CINCINNATI – The thought of just how the forward pass was going to utilized in his offense crossed Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville’s mind more than a couple of times this past spring and summer. We’re not talking about how most college coaches think
about airing the ball out down the field.
“I can remember our first scrimmage in the bubble, in the spring. It didn’t matter what we played, zone or man, we couldn’t complete a pass,” said Tuberville. “It was rough.”
That’s describing the situation nicely.
All of that has changed, especially during the current five-game winning streak the Bearcats are riding heading into Saturday’s game at Houston. Senior quarterback Brendon Kay has found his groove and two of his top targets are someone who was expected to catch a lot of passes and another who is blossoming into his role after two years of watching and learning.
Senior wide receiver Anthony McClung leads the Bearcats with 674 yards receiving, while junior Shaq Washington’s 64 receptions are the most of a diverse and dangerous group of receivers Kay has at his disposal. The way the Bearcats are throwing the ball on offense, it’s a shock when a pass goes incomplete.
“We all have different ways to get open off of the different types of coverages. It’s all up to (Kay),” said McClung, who is second on the team behind Washington with 52 catches. “He checks a lot of plays now. He has a lot of freedom now. He feels like if he can get the ball to a certain player on a certain type of coverage then he’s going to do that.”
Seven different players have at least 13 receptions this season for UC, while five have 370 or more yards receiving. Sophomore Mekale McKay has been the home run hitter of the group; he has seven touchdowns on just 13 receptions for 402 yards, an average of 30.9 yards per catch.
The Bearcats’ winning streak began after an inexplicable 26-20 loss at South Florida to open play in the American Athletic Conference portion of the schedule. The USF game followed a 14-0 win at Miami against a RedHawks team that has allowed 41 or more points six times while going winless so far this season.
Since then, Kay has completed 75.9 percent of his pass attempts (126 of 166) for 1,595 yards, 13 touchdowns and just three interceptions while UC has averaged 38.6 points per game, including last Saturday’s 52-17 rout of Rutgers on the road.
A win at Houston (7-3, 4-2) will keep UC (8-2, 5-1) in position for a shot at the AAC title, with a final game against preseason league favorite Louisville (9-1, 5-1) on Dec. 5 remaining. Central Florida (8-1, 5-0) leads the AAC and hosts Rutgers and SMU in its final two games.
“We always thought that our passing game could be efficient enough, we just had to find ourselves as an offense. Once we found ourselves as an offense then things have gone pretty well,” said Washington. “It’s mainly just personnel, how to use everyone in an effective way. I feel we’ve figured that out.”
Washington was a quarterback in high school at Maple Heights near Cleveland, leading the Mustangs to back-to-back Division II state finals and a state championship as a senior in 2010. He was recruited to UC as a wide receiver but had just six catches his first two years while he learned the new position behind a plethora of veteran players.
He got to put his former quarterbacking skills to use against Rutgers, completing two passes for 40 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown to Chris Moore on an end-around play with 30 seconds left in the first quarter. His first collegiate touchdown reception came with 4:16 left in the second quarter on a 41-yard pass from Kay.
“They both understand the game really well,” said Kay of Washington and McClung. “They create mismatches on the inside, but at the same time we’ve got Max (Morrison), Mekale, Jeremy (Graves) and Chris (Moore) all on the outside who can do the same thing. It’s really a week-to-week thing with who has the matchup. For me it’s not what guy. I’m going through the progression and getting the ball to the right guy.”
McClung has already eclipsed his previous career high for receptions in a season with the 52 passes he’s caught so far. He is just nine yards shy of surpassing the 683 yards he gained two seasons ago. His five touchdown catches are just one shy of the six he had in 2011.
He was UC’s top returning receiver from last season. The Bearcats lost tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins to the NFL.
The quarterback battle between Kay and Munchie Legaux likely contributed to the stagnant offensive start for the Bearcats. They were both learning a new offensive system and neither truly grasped it well enough over the other to give him a decided advantage over the other. Legaux started the first two games against Purdue and at Illinois but his knee injury against the Illini made the quarterback competition moot. It was Kay’s job. He and the offense are now flourishing, especially when they’re throwing the ball.
That would’ve been hard to imagine back in August.
