One day until graduation

First, if you’ve missed any of the countdown, here’s a look at each day in the countdown:

No. 10- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-days-until-graduation.html

No. 9- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/nine-days-until-graduation.html

No. 8- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eight-days-until-graduation.html

No. 7- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-week-until-graduation.html

No. 6- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/six-days-until-graduation.html

No. 5- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/five-days-until-graduation.html

No. 4- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/four-days-until-graduation.html

No. 3- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/three-days-until-graduation.html

No. 2- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-days-until-graduation.html

Moment 1: “The Game” (Dec. 5, 2009)

It was cold and somewhat snowy when I opened the shades in the Pittsburgh hotel room I was sharing with fellow video team member J.P. Hummer. My dad had just texted me to say that he and my mom were up and headed to breakfast on a chilly morning.

I’d hoped for the best, but I knew it was going to be a tough battle. We were on the brink of a perfect season and a shot at the BCS National Title game. These were unforeseen and nearly unbelievable times in the Cincinnati football program. And I was in the center of it all.

We packed the meeting rooms up, and headed down to the buses to put away our things. In just hours, the ball would be kicked, and the 60-minute journey to perfection would be right in front of our very eyes.

Setting everything up at Heinz Field was just like normal: I headed to my endzone area, two guys headed to the TV truck, and John Sells, video coordinator, headed to his spot in the sideline video booth. Minutes later we all hooked up in the Heinz Field pressbox for breakfast.

WPTS Sport Director Jake Meyer, a good friend of mine, met me there. The previous night Jake and I hung out and watched the MAC title game, featuring a highly-touted Central Michigan squad, led by quarterback Dan LeFevour and head coach Butch Jones. The Chips defeated Ohio University, and little did any of us know the significance of that game at the time.

Jake and I made our way to the radio booth where I met his co-anchor for the day, Dan, who I’d talked to on the radio earlier that week when I was a live guest on Jake’s weekly sportscast on WPTS radio in Pittsburgh.

For three years I called into the radio show, live from practice. Dan and Jake asked me what it would take for UC to defeat the Panthers. When I got into the radio booth that morning to chat with the guys, Dan said, “The first one to 45 wins this game.”

Funny how things work out some times.

I headed down to the field to join my actual co-workers with about 45 minutes until kickoff. ‘If this is the biggest game I’m ever a part of,’ I thought, ‘I might as well go down on the field and soak in some of the atmospohere.’

I talked to some local news folks on the field, including WCPO sports anchor Dennis Janson, who was about to go live for a one-hour special preceding the game on ABC. DJ was one of the nicest guys I had the opportunity to work with at Channel 9, so I stopped by and said hello.

Oh, and then there was a game to be played. I found my way back up to my film booth, which was somewhat heated, but since we had the front windows open it wasn’t the warmest place in the world. However, I felt bad for the folks sitting out in front of us.

And I felt bad for my mom and dad, who, for some reason, got stuck in the very top row of Heinz Field. I thought my dad was kidding when he sent me a text that said, “Look out to your left. We’re in the top row of seats.”

Holy cow, they were. (“It was colder than hell,” my mom will still tell you)

When the game kicked off it was business as usual. Start recording, watch the play, stop recording. Repeat. It’s what I had done all season, nothing new.

Except the fact that what we hadn’t done all season was get beat, like a drum. We were tied after one quarter at 7-7, but in the second the Pitt Panthers decided that the Bearcats of Cincinnati didn’t deserve the perfect season we had our sights on. The rattled off three touchdowns and a field goal, and led 31-10 with 1:26 showing on the clock in the second quarter.

Brian Kelly, who had his sights on a job in South Bend, was suddenly looking like a normal human being, not the super coach that every national media outlet had made him out to be.

After the touchdown that put Pitt up 31-10 I received a text from John Sells, my boss. While I forget exactly what it said, the message basically said, “This one is over. We’re going to Charlotte, bye bye BK.”

I wanted to respond, but I just couldn’t think of anything to say.

And I didn’t have to say much, because seconds later the play on the field said it all.

Mardy Gilyard stood on the UC goal line with a perfect season in his hands. He received the kickoff, and the rest, as they say, is history. The play that saved the perfect season took all of 16 seconds. Gilyard covered 99 yards and sprinted into the endzone away from me for a Bearcat touchdown.

“Why are you so negative?” I immediately responded to Sells.

From there, the momentum shifted. But it wasn’t the final time momentum would shift in the game.

