Cincinnati Preview
November 06, 2008 10:56 AM | General
November 6, 2008
GAME NOTES | GAME INFORMATION
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Last week it was the running of Donald Brown that had West Virginia coaches concerned. This week, it’s a sophisticated passing game devised by Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly that becomes the main topic of discussion in the WVU defensive meeting room.
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| Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel is going up against the No. 1-rated passing offense in the Big East this Saturday against Cincinnati.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Kelly has been able to construct the Big East’s most effective passing attack despite using three different quarterbacks this year. The guy Kelly wanted under center this year was Wake Forest transfer Ben Mauk, who led the Bearcats to a 10-win season and a spot in the national rankings in 2007. But Mauk’s appeal for a sixth season of eligibility was denied.
So Kelly turned to Dustin Grutza, who appeared in two games and passed for 514 yards and four touchdowns before breaking his right leg against Oklahoma.
Kelly then went to Tony Pike, who led the Bearcats to wins over Miami, Ohio and Akron before breaking a bone on his non-throwing arm against the Zips.
Notre Dame transfer Chazz Anderson stepped during the times Pike has not been able to go, and has completed 46 of 75 passes for 520 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Pike, missed the second half of the Connecticut loss with numbness in his non-throwing hand, but returned to lead Cincinnati to a big 24-10 victory over South Florida on Thursday, Oct. 30. Pike completed 20 of 28 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns against the Bulls and he shows 81 completions in 131 attempts for 1,051 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
“Brian Kelly does such a great job it doesn’t matter which one is playing,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “Tony Pike can pitch and catch.”
Cincinnati may have the best receiving tandem in the Big East in senior Dominick Goodman and junior Mardy Gilyard. The two have combined for 91 catches for 1,272 yards and 12 touchdowns so far in eight games. Against USF both made several athletic catches in the Bearcats’ 14-point victory.
“I keep seeing a lot of playmakers and I’m worried about that,” said Stewart. “We want to keep them in front of us.”
“They’ve got a couple of great guys,” said WVU cornerback Brandon Hogan. “Two of them have already got 40-some catches. We’ll try to match up with them and give them a good go.”
Cincinnati doesn’t have a dominant ground game, but it does have an effective ball carrier in junior Jacob Ramsey, a 6-foot, 230-pounder. Ramsey has rushed for 437 yards and is averaging 4.7 yards per carry. In the red zone Kelly likes to go to 225-pound sophomore John Goebel, who shows a team-best five rushing touchdowns. Overall, Cincinnati is averaging 124.6 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry on the ground.
Cincinnati’s offensive line features a pair of seniors on the right side in Trevor Canfield and Khalil El-Amin.
Defensively, Cincinnati fields the most experienced group in the conference with 10 of its 11 starters being seniors. The Bearcats boast the best secondary in the Big East with a pair of cornerbacks with NFL ambitions in seniors Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith.
Mickens is the team’s leading tackler with 48 stops to go with eight pass breakups and three interceptions.
Smith shows 37 tackles, five pass breakups, 3 ½ tackles for losses and a pick.
Up front, Cincinnati boasts a lanky and athletic group of defensive linemen led by senior defensive end Connor Barwin, who is tied for the lead in the Big East with seven sacks. Lamonte Nelms shows 33 tackles, 8 ½ tackles for losses and four sacks in eight games.
Middle linebacker Ryan Manalac is tied with Mickens for the team lead in tackles with 48 to go with a pair of pass breakups and two tackles for losses.
“They have 10 seniors on defense and their defensive line is really athletic,” said West Virginia tackle Ryan Stanchek. “They’re long, rangy and they’re good football players. Their secondary is right there with the best, if not the best, that we’ve played against this year with Mickens and DeAngelo Smith. They’re studs.”
Cincinnati ranks third in the Big East in rushing defense (112.8 yards per game) and No. 1 in the conference in kickoff returns (23.6 yards per return). Mardy Gilyard has returned one kick for a 97-yard touchdown and is averaging 27.5 yards per return.
West Virginia’s kickoff coverage unit is one of the worst in the country giving up an average of 23.8 yards per return.
“I’ve been a little too forgiving,” said Stewart of his team’s coverage difficulties. “I keep waiting and waiting for guys that I know can make plays and that hasn’t worked out very well so I (have made) some changes this week. We’re going to work very hard on kick coverage this week.”
Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1) has won five of its last six including league victories against Rutgers and USF. The Bearcats’ lone loss in conference play was at Connecticut, 40-16, on Oct 25.
West Virginia (6-2, 3-0) can put some distance with the rest of the conference with a favorable outcome on Saturday. The Mountaineers have won five straight after suffering back-to-back non-conference road losses at East Carolina and Colorado.
West Virginia’s offense has scored 69 points in its last two games and continues to lead the Big East in rushing offense at 229.5 yards per game.
Last Saturday at Connecticut, the Mountaineers got 216 yards on the ground including 109 and a pair of touchdowns from quarterback Pat White in a 35-13 victory.
White ranks sixth in the Big East in rushing averaging 77.9 yards per game while completing 69.7 percent of his pass attempts for 885 yards and 13 touchdowns. White is the No. 1-rated passer in the conference with a 148.1 rating.
Noel Devine needs 91 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark. The sophomore ranks third in the Big East averaging 113.6 yards per game and has exceeded the 100-yard barrier four times in 2008 and seven times for his career. Devine is averaging 6.9 yards per rush.
Dorrell Jalloh is becoming a bigger part of the passing game, catching nine passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns in West Virginia’s last two wins against Auburn and Connecticut. Overall, Jalloh shows 17 catches for 202 yards and three touchdowns.
Jock Sanders is WVU’s leading receiver with 35 catches for 263 yards and five touchdowns. Sanders has scored a team-best eight touchdowns and is averaging 67.4 yards per game in all-purpose yardage.
Junior Alric Arnett is another option in the passing game, catching 19 passes for 226 yards and three scores. So far West Virginia has scored 14 touchdowns through the air and 10 on the ground.
West Virginia’s defense is ranked No. 1 in the Big East in points per game (14.8) and pass efficiency defense (102.1 rating). The Mountaineers are third in total defense allowing 308.8 yards per game.
In its last five games the defense is surrendering just 263.8 yards per game.
Kickoff is set for 7 pm and the game will be televised on ESPNU. Mountaineer fans in the southern part of the state and in Clarksburg/Fairmont can get the telecast through their local cable providers.
MSN’s coverage begins at 6:30 with the Mountaineers Today. Fans can listen to the game on the Internet through MountaineerTV or on Sirius satellite radio on channel 127.
