Just 6 days away from the season-opener against Chaminade, UC's weekly press conference, featuring Wes Miller:

Fickell, Arquon Bush and Ryan Montgomery on Navy:

Just tweeted it, but Ivan Pace Jr is on the Butkus semi-finalist list. Has 82 tackles, 16 for loss
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The individual grades on offense and defense for the Bearcats at UCF. For me, a few surprises. I know Arquon Bush had a couple of struggles, but didn't think his grade would be as low as it is.

Hey all, the Bearcats travel to Indianapolis this weekend for a scrimmage against Purdue. It's closed doors, to both the public and the media. But you know we'll be working our sources. I'll post any info we get, here in this thread. Hope to have some information from both sides, to get a good sense of how it goes.

Sometimes staffs need a loss to make some real change in their strategy/approach, but because of Navy’s offense, we likely won’t know for another 2 weeks when the Bearcats host ECU if UC is making much change on defense. Ivan Pace Jr. again led the Bea rats in tackles with 11, but I didn’t think he was nearly as disruptive as he’s been in other games.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think Ben has been nearly as consistent since the concussion. His completion % has dipped considerably (of course, he’s had some drops), and I think he has series where he just holds onto the football way too long.

After reading Justin Williams recent piece in The Athletic today and then going back and looking at tweets from UC fans during the UC/SMU game, I see a lot of what Williams was referencing regarding fans’ expectations for the Bearcat football program.

As a 40+ year football season ticket holder at UC, I’ve experienced quite a bit. I remember 10 straight losing seasons from 1983- 1992 and a 16 year span (1977-1992) when the program‘s best record was 6-5.

I always wondered what could happen to the program if it could go on a roll of several excellent seasons, and I saw the program grow significantly over the last two decades. Then I wondered what could happen if one of the successful coaches spurned other offers and dug in at UC. Luke Fickell did that and has already achieved what many thought was impossible for the program.

I really appreciate his staying at UC, and because of that, I can’t be overly critical of him. Sure, I get tired of the penalties, I‘m not a big fan of some of his game management decisions, and I’d like to see the offense get Evan Prater on the field. I think they might even be able to get Prater on the field with Ben Bryant if they would tap into some creativity. But in the end, I don’t want to become what I’ve called the “entitled” fans that I’ve come across over the years at places like Ohio State.

I understand frustration in sports. As a Browns’ fan, I seem to live in that real life Groundhog Day on most Sundays, but I’ve also seem up close how much time and effort the players and the coaches put into every game every week. When there is a loss, I usually feel WAY worse for those guys than I do for my bruised ego. And for a head coach and some of his assistant coaches, being “overly“ critical of them seems a bit disloyal to me.

Having written all that, I’m preparing for the worst and hoping for the best this Saturday at UCF. Another road game, a much tougher place to play than road games at Tulsa and SMU, and facing arguably the best QB they’ve faced this season. I’m also waiting to hear how Ryan Coe is. After making that tackle last week after the FG was blocked, he looked hobbled. I hope he’s okay. He seems to be coming into his own, and a team that has struggled to blow opponents out, needs a good PK.

Nowhere near the Big Ten but it’s a big one with $31.6 million/year waiting on UC:
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Post game video courtesy of our friends at UCFSports.com:

Tough loss in Orlando. Might take Bearcats out of contention for a New Year's Six spot. Makes that game against Tulane even more important:

We talked with our friend Brandon Helwig at Rivals' site covering UCF, UCFSports.com, for his take on the Knights:

Hey all, here's the full story from my INsider on Hammond. I really like this kid. He's definitely interested, but you can tell there's a strong pull with Notre Dame:

Bearcats going with the white jerseys, red helmets for this one:
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Dontay Corleone again graded off the charts. He's been at or near the top in every game this season, along with Ivan Pace Jr.

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Hey guys, I talked with St. X (OH) 2024 D-lineman Ted Hammond, who's seen his recruiting stock go up of late. He's approaching 20 offers, most recently from Purdue, Kansas and Missouri.

Hammond was at UC Oct. 8 for the homecoming game against USF. That's been his most recent stop and one of only two this season. He also was at Notre Dame in September for its loss to Marshall.

With the Bearcats, Hammond said that was his first game there. He loved the atmosphere and how "crazy" the fans are. Ge definitely noticed the sellout crowd. And Hammond said he feels like he's also tight with assistant coach Walter Stewart. He said he talks with either Stewart, coach Luke Fickell or Pat Lambert in the recruiting office every few days. And Hammond also likes the idea of playing so close to home, which I know UC has really pushed him with, being a hometown hero.

It's important to note that Hammond has a connection with Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden. His teammate, linebacker AJ Golden, is Al's son. Hammond said they're pretty close, so that does make a difference. And overall, Hammond said he likes Notre Dame's campus and the idea of playing at a catholic school.

