Cincy QB Desmond Ridder Talking a Big Game Ahead of Trip to Notre Dame
The Bearcat quarterback provided some bulletin board material for an Irish secondary that is among the best in the nation at intercepting quarterbacks.
Desmond Ridder and #7 Cincinnati are making their first trip to Notre Dame Stadium (Cincinnati made one trip to Notre Dame in 1900 before Notre Dame Stadium existed). The Bearcat quarterback is talking a big game ahead of his first trip to the House that Rockne built. Ridder had a bold prediction when speaking to the media on Tuesday.
Ridder told WLWT TV’s Brandon Saho that after Cincinnati OC Mike Denbrock, a former Notre Dame assistant, told him Notre Dame Stadium would be loud on Saturday, he didn’t think it would be loud long.
Well, file this under something that is harmless but will be brought up many times this week and will undoubtedly be thrown back at Ridder if Marcus Freeman’s defense does anything close to him what they did to Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz last week. Mertz turned the ball over five times, including two pick-6es in the final three minutes of the game.
Cincinnati comes into Notre Dame this weekend with a higher ranking than the Irish and as slight favorites. They are apparently also coming in with quite a bit of confidence. In Ridder’s only contest against a power-five program this year, Ridder completed 55.6% of his passes for 210 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
Here’s hoping that the Notre Dame secondary that feasted off of Mertz last week does the same this weekend with Ridder and sends the home crowd into a frenzy.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
I’m never sure how valuable bulletin board material is in a game. At least when it comes to ND going back to the Weis years, it hasn’t seemed to help or hurt the Irish that I can recall.
Still, if I were a player, I’d probably save the talk for after the game. No point in taking needless chances. I’m glad usually the Irish players keep that kind of talk to a minimum.
It’s less disrespect as it is confidence. Cincy has had two prelim games and a week off for even more preparation vs. ND coming off a physical, energized fourth quarter at Soldier Field. It can play both ways: Cincy essentially preparing for this game for a month with their focus and energy at a peak, or ND benefiting from the intensity and focus it took to win all four games.
Will Freeman’s knowledge of Cincy’s players benefit ND as much as Fickell’s understanding of Freeman’s D’ schemes ?
The fourth quarter will likely determine the outcome, and who converts more chunk plays on the day on O’, D’, or special teams will win. It’s up to NDs crowd to generate enough noise to turn this game into home field advantage and disrupt Cincy’s O’ despite any “bulletin board” material.
They weren’t exactly world beaters against Miami and Murray