With 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter an almost perfect Jake Rogers missed a PAT attempt to bring UC within seven. The Cats trailed Pitt 38-30. (Highlights from ESPN.com can be seen here: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=293390221)

With less than six minutes left the Bearcats had the ball on the one yard line. Zach Collaros, who had played masterfully in replacement of Pike when Pike re-injured his left arm earlier in the year, came in to run the UC offense on the goal line. He handed the ball on a read option to Isaiah Pead for six. We trailed by two.

And who stepped up on the two-point conversion? None other than Mardy Gilyard.

Pike flipped the ball to Gilyard for two points, and the score was tied with 5:46 left in the game.

Pitt’s Dion Lewis punched the ball in from five yards with 1:33 left on the clock, leading my counterpart at Pitt to look at me and say, “Damn, bro, this is crazy! I think we left you with too much time though.” There was too much time for Pike and Gilyard to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Enter Andrew Janocko, Pitt’s third string back-up quarterback, and PAT holder. Janocko bobbled the snap and Dan Hutchins couldn’t put the PAT through the uprights. Pitt still led 44-38, but they needed to keep UC out of the endzone if they wanted to keep their hopes of securing the Big East title alive.

But with 33 seconds left on the clock Pike stood behind center Chris Jurek with four wide outs to his left and Armon Binns to his right. Binns, a junior from Pasadena, Calif., was only looking at one cover corner on his side of the field.

I don’t normally do this, but I glanced away from my camera for a split second and looked down at the field. ‘Oh…my…God. He’s singled covered!’ I thought. ‘Throw it to Binns Tony, throw it to Binns. This is a touchdown.’

Pike got the snap and lofted the ball for the right corner of the endzone. It fell into the arms of Binns in stride. The crowd in front of me—mainly Cincinnati fans—was pumped.

Pike celebrates (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

Jake Rogers came on and nailed the PAT, leaving my counterpart from Pitt to once again utter, “Damn bro. This has been one of the craziest games I’ve ever seen.”

I couldn’t agree more.

When Pitt got the ball back with 33 seconds remaining in the game, they had to throw the ball. Bill Stull was pinned on his own 18-yard line, and Bob Diaco, whose defense had been torched all day on the ground, sent out the best pass coverage guys he could get on the field.

Stull’s first pass dropped incomplete. His second fell to the turf, also incomplete. On third down he turned to Jonathan Baldwin, who had been a stud for the Panthers all season; that pass also went incomplete. With just ten seconds remaining, Stull dropped back with the game on the line.

The Cincinnati Bearcats celebrate after defeating Pitt in 2009 (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

He was sacked by Alex Daniels to end the game. Someone in front of me popped a cork on a champagne bottle. The party was on.

I leaned out of the video booth and waved at my mom and dad. I got the thumbs up from my dad. We had done it, so long as Tony Pike didn’t give the next snap to Pitt and let them run it into the endzone.

Brian Kelly sent the offense out onto the field and Pike took a knee. The clock said 0:00, UC-45 Pitt-44. For the second straight year I was headed to a BCS bowl game as the Big East champion.

Kelly and Jeff Quinn share a hug after beating Pittsburgh. (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

“Good luck wherever you end up,” said my counterpart from Pitt. “And represent [the Big East] well.”

“Same to you guys,” I said as we left the video booth.

I walked down a few steps and my mom and dad were waiting. I think my mom hit me numerous times saying, “I drove all this way and you guys almost lost!”

Almost.

I said goodbye to them and headed down the elevator toward the locker room to set my stuff in the equipment truck. The first person who greeted me was co-worker Joe Stanek.

The Big East champs hold their title in the locker room (from the Twitter account of Tom Gelehrter aka Tommy G)

He picked me up and gave me a huge hug. “Can you believe we did it!” he said, as excited as I was that we were a part of something so very special.

I’m not sure what my response was, but I know it’s almost unbelievable still. We were a part of one of the best college football teams in America that season.

And that, is the best moment I’ve ever been a part of in the past four years at UC.

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Disagreements? Comments? Concerns? Questions? Leave a comment below, and as always thanks for reading.

Check back tomorrow on graduation day for a special post. This has been a fun countdown to produce and organize. You’ve seen the good and the bad, the happy and the sad moments that I’ve lived through the past four years. These posts are only a small look into what I’ve experienced in the past four years, but it’s been a blast. I can’t wait to put some more memories in as I go through grad school. One more game like this one wouldn’t be too bad.

Have a good Friday.

