Good but not Good Enough

[redlegsfan21]

I have been following Cincinnati Bearcat Football for two years now and I believe that they are a team you would put in the category of "Good, but not good enough." Looking at their schedule, they shutout Eastern Kentucky (you're suppose to do that). The only game they got blownout was Pittsburgh, 33-15. Next came #1 Ohio State. UC was stopping OSU's running game in the first half and was down by 6 after leading in the 1st quarter. The defense fell apart in the 2nd half and UC lost 37-7. Still not considered good but then came #11 Virginia Tech. UC was winning going into the 4th quarter, but again, the defense and offense fell apart and UC gave up 17 unanswered points in the 4th. Easy opponents came up next with Cincinnati dominating rival Miami(OH) in the 1st quarter and holding on, 24-10. Then came another easy opponent in Akron. The Bearcats fell down early in the 1st, 14-0 but came back scoring 20 unanwsered points in the next 3 quarters to win 20-14. Cincinnati finally came out as a threat against rival #7 Louisville. UC was down with 6:09 in the 4th, 23-10 but scored a TD with 4 minutes left and came within one good pass of upsetting Louisville. Now Cincy is beating USF 16-0. Watch out for UC to beat Syracuse, a possible upset at #4 West Virginia and another upset versus #19 Rutgers before closing out a bowl bid with a win at Connecticut.

So after reading my long editoral, do you have any editorals or comments?

[Snake]

UC - Syracuse will probably be a good game. Seems like a toss up to me, 'Cuse can play when they want to. They don't stand a chance against WVU though, i see UC getting blown out there. I also see them playing Rutgers tough, but losing in the end. They won't be able to contain Rutgers ground assault. They should be able to handle UConn for their last game of the year. So, I see either 2-2, or possibly 1-3 down the stretch for them. They did play a solid schedule this season, it will help them out for down the road.

[brady_branch]

Another team falls into this category: The Maryland Terrapins. They've only lost twice, to WVU and Georgia Tech. And against Tech they led for most of the game, and then Lance Ball fumbled and Tech eventually came back and won by four points... but without a dumb, dumb intentional grounding call against Sam Hollenbach, they have the ball, 4th-and-goal on GT's 4, down by four, and they have a very, very decent shot at winning. Against WVU, after being down 28-0 in the first quarter, got it together and led WVU 24-17 the rest of the way. They beat everyone else on their schedule, including NC State, who beat #22 BC (:mad:), who beat #12 (should move up) Clemson (:D), who beat #13 GT, who beat UMD. It's a big circle, and UMD should not be unranked and not receiving any votes.

Third member of the 400-post club!

[brady_branch]

UMD beat Florida State last night, and is now bowl-eligible and tied for the ACC lead! It's highly likely that one of my two favorite teams (UMD and BC) will get a shot to play Georgia Tech for the ACC championship! And with Clemson losing, that makes it all the more likely.

[soberdennis]

How quickly people forget.
The WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY Department-People in Tallahassee are calling for Bowden's head.

[brady_branch]

The same thing in Miami.

[Snake]

Heh, Miami is a totally different animal Brady_Branch. A lot of people are calling for Coker's head due more to Miami's thuggish on field antics, and his total lack of control of the team; rather then just on his record alone.

You would think that with 360+ wins, a Coach would have some latitude. Not that it matters what the Booster President or any one else says, Bowden will not leave FSU until he is ready. Same as JoePa in Happy Valley. These 2 have earned that right over their illustrious careers. I have no doubts that once again soon, the FSU program will be back near the top and fans once again will love Bowden, look at PSU.

On a side note, I sure would hate to be the coach that replaces one of these 2 legends. That could be a suicide mission.

[brady_branch]

Not really. Coker won a national championship in his tenure at UM, and is third in coaching record since 2001 to only Mack Brown and Pete Carroll. And people were calling for his resignation long before the brawl, that just cemented it.

Hey, what do you guys think about UMD? Still deserve to be unranked?

[redlegsfan21]

Not really. Coker won a national championship in his tenure at UM, and is third in coaching record since 2001 to only Mack Brown and Pete Carroll. And people were calling for his resignation long before the brawl, that just cemented it.

Hey, what do you guys think about UMD? Still deserve to be unranked?
Yes, the only notable team they have beaten is a Florida St. team that has pretty much lost all hope of a good year (almost).
School (Conf, Overall Record)
William & Mary (I-AA) Won
Middle Tennessee St. (4-0, 5-3) Won
West Virginia (2-0, 7-0) Lost
Florida Intl (0-3, 0-8) Won
Georgia Tech (4-1, 6-2) Lost
Virginia (3-2, 4-5) Won
North Carolina St. (2-3, 3-5) Won
Florida St. (2-4, 4-4) Won

So their only win over a team with a winning record is Middle Tennessee St. Not gonna cut it with me.

[Snake]

Not really. Coker won a national championship in his tenure at UM, and is third in coaching record since 2001 to only Mack Brown and Pete Carroll. And people were calling for his resignation long before the brawl, that just cemented it.

Hey, what do you guys think about UMD? Still deserve to be unranked?


Coker's championship was won with Butch Davis's kids. He hasn't fared as well with his own recruiting classes.

[brady_branch]

Yes, the only notable team they have beaten is a Florida St. team that has pretty much lost all hope of a good year (almost).
School (Conf, Overall Record)
William & Mary (I-AA) Won
Middle Tennessee St. (4-0, 5-3) Won
West Virginia (2-0, 7-0) Lost
Florida Intl (0-3, 0-8) Won
Georgia Tech (4-1, 6-2) Lost
Virginia (3-2, 4-5) Won
North Carolina St. (2-3, 3-5) Won
Florida St. (2-4, 4-4) Won

So their only win over a team with a winning record is Middle Tennessee St. Not gonna cut it with me.

