Saturday, November 19, 2011

No Help For The Munch Man

Munchie Legaux was not good in his first start. He wasn't even close to good. His issues were made worse by little or no help by those around him. That means players and coaches. Unlike last week when Munchie seemed to settle in and play fairly well, this week he never had a chance. Munchie missed a ton of receivers, and when he was on target a receiver would drop it. Three or four drops in the first half were costly. When the Bearcats found themselves in second or third down and long, here came the pressure and the blitzes from Rutgers. Legaux had to run for cover. By the way, it seemed the Bearcats were always in second or third down and long. With that part of the offense struggling, Rutgers strangled the Bearcats running game. The game plan was to get running back Isaiah Pead rolling. Pead was bottled up for 28 yards on 14 carries. When the running game stalled the Bearcats offense had no other answers. And that is a problem. We'll hang that part on the coaches, because Munchie looked a lot better rolling out late in the game. I mean late, like when it was too late. The defense did a good job holding Rutgers to 10 points in the first half. But the field goal was set up by a 23 play drive. 23 plays is an incredible amount for one drive, almost unheard of. The defense also allowed Rutgers out of a hole on its own 6-yard line in the third quarter. The first play on that particular drive was a 22-yard run by Jawan Jamison. The second play was a 29-yard run by Jamison. Two plays, two runs, and Rutgers goes from its own 6-yard line to the Cincinnati 43. Rutgers would finish that drive with a touchdown and Jamison would finish the game with 200 yards. So the defense had moments where it contributed to the Bearcats demise. But the glaring issues were offensive. No, Munchie didn't get much help. But he certainly didn't help himself. It had to be a disappointing day for U.C. and Munchie needs to play better immediately if the Bearcats hope to avoid disappointment again next Saturday at Syracuse. That's something the coaches have six days to figure out.

No comments:

Post a Comment