12 Days until graduation

On February 17, 2008, Ryan Newman and his father teamed up for the biggest win of Newman’s career. Newman, driving the No. 12 for Roger Penske, won the 50th Daytona 500, with his dad as his spotter.

Newman no longer drives the No. 12, and in fact, no one is driving the No. 12 this season at NASCAR’s highest level, but that moment in 2008, during the winter of my freshman year of college, was one of the coolest Daytona 500 moments I’ve seen in a long time.

I had the pleasure of watching the Daytona 500 with my dad, and of course, as only I could, thought, ‘Gee wouldn’t it be cool if my dad and I could do that one day?’
That of course will never happen, unless I suddenly find myself a top-notch ride in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but it was certainly an awesome moment in NASCAR’s history that evening.

It just wouldn’t be the graduation countdown without mentioning the No. 12’s role on the gridiron for the UC Bearcats the past few seasons. In a 2008 game against Akron in the final season of the, uh, well, infamous Rubber Bowl, Tony Pike went down with a broken arm. Who stepped in to lead the eventual Big East champs to a win?

Steubenville, Ohio’s own Zach Collaros.

Collaros's run against USF was a key moment in the '09 season (Getty Images for Yahoo! Sports)

Collaros also subbed for Pike in the 2009 game in Tampa, Fla., against the South Florida Bulls. On the third play he was in the game the then-redshirt junior took a quarterback draw 75 yards to paydirt, helping turn the tide in what was the second straight Big East title winning season for the Bearcats.

Collaros put up wild numbers against UConn (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

Collaros started the next four games (Louisville, Syracuse, UConn and West Virginia) in place of Pike, whose arm was again too battered to play with, and won all four. He put up staggering numbers against UConn, torching the Huskies for a video game like 555 yards, including 447 passing yards (second best in schools history).

Is your head spinning yet? I’ll slow down and let you catch up.

So, with 12 days until UC congratulates the class of 2011 on receiving their diplomas, I tip my cap to Ryan Newman’s emotional Daytona 500 win on Feb. 17, 2008 and Zach Collaros’s efforts as UC quarterback in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Oh, and Collaros is back in 2011. You’ll probably hear about him a few more times.

Notre Dame employs video game system to help quarterbacks

Chances are if you’re a fan of college football and you’re around my age you’ve spent more than a few hours playing EA Sports’ NCAA Football on your PlayStation or XBox. I’m certainly guilty of that “crime,” if you will.

Turns out, not only are nerds like me using the video game to have fun and live out the dreams of chasing a Heisman trophy and National Title, but so are the actual athletes themselves.

*If you’ve read this story before, well, it’s because I’ve written it before. If you go to http://web.coachbutchjones.com/Dev/ and click on the “Inside Football” tab and the EA Sports menu, you’ll be able to see how UC’s quarterbacks have been using the system since Brian Kelly was the head man at UC.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN sat down and watched Kelly and his quarterbacks during a spring practice. Not only does Notre Dame employ the EA Sports Play Action Simulator, developed by EA and XOS Digital, the company that supplies film editing equipment to teams like Notre Dame and Cincinnati, but they also use new “helmet cams” mounted on the quarterback’s helmet so Kelly can break down exactly what each of his signal callers sees on each play.

Yeah, it’s like Madden 64, only, probably a whole heck of a lot better.

I am very familiar with the EA Sports Play Action Simulator, something that we used during the 2009 season where UC ran the table and went 12-0, clinching a second consecutive Big East title and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.

“It’s a good tool to have the night before a game,” Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees told Schlabach. “It’s a good thing to use as a refresher.”

Opponents’ defensive schemes can be programmed into the simulator and, in this case, the Notre Dame offense is installed in the game as well. Before each play, quarterbacks are quizzed on what their pre-snap reads are.

For example, Schlabach noted this instance, which took place in the Notre Dame hotel the night before their Sun Bowl victory over Miami (FL).

“Before taking a snap on a play called “North Squeeze 63 Dolphin,” Rees was asked to identify Miami's pass coverage. His options were: Cover 4, Tampa 2 or 2 Man. After correctly identifying the coverage, Rees had to throw to the correct receiver,” Schlabach noted.

One of the most fun parts about the simulator was the fact that it was in our hands to set up. The UC video staff became very proficient at setting up the games and making sure they worked before guys like Tony Pike, Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson came into the quarterback meeting room to try it out.

It was fun. Just ask the guys I work with.

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Spring football is winding down in Cincinnati, and the Fifth annual Bearcat Bowl will take place on Saturday. It should be a fun night, so come on out to Nippert Stadium and watch the 2011 Bearcats in action.

