Offensive line confesses to breakdown in defeat
University of Cincinnati coach Butch Jones did his best after practice Tuesday to spread the blame for the Bearcats' offensive woes Saturday at Fresno State, but center Jason Kelce didn't need to have it sugarcoated for him.
He knows the offensive line's lackluster performance was the major culprit in the loss.
"Obviously the offensive line feels like we were the key reason why we lost that game," Kelce said. "It's our job to make sure that the skill people can make plays."
Instead, junior quarterback Zach Collaros was under constant pressure throughout the game, getting sacked eight times, just seven fewer than the Bearcats allowed last season.
While it appeared the Fresno State defensive line was physically overwhelming the Bearcats, Kelce said that wasn't the case.
The problem was a lack of communication along a line with two new starters - left guard Evan Davis and right tackle CJ Cobb.
"There were a lot of mental breakdowns, which can't happen," Kelce said. "That's the number one thing in football. Everyone has to be on the same page, especially on the offensive line. If guys aren't on the same page, bad things are going to happen.
"It makes us look embarrassed. We should be embarrassed. That's way too many sacks for the offensive line to give up in one game. We got Zach rattled. Zach was getting hit so much. That's on us. We're supposed to make him feel comfortable back there so he can make plays."
With three starters back from last year, it's not that the line is starting from scratch, but the two who are missing are left tackle Jeff Linkenbach, now a member of the NFL Indianapolis Colts, and center Chris Jurek, a three-year starter.
Blending capable replacements with the three returning starters has not been easy.
Complicating the issue is a lack of depth behind the starters. Jones has lamented that lack of depth on the line all summer, which begs the question: If that's true, and the first-team players don't perform well, where does he turn?
Jones said he is opening the offensive line to competition this week, but how much competition can there be if he has already determined that he has no depth to push the starters?
"It's just about getting better every day," Jones said. "That's all you can do. We're experimenting with some different position groups, but it's all about chemistry."
Another pertinent question: Why is there no depth on the offensive line in a program that has won back-to-back Big East championships?
Brian Kelly and his staff signed 13 offensive linemen in their three recruiting classes. Three of them - Alex Hoffman, Sam Griffin and Davis - are starters.
Two others - sophomore Sean Hooey and redshirt freshman Austen Bujnoch - are on the two-deep roster.
Four of those 13 signees are no longer on the team.
Jones said he likes true freshmen Cory Keebler and Kevin Schloemer but doesn't think they're physically mature enough to play this season.
"They're not ready," Jones said. "We have what we have. It's not like the NFL where you can go on the waiver wire. We're just very limited there."
If Jones' assessment that his backups aren't capable of helping is true, then he has no choice but to find a way to get the job done with the players he has, which means the Bearcats will have to accept the growing pains of their new starters and hope the line meshes quickly - at least before the Big East season opens Oct. 15 at Louisville.
"Last year we weren't individually the best blockers but we were always on the same page," Kelce said. "We knew each other's weaknesses. We were all thinking as one.
"That's the biggest thing to being a successful offensive line is you know who you're blocking," he said.
"You know who your man is and you know the person next to you what they're doing."
University of Cincinnati gets pushed around by Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif. – Based on its performance in 2009, the University of Cincinnati offense was expected to have one of the most talented collection of offensive skill players in the Big East Conference.
But even the most gifted offensive players need time to perform their specialties and the Bearcats didn't have that Saturday night against Fresno State.
The Bulldogs scored 28 unanswered points, physically dominated UC's offensive line in the second half and posted a season-opening 28-14 victory before 37,248 fans at Bulldog Stadium, spoiling the debut of UC head coach Butch Jones.
“Obviously, it's very, very disappointing,” Jones said. “We had too many third-and-long situations and Fresno has too good of a defensive line to allow them to pin their ears back and come and get us.”
UC (0-1) ran out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, but Fresno State (1-0) dominated from the last four minutes of the half and shut out UC in the second, with the Bulldogs' defensive line sacking UC quarterback Zach Collaros eight times.
“I was real proud of the way our defense played tonight,” said Fresno State coach Pat Hill. “I was really happy for them because that is an explosive offensive football team.”
The Bulldogs' defense was so dominant that early in the fourth quarter Collaros was sacked on three straight plays, backing UC to its own 9-yard line after Fresno State had scored its fourth touchdown of the night.
“There were a couple of situations where I held onto the ball too long and put us in a bad situation, so I take the blame for that,” Collaros said. “We've got to stay out of third and longs.”
The loss ended an 18-game regular-season winning streak for UC, which went 12-0 during the regular season last year.
