Any team in any sport can have a bad, or even atrocious performance in a single game. The teams that respond in a positive manner to such an awful outing are the ones that enjoy success in the long run. We witnessed several examples of less than stellar play from teams in the area last week, and we will find out if lessons were learned and they respond favorably this week.
This is yet another example of how sports mirrors real life. It isn’t that we get knocked down and suffer adversity; that is inevitable. How we react is of the utmost importance, and shows character and resilience in life as well as on the field or the court of play.
In sports, it usually involves pride and a determination to demonstrate that you’re better than you played last week. Let’s take a peek at a few examples in college football, and follow that up with a look at the Cincinnati Bengals, as they attempt to wipe away the memory of last Sunday’s horrendous performance in Paycor Stadium against the New England Patriots.
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CATS HAVE THEIR WORK CUT OUT – Kentucky football fans were departing the stadium in droves after South Carolina took a 31-6 lead seconds into the fourth quarter last Saturday.
And honestly, who can blame them?
The Cats were lethargic at best from both sides of the ball throughout the embarrassing loss to the Gamecocks. The offense never got untracked and the defense appeared to collapse in the second half, allowing the visitors to do pretty much whatever they wanted.
Kentucky entered the game as a 9.5-point favorite but when all you can muster in the passing game is a paltry 44 yards and tally just a pair of field goals, you’re almost certain to get whipped. The line play on both sides was uninspired and proved the old adage that football games are won and lost in the trenches.
UK coach Mark Stoops have the ultimate challenge facing them this evening at Kroger Field when the high-flying Georgia Bulldogs, the top-ranked team in all the land, come calling. The Cats are not getting a lot of love from the oddsmakers, and why should they? The Dawgs enter the fray as 22.5-point favorites, and many observers are saying that number is too low.
I certainly don’t expect to see the upset of the year in college football either, but the Cats don’t have to win the game to show they can at least be respectable the rest of the season. Kentucky does need to play much better than they did last week, and even that will not be enough to knock off quarterback Carson Beck and the Dawgs.
I seriously doubt even the most ardent UK fan is expecting a miraculous victory for the team in blue, with the most reasonable expectation being that the Cats play hard and don’t commit silly mistakes to beat themselves and suffer another embarrassment. I have never believed in moral victories, but if Kentucky can at least give Georgia a fight and not suffer a blowout loss, that’s at least something to build on.
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BEARCATS LOOK TO RIGHT THE SHIP AGAINST RIVAL – After seeing a 21-point lead vanish last week in a 28-27 loss to Pitt, the Cincinnati Bearcats hope to get well in Oxford, Ohio this afternoon in a noon kickoff at Hager Stadium.
UC will be taking on the Miami Redhawks in one of the nation’s oldest non-conference FBS rivalries, and the pair played the first college football game in Ohio on Dec. 8, 1888. Interestingly, the series is dead even at 60-60-7 heading into today’s game.
Miami, the defending Mid-American Conference champions, broke Cincinnati’s 16-game winning streak in the rivalry with a 31-24 overtime win last season.
The Redhawks, coached by the gregarious Chuck Martin, opened with a 13-6 loss at Northwestern in Week 1, and the Cats are 1-1, with a win over Towson in their opener and last week’s loss to the Panthers.
This one should be an intriguing matchup, with both teams relying on strong passing attacks. Cincinnati is a slight favorite (3.5 points), but if Miami gets their second consecutive win in the series, UC fans will likely be calling for the ousting of embattled head coach Scott Satterfield.
On the other hand, Redhawks supporters would be thrilled with a win as they look ahead to a clash at Notre Dame next Saturday afternoon. For Miami to have a shot at defeating the Bearcats, they will need a strong effort from quarterback Brett Gabbert, who struggled against Northwestern.
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FIGHTING IRISH NEED TO GET OFFENSE IN GEAR – Another head coach under fire resides in South Bend, Indiana. That would be Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, who saw his team falter as 28.5-point favorites last week at home to Northern Illinois, which may go down as the upset of the year in college football. The defeat also marked the third time the Irish have lost three home games as 14-point favorites, the most by any program in college football since Freeman was hired in 2022.
The Irish head to Purdue this afternoon for the first time since 2013 as 9.5-point favorites. Notre Dame certainly has no shortage of motivation as they head to Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Look for tremendous
improvement on the offensive side of the ball, but if not, it could be another long afternoon for the Irish.
The task will not be an easy one however. Purdue is far from a pushover, and you can bet they will be amped up to face Notre Dame on their home turf. The Boilermakers have played just one game, a 49-0 blowout of Indiana State, which is not exactly a huge test. Even so, Purdue quarterback Hudson Card was sharp, completing 24-of-25 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns to tie the FBS record for highest completion percentage on at least 25 attempts.
The teams used to play annually (1946-2014) but have played only once since then, a 27-23 Fighting Irish win on Sept. 18, 2021. Notre Dame leads the series 57-26-2, including six straight wins.
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CAN THE BENGALS PROVE THE DOUBTERS WRONG? – Our last team looking to prove a lot of folks wrong this weekend is the Cincinnati Bengals.
The men in (mostly) orange was as flat as flat can be last week in their opener, falling to the Patriots, 16-10. Blame for the loss can be shared among nearly the entire squad and the coaching staff. QB Joe Burrow and the offense was far from crisp or effective, the defense looked they forgot how to tackle, and the result was an unexpected
letdown to the 66,000-plus (mostly in orange) who sat through the abysmal performance.
It’s a sad state of affairs for a football team when your top performer is your punter. That was the case last Sunday, when rookie Ryan Rehkow earned the honor by averaging 64.5 yards on four punts, including a team record 80-yarder.
Nearly everything has to change for the Men in Stripes to have a chance tomorrow, when they head to Arrowhead Stadium to take on a rested and ready Kansas City Chiefs team, who looked impressive in their 27-20 opening game win over Baltimore last Thursday.
Some folks are sticking their neck out and picking the Bengals to bounce back and win at KC, but I don’t share that sentiment. It just looks like too tall of a task to expect that to occur, despite the comments made to the media this week by Cincinnati receiver Ja’Marr Chase. In case you missed it, Chase declared that the Bengals are the “team to beat” in the AFC.
Who Dey Nation is hoping he and the team can back that trash talk up Sunday, but don’t bet on it. As Bengals head coach Zac Taylor would say, “We’ll see.”
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“One thing about championship teams is that they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter
how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.” – Nick Saban
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“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
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“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” — Mark Twain