No visits currently set and Hammond said he likely won't take any more during the season. But he wants to see Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Duke and Iowa after the first of the year. Because of the lack of visits, it's still relatively early here. But UC has definitely benefitted from being the nearby school to Hammond.

Full story coming.

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Guys, I caught up with one of the Bearcats' recent offers, Cathedral (Ind.) three-star quarterback Danny O'Neil. He's now up to 9 offers, which also includes Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

First off, it's a big deal any time a quarterback is offered, because you don't usually take more than one in a class. But UC seems to like what it sees in O'Neil so far, particularly offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli, who's the main recruiter here.

O'Neil told me he hasn't visited UC this fall, but has been a few times before. He was at a game last season and also went for an unofficial visit this spring. O'Neil cited program success, along with the move to the Big 12 as a couple of reasons why he's interested. And he also said he has a good relationship with Guidugli. O'Neil said Guidugli "has a super high football IQ and he's obviously good at calling plays, because of how well his offense has done the past few years."

There's only been a few visits this fall from O'Neil and most notably, he went to Kentucky twice, the last being for the South Carolina game. If there's any early favorite, that's it. O'Neil loves offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and how his offense compares to Kyle Shanahan's offense with the 49ers. He also cited the success Will Levis has had and how he believes it's getting him ready for the NFL.

Most recently, O'Neil was at Wisconsin and likes offensive coordinator Bobby Engram. Of course, the Badgers are in the middle of a coaching search, though if Jim Leonhard stays on, there's a good chance Engram does, too. O'Neil has also been to Purdue and Indiana this season. Next up, Engram will be at Penn State Nov. 26 for its game against Michigan State. There's a chance he could get to others before then, but that's the only one set.

It's hard to know where UC stands until he gets back for a visit. It does help that he has some familiarity, but UC needs him either for a game coming up or January for a junior day. Right now, I think the Bearcats are in the middle of the pack here, but we'll see.

The scrimmage wasn't directly addressed, but Miller, Davenport and Ezikpe talked this afternoon. UC scrimmages Purdue on Saturday in Indianapolis:

Big game this weekend at UCF. And one of the issues heading into the game is the mounting of penalties, which Fickell addressed today:

Rivals asked me to contribute with this series they do analyzing when a player decommits. It really hurts to lose the highest-ranked commit in program history, but UC will be ok without Elzy. Expect the Bearcats to keep pushing until signing day, so there's always a chance he could get back on board. But right now, I think Illinois is the overwhelmingly the favorite:

McClellan gives an overall recruiting update sharing he wants to visit Cincinnati coming up.

Follow-up to my last INsider. Frazier visited UC for the USF game and will be at Michigan this weekend:

No surprise here after his school and conference-record 84-yd punt at SMU. He had another for 77 yards. Just a boot. He did have the wind at his back on those two punts. Release from UC:


After shattering a pair of Cincinnati and American Athletic Conference records on Saturday in the No. 20/19-ranked Bearcats’ 29-27 win at SMU on Saturday, UC sophomore punter Mason Fletcher collected AAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Monday.

Fletcher booted an incredible 84-yard punt in the first quarter against the Mustangs, breaking the 46-year-old Cincinnati record by six yards as well as the AAC record by five yards. The previous UC mark of 78 yards was set by Mike Connell in 1976.

The Melbourne, Australia native sent each of his three punts at least 50 yards with two dropping inside the 20-yard line. His 65.0 average also shattered the UC and AAC marks. Current Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber held the old UC mark of 58.7 – set in 2007.

Following his 84-yarder, which is the longest punt by any FBS player in 2022, Fletcher added a 57-yard boot that dropped at the 8-yard line and a 54-yarder with under three minutes left in the game that pinned SMU back at its own 18.

On the season, Fletcher ranks third in the nation with a 47.7 punting average. He has booted 16 of his 31 punts inside the 20 with 10 50-yarders.

He is now a two-time AAC Special Teams Player of the Week honoree. A member of the Ray Guy Award Watch List, Fletcher was also named the National Punter of the Week following UC’s win over Tulsa earlier this season.

After kicking five field goals at SMU, Ryan Coe joins Boise State's Jonah Dalmas and Stanford's Josh Karty.

Release from Groza Award on Coe:

Ryan Coe kicked a school-record five field goals on six attempts in Cincinnati’s 29-27 victory over SMU on the road in Dallas on Saturday. The junior from McDonald, Pa. connected from 44, 31, 30, 25 and a season-long 52 yards out. It was the fourth field goal from 50 yards of his career. A blocked try is all that kept him from the first 6-FG game in FBS since 2019. He made both his extra point attempts for a 17-point game. Coe is 33-for-33 on PATs and his 60 points lead all Bearcats in scoring.