Season Expectations

[UCBearcats]

UC Football is almost here and I'm not hearing much from anyone about this upcoming season. Are people excited? What are expectations?

I really think this team has a legit chance to make some noise in the national landscape this season. I don't think it's too far fetched that we could have an undefeated UC football team rolling into the final game of the season at home against an undefeated L'Ville team. Win that game and who knows? BCS at worst if that scenario should play out.

Of course, getting to that point will be very tough. Besides the fact that going undefeated is tough no matter what your schedule looks like we have a few problems that could arise along the way.

It's the first season with a new coach, new scheme, new system.......

Is Brandon Kay capable enough at QB to get us there.......

Do we have enough talent on the D-Line and in the secondary.......

Lot of ?'s out there, but I'm excited and I think there is a realistic chance we could wind up in the scenario I played out above.

So what are everyone else's thoughts?

 

[Cataclysmo]

An 11-1 UC wouldnt make the BCS if they arent conf. champs.

 

[Gotcha23]

An 11-1 UC wouldnt make the BCS if they arent conf. champs.

I expect atleast 10 wins. Our schedule is weak. Wouldn't mind going undefeated.

 

[JumpinJack5]

UC Football is almost here and I'm not hearing much from anyone about this upcoming season. Are people excited? What are expectations?

I really think this team has a legit chance to make some noise in the national landscape this season. I don't think it's too far fetched that we could have an undefeated UC football team rolling into the final game of the season at home against an undefeated L'Ville team. Win that game and who knows? BCS at worst if that scenario should play out.

Of course, getting to that point will be very tough. Besides the fact that going undefeated is tough no matter what your schedule looks like we have a few problems that could arise along the way.

It's the first season with a new coach, new scheme, new system.......

Is Brandon Kay capable enough at QB to get us there.......

Do we have enough talent on the D-Line and in the secondary.......

Lot of ?'s out there, but I'm excited and I think there is a realistic chance we could wind up in the scenario I played out above.

So what are everyone else's thoughts?

Don't forget running back, that is a bigger question than qb, IMO. If Kay can be decent, there is enough talent for him to succeed. O-line will be outstanding, so he should have plenty of time to make decisions. Tommy T did a good job adding JUCOs to thin positions, so I expect the defense to be solid. My biggest worries are running back and punter since Pat O'Donnell left. Anything less than 10 wins would be disappointing. Frankly, I think we are better than Louisville. If Kay would've played that game last year, we would've won. Im ready for the season to start, the Reds are driving me insane.......

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

The secondary is young, the DL is thin but the LB's are beastly. I see this as a transitional year. So my prediction is UC finishes 9-3 (5-3) with losses at USF, at Rutgers and vs Louisville. Hopefully Tuberville sticks around a couple of years because I think UC can be pretty good in the future, especially with some stability.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Don't forget running back, that is a bigger question than qb, IMO. If Kay can be decent, there is enough talent for him to succeed. O-line will be outstanding, so he should have plenty of time to make decisions. Tommy T did a good job adding JUCOs to thin positions, so I expect the defense to be solid. My biggest worries are running back and punter since Pat O'Donnell left. Anything less than 10 wins would be disappointing. Frankly, I think we are better than Louisville. If Kay would've played that game last year, we would've won. Im ready for the season to start, the Reds are driving me insane.......

Kay also put up a Goose Egg (I don't count that late FG) against Rutgers...although that was a lot to do with the vanilla play calling of Lyle.

 

[UCalum08]

Kay also put up a Goose Egg (I don't count that late FG) against Rutgers...although that was a lot to do with the vanilla play calling of Lyle.

That game was awful. That game was all on the shoulders of the coaches play calling. Turrible, I hope UT fans are ready.

 

[JumpinJack5]

Kay also put up a Goose Egg (I don't count that late FG) against Rutgers...although that was a lot to do with the vanilla play calling of Lyle.

Yeah, you're right, he had a bad game. I blame it more on Lyle's play-calling and I believe it was only his 2nd or 3rd game, so the inexperience showed. Once he got better acclimated, he did much better.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Don't forget running back, that is a bigger question than qb, IMO. If Kay can be decent, there is enough talent for him to succeed. O-line will be outstanding, so he should have plenty of time to make decisions. Tommy T did a good job adding JUCOs to thin positions, so I expect the defense to be solid. My biggest worries are running back and punter since Pat O'Donnell left. Anything less than 10 wins would be disappointing. Frankly, I think we are better than Louisville. If Kay would've played that game last year, we would've won. Im ready for the season to start, the Reds are driving me insane.......

I think rb is one of the most overrated positions. Sure there are playmakers who can make a difference. But if your O-line is good then you can find a guy that can run through a hole. With that said, I love a guy that can break tackles and make guys in the secondary miss with his speed or quickness. So yeah, hopefully we have a playmaker. We will have Abernathy back as a playmaker, hopefully we have a bruiser as well that can run up the middle.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

UC Football is almost here and I'm not hearing much from anyone about this upcoming season. Are people excited? What are expectations?

I really think this team has a legit chance to make some noise in the national landscape this season. I don't think it's too far fetched that we could have an undefeated UC football team rolling into the final game of the season at home against an undefeated L'Ville team. Win that game and who knows? BCS at worst if that scenario should play out.

Of course, getting to that point will be very tough. Besides the fact that going undefeated is tough no matter what your schedule looks like we have a few problems that could arise along the way.