“It's still pretty early for me,” said UC linebacker JK Schaffer. “I haven't felt the impact (of the loss) yet, but right now I can tell you it doesn't feel very good.”
The 14 points UC managed were the fewest for the Bearcats since they beat Rutgers 13-10 on Oct. 11, 2008.
Fresno State broke a 14-14 halftime tie when it drove 80 yards in nine plays on its opening drive of the second half, scoring on quarterback Ryan Colburn's 28-yard pass to Devon Wylie.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, on 1st-and-10 from its own 41, Colburn struck again, hitting Rashad Evans for a 59-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field, with Evans getting behind Chris Williams and Drew Frey on the play.
The game began ominously for UC when Vidal Hazelton fumbled the opening kickoff, forcing UC to begin its first drive from its own 8-yard line. A delay-of-game penalty pushed the Bearcats back to the 3. Collaros moved them out to the Fresno State 43 before the drive stalled.
“I didn't think we did a good job of answering the call,” Jones said.
After that halting start, the UC offense started to click, scoring its first touchdown on a 23-yard pass from Collaros to D.J. Woods set up by Pat Lambert's pass interception at the Fresno State 35.
After the UC defense forced another three-and-out, the Bearcats drove 76 yards in 11 plays, with Collaros running five yards for the touchdown with 11:44 left in the first half to give UC a 14-0 lead.
UC still led by two touchdowns late in the half when the Fresno State defense turned the game around, beginning with a 20-yard sack of Collaros that pushed the Bearcats back to their own 10.
Following a Patrick O'Donnell punt with 4:07 left in the half, Fresno State took over at the UC 45 - the first time the Bulldogs had advanced into UC territory - and scored in four plays, the touchdown coming on a 20-yard pass from Colburn to Robbie Rouse, who appeared to beat UC's Walter Stewart on the play.
On UC's next possession, Collaros fumbled trying to escape the Fresno State pass rush. Donavaughn Pritchett recovered for Fresno State at the UC 42.
Five plays later, Colburn connected with Jamal Hamler on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left in the half, enabling the Bulldogs to pull even at halftime.
At that point, the Bearcats had already scored their last points of the night.
UC's only scoring threat in the second half was a 48-yard field goal attempt by Jake Rogers that was wide right with 1:03 left in the third quarter.
University of Cincinnati coach Butch Jones did his best after practice Tuesday to spread the blame for the Bearcats' offensive woes Saturday at Fresno State, but center Jason Kelce didn't need to have it sugarcoated for him.
He knows the offensive line's lackluster performance was the major culprit in the loss.
"Obviously the offensive line feels like we were the key reason why we lost that game," Kelce said. "It's our job to make sure that the skill people can make plays."
Instead, junior quarterback Zach Collaros was under constant pressure throughout the game, getting sacked eight times, just seven fewer than the Bearcats allowed last season.
While it appeared the Fresno State defensive line was physically overwhelming the Bearcats, Kelce said that wasn't the case.
The problem was a lack of communication along a line with two new starters - left guard Evan Davis and right tackle CJ Cobb.
"There were a lot of mental breakdowns, which can't happen," Kelce said. "That's the number one thing in football. Everyone has to be on the same page, especially on the offensive line. If guys aren't on the same page, bad things are going to happen.
"It makes us look embarrassed. We should be embarrassed. That's way too many sacks for the offensive line to give up in one game. We got Zach rattled. Zach was getting hit so much. That's on us. We're supposed to make him feel comfortable back there so he can make plays."
With three starters back from last year, it's not that the line is starting from scratch, but the two who are missing are left tackle Jeff Linkenbach, now a member of the NFL Indianapolis Colts, and center Chris Jurek, a three-year starter.
Blending capable replacements with the three returning starters has not been easy.
Complicating the issue is a lack of depth behind the starters. Jones has lamented that lack of depth on the line all summer, which begs the question: If that's true, and the first-team players don't perform well, where does he turn?
Jones said he is opening the offensive line to competition this week, but how much competition can there be if he has already determined that he has no depth to push the starters?
"It's just about getting better every day," Jones said. "That's all you can do. We're experimenting with some different position groups, but it's all about chemistry."
Another pertinent question: Why is there no depth on the offensive line in a program that has won back-to-back Big East championships?
Brian Kelly and his staff signed 13 offensive linemen in their three recruiting classes. Three of them - Alex Hoffman, Sam Griffin and Davis - are starters.
Two others - sophomore Sean Hooey and redshirt freshman Austen Bujnoch - are on the two-deep roster.
