Thursday, April 27, 2000
Offense not encouraging in spring game
UC's problems reminiscent of last season
By Mike DeCourcy
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For the most part, no one laid a finger on Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Deontey Kenner in Wednesday night's spring football game at Nippert Stadium. That might have had something to do with the defense getting a hand on a few of his passes.
Tackling Kenner was off limits for the UC defense, even though he believes he plays better when he's fair game. “I don't scrimmage well,” he said. “When they can't hit me, I can't get the feel of the game.”
Kenner threw three interceptions that helped the UC defense beat the offense, 54-30, in a game in which points were awarded to the defenders for stops, turnovers and, of course, touch downs. That last factor came into play more than coach Rick Minter would have preferred.
“I've got some concerns about the way we are on offense. I just want us to be much smoother,” Minter said. “It's disappointing, but I do congratulate the defense. I think the defense created the tempo. They legitimately took the ball away. It wasn't just laying it on the ground.”
The defense intercepted seven passes and returned three for touchdowns. Kenner, who finished 18-of-30 for 227 yards, had two picks
turned into scores.
The last of those came with 1:55 left, when cornerback LaVar Glover recognized an out pattern and got a quick break on the ball, taking it 40 yards for the score.
“We know we've got speed on the outside,” Glover said. “With the corners we've got, we're mature now, and we can gamble a little bit.”
The offense was handicapped by injury; a shortage of running backs provided an opportunity for Lloyd Garden to carry 17 times for 111 yards. Garden, who'll be a junior this season, is a 233-pound power back who is difficult to stop when open holes permit him to generate momentum.
Except for a fourth-down, 34-yard touchdown pass from Kenner to running back Charles Spencer in the final two minutes, the offense struggled throughout the first half. That was true whether it was Kenner and the first team matched against the No.1 defense, or backups Adam Hoover and Luis Gonzalez attacking the second team.
By halftime, the defense built a 33-10 lead, with touchdowns coming on two of its interception returns. Kenner did not lead an extended scoring drive until the first possession of the second half.
The defense was less opportunistic and perhaps less aggressive in the early stages of the second half, and that allowed the offense to generate four scoring drives in its first five possessions.
Most of the yardage was consumed in small doses.
UC's problems on offense near the goal line in this scrimmage were problems that were common as the Bearcats finished 3-8 last season.
“You want to have amnesia about last year, but it was deja vu all over again,” Minter said.
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