It's the first season with a new coach, new scheme, new system.......

Is Brandon Kay capable enough at QB to get us there.......

Do we have enough talent on the D-Line and in the secondary.......

Lot of ?'s out there, but I'm excited and I think there is a realistic chance we could wind up in the scenario I played out above.

So what are everyone else's thoughts?

I am extrememly excited about this season. I think we have a reaalistic shot of a BCS bowl. I think playing Louisville at Nippert gives us a good shot. If we beat them then we can slip up somewhere along the way as we would have the tie-breaker beating them head-to-head. I think losing two non-conference games before Louisville is a stretch unless our QB play is just horrendous. The rest of the league isn't that good. The two big non-conference games (Purdue and Illinois) are both intriguing but don't really matter in terms of winning the conference. There definitely are some questions, but I think the cards are in place for us to have a great season. They just have to go out and take it. Nothing will be given to them. Hopefully we are sitting in a position on December 5th with a winner take all scenario vs. Louisville. That atmosphere will be electric.

 

[kpzero]

Less than 10 would be a disappointment.

With this schedule there is a chance of running the table. I was pretty high on the 09 team and thought they would have 10 at worst with a shot at 12 with a bit of luck. This team isn't as good as that team but is more balanced. Luckily the schedule is much easier this year. The main question is how well the team has transitioned to the new schemes and philosophies. An easy OOC with terrible Purdue and Illinois should give the team time to get everything together.


Running back isn't really an issue. There is enough talent, unproven or otherwise, for them to be atleast decent behind our great O Line.

WR is unproven but as long as we don't have Munchie slinging uncatchable bullets, they will be fine.

OLine is solid all around.

The defense should be good. Fingers crossed on the secondary. LB will be a strength provided we dont get killed by injuries. I expect the D to once again be top 20 in efficiency.

I am not completely sold on Kay yet. I need to see more. He is however an improvement on Munchie. Every single game that Munchie played as a QB, was a rollercoaster of nerves and emotion. Every snap was a question mark.

Punting will be a noticeable step backwards. Hopefully it doesnt hurt us too much.



10-12 win team. Less than 10 would be complete failure in the current climate. We need 11 or 12 to keep the cats visible.

 

[Scheids21]

I expect 10 or 11 wins. I'd expect us to lose to Louisville, though we'll see if they can handle all this hype. I can also see us losing another road game, likely to Rutgers. However, like most people, can see this team running the table based on the easy schedule. Its hard for me to imagine worse than 10-2 and that would be a massive disappointment.

 

[UCBearcats]

An 11-1 UC wouldnt make the BCS if they arent conf. champs.

Win that game and who knows? BCS at worst if that scenario should play out.

I know that, I'm saying if they win then it's BCS at worst. Even without the auto-bid an undefeated UC squad is going to be in a BCS game and maybe (just maybe) have a shot to wind up in the NC game.

I hate even saying that because it sounds so stupid but there is a legit chance.

 

[JasonS]

Win that game and who knows? BCS at worst if that scenario should play out.

I know that, I'm saying if they win then it's BCS at worst. Even without the auto-bid an undefeated UC squad is going to be in a BCS game and maybe (just maybe) have a shot to wind up in the NC game.

I hate even saying that because it sounds so stupid but there is a legit chance.

If this team can get through the OOC schedule without losing, I think they can put a nice run together. The Illinois game worries me a little. Not because they are going to be good, but because it is the first road game with a new coaching staff. You just never know what is going to happen. If they can run the OOC table, then I think 10-2 is a worst case scenario.

 

[ralph1950]

8-4 is my prediction.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

8-4 is my prediction.

Mine is 9-3. It is difficult to deal with a coaching change (even if you think it is an upgrade). Too much transition.

 

[JasonS]

8-4 is my prediction.

8-4 with this schedule will be a huge disappointment. If a couple key injuries happen, I could see this, but barring that, anything less than 9 wins will be a disappointment for this team with this schedule.

 

[ralph1950]

8-4 with this schedule will be a huge disappointment. If a couple key injuries happen, I could see this, but barring that, anything less than 9 wins will be a disappointment for this team with this schedule.

They play 2 Big 10 teams to start the season which could very well result in a 0-2 start. UofL loss 3, Rutgers loss 4, and so forth and so forth.

 

[JasonS]

They play 2 Big 10 teams to start the season which could very well result in a 0-2 start. UofL loss 3, Rutgers loss 4, and so forth and so forth.

Purdue and Illinois are barely Big 10 teams right now. If you don't beat Purdue at home, heaven help you.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Illinois worries me just because it's a road game. Hell, we lost to Toledo last year on the road. Purdue, I like our chances better being at home. I don't think Rutgers or South Florida are as good as we are so we should beat them. The Rutgers game last year was just a killer because we kept turning the ball over in the end zone or after a long drive. Unless our QB play is really bad this year we should be playing Louisville for the conference title. Even picking up one loss along the way in conference will still make that game a play your way into a BCS game. I don't think the transition to this coach will be as rough as it was when we went from Kelly to Butch. For one, that team had a downgrade in talent and two, Butch made them work a lot harder than Kelly did so there was some turmoil there and players didn't buy into Butch the first year. I think there is a different philosophy with Tuberville, but I don't think we'll have an issue of the players buying into it. Also this team is hungry. They knew they blew it last year.