Luke Fickell and the Cincinnati Bearcats sent a message on Friday night, defeating the East Carolina Pirates by a whopping 38 points. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit had some interesting comments about that game during this Saturday’s edition of College GameDay.
Cincinnati raised some eyebrows when it went for a fake punt despite leading 42-10 in the fourth quarter with just over seven minutes remaining. That decision didn’t sit well with East Carolina head coach Mike Houston, who had a lengthy chat with Fickell after the game.
Though the Bearcats did run up the score late in the game, Herbstreit is more disappointed with the Pirates and their inability to stop teams.
During the first hour of College GameDay this morning, Herbstreit said “What the hell has happened to ECU?”
Pat McAfee also put the program on blast, saying “What I’ve learned in the last 24 hours is that I will never ever, ever bet on on the East Carolina Pirates because their coach is the softest coach I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
East Carolina just hasn’t been the same ever since it fired Ruffin McNeil, who had a 43-34 record during his six years with the program.
While the Pirates might want to blame the Bearcats for running up the score, the reality is Fickell’s squad has to leave no doubt in the College Football Playoff committee’s mind.
If that means Cincinnati has to continue beating down opponents in the AAC to help out its resume, then so be it.