Thanks to a six-game winning streak, the Cincinnati Bearcats will enter the final week of the regular season with a chance to clinch a share of the American Athletic Conference title. Cincinnati’s impressive turnaround since its rough 2-3 start to the season is due to a wide variety of factors, with one of the biggest reasons is the improvement of the Bearcats’ defense.
Through its first five games of the season, Cincinnati was allowing opponents to score 40.8 points per game. This included a three-game losing streak, during which the Bearcats surrendered an average of 48.7 points. Since then, defensive coordinator Hank Hughes’ unit has improved, giving up just 14.3 points per game during the team’s current winning streak. In fact, 46 of the 86 points allowed by Cincinnati in the last six games came in its win over East Carolina, which boasts one of the best offenses in the entire country.
While it’s true that the competition the Bearcats have faced over their last six games haven’t exactly been superb, the improvement by the defense is clear and has been pivotal to Cincinnati’s recent success.
Hughes, who previously spent 13 years at UConn (including three as its defensive coordinator), came under heavy criticism early in the season, and at times it didn’t look like he would make it through his first year with the Bearcats. However, Tuberville stuck with Hughes and Cincinnati has weathered the early-season storm.
The Bearcats’ defense has looked especially impressive the past two weeks, giving up just a total of six points in wins over UConn and Temple. Cincinnati held the Huskies to just 129 yards of total offense, their lowest offensive output of the season, and forced three turnovers in the 41-0 win. The loss marked the first time UConn was shutout at home since 1978.
Though it wasn’t a shutout, the Bearcats’ defensive performance last week against the Owls may have been even more impressive than their one against the Huskies.
On a day where the offense struggled to get much of anything going, the UC defense stifled Temple and kept the team’s hopes of clinching a share of the AAC title alive.
Cincinnati held the Owls to 267 yards of offense and only allowed them to convert four of their 16 third downs. Most impressively, the Bearcats held strong when Temple was threatening to score, giving up just a pair of field goals on three trips into the red zone.
Senior Jeff Luc has led the way on defense, recording 113 total tackles and 6.5 sacks through 11 games. Senior defensive end Terrell Hartsfield has also performed well for Cincinnati, recording eight sacks and returning a fumble for a touchdown this season.
Now, with a share of the AAC title hanging in the balance, Hughes’ unit will need to prove its worth this Saturday when the Bearcats welcome the Houston Cougars into Paul Brown Stadium.
Houston is an average team on offense, ranking 66th in the FBS in scoring offense and 74th in total offense, but has been very solid on defense. The Cougars allow the ninth-fewest points per game in the country (17.8) and are holding opponents 319.5 yards of total offense this year.
Cincinnati has unquestionably made great strides on defense since the first five weeks of the season, but Hughes’ unit might need to put forth its best performance yet if the Bearcats are to win their seventh straight game and capture a share of the AAC title.
Edited By: Ali Balchunas
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