Cincinnati football: Bowl Eligibility In Jeopardy For Bearcats

The Bearcats’ loss to Temple (and the way they lost) puts UC in serious jeopardy to miss a bowl. They will be underdogs in their final four games this year.

Speechless doesn’t even begin to describe this one. I don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said. After again playing a decent first half and being right in the game with a decent team, the Bearcats self-destructed again in the second half. And this one may have been the worst of all. UC’s offense had a promising first half, with Devin Gray catching not one but two TDs from Gunner Kiel, and UC went into the break down 17-13 (Josh Pasley missed another extra point).

But while Temple grinded out several long, time-consuming drives after halftime, UC managed just five possessions in the second half. They went like this: 3-and-out, 3-and-out, lost fumble on a kickoff return (does that even actually count as a possession?), 3-and-out, and finally… wait for it… 3-and-out. 12 plays, 0 first downs, 6 total yards of offense. In a HALF of football. What have we become, UConn?!?! Tuberville and staff were even trolled by the Temple band. Yep, the band.

It was again total ineptitude in the second half from a team that has now been outscored 81-6 in the second halves of four conference losses. The coaching staff continues to show that they have zero ability to make adjustments. Bud Kilmer of the West Canaan Coyotes made better second half adjustments when he straight up just quit and walked out of the locker room in disgrace in Varsity Blues. At least Kilmer cared about winning.

At this point, it’s hard to see the Bearcats making a bowl game. They sit at 4-4, but 1-4 in the AAC, and will be underdogs in all four of their reaming games. Yes, even to UCF which finished the year 0-12 last season. ESPN’s FPI also has the Bearcats as longshots in all four remaining games, two of which are on the road. UC, the FPI’s #83 team in the county, is being given a 41% chance to beat Memphis at home, but only a 22% chance to beat BYU, a 29% chance to beat UCF, and a 22% chance to beat Tulsa. We can make Lloyd Christmas jokes about UC football – That’s how far this team has fallen.

The optimist in me says maybe they find a way to take two of those games, but the realist in me thinks that the best-case scenario is probably 5-7. We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out, but at this point, the only date that really matters on the UC football calendar is December 7, the date that someone new can hopefully start rebuilding the shattered bits and pieces of this program.

I really am at a loss for words at this point, so that’s all I have to say.