite
became the defensive coordinator. So you have a defense that

(01:28):
I thought looked slow, looked lost at times against Pittsburgh
that has now gained confidence, gained momentum. What's the biggest
difference you've seen in this defense under Tyson Vite.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, I think I think they're just flying to the
ball a little bit more against Miami and what we
saw against Houston than they were against it. I think
everyone is more comfortable playing together. Scott Saderfield told me
before the season that it might it might take three
to four weeks to figure out like what kind of
team they have in both bass of offense and defense.

(02:03):
Josh Makins and Derek Canteen played really, really well in
the back end of the defense, getting a little bit
less from the linebackers than we originally thought. And then
the defensive line. You know, with all the struggles they
had against Pitt and with all the injuries that they've suffered,
you gotta believe. You got to say that they're playing
at least sufficient enough to make some kind of an impact.

(02:27):
Eric Phillips is having a crazy year. I think he's
tied for third in the entire country with on kV pressures.
I think he has three sacks, didn't get one recorded
for him against Houston. But it's it's what you want
to see, and it's what this seemed really really needed,
because you know their inability to stop Pitt in the

(02:48):
second half, it kind of impacted the offense a little bit,
and they would probably say that it didn't, but it's
just the momentum of everything. When you can go out
and play with less pressure and you probably know this, Tony,
when you can go out and slinging around the field,
you just played better. And that's when Brendan Swarzy is
at his best. And I think he might have been
forcing it a little bit against Pitt, but now against
Miami and Houston. He's a sting at fly and you know,

(03:11):
they go to a Texas Tech team that I think
that they can beat and they can pick up the
big road win.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
That being said, if you went to the Pit game
and you thought that Pitt operated at a fast pace,
Texas Tech's in a whole different category. They're running I
think like five to seven, maybe even more plays per
game than what Pitt is. They're running the fourth most
places per game in the country. Their offense scores at
a high clip. They're a talented offense. How can the

(03:37):
Bearcats go and try to slow down a little bit
of this Texas Tech offense?

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, I think you have to force Baron Morton to
throw the ball downfield, force them to beat you with
stig plays, which is kind of been your achilles heel
a little bit. But I think I think it was
something like sixty to seventy percent of his throat were
behind the line of scrimmage or to nine air yards,

(04:05):
so they don't ask him to do much, kind of
similar to Eli whole Steam. They rely on Todge books
a lot. I think forty two of their plays are
run plays. He's not a big receiving back, but he's
also not being a receiving back. It's not look Desmond Reed,
which is someone that really hurt this UC linebacker corps.

(04:25):
So not having that threat, just ten your years back,
go after the run game, force Morton to beat you downfield,
maybe Mankin's and Canteen. I think it's for the fourth
straight week can get a takeaway, and I think that's
been a big heap for this team too, just to
shift the momentum early in games, given those takeaways and
putting the ball in your hands and putting it in
Brendan Sorosby's hands so he can go and score. But yeah,

(04:46):
Brenan Baron Morton is he's a good quarterback, doesn't have
this click of a release as Brendan Soaresby. But he's
gonna throw the ball really really short, gonna hit Josh Kelly,
that five star true freshman mikeah Hudd. So I think
this is an offense that you see can kind of neutralize,
but you just have to make sure that you're playing
through keys and executing well.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Offensive side of the ball. Keegan, I want to get
to the offense as a whole, but let's start with
Brendan Soresby. You watched this team throughout training camp, you
watched him in the offseason, the start that he's had,
one of the best quarterbacks right now playing in the
country and not turning the ball over. When you saw
him operating during camp and in the off season, did
you know that he was capable of the level that

(05:30):
he's playing at right now.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
I really do think I did. And people would ask
me about him, and I would say, look, I'm willing
to bet that this kid is going to be good.
I really am. And it's not necessarily how he's threw
the ball or like his completion percentage or how his
deep ball looked, because there were flashes of that for
Emery Jones in the last ball camp. It was his

(05:56):
demeanor that I loved. It was kind of, you know, happy,
go lucky. I'm not really going to care that much
if I make a mistake. I'm just going to take
take my lump. So I'm going to move on and
I'm going to keep trying to make plays. I'm not
going to get conservative when I make a mistake. I'm
not gonna I'm not going to take the foot off
the pedal. And I really really like that mindset He's
willing to put his shoulder into a linebacker to get