Big East football schedules: Opening Week

In 2009 the Big East football schedule opened with what many considered to be a bang of a game between Rutgers and Cincinnati in Piscataway. That was until Brian Kelly unleashed offensive weapons Tony Pike, Mardy Gilyard, Isaiah Pead and even sprinkled in some wildcat with Travis Kelce to turn what was supposed to be a bang into a dud of a game by halftime.

Isaiah Pead's sick juke-stop against Rutgers all but put the game away before halftime in last season's Big East opener on Labor Day (Getty Images)

The Bearcats pulled out to a 30-7 lead by the halftime gun and eventually put up two more touchdowns and a field goal in a 47-15 rout of the Scarlet Knights.

The Cincinnati Bearcats took the lead in the Big East and never looked back from there en route to its second straight title and a berth in the Sugar Bowl. And while Brian Kelly has since moved on, his predecessor, Butch Jones (who also followed up Kelly at Central Michigan in 2007) will look to get the Bearcats off to another hot start this year, but on the left coast this time.

Joining me, your effervescent blog host, in looking at the 2010 Big East schedules in week by week increments is the Sports Director for WPTS Radio in Pittsburgh, and a great friend of mine, Jake Meyer. He joined in the 2009 Big East schedule previews last March, and I’m happy to have him back.

Jake: Thanks Adam, glad to be back talking about college football, and in particular our home conference, the Big East. Last year was an exciting season that, as predicted here, came down to the final week of the season as our two schools matched up in what was without a doubt the game of the season in the Big East.

AN: And the best part about doing this schedule analysis now, rather than in March, as we did in 2009, is that we’ve had some time to see spring practices and hear about many teams on each schedule. Last year we were pretty accurate in saying that Pitt and Cincinnati would duke it out for the Big East title. How accurate will we be this year?

This was the scene in the UC locker room after the Pitt game (Courtesy of Tom Gelehrter, TwitPic.com)

Well, here’s the week one schedule for each Big East team. We’ll take a special look at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati along with one particular game that piques our interest each week.

Week 1 Big East Schedule
Thurs., Sept 2- Rutgers vs Norfolk State
Sept 2-Pittsburgh at Utah
Sat., Sept 4-USF vs Stony Brook
Sept 4-Louisville vs Kentucky
Sept 4-Connecticut at Michigan
Sept 4-West Virginia vs Coastal Carolina
Sept 4-Syracuse at Akron
Sept. 4-Cincinnati at Fresno State

AN: Jake, let’s start with the game second from the top. It’s your Pitt Panthers traveling out west to the newest Pac 10 (Or is it called the Pac 12 now?) member Utah—who is still playing in the Mountain West for one last year.

JM: This is a very difficult opening-game test for the Panthers, as Utah is coming off another very successful season, going 10-3 last season. Meanwhile, Pitt has some serious holes to fill on both sides of the ball, beginning at quarterback where redshirt-sophmore Tino Sunseri is expected to take the reins. Sunseri saw limited playing time last year, but will be starting his first game at Utah.

Playing in front of Sunseri is an offensive line that will have to replace the center and both guards. Coming out of Spring camp, Dave Wannstedt was very non-committal about who the starters would be. Right now the favorites to win those jobs would be Chris Jacobson at left guard, Greg Gaskins at right guard and former walk-on Alex Karabin, with Jacobson being the only one with any starting experience (2010 Meineke Car Bowl vs. North Carolina).

On the defensive side of the ball, Pitt loses both cornerbacks and middle linebacker Adam Gunn from last season, but the replacements appear to be ready to step in following Spring practice.

It’s rare to see a BCS conference team open the season on the road, especially when that opponent, at least for one more season, is a non-BCS team. Pitt will have to plug those holes and be fully prepared to play this game or they will be starting the season 0-1.

Now let’s take a look at the Cincinnati Bearcats, who will head to Fresno to play Pat Hill’s Fresno State Bulldogs.

AN: Last season Fresno State came into Nippert Stadium, and although Brian Kelly wasn’t too fond of playing out in Fresno, he said he would gladly do so because the game was scheduled before he became head coach of the Bearcats. Therefore it was scheduled before Butch Jones settled into his office (then moved down the hall into a larger one) in Corryville.

This year the Bulldogs won’t have Ryan Mathews to lead their rushing attack. In ’09 Mathews made Bob Diaco’s 3-4 defense look silly, rushing for 145 yards on 38 touches. The Bulldogs totaled 290 yards but fell just short, losing 28-20. Instead, Robbie Rouse and Michael Harris will take the ball.

