Theory on U. of Cincinnatti FB

[BullDoug]

As a USF football fan you may be wondering about why or how UC has had unprecedented success in the last two seasons.  Well I have a theory its related to the OL and DL depth.  While FL is a hot bed of college FB athleticism, OH is not far behind but probably an equal in big men recruiting.  So now if you have noticed that there are 7 FBS schools in FL with 4 being in BCS conferences.  While OH has about the same FBS schools but only 2 are BCS schools.  Basically the Bearcats only compete with OSU for BCS big men in there own state that has a rep of having plenty of HS FB talent. 

This may be the reason OSU has fallen off a bit in thier dominance.  I say the same goes for FSU & UM here in FL.  Back in the day those 2 & 3 deeps that could start on nearly 80% of any roster in the FBS that the Big 3 had on their rosters has been taken away by the depth charts of USF, UCF, FIA & FAU.  I am also predicting UF will start to feel the same thing after their QB graduates next season.  I believe UC's improvement is a result of thier big men's depth mostly OL has improved quicker than USF's.  Plus being more discipline team and grabbing a couple of exception QBs has really vaulted them tot he top of the BE.

Secondly I'm wondering if the loss of jobs and population in FL could effect the level of HS talent in FL too.  Maybe these are just crackpot hypotheze...

[bullsbucsboltsrays]

As a USF football fan you may be wondering about why or how UC has had unprecedented success in the last two seasons.  Well I have a theory its related to the OL and DL depth.  While FL is a hot bed of college FB athleticism, OH is not far behind but probably an equal in big men recruiting.  So now if you have noticed that there are 7 FBS schools in FL with 4 being in BCS conferences.  While OH has about the same FBS schools but only 2 are BCS schools.  Basically the Bearcats only compete with OSU for BCS big men in there own state that has a rep of having plenty of HS FB talent. 

This may be the reason OSU has fallen off a bit in thier dominance.  I say the same goes for FSU & UM here in FL.  Back in the day those 2 & 3 deeps that could start on nearly 80% of any roster in the FBS that the Big 3 had on their rosters has been taken away by the depth charts of USF, UCF, FIA & FAU.  I am also predicting UF will start to feel the same thing after their QB graduates next season.  I believe UC's improvement is a result of thier big men's depth mostly OL has improved quicker than USF's.  Plus being more discipline team and grabbing a couple of exception QBs has really vaulted them tot he top of the BE.

Secondly I'm wondering if the loss of jobs and population in FL could effect the level of HS talent in FL too.  Maybe these are just crackpot hypotheze...

You are really stretching to blame anything/anyone but the guy in charge, bud.  UC's is good because of Brian Kelly and how he develops players.  Zach Collaros is a 2-star QB out of high school that came into Tampa and made our defense look foolish.  Kelly puts Collaros in positions to win the game, and he develops him into a solid QB.  Save the O-line argument for another day.  UConn had 4 out of 5 linemen over 300 lbs and they just lined up, DISCIPLINED football, and ran it downhill.  OH-- and UConn has to compete with Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers, Penn State, Buffalo, Temple, and Army.  and let's not forget, they are located in CONNECTICUT, for crying out loud.  on top of compete with those other programs, they have LESS TALENT SURROUNDING THEM than USF does.  so, the excuses work for any program in terms of recruiting and talent.

We have talent around here and there's more than enough to go around to the other programs-- we can't use lack of talent as an excuse anymore.  There's ample amounts, even for the linement.  It's how its being developed which is the problem.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

we should have BEEN looking up North and out West for linemen.  we need some big fatties on the line to compete with teams like Pitt, Cinci, etc.

a preseason or so ago i read an article in which Leavitt was said to be slimming down his OL so they could "block better downfield in the spread"...

instead, our pipsqueak OL gets pushed around like ragdolls year in and year out by the teams from up north.

and while we're at it, we could also use some athletes that are comfortable in the cold, too.

