MrBearcat

Normally I don’t agree with running up the score and it’s not typical of Fickel to do so, as he’s a high character kind of guy. Besides the fake punt, they also scored on a run from midfield with 17 seconds left when the ECU defense thought UC was going to take a knee. So there’s that as well. But there are a few things at play here: 1. It was the final home game and Senior Night of a strange season, so the players involved in those two plays were seniors and likely wanted a fond Nippert Stadium send off. That said, if things unfold as we hope and expect them to, UC will host the AAC Championship on Dec. 19th anyway. 2. I don’t mind running a trick play in game because it’s good to see how it works in a live setting. Sure, it shows up the opponent. But that’s not where your priority is. The priority is to get your guys crisp, and if you can sneak in a trick play in a low stakes situation, it helps your team get better. 3. Fickel says he at least didn’t know about the fake punt; that the players called that themselves. He seemed none too pleased about it in all honesty during his post game presser. But again, the guy who ran the fake punt was a senior on special teams who had a chance to run a play he had likely practiced numerous times for the first time ever in a game. So good for him. 4. I don’t think that showmanship in a blowout wins any points with the CFP selection committee. The ‘Cats end with three road games, including tough ones against UCF next weekend and Tulsa on Dec. 4th. Winning the next three convincingly will do much more good for UC’s cause than any trickery at hone against an average ECU team will do. However, I think the ‘Cats had a chip on their shoulder having been dropped in the rankings after a win, and if the showmanship is in poor taste, so is the hypocrisy that keeps teams like UC out of the CFP and even forces teams to resort to bush league tactics just to get noticed. I can assure you if the system was less biased, UC might not have felt compelled to run the two meaningless plays. End of the day, it’s good to see the fire in the belly and that the team cares enough to make a statement of given the opportunity. All UC has done is taken care of business all year and if that continues, I hope they get rewarded with a shot in the playoffs. It would help to legitimize a team that’s trending up and playing great on all phases, even after back to back 11 win seasons.