(12:13 p.m.): BK was asked today about how, after UC has played back-to-back emotional games (with back-to-back emotional wins), the Bearcats can continue to play without a letdown. At some point, you’d think, the Bearcats would go into a game mentally exhausted and not perform well enough to win.
I theorized that time might come last Friday at Louisville – even though I did, in fact, pick UC to win the game. Short week after a program-changing win at West Virginia, another road game, etc. I thought it was a possibility the Bearcats could come out flat. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.
Why not?
“At this time of the year, if you don’t have enough in the tank … to me, it’s 18-to-22 yea r-old kids,” BK said. “We gave them a few days off. We don’t grind them out. They’ll be at full strength. There won’t be any excuses for us because we’re tired. We were tired last week, back to back on the road, you’re on the bus again. That can get your team tired, but we’ll be fine this weekend.”
After the game Friday, he also made this point:
“It’s what has to happen if you’re going to win a Big East championship. You’re going to get caught on the road, playing an emotional game like West Virginia. But you know what? Nobody cares. You have to win the game. You have to find a way. That’s why I’m happy with the way we played in the second half. We won the second half, which allowed us to win the football game.”
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BK doesn’t seem worried about Jake Rogers’ confidence. He said the problems against Louisville stemmed from a wet ball and an improper technique.
“It’s interesting,” BK said. “It’s the development of a kicker. Earlier in the year, he struggled mentally. This time, it was technique. He has a natural draw on his kicks, but they didn’t draw because of the wet balls. He hit all of them well, but he missed all of them to right. Then he overcompensated. I’m sure he’ll be able to correct it for this weekend.”
I’m not sure I completely buy that (remember how badly Rogers flubbed that kickoff following the missed field goal? That’s what has happened to Rogers when his confidence goes). But I’ll guess we’ll see how Rogers performs on Saturday – and how much confidence BK has in him.
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Don’t know if you caught this quote from BK regarding a potential sell-out for the Pitt game. If not, give it a read:
“It is the biggest game in school history. There’s no question about that. If that place doesn’t have 500,000 people in it, I’m going to be pissed. We have done everything to elevate this football program. If you can’t support us next week, there’s nothing else we can do. We’ve won, we’ve been consistent, it’s time now for our fans to show up. They’ve been good, but it should be the hardest ticket to get in Cincinnati.”
With that, I called Lindsey Delscamp in the ticket office this afternoon, and she said only a couple thousand tickets remain. She said UC “sold a ton” of tickets during the weekend, and it wouldn’t be surprising if those tickets are gone in the next day or two. Plan accordingly.
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And one last thought about Greg Robinson, who was fired Sunday, from Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe.
“I think Greg is a great person,” he said. “I think he’s a great football coach. Unfortunately in this industry, if you don’t win football games, you don’t get to work anymore. With the timing, that’s a move a lot of guys are making nowadays, making a change earlier if a change is imminent to get somebody in place for recruiting.”
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Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor
