Cincinnati Football: Report Card for the Bearcats' Second Game

What a difference a year doesn't make for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats defense. 

After finishing dead last in the Big East in total defense a season ago, Cincinnati picked up right where they left off Saturday in Knoxville, surrendering 45 points to the Tennessee Volunteers. 

While there were some bright spots for Cincinnati, the day as a whole was a big disappointment as the Bearcats failed to hang around with a middle-of-the-pack SEC school. 

Here are the report card grades for every position on the Cincinnati roster. 

Unlike last week, where four quarterbacks saw the field, Zach Collaros received all of the meaningful snaps in this one. 

Overall, he had a pretty solid game finishing 21 of 34 for 230 yards and two touchdowns. 

He did a solid job of moving the football, but the Bearcats did have a few drives that stalled on the Tennessee side of the field.

Knowing how bad the defense was playing, Cincinnati needed to score every time they had the ball.

Overall grade: B 

Isaiah Pead once again had not trouble getting his yards. He scampered for a 65-yard touchdown the first time he touched the ball. 

The problem is, head coach Butch Jones did not give him enough carries. 

Pead finished the game with 14 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown. 

Seems like a pretty good day, the only problem was he didn't get enough carries to make his mark on the game. 

Overall grade: A

Senior D.J. Woods had another huge game for Cincinnati, finishing with 111 yards on nine receptions. 

Fellow starter Kenbrell Thompkins had four catches for 58 yards and sophomore Anthony McClung caught five passes for 33 yards and a touchdown. 

The receiving corps also had a key block during the 65-yard touchdown run of Pead that enabled him to take it to the house. 

Overall Grade: B+

For all the progress the offensive line seemingly made in Week One, they only moved backwards in Week Two. 

On two separate fourth-and-one attempts near mid-field, the offensive line was blown up by the Tennessee defensive front and the Bearcats failed to convert on both tries. 

Collaros had a decent amount of time to throw most of the time he stepped back, but was sacked twice and hurried on multiple occasions. 

The offensive line group will need to get a little meaner and push some people around in the weeks to come. 

Overall grade: C

Simply put, the defensive line was a non-factor in Week 2. 

Cincinnati consistently only rushed four at the quarterback and were unable to get any type of pressure on Tyler Bray. 

He was not sacked at all, and hardly even rushed. They did control the run for the most part, only allowing Tennessee 141 yards on 35 carries.  

The defensive front of Cincinnati left the secondary out to dry all game. 

Overall grade: D+

The linebackers were the most impressive group on the Cincinnati defense. 

That is not saying much for a squad that allowed 45 points and nearly 550 yards of total offense.

One positive to come out of the game for Cincinnati is that they did not miss too many tackles and that can be credited to J.K. Schaffer and fellow linebacker Maalik Bomar. 

Overall grade: C+

On a team with a bad defense, the secondary is the worst unit in the group. 

Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray pick the Bearcats apart for 405 yards and four touchdowns on 34 of 41 passing. 

Even though the defensive line could not get any pressure on Bray, the secondary did an awful job of defending the pass throughout the game, allowing two Volunteer receivers to have 10 catches and over 100 yards. 

Overall grade: D

While special teams played a big role last week, they were virtually a non-factor in Week 2. 

Tennessee was only forced to punt the ball once. 

Kicker Tony Miliano was 1-2 on field goal attempts, with his 47-yarder getting blocked. 

Ralph Abernathy IV had a chance to return three kickoffs, but his long was only 23 yards. 

Overall grade: C 

Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones has been promising a more balanced rushing attack, but we are still waiting for it. 

After falling behind 21-14, Jones completely abandoned the run and Cincinnati was unable to sustain long drives. 

Even with Pead averaging over 11 yards per carry throughout the game, the Bearcats almost completely abandoned the run, handing the ball to Pead only 14 times. 

The defensive scheme was also something to be questioned, as the Bearcats could not get any pressure on the quarterback and continued to sit back in a soft zone and let Bray pick them apart. 

Overall grade: D-