Every fan and family member I see asks me, “So, how’s the team? Is the offense going to be ok?” Of course the offense will be the focal point this year, but Tim Banks’s defense will be tested in week one out in Fresno. If the Bearcat defense, making the switch back to a 4-3 base defense, can hold their own against the Fresno State run, the ‘Cats should, should be all right.

But, I wouldn’t be honest if I told you I wasn’t a little skittish heading into this game. To open on the road is a challenge, especially with a brand new coaching staff and new offensive and defensive schemes. However, if anyone has shown they can take what Brian Kelly has built and continue his success, it’s Butch Jones.

Butch Jones has been a one man ball of energy since showing up in Corryville preaching his family attitude. So far, players have bought in. Can Jones win a game on the field?

I have a feeling this game will be tight, but it’ll be the talent of the Big East, along with the playmakers on the UC offense (and UC could arguably have one of the best offenses in all the land this year) that will pull the ‘Cats ahead in the end.

So there’s a look at the two-time defending Big East champions and the guys who are probably going to be favored to knock UC off the throne. Jake, which week one game interests you the most beyond the two matchups we’ve just profiled?

JM: Well, I’ll be very interested to see what happens when UConn heads to the Big House in Ann Arbor to take on Michigan. Michigan’s struggles under former West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez have been well documented and this is a pivotal year for him and his team. UConn has experience knocking off struggling all-time top-10 teams on the road, having last year beaten Notre Dame in South Bend. A win could set up a very nice season for UConn, and could hasten Rodriguez’s exit. I would have to favor Michigan in this game, but I’m not really sure how that team is going to play this year and UConn is more than capable of pulling off the upset. Adam, what game are you looking forward to in week one?

AN: Obviously the eyes of all media types will be on Butch Jones, who follows Brian Kelly, again, but what about Charlie Strong, who had the opportunity to whoop up on the Bearcats as Florida’s defensive coordinator in the Sugar Bowl? And I feel Strong’s debut will be anticipated a whole heck of a lot more than South Florida’s new head man Skip Holtz, especially since Strong has brought in a decent recruiting class and is playing a decent opponent in Kentucky. Strong and the Cardinals may not necessarily win, but a solid showing against the Wildcats will certainly put Strong and the Cards on the right path to rebuilding, and Louisville hopes Strong can take them there.

Kelly takes the reins of the Fighting Irish on Saturday against Purdue (Cincinnati Enquirer)

JM: It’s interesting that out of the three new coaches in the Big East this year, the one who has had the most positive impact so far is Charlie Strong. He’s brought in a solid recruiting class and may finally get Louisville back to respectability. I don’t know if that is a testament to Strong and his ability, the strength of the Louisville program name to recruits or simply a major indictment against the job Steve Kragthorpe did there. The other new coaches in the Big East, Jones and Holtz, have yet to distinguish themselves from their successful predecessors.

AN: That’s all for week one of the Big East schedules. Only hours until the pigskin starts in the college ranks, and I, along with Jake, can’t wait to bring you more about the Big East as the weeks go on.

Thanks for reading folks.

Jones names Collaros starting QB

Last night Butch Jones named Zach Collaros the starting quarterback for the 2010 season, a move that surprised no one, especially those that watched the UC Bearcats play on Saturday evening in Bearcat Bowl IV—the team’s spring game.

Butch Jones named Zach Collaros as the Bearcats starting quarterback Monday (Cincinnati Enquirer file)

I got a chance to write a short story last night for FOX19’s sports website. Hopefully this isn’t the last time I get to produce some web content for Channel 19, where I began as a sports intern a little over one month ago. Here’s the story (you can view it and a short sound bite from Jones at: http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=12379563)
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Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones named Zach Collaros as his starting quarterback on Monday. Collaros, who led the Bearcats to a 4-0 record while subbing for the injured Tony Pike last season, had a strong spring according to Jones.

“I thought (Zach) and Chazz Anderson did a great job all spring, but about the last week and a half of spring football you could really see Zach taking off, understanding the offense,” Jones said. “We talk about functional intelligence and he could now play comfortably and it looked like he was really in control. He could complete all the passes, he understood the offense, he had great command getting the ball to his second and third reads in his progression. You could see his play elevate over the past couple of weeks.”

