Anyone else think USF-Cincy will be tough to stomach?

[Carolina_Bull]

I don't know, they lack the running game we aren't able to stop and their QB situation is nothing to be too afraid of. They'll have to beat us in the air, and I'm not sure if they'll do that. For all the knocks on our defense this year, we're playing well. So, as long as we aren't turnover prone on offense we'll win this. I imagine the efficiency of our offense will dictate this game more than defending against them, they aren't as talented on offense as Pittsburgh or Louisville, but they do have a better defense.

Exactly.  Our pass rush has improved for them last couple of weeks.  I think this is the game the turnovers start to arrive.

[IncrediBULL]

Yea its gonna be bad.

The only thing I'm looking forward to is our Oktoberfest theme watch party with plenty of german beer and jager to drown our sorrows.

whats the address?  :-)

[MechanicalBull]

I don't know, they lack the running game we aren't able to stop and their QB situation is nothing to be too afraid of. They'll have to beat us in the air, and I'm not sure if they'll do that. For all the knocks on our defense this year, we're playing well. So, as long as we aren't turnover prone on offense we'll win this. I imagine the efficiency of our offense will dictate this game more than defending against them, they aren't as talented on offense as Pittsburgh or Louisville, but they do have a better defense.

Exactly.  Our pass rush has improved for them last couple of weeks.  I think this is the game the turnovers start to arrive.

I like your optimism.  I hope you are right.

[Who'sYourData?]

Won't be tough for me.  My daughter has a soccer game tonight.  I'll be watching on DVR and can skip over any painful parts.   ;D

[BrandonUSFSig]

I don't know, they lack the running game we aren't able to stop and their QB situation is nothing to be too afraid of. They'll have to beat us in the air, and I'm not sure if they'll do that. For all the knocks on our defense this year, we're playing well. So, as long as we aren't turnover prone on offense we'll win this. I imagine the efficiency of our offense will dictate this game more than defending against them, they aren't as talented on offense as Pittsburgh or Louisville, but they do have a better defense.

Actually our defense has been inconsistant at best. I would suggest that Cincy's defense will dictate the tone of the game, since our offense often operates in an overly cautious, reactionary mode instead of crafting a balanced forward attack (see UCF, first half of Kansas, FIU, Pitt and Louisville games). No sign this will change.

[Compute-a-bull]

I don't know, they lack the running game we aren't able to stop and their QB situation is nothing to be too afraid of. They'll have to beat us in the air, and I'm not sure if they'll do that. For all the knocks on our defense this year, we're playing well. So, as long as we aren't turnover prone on offense we'll win this. I imagine the efficiency of our offense will dictate this game more than defending against them, they aren't as talented on offense as Pittsburgh or Louisville, but they do have a better defense.

Actually our defense has been inconsistant at best. I would suggest that Cincy's defense will dictate the tone of the game, since our offense often operates in an overly cautious, reactionary mode instead of crafting a balanced forward attack (see UCF, first half of Kansas, FIU, Pitt and Louisville games). No sign this will change.

It's been inconsistent (i.e. at the end of games we wilt for whatever reason), but as an overall you don't end up with top 20 defense over the halfway mark of the season without having pretty good defense. The main difference between the defense this year and last year has been the pass rush and forcing turnovers.

Example: For how much moaning there's been about Louisville running all over us, they average 196 yds/game on the ground, we held them to 111 yds. Is our rush defense really THAT bad? They also only got 15 yards more in the air than they do on average. Again, it's not like our porous defense made them much better. The same can be said for Pitt, we actually held them below their averages for both rushing and pass offense. Does our defense really suck as much as is being proposed by some? I don't think so.

Cincinnati's defense and/or our offense will dictate the game. Cincinnati has a decent defense but hasn't performed well really this year, we could be pretty bad offensively even with an average defensive outting by Cincinatti though because of our playcalling. That's what worries me.

[JoeB]

Can't be worse that last time we played there.............(knocking on wood just in case we are worse than last time). 

that was one ugly game in '06...........

[BigEastBeasts]

Can't be worse that last time we played there.............(knocking on wood just in case we are worse than last time). 

that was one ugly game in '06...........

45-23 in '04 wasn't too pretty either

[CousinRicky]

I've had this one as a loss since the start of the season.  I actually feel a little better because of Cinci's QB situation but still don't think we win.  Didn't we get shut out last time up there?  See this one as a 13 - 10 type game. 

Maybe if both teams play poorly enough ESPN won't schedule us for these Thursday games next year.

[Bulls Are We]

Maybe if both teams play poorly enough ESPN won't schedule us for these Thursday games next year.

We were scheduled for multiple ESPN games because ESPN (and apparently just a handful of people here) expected us to compete for the Big East title this year.

I thought I read a stat earlier this year that we had more ESPN games than any other BE team this year.  Now someone please tell me this team is not underachieving this year….