Four of those 13 signees are no longer on the team.
Jones said he likes true freshmen Cory Keebler and Kevin Schloemer but doesn't think they're physically mature enough to play this season.
"They're not ready," Jones said. "We have what we have. It's not like the NFL where you can go on the waiver wire. We're just very limited there."
If Jones' assessment that his backups aren't capable of helping is true, then he has no choice but to find a way to get the job done with the players he has, which means the Bearcats will have to accept the growing pains of their new starters and hope the line meshes quickly - at least before the Big East season opens Oct. 15 at Louisville.
"Last year we weren't individually the best blockers but we were always on the same page," Kelce said. "We knew each other's weaknesses. We were all thinking as one.
"That's the biggest thing to being a successful offensive line is you know who you're blocking," he said.
"You know who your man is and you know the person next to you what they're doing."
University of Cincinnati gets pushed around by Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif. – Based on its performance in 2009, the University of Cincinnati offense was expected to have one of the most talented collection of offensive skill players in the Big East Conference.
But even the most gifted offensive players need time to perform their specialties and the Bearcats didn't have that Saturday night against Fresno State.
The Bulldogs scored 28 unanswered points, physically dominated UC's offensive line in the second half and posted a season-opening 28-14 victory before 37,248 fans at Bulldog Stadium, spoiling the debut of UC head coach Butch Jones.
“Obviously, it's very, very disappointing,” Jones said. “We had too many third-and-long situations and Fresno has too good of a defensive line to allow them to pin their ears back and come and get us.”
UC (0-1) ran out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, but Fresno State (1-0) dominated from the last four minutes of the half and shut out UC in the second, with the Bulldogs' defensive line sacking UC quarterback Zach Collaros eight times.
“I was real proud of the way our defense played tonight,” said Fresno State coach Pat Hill. “I was really happy for them because that is an explosive offensive football team.”
The Bulldogs' defense was so dominant that early in the fourth quarter Collaros was sacked on three straight plays, backing UC to its own 9-yard line after Fresno State had scored its fourth touchdown of the night.
“There were a couple of situations where I held onto the ball too long and put us in a bad situation, so I take the blame for that,” Collaros said. “We've got to stay out of third and longs.”
The loss ended an 18-game regular-season winning streak for UC, which went 12-0 during the regular season last year.
“It's still pretty early for me,” said UC linebacker JK Schaffer. “I haven't felt the impact (of the loss) yet, but right now I can tell you it doesn't feel very good.”
The 14 points UC managed were the fewest for the Bearcats since they beat Rutgers 13-10 on Oct. 11, 2008.
Fresno State broke a 14-14 halftime tie when it drove 80 yards in nine plays on its opening drive of the second half, scoring on quarterback Ryan Colburn's 28-yard pass to Devon Wylie.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, on 1st-and-10 from its own 41, Colburn struck again, hitting Rashad Evans for a 59-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field, with Evans getting behind Chris Williams and Drew Frey on the play.
The game began ominously for UC when Vidal Hazelton fumbled the opening kickoff, forcing UC to begin its first drive from its own 8-yard line. A delay-of-game penalty pushed the Bearcats back to the 3. Collaros moved them out to the Fresno State 43 before the drive stalled.
“I didn't think we did a good job of answering the call,” Jones said.
After that halting start, the UC offense started to click, scoring its first touchdown on a 23-yard pass from Collaros to D.J. Woods set up by Pat Lambert's pass interception at the Fresno State 35.
After the UC defense forced another three-and-out, the Bearcats drove 76 yards in 11 plays, with Collaros running five yards for the touchdown with 11:44 left in the first half to give UC a 14-0 lead.
UC still led by two touchdowns late in the half when the Fresno State defense turned the game around, beginning with a 20-yard sack of Collaros that pushed the Bearcats back to their own 10.
Following a Patrick O'Donnell punt with 4:07 left in the half, Fresno State took over at the UC 45 - the first time the Bulldogs had advanced into UC territory - and scored in four plays, the touchdown coming on a 20-yard pass from Colburn to Robbie Rouse, who appeared to beat UC's Walter Stewart on the play.
On UC's next possession, Collaros fumbled trying to escape the Fresno State pass rush. Donavaughn Pritchett recovered for Fresno State at the UC 42.
Five plays later, Colburn connected with Jamal Hamler on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left in the half, enabling the Bulldogs to pull even at halftime.
At that point, the Bearcats had already scored their last points of the night.
UC's only scoring threat in the second half was a 48-yard field goal attempt by Jake Rogers that was wide right with 1:03 left in the third quarter.