[Donno]

we should have BEEN looking up North and out West for linemen.  we need some big fatties on the line to compete with teams like Pitt, Cinci, etc.

a preseason or so ago i read an article in which Leavitt was said to be slimming down his OL so they could "block better downfield in the spread"...

instead, our pipsqueak OL gets pushed around like ragdolls year in and year out by the teams from up north.

and while we're at it, we could also use some athletes that are comfortable in the cold, too.

I would agree but UC has a smallish Offensive Line which kind of blows that theory out of the water.

You want fatty's go to Uconn and Pitt.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

I would agree but UC has a smallish Offensive Line which kind of blows that theory out of the water.

not really.  Cinci just has an all-world coach [COY for sure if Cinci wins out] and a rapid-fire, quick release offense.  they know how to move their line. they run play action to throw off defenses and give their all-world deep threat Mardy Gilyard time to get up field. 

we don't do any of those things, and despite the glaring obviousness of our need to do them, our coaches refuse.

so since we don't have the caliber coach of a Brian Kelly or the quality schemes a coach like that brings, the next best thing to do is recruit a few fatties from up north and keep them on the roster for conference play.

[bullsbucsboltsrays]

O-line is probably the one position in college football that is completely dependent on PLAYER DEVELOPMENT.  anyone can pull in some big fat kids and give them a scholarship, but it takes a great coach to develop their O-line skills.  they are the cogs of the offense, so if you can develop O-linemen, you've already won half the battle.

when was the last time we developed an O-lineman enough to get drafted?  Think about that.

[usfgrad84]

For Cincy to get where they are it is all about coaching.  The guy just knows how to win. He is a 2 time national champion and 2 time coach of the year at a lower division. He now gets to do it with BCS caliber talent.

As far as recruiting goes, I am a firm believer that for us to get to the next level we need to start recruiting nationally. Everyone is so sold on what they here about Florida talent and that we can with just that. I say there is no way. That would be fine if we were getting the best players in FL. It aint happening. FL, FSU and Miami always fill key voids with better players from outside the state. Why should't we? 

Having lived in Ohio for 9 years, high school is just as big, if not bigger than in FL. The programs and players are just as good.

From what we have seen so far I think Collaros and Daniels appear to be somewhat equal athletically, but Collaros appears to be more advanced in his decision making. 

[Bull Matrix]

UConn's OL is impressive, and you see why they have had great RB's there during the past few years or so. Basically, UCONN's OL wore out Cincy's smaller defensive line in the second half which is why Toddman had all those lanes to run against Cincy. Cincy is very lucky that UCONN ran out of time or I believe that Cincy gets their first loss. I feel that Cincy will match up better against UF than they would against Bama because Bama has and amazing OL. UF's OL has been slacking as you are seeing Tebow getting sacked and hurried a lot more this year.

[Donno]

I would agree but UC has a smallish Offensive Line which kind of blows that theory out of the water.

not really.  Cinci just has an all-world coach [COY for sure if Cinci wins out] and a rapid-fire, quick release offense.  they know how to move their line. they run play action to throw off defenses and give their all-world deep threat Mardy Gilyard time to get up field. 

we don't do any of those things, and despite the glaring obviousness of our need to do them, our coaches refuse.

so since we don't have the caliber coach of a Brian Kelly or the quality schemes a coach like that brings, the next best thing to do is recruit a few fatties from up north and keep them on the roster for conference play.

I agree with you completely, but Cincy's o-line is not particularly big.  I said nothing of them being ineffective!

[BullDoug]

Well I never meant to deflect blame away from CJL nor credit from Cincy's HC but I just believe that USF's deficiency is in our OL i.e. run blocking and depth is the difference between USF Pitt & Cincy.  Plus the former USF OC has discussed the USF lack of depth in the OL publicly is a factor of the October emplosions. 

I just believe UC has out recruited USF a bit in the OL and maybe have a bit more defensive depth plus they are a more disciplined team.  Also when I meant big men it wasn't so much as just size/fatties but athleticism is key to have BCS quality lineman as well.  I do agree OL can be developed but athleticism w/size plus development is the what makes teams great.