3reppom;383925 wrote:Cincinnati is fine where they are, maybe a spot or two higher. The offense will be great. It isn't quite right to call Zach Collaros a new starter, he has already staked his claim as one of the best, if not the best, QB's in the Big East in his time last year. If he is 80 percent as good as he was in his starts last year UC should pop 30 on everyone. As for the defense they are bringing back 6 starters and have a spine of young talented players. Derek Wolfe and Dan Giordano up front, JK Schaffer and Walter Stewart at linebacker and Dominique Battle and Drew Frey in the secondary. The UC defense wore down as the season progressed because they played more defensive snaps than 110 other schools combined with the 3-4 alignment forcing everyone but Derek Wolfe to do a little bit more than their skill sets allowed. This year they are back in a 4-3 and I think that will be a major boon for the defense. UC has some questions, granted. But they are in much better shape defensively than they are getting credit for.
As for Pitt I agree with you on the Stache, he is not a big game coach in the least. He will find a way, probably multiple ways, to blow games. That being said losing Bill Stull is completely irrelevant to the success or failure of that team. Bill Stull had a tremendous senior season not because he was actually good. For most of his career he meandered between horrific and below average. He benefited tremendously from the presence of Lewis as well as Frank Cignetti Jr who was the only competent QB coach and Offensive Coordinator Dave Wanstead has ever hired. There are plenty of reasons to discount Pitt heading into this season, like their secondary issues, but losing Bill Stull isn't one of them.
They're in much better shape than I'm? giving them credit for? I said they have some guys to replace on defense, that's it. It's the absolute truth. Their ranking isn't a slap in the face for what they lost this offseason. I've got a few questions on them that will need to be answered. If they answer them, they will most certainly rise.
I couldn't disagree anymore with your comments on Stull. I'm sure he saw improvement because of an improved running game. What quarterback doesn't? But don't disrespect that guy, he most definitely did his job in keeping defenses honest. Not every QB could have done what he did last year.
goosebumps;383832 wrote:Look at their schedule and tell me they can't win 9 games...
3reppom;383925 wrote:Cincinnati is fine where they are, maybe a spot or two higher. The offense will be great. It isn't quite right to call Zach Collaros a new starter, he has already staked his claim as one of the best, if not the best, QB's in the Big East in his time last year. If he is 80 percent as good as he was in his starts last year UC should pop 30 on everyone. As for the defense they are bringing back 6 starters and have a spine of young talented players. Derek Wolfe and Dan Giordano up front, JK Schaffer and Walter Stewart at linebacker and Dominique Battle and Drew Frey in the secondary. The UC defense wore down as the season progressed because they played more defensive snaps than 110 other schools combined with the 3-4 alignment forcing everyone but Derek Wolfe to do a little bit more than their skill sets allowed. This year they are back in a 4-3 and I think that will be a major boon for the defense. UC has some questions, granted. But they are in much better shape defensively than they are getting credit for.
I am not saying stull didn't do his job, he did, very well. He blew away absolutely everyone's expectations with his performance last year. But he wasn't a great quarterback, the biggest reason he saw an improvement was Pitt hiring a legit QB coach and OC to replace Cavanaugh. The offense in 2008 was essentially the same group that took the field in 2009 because of Lewis in replacement of McCoy. But Stull was completely ineffectual in 2008 and lights out in 2009. If you want to put credit for the turnaround entirely on Stull you can, but that significantly discounts the impact that Frank Cigneti Jr had on Stulls performance. Tino Sunsari has much more talent than Stull did and he will get the benefit from Dion Lewis and Ray Grahm in the backfield as well as Jonathan Baldwin on the outside. I wouldn't be all that shocked to see Sunsari meet or exceed Stull's performance from last year.