Even though two of those three games were losses, the Bearcats have adjusted to the new pro-style offense employed by head coach Mark Dantonio and offensive coordinator Don Treadwell to put up some impressive numbers.

After averaging 375 yards and 19 points in its first four games, UC is averaging 454 yards and 35 points in its last three.

"When we came here, I knew we had a pretty good quarterback," Dantonio said. "I knew we could throw the football. What we didn't know was how well we'd be able to run the football."

Running the football has been a strength for this team. Led by senior Richard Hall, the Bearcats are averaging 186 yards a game with a stable of backs that also includes freshmen Butler Benton and Bradley Glatthaar.

And in Saturday's 49-10 win over Memphis, sophomore Mike Daniels got into the mix with 45 yards on 10 carries.

Quarterback Gino Guidugli has been outstanding in his last three games, with 67 completions in 109 attempts (61.5 percent) for an average of 277 yards, with 10 touchdown passes and only two interceptions.

"I think everybody is getting used to the play-calling," Guidugli said, "running the plays against different fronts and different defenses. Last year was a lot more shotgun, a lot more spread out. But I'm starting to like this offense. It took me awhile to get used to it. You've got to stick with it. You've got to be persistent."

Hall, who's averaging 90.6 yards a game on 15 carries, needs 143 yards to surpass last year's rushing total of 777 yards. The senior from Wyoming High probably would have passed that total already if the Bearcats weren't so deep at running back.

But he says he has no problem with sharing the wealth.

"Those guys practice every day just like I do," Hall said. "Last year there were some games where I think I had too many carries. Because you're a competitor, you want all the carries, but you understand it's a team thing."

UC finally seems to have figured out how best to utilize Daniels, Ohio's Division I offensive player of the year two years ago as a quarterback at Princeton High.

At 5 feet 7, Daniels is too small to play quarterback in college, and he didn't do well last year as a receiver. But he's beginning to show promise as a running back and punt returner. In addition to his 45 rushing yards last week, he returned three punts for 66 yards.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com