Ah, but see, their only real big loss was to 3rd-ranked WVU (and they outscored them for the last three-and-a-half quarters). They could very easily have beaten Georgia Tech, even though they didn't, due to a very, very dumb intentional grounding call and not having the right RB on the field half the time.

What would you say if they beat Clemson next week? Since BC and Wake Forest are playing each other, they would then be tied for first with just one team.

[redlegsfan21]

Ah, but see, their only real big loss was to 3rd-ranked WVU (and they outscored them for the last three-and-a-half quarters). They could very easily have beaten Georgia Tech, even though they didn't, due to a very, very dumb intentional grounding call and not having the right RB on the field half the time.

What would you say if they beat Clemson next week? Since BC and Wake Forest are playing each other, they would then be tied for first with just one team.
If they beat Clemson, they would be in consideration, probably around 26th-30th unless a couple of teams fall. But I could easily put them in if VT, TAMU, WF, and another 18-25 team.

[brady_branch]

Well, Wake Forest or BC will fall, because they're playing each other. VT is not all that good, so I can see them losing. Clemson beat GT, so beating them would give UMD some credibility.

[redlegsfan21]

Well, Wake Forest or BC will fall, because they're playing each other. VT is not all that good, so I can see them losing. Clemson beat GT, so beating them would give UMD some credibility.
If they win, I'll put them in the Top 25. OK.

Do you want to make a bet (a rarity for me)?
If Maryland is ranked after this weekend, I'll have a Maryland avatar for a week. If Maryland is not, you have to have a Cincinnati Bearcats avatar (use mine).

[efin98]

If they win, I'll put them in the Top 25. OK.

Do you want to make a bet (a rarity for me)?
If Maryland is ranked after this weekend, I'll have a Maryland avatar for a week. If Maryland is not, you have to have a Cincinnati Bearcats avatar (use mine).

It's a miracle that they aren't ranked already.

[brady_branch]

If they win, I'll put them in the Top 25. OK.

Do you want to make a bet (a rarity for me)?
If Maryland is ranked after this weekend, I'll have a Maryland avatar for a week. If Maryland is not, you have to have a Cincinnati Bearcats avatar (use mine).

Sure. I'll take the underdog. :D

[soberdennis]

UMD beat Florida State last night, and is now bowl-eligible and tied for the ACC lead! It's highly likely that one of my two favorite teams (UMD and BC) will get a shot to play Georgia Tech for the ACC championship! And with Clemson losing, that makes it all the more likely.
FSU is having an off year. But still beating the Noles is always special. Maryland has a good team this year.

[brady_branch]

UMD JUST BEAT CLEMSON!!!!!

DAN ENNIS IS THE MAN!!!!!

Late FG lifts Terps, sends Clemson to heartbreaking loss

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Dan Ennis kicked a 31-yard field goal as time ran out, lifting Maryland to its fourth straight victory, a 13-12 win over No. 19 Clemson on Saturday that kept the Terps alive in the Atlantic Coast Conference title race.

The Terps (7-2, 4-1 ACC) used the same blueprint as Virginia Tech to keep Clemson's powerful running game in check. But it looked like it wouldn't matter after Jad Dean kicked his fourth field goal with 2:25 left to put the Tigers (7-3, 4-3) ahead 12-10.

But Sam Hollenbach drove Maryland 54 yards to Clemson's 12 - converting a fourth-and-inches with his sneak - to set up Ennis' game winner.

The Terps jumped and hugged Ennis in celebration. They had a lot to be happy about - the victory keeps them in the mix to represent the league's Atlantic Division in next month's championship game.

Maryland came into the weekend tied in the division with No. 16 Boston College and No. 22 Wake Forest. It will remain up top with whoever wins the BC-Demon Deacon showdown Saturday night.

Maryland's chances seemed slim after the Tigers got a key call overturned by the replay booth to help them take the lead.

Clemson trailed 10-9 midway through the final period when quarterback Will Proctor had the ball ripped from his hands at the end of a run near Clemson's 10. Tailback C.J. Spiller chased the ball back to the goal line and slid into the end zone as he collected it. When Maryland linebacker David Holloway fell on Spiller, officials gave Maryland a safety.

But after a lengthy review, Spiller was ruled down on Clemson's 1.

Two plays later, Proctor completed a 71-yard pass down the middle to tight end Thomas Hunter to Maryland's 28.

Clemson appeared to put the game away when James Davis rushed for a touchdown. That play, however, was nullified by an illegal procedure call and the Tigers settled for Dean's final kick.

For the second straight week, Clemson's powerful tailback tandem of Davis and Spiller was held in check. The two combined for 332 yards on the ground two weeks ago to beat Georgia Tech, a victory that lifted the Tigers into the top 10. In this one, Davis had 90 yards - he had a 42-yard run early in the game - and Spiller 41.

The Tigers had the country's top scoring offense two weeks ago. But they have managed only 19 points in losses to Virginia Tech and Maryland.

Hollenbach led the Terps, completing 23 of 34 passes for 247 yards.

He hit on 11 straight throws during one stretch, including Maryland's only touchdown play - a 7-yard scoring pass to Danny Oquendo.

Davis has rushed for 1,081 yards this season. He became the first Tiger running back with 1,000 yards since Travis Zachery did it in 2000.

The Terrapins dared Clemson's Proctor to beat them through the air as Virginia Tech did a game earlier. Again Proctor couldn't come through.

Despite opening the game with a 60-yard to pass to Chansi Stuckey, his longest completion the rest of the half was a 12-yard to Tyler Grisham.

[Snake]

A very nice win for UMD indeed. I believe they have made my top 25 with that performance.

[brady_branch]

Well, they made the BCS Top 25, coming in at 23. Go Terps!