On Saturday, in the team's spring game, Collaros gave fans a taste of what to expect. The Steubenville native completed 18 of his 20 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Chazz Anderson completed 5 of 10 passes in rainy conditions for 61 yards and one touchdown. Fans got their first chance to see Jones's new style of coaching and offensive philosophy. Jones even ventured into the stands to let fans call plays, but reminded fans that the Bearcats will try to remain an offensive juggernaut.

“There's some differences and a few nuances but a lot of it is the same as well,” Jones said of his offensive style. “An uptempo offense, no-huddle, and we may be a little more balanced but the best coaches play to the strengths of their football team and we have to do a great job of getting the ball in the hands of our playmakers.”

Wide receivers D.J. Woods and Vidal Hazelton both had over eighty yards receiving on the evening, and Woods hauled in a touchdown pass at the end of the first half of play from Collaros. “I feel very comfortable and confident that we have some very good playmakers out on the perimeter and in the backfield as well,” Jones added.

The UC Bearcats will begin the season on Saturday, September 4 in Fresno, Calif., with a rematch against the Fresno State Bulldogs. Last season UC defeated Fresno State 28-20 at Nippert Stadium.
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Just a few more thoughts that I didn’t get to add to my story on FOX19.com…

I think this offense will be more balanced as Jones hinted at, but those who attended the spring game might question it. Collaros and Chazz Anderson threw for nearly 300 yards in the watered down version of the UC offense. Jones wasn’t willing to show off all his tricks in this game, but I’m definitely excited to see what tricks and fun schemes Butch Jones and offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian will cook up for the 2010 season.

Collaros will lead the first team offense into fall camp (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

One thing that will happen a lot in this offense is seeing the tools Jones mentioned on the perimeter with the ball. Darrin Williams got a lot of carries in the spring game, D.J. Woods saw a few screen passes come his way, and with weapons like USC transfer Vidal Hazelton and new recruit Kenbrell Thompkins on the edge, Collaros and the offense will be in good shape.

I didn’t even mention Isaiah Pead and Armon Binns, both of whom contributed mightily to the offense last year and will contribute again this year as well. Binns and Pead sat out the spring game because of injuries, although Jones told the TV crew of Tom Gelehrter (aka Tommy G) and Jim Kelly Jr. that if the spring game was a league game in season, Binns would have played.

Binns (top) and Pead (below) didn't play on Saturday night, but will contribute to the UC offense during the season (Cincinnati Enquirer file photos)

Stay tuned throughout the offseason for Bearcats news and notes, I’m sure I’ll provide all that I can, especially in the weeks leading up to the season opener in September. Also, anything that I write for FOX19.com I’ll try to link up on here and through my Twitter page (@adamniemeyer). Have a great day, thanks for reading!

Some weekend news, notes and event thoughts

This past weekend is generally a fun and memorable weekend, and while 2010 didn’t disappoint, it left me tired, worn out, and not able to check in here on the blog for a few days. Here’s what went down…

NFL Draft: Boring?
On Thursday evening the NFL Draft got kicked off in prime time, and while at first I was pretty excited about the new format, I quickly became turned off by the idea. What used to be a long and drawn out two-day event became a long and really drawn out three-day event. So, needless to say, I’m not a fan of the new NFL Draft format.

UC players drafted
But that’s not to say I didn’t try to pay attention. On Saturday it was a big day for three UC Bearcats, as Mardy Gilyard, Tony Pike and Ricardo Matthews all got drafted. Gilyard was the first pick of Saturday, and he’ll be playing for the St. Louis Rams. Pike fell to round six, but he’ll have an opportunity to battle the highly touted Notre Dame product Jimmy Clausen in Carolina. Matthews got picked by the Indianapolis Colts in the final round. Good luck to all the former UC players; it was fun watching them on the field, now let’s see what they can get done in the pros.

Mardy Gilyard will be playing in St. Louis next NFL season (Cincinnati Enquirer file photo)

UC football alums golf outing another great success
Former UC football players and other notable alums hit the golf course for the 16th annual Jim Kelly Sr. Letterman’s weekend golf outing on Friday. They dodged some rain drops and overall had a blast. If you saw my video on FOX19’s “The Final Quarter” on Friday evening, you’d have caught a short glimpse of the outing, which was fun to be a part of yet again.

And just a note, UC head coach Butch Jones might need to work a little bit on his golf swing. But he’s not getting paid to golf, he’s getting paid to coach football, so I guess we can all be happy that the UC football team is getting a coach dedicated to them, not golf.