(06:18):
him into the end zone that you saw against Houston.
So I think his mentals are maybe even more impressive
than his physical traits and how he throws the ball,
what he's willing to do for an offense, And you're
starting to see that with you know, he scrambles constantly,
keeping his eyes downfield, trying to make throws. He's made

(06:39):
some crazy good throws on the run to extend drives,
stays in the pocket who he's willing to get hit,
which is a really really impressive thing in college these days.
And yeah, he's got a really good search of the season.
He's not buying mental the hype about himself in time.
He said during the pressure on Tuesday, he said, you
know that very week week, I could just stink it
up this week and the every one thinks I'm bad.

(07:00):
So I just have to take it play by playing,
day by day.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
How much does it help a quarterback. We knew this
team was going to be able to do one thing,
and that's run the ball, and even though teams know
it's coming, they're still having success. I know the offensive
line is strong. Corey Kiner is this unique ability to
make the first man miss at a high rate, and
yet he's still willing to run you over. And then

(07:25):
you have prior that can come in and run around you.
How much? Now looking at this offense and running game
as a whole, how dangerous can they be? And I
know the running game helps the quarterback in a big way,
but when you look at the running back kind of
the one two punch that they possess with the offensive line,
how dangerous can they become?

Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think that they can be one of the best
offenses in the Big twelve. And like we just touched
on storesby his ability to make efficient throws and third
down conversions, but then having that back, which I mean,
I don't think Corey Kiners went down first contact once
this season, Like he's he looks like he's doomed in

(08:05):
the backfield, and when a linebacker breaks through and and
he just sheds them off and goes for six yards,
sometimes forty yards if he did against Miami, and then
you just make you, oh, yeah, Evan Pryor is extremely
fast and extremely explosive, and you give him one hole
and he can outrun every dB and every line back
on the field. Goes sixty yards for a touchdown, and

(08:25):
he's also pretty good as a receiving back. So it's
it's the perfect trade off of you know, you have
a really really efficient passer who can also make the
big throw down the field, and then you have to
respect the running game. So like, the potential of this
UC team is very very high. Where they have to
make sure that they're taking care of things is you know,

(08:47):
coaching decisions, not getting conservative, staying too like your aggressive
nature and let your guys make plays. We saw against Pitt,
you know, paulin RPOs on third and one and fourth
and one. You know. So I just think that the
potential is extremely high. Brendan Soerzi is very good. Running

(09:07):
game is very good, Like you said, we knew that
coming into the season. And then they're Shane relatively healthy,
d'Artagnan Tensley is probably going to be out with the
lower lower body injury. But DeAndre Baeford moves from tackle
to guard, and you know, I'm told by some people
that he might be better at guard than he is
a tackle. So like they're rolling along and I would

(09:29):
love to see how they react to such a tough
environment at Texas Tech this weekend.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
You know, to cap off the offensive side of the ball, Keegan,
you have Xavier Henderson who's making these unbelievable one on
one contested catches. They're taking what the defense gives. But
you also have, in my opinion, an NFL caliber tight
end and Joe Royer who can block just as well
as he can catch it. But when when you add
all those things together, it does feel like a complete offense,

(09:53):
does it not?

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:56):
It does. And you know last year you see had
one really good option in the receiving game and it
was like Xager Henderson. And now you look at you
have Xager Henderson who's going to take the ten yard hitches.
And then you show against Easton that when someone plays
press man, it's I'm going one on one my guy
versus your guy, and let's see who comes down with it.

(10:18):
It's a fifty to fifty ball. I trust that my
guy is going to come down with it. So then
on top of that, you add in Joe roy Or,
who one of the more physically impressive pass pitchers I
covered in my four years doing this job, which I
know wasn't very long, but I mean that breakaway play
against Miami that got called back, Like, you don't see
speed from tight ends like that, especially at his size.

(10:40):
A lot of them are more wiry, can't really put
their their nose in the fame in the run game,
but Royer does a pretty good job of that too.
And then on top of that, you have Jimoi Mays
who's become a really really important player on third down.
Sorzie loves to hit him over the middle of the field.
So they had three legitimate, ris reliable options compared to

(11:01):
one last year. And then, like we just touched on,
the running game is extremely good. So the potential is
just so high, and I'm looking forward to seeing how
much better they can get when they continue to get
those reps. Stacking on top of what they did in
fall Campa.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Texas Tech does score, they also give up a lot
of points. They gave up fifty one to Abilene Christian.
They gave up thirty seven and a loss. Which way
can can the offense exploit Texas Tech defensively the most?

