Though the season hasn’t gotten off to a great start, the Cincinnati Bearcats will return home coming off a convincing 41-3 victory over the SMU Mustangs. Cincinnati, a perennial preseason favorite to win the AAC, will look to build off the win over SMU when it welcomes in South Florida on Friday night.
Here are five keys to victory for the Bearcats as they prepare to take on the Bulls:
1. Gunner Kiel’s Health
Ever since sophomore quarterback Gunner Kiel suffered bruised ribs against Ohio State in Cincinnati’s third game of the season, he hasn’t looked like the same player. The next week, Kiel was knocked out of the game in the second half of a blowout loss to Memphis, and has been slowly recovering ever since. He’s continued to play despite constant questions surrounding his status, though head coach Tommy Tuberville pulled him as a precautionary measure in the second half against SMU.
Over the past three games, Kiel has completed 52.9 percent of his passes, throwing for 812 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. With third-string quarterback Jarred Evans suspended indefinitely after being arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge this past weekend, another injury to Kiel would leave Munchie Legaux as the Bearcats’ only option under center. Cincinnati needs Kiel to be 100 percent for Friday.
2. Containing Marlon Mack
Cincinnati hasn’t exactly been great at stopping the run this year, and that could be a problem when it faces the Bulls and their standout freshman running back, Marlon Mack. He currently leads the AAC with 727 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns, and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
True, much of this came thanks to a 275-yard, four-touchdown performance against Western Carolina, but he’s still been solid since and looked very good against Tulsa. Though it’s far from a sure thing, Mack has a chance at surpassing Andre Hall’s single-season school records for rushing yards (1,374) and rushing touchdowns (13).
Meanwhile, the Bearcats are giving up 242.3 rushing yards per game this season, the seventh-highest total in the FBS. Though the defense did look a little better against the Mustangs, holding them to 98 yards on the ground, it’s important to note that SMU has the third-worst rushing attack in the country. The chances of Cincinnati shutting down Mack are extremely slim, the Bearcats just need to avoid letting him completely go off.
As Dan Patrick used to say: “You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.”
3. Avoid Becoming One-Dimensional
Though it’s much easier said than done, the Bearcats need to avoid becoming entirely one-dimensional on offense. Unlike the Bulls, Cincinnati’s running game is almost non-existent. Mack almost ran for as many yards (130) last weekend against Tulsa as the Bearcats’ top two running backs, Rodriguez Moore (143) and Hosey Williams (140), have the entire season.
Williams has missed the past two games with a knee injury, and Moore just hasn’t found much success on the ground. Though Kiel certainly has the potential to be good enough to lead his team to victory without much of a running game, he has struggled at points this year, and it led to one-sided losses to Miami and Memphis.
The good news for the Bearcats is that the Bulls’ run defense is mediocre, giving up 181 yards per game, so they have a chance to establish themselves on the ground. Cincinnati was more balanced on offense against a horrible SMU defense, putting up 268 yards through the air and 240 yards on the ground, and will need to try and build off that success against South Florida.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viPGwMOnjYU?list=UU0y5liiwMlVZRPpHANy5ROA]4. Continue to Improve on Defense
As mentioned before, Cincinnati’s run defense is rather lackluster. Well, its pass defense isn’t much better. The Bearcats rank 113th in the FBS in pass defense, allowing 281.7 yards per game. In addition, they rank 123rd in total defense (524 yards per game) and 103rd in scoring defense (34.5 points per game).
Though SMU’s offense is downright horrendous, Cincinnati may have built some confidence by holding the Mustangs to just three points and 276 total yards. South Florida isn’t exactly prolific, either, scoring just 21.7 points and 311.3 yards per game. However, the Bulls also built some confidence by scoring 38 points and amassing 412 yards of total offense against a mediocre Tulsa defense last weekend. Both units are coming off impressive performances against subpar competition, so we’ll see just how real their improvements are this Friday.
5. Keep Your Foot on the Pedal
Cincinnati enters this game as an 11-point favorite, which is about what the Bearcats favored at when they traveled to Tampa to take on the Bulls last season. That game ended with South Florida, which finished the year 2-10, upsetting Cincinnati 26-20, the type of loss that seems to be a problem for Tommy Tuberville-coached teams.
Though Tuberville’s teams have a reputation for performing well on big stages, they’ve also been know to sometimes lose to seemingly inferior competition. On paper, the Bearcats seem better than the Bulls, but they play the damn game for a reason.
South Florida also overcame a 20-point halftime deficit last week against Tulsa, so Cincinnati must keep its foot on the gas if it gets a lead. The Bearcats need a convincing win to quiet critics and keep themselves in the hunt for a conference title, so they can’t let their guard down if they get ahead.
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