- Messages
- 79
- Likes
- 292
Per EPA, this would have registered as his 3rd best game of the season last year. Those who lament the underneath/check down nature of the offense and would have preferred more vertical shots need to understand that attitude plays directly into the hands of what Cincinnati wants you to do. They were playing conservative 3 high cloud/2-invert for most of the game, with some exception on passing downs where they mixed in zone blitzes. The idea is keep everything in front, rally to the ball, and tackle hoping that the offense will stop itself via poor execution (not a bad bet in college football) or get impatient and turn the ball over attempting an errant throw.
For the most part Cincinnati was terrified of challenging our receivers, notably with one of the times they played press man coverage they got cooked by Nyziah Hunter on a 20+ yard fade route down the left side line. They sparingly played man outside the redzone after that play.
Dylan and Holgorson repeatedly took open throws underneath and never fell for the bait.
Where criticism is due is the inability to convert red zone trips into touchdowns and relatively poor run blocking by the offensive line.
The real test and cause for concern is if teams are directly challenging our receivers in man coverage and no separation is occurring like last season. Until then, we should be satisfied with Dylan’s elite processing last night.