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, I think I think it's going to be in
the passing game. Downfield. They struggled with some passing interference
penalties against Arizona State. It was just basically poor execution.
Throw the ball downfield and you grab onto the guy,
take him down. Texas Tech is I think it was
the one hundred and twenty third most penalized team in

(11:52):
the country, so they ranked one hundred and twenty third
and average penalties per game something about one hundred and
thirteenth and penalty yards per game seventy six point three.
So that's something that they're gonna have to take advantage of.
You know, if there's a third down shot and you
can see a one on one, you think it might
be a mismatch. See if you can draw a pass
interference penalty. So that's something that I think they can

(12:15):
take advantage of. They have some pretty good linebackers in
the run defense. Ben Roberts is rated very very high
by PFF with a eighty plus tackling and run defense grade.
So I'm looking forward to that matchup. But Corey Kinner
has shown he can take those really talented and highly
lauded guys and kind of just shrug them off and

(12:37):
take take the ball thirty more yards down the field,
So I think attacking downfield is going to be a
big thing. Try to silence the crowd, a little bit,
and I believe Brendan Sowersby will probably be able to
do that.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Keegan, before I let you go, I don't remember a
faster turnaround for a unit than what the special teams
units has gone through. Now making the decision to move
on and get Hawks a's a field goal kicker. How
much does this just change? We know Mason Fletcher and
how good he is. They've come up with some turnovers
on special teams as well, but having a kicker that

(13:09):
can now be relied on from fifty yards plus consistently
has to also change the way this offense operates as well,
and not having to feel like you got to make
a big play every time but you can still come
away with points.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, it's exactly that. It takes stress off, like you
go into a game pent up thinking we have to
do this and we have to do this because we
can't do this or I don't know if we will
be able to do this. And that was kicking for
a while, and now you have Nathan Hawks, who granted
and he's still two games in, he's still kicking in
the Big twelve, and we know how volatile kickers careers

(13:44):
can be, so he can go out and miss three
field goals and then we're right back where we were before.
But he's showing a really great leg and he's also
told us like the first kick against Miami, the fifty
five yarder, I was nervous, but then right after I
made it, I went out for the fifty yard later
in the game, I couldn't have cared about, like I
just wanted to put it through the off rights. Now,

(14:04):
kicking punt return coverage is one of the more impressive
things that I've seen. Marquavius to Bore, a true freshman
star who's kind of sitting behind Ya Kwan Sanks and
Makai Miller, has had a great season, and kicking punt
return coverage probably would have been the ndp of that
Miami game if Hawks didn't have the massive game. And
then you know, kick return haven't seen a lot. Punt
returner is something that I'm still a little concerned about.

(14:26):
You start with Michael Mussari. He muffs the first pun
of the season, gives the ball to Tousend and then
he had a near muff from Tyrone Smith against Houston
where he was actually fortunate enough to draw a running
into the punt return of penalty, So that's something that
I'm monitoring, and they still I don't know if you
can be confident in whoever Cincinnati throws back there that

(14:49):
they're going to catch the ball, because they show the
ability that they can they.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
Can muff it.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
So that's still an area of concern. But I mean,
if you're looking at four phases on two on defense,
two on offense, they've had a very very very good turnaround,
as you mentioned last year, because it was basically a disaster.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
In twenty twenty three, undoubtedly coming off the most complete
performance in the Scott Saderfield era from all phases of
the game. Bearcats take on Texas Tech Saturday night in Lubbock. Keegan,
what's the easiest way to follow along with everything for
the Bearcats?

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Follow at k Nickoson's forty two on X and then
make sure you're subscribed to barcat journal, just uploaded by
Texas Tech Preview. Put some in depth stats in there,
easily digestible, and then touched on six key players, three
on both sides of the ball that you can get
a look at.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Keegan, Man, always appreciate your time.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
Man.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Look forward to the coverage on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
Absolutely, thanks, Den, I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yes, sir, there he is Keegan nickoson Bearcat journal dot com.
We roll on our number three thanks to Penn Station
on the home of the Bengals ESPN fifteen to thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station
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