Many of the players on the University of Cincinnati football team walked off the field with their heads down following Saturday’s loss at Central Florida.
Bearcats coach Luke Fickell said it was important that that wasn't the case when the team returned home and re-entered the facility on Sunday.
"Normally on a Tuesday, I don't have a whole lot for you," he said during his weekly news conference. "I want to go out to practice as fast as we possibly can because that's what you do when you don't feel great about the week before. That's the toughest thing we talked about on Sunday. In the game of football, things don't go your way. You get beat. And the only way to get that taste out of your mouth is to go back out there and do it again.
"The uniqueness of football is you play once every seven days, so you've got to find ways to get it out of your system. You've got to find ways to move on. I know for me, Sunday was really good just to be around our guys, recognize and see their demeanor, their faces, their ability to go back to work."
After suffering its first loss in conference play since dropping both the 2019 regular-season finale and 2019 American Athletic Conference championship game at Memphis (Saturday's loss snapped Cincinnati's 19-game AAC win streak), The Bearcats (6-2, 3-1) will host Navy (3-5, 3-3) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
Cincinnati has won 30 straight games at Nippert Stadium.
"There's a comfort level obviously being at home," Fickell said. "No matter what, we've said since day one we've been here, November is when it really, really, really matters. Not that the beginning doesn't. Just like the first four (games), it's not like they were preseason games, but in order to grow, you've got to be playing your best at the end of the year. And the great thing is, we've still got a lot of room to grow. I think that's what gives me a little bit of excitement."
Cincinnati continued its trend of starting slowly offensively in the 25-21 loss at UCF. The Bearcats managed just six points and a season-low 159 yards in the first half. The inconsistences have brought about some whispers outside of the program to replace starting quarterback Ben Bryant with backup Evan Prater. Fickell said he hasn't had to talk to Bryant about managing the "outside noise."
"If i thought it was something that he needed, I would sit down (with him)," Fickell said. "Not that all guys don't like reassuring, but he's mature beyond his years. He does a really good job. I think sometimes it's a little bit harder on the other side with Evan. I don't want him to get frustrated. I don't want him to lose confidence in what it is that he's doing."
While Fickell doesn't want Prater, the 2019 Ohio Mr. Football, to lose confidence, he also wants the same for the 2020 Ohio Mr. Football, running back Corey Kiner. The LSU transfer and former Roger Bacon High School standout did not play a single minute at UCF after tallying five touchdowns in his first six games with the Bearcats.
"Obviously, you have plans," Fickell said. "You go into a game with a plan. Obviously, he's in the game plan. He's a big part of it. But sometimes plans change. We weren't running the ball very well. Obviously, there was a situation where we were throwing it a little bit more. Our older guys, we probably do feel a little bit more comfortable with protections and things. So it's not a great situation. You'd love to give him more opportunities. He's a guy that has been very good for us with running the football. He's still young in the development and understanding the system, and we got into a situation where we felt a little bit more comfortable with the older guys, the two senior guys. That's one of the things we talked about on Sunday."
Cincinnati allowed a season-high 258 yards on the ground last week. It marked the third time this season the Bearcats surrendered at least 220 rushing yards. They'll face another daunting rushing attack Saturday in Navy's triple option. The Midshipmen will be without their starting quarterback, Tai Lavatai, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week's 27-20 overtime win against Temple.
"Actually it does make it a little bit more of a challenge at least defensively," Fickell said. "Just trying to figure out do they stay the same. That's the beauty of it. For us, we've got to be able to adapt and adjust and not just stay and always be the same things. But there's a little bit of a guessing game."