UC football team shows off new style of play in spring game
Jones and the UC team showcased their skills and talents on Saturday evening in a rainy Bearcat Bowl IV at Nippert Stadium. Zach Collaros threw 20 passes, completing 18 of them for two touchdowns and over 200 yards through the air (more on Collaros later today). D.J. Woods even got in on the passing game, taking a reverse pitch and heaving the ball down field to former USC wideout Vidal Hazelton on a play called from the stands.

Woods showed that he can catch...and throw on Saturday evening (Cincinnati Enquirer file photo)

I liked getting the fans involved in the spring game, and hopefully the idea of letting fans call plays was just a spring game thing. Ok, well, we might be able to let them call a few when we play Indiana State on September 11th but beyond there, I say coach Jones keeps the playcalling to those on the sidelines.

Basketball season finishes
Yet another year of girls basketball is down and out for me, and my first year of being the head coach didn’t exactly work out the way I planned, but we did win one game. The girls on my team definitely showed some improvement over the season and we played two of our best games at the end of the year.

The only beef I have with our league is the competition level. I understand that at a place like St. William I’ll have a limited number of players and practices to get ready, but we lost at least three games this year by 25 points. The teams that beat us in those games could have been playing in the league above ours and still been competitive. But, I guess life ain’t always fair, so we’ll live and learn from those beatdowns, and come back ready to go next season.

In a letter to the parents of my team I noted that next year is still up in the air for me, but told them if I have the time, I’ll be back like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Other news and notes
-I had some fun filming the Youth Football Mini Camp before the spring game on Saturday. Most of the camp I had a camera hooked up to the video board in Nippert Stadium, and followed around UC’s director of football operations John Widecan with a microphone as we “interviewed” kids for all the parents in attendance to see. It was definitely a fun time.

-The March of Dimes went off without a hitch again as quite a few folks made the trek through Paul Brown Stadium where I was working on Sunday morning. The volunteers who run the event are some of the happiest and most energetic people I meet on a year to year basis, and the lady who is in charge of the volunteers made sure she thanked us for working and told us she looks forward to seeing us every year.

It’s moments like that when I feel I’m just another piece in the puzzle, doing my job, making everyone feel awesome. That gives me a smile

-I didn’t catch much of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wreck fest that is Talladega, but I did catch the final two restarts. Happy to say that Mark Martin came through everything unscathed and finished fifth in the No. 5 car. He got a tremendous push from the No. 6 car—that’s right the same car he drove for years and years in the Cup Series—to finish in the top five. David Ragan finished sixth in the No. 6 UPS Ford and Kevin Harvick nipped Jamie McMurray at the line to win in exciting fashion.

An exciting race with an exciting finish unfolded on Sunday afternoon in Talladega. Packs like this group--taken during Friday's practice--made yet another Talladega race memorable (Getty Images)

I’m just thankful FOX didn’t replay the video of Harvick’s last win before Sunday. Mentioning the 2007 Daytona 500 on air was enough to tick me off (http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/1-day-til-daytona-nuts-and-bolts.html)

I’ll be back later today with some UC football news and notes beyond what you see here. Have a good rest of the day, and check back tonight for more.

And we're off in 2010

Bama captures 2010 National Title
To think if Colt McCoy had held on to the ball for another second in the Big 12 title game, he wouldn’t have been hurt in last night’s loss to Alabama. But if that would have happened and the University of Cincinnati was in Pasadena, I can guarantee you that whoever was coaching the Bearcats would have had a much easier time controlling the offense with Zach Collaros—the Bearcat backup—than Texas’s offensive minds did with freshman Garrett Gilbert.

The one thing that has separated Cincinnati from other schools the past two seasons was Brian Kelly’s unbelievable ability to replace one quarterback with his second option, or as he dubbed it, the “Next Man In”.

I’m not here to debate whether or not the Crimson Tide would have had a tougher time stopping the Longhorns if McCoy had been playing, but I am here to tell you that if we were in that situation, we would have looked a lot better offensively.

Although I could argue against myself (and why not, I’ve got no one to argue with right now but myself) saying that against the superior speed and power of an SEC defense, like Alabama, we wouldn’t have been able to move the ball anyway. Remember the Sugar Bowl from seven days ago? That game pretty much exposed the weakness of the UC offense against an upper echelon program like Alabama.

Just giving you something to think about sports fans.

One week down
The winter quarter has begun at the University of Cincinnati, and there’s no better way to ring in the winter than by having gratuitous amounts of snow falling around campus and bitter cold air whipping around every building. I’m hoping some of my school work can be posted here for all of you to see.

Until later, I’m out. Enjoy your day, with or without the snow and cold.

Hometown kid Pike will lead Bearcats into camp as starting QB

In Brian Kelly’s first two seasons at the helm in Cincinnati he had to worry about who would start at quarterback in his first game. In his third season he’s got his guy coming into preseason camp, and it’s one of college football’s best stories, Tony Pike.

Pike, a 6-foot-5 gunslinger from Reading High School, was told during last season’s fall camp by Kelly that he needed to take football more seriously, or finish school and leave in order to free up a scholarship for the Bearcat program.

He stepped in during the Oklahoma game after starter Dustin Grutza went down with an ankle injury. Two games later Pike rolled to his right against Akron and went down awkwardly on his throwing arm. He was diagnosed with a broken arm, but made it back four weeks later—much faster than first thought.

Brian Kelly uses a system he’s coined as, “Next Man In,” for all positions on the field. When Grutza went down, Pike stepped in, and when Pike was out two redshirt freshman—Chazz Anderson and Zach Collaros—stepped up to the plate. It was much publicized that UC used five quarterbacks last season, the only Division 1 school to do so.

However, is Kelly ready to put Collaros or Anderson—who will both battle for the #2 job during the next two weeks—in just in case we have a repeat of 2008 on our hands? Well, ESPN.com Big East blogger Brian Bennett answered a question a few weeks back about the back-up situation at UC.

“Hopefully, Pike will stay healthy. But it's hard for any quarterback to make it through a whole season without some sort of injury…” he wrote. “Pike isn't the biggest guy in the world either. I'd say Zach Collaros would get the first crack if something were to happen. He had a strong spring for the Bearcats.”

Anderson subbed for Pike by winning two games in a row, a Friday night game at Marshall and the homecoming game, the Big East opener against Rutgers. Collaros came in to close out the Akron game and subbed for Pike late in the USF game after Pike’s arm began to hurt. Anderson played the second half of the lone Big East loss for UC last year at UConn.

I poured over some statistics yesterday evening to see what kind of experience that both Anderson and Collaros got last year. If Pike were to go down the two guys behind him—Collaros and Anderson, the only QB’s on this year’s roster to see any career action beside Pike—have limited experience.

Let’s be honest, Anderson’s role last year was to manage the two games he started and not make any mistakes. Kelly was admittedly less aggressive with his playcalling too. But, it still worked.

Between the two of them they saw almost 190 game snaps. Anderson took nearly 170 of the close to 190 snaps. Brian Kelly is known for what he referred to as his, “Coast to Coast” offense in his first season at UC. He likes to spread it out and run a majority of his plays from the shotgun—as is the trend in most of major college football today. With Collaros and Anderson it was no different. Almost three quarters of the snaps that either took were from the shotgun.

Of those shotgun plays nearly 70% were passes. Kelly’s offense was tailored to the two youngsters, both of whom were a part of his first recruiting class. When Collaros or Anderson lined up under the center and took direct snaps nearly every time they turned and handed the ball off. There were only two snaps that were taken under center—both by Anderson, both in the Marshall game. Both of those passes from under center were touchdowns.

Maybe if UC needs to go to option number two or three and that option is Anderson, he needs to line up under center and pass the ball. After all, he is perfect in that situation, but I jokingly digress.

Pike took nearly half the snaps last season for the UC Bearcats, but if he goes down this season Kelly will need to rely on his two backups. He made his “Next Man In” theory work to near perfection last season, and I have no doubt that he could make it work this season if need be.

Of course the optimal situation is to have Pike stay healthy and use what he learned as a starter last season to make another run at yet another Big East title and BCS bowl berth. The first steps start today when the Bearcats kick off fall camp.
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Today starts one of the busiest periods of the year for myself and the rest of the video staff. I’ll attempt to check in throughout camp and give you a look back at last season. I will not, however, give you much insight into what is happening at camp with players, which is why I’d like to focus on last season.

Some of the things I’d like to talk about (a tentative list)
-Which one of the four running backs at UC will be a good fit for the UC offense?
-At Big East media days Brian Kelly mentioned he’s wanting to run more four wide receiver sets, so what does that mean for the tight ends on the roster?
-The defensive line returns many players who saw significant action in last season’s historic title run. How did they do last season, and what does it mean for this season?
-Will standout sophomore DJ Woods become a standout kick or punt returner?
-How did now sophomore Dominique Battle do last season at cornerback and will that translate to success in year two?

Hopefully there are enough statistics and stories to keep you interested in college football for the upcoming few months. It’s going to be busy, but it should be a fun time too.