{"id":18755,"date":"2021-09-01T20:24:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T20:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=18755"},"modified":"2021-09-01T20:24:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T20:24:55","slug":"no-7-cincinnati-bearcats-season-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/ncaaf\/no-7-cincinnati-bearcats-season-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 7 \u2013 Cincinnati Bearcats Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The best mid-major team in the country in 2021 should be the Cincinnati Bearcats. Luke Fickell has done an incredible job with this program since taking over in 2017. After going 4-8 in his debut season, the Bearcats have buckled down to go 11-2 in 2018, 11-3 in 2019, and 9-1 in 2020. Fickell has proven to be an indispensable recruiter that is lapping his AAC colleagues in this department, and he has had multiple Power Five offers over the last couple seasons. For now, he is content to stay in the \u2018Nati and that makes the Bearcats the top team<\/a> in the best Group of Five conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cincinnati Regular Season Win Total<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 10 Wins -115<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under 10 Wins -115<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OFFENSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desmond Ridder is one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. Ridder isn\u2019t going to air it out in this offense, but he can make plays and keep the chains moving with his accuracy and his mobility. He completed 66.2% of his passes for 2,296 yards with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2020, and he was the second leading rusher with 592 yards and 12 touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ground game is in good hands with Jerome Ford leading the way. Ford was more effective than Gerrid Doaks last year, averaging 6.6 YPC, and it\u2019s his time to be the feature back. Charles McClelland is a solid second option, so the Bearcats shouldn\u2019t miss a beat here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The receiving corps is in good shape too. Tight end Josh Whyle was an all-AAC selection in 2020, and Michael Young Jr. is a dangerous receiver on the perimeter. Alec Pierce is a big play threat that averaged 18.5 YPR last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cincinnati has good experience on the interior of the offensive line, but the tackles could be an issue. Freshman John Williams is projected to start at left tackle, and Dylan O\u2019Quinn doesn\u2019t have a lot of experience at right tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEFENSE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bearcats have been exceptional on defense for the last three seasons. Cincinnati allowed 17.2 PPG in 2018, 20.6 PPG in 2019, and 16.8 PPG in 2020. However, former defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman is now at Notre Dame, so only time will tell whether or not new DC Mike Tressel is the right choice to replace him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is talent at every level. Defensive end Myjai Sanders was a First Team All-AAC selection in 2020 after recording seven sacks, and Curtis Brooks is a presence in the middle of the defensive line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrian Beavers is the star of the linebacking corps. He ranked second on the team in tackles in 2020, and he is ready to anchor this unit alongside Joel Dublanko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cincinnati has an elite cornerback in Ahmad Gardner and a very good cornerback in Coby Bryant. Both Gardner and Bryant were First Team All-AAC selections last year, so it won\u2019t be easy for quarterbacks to find success against this secondary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SCHEDULE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is at least a slight chance<\/a> that Cincinnati makes the College Football Playoff if the Bearcats run the table. If they can go on the road and knock off Indiana and Notre Dame early in the season, that could make a big difference if those programs are nearly as good as they were in 2020. UCF is likely to be the toughest test in conference, but Cincinnati hosts the Knights. Consecutive road trips against Navy and Tulane the following two weeks could be tricky though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PREDICTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the very least, Cincinnati should be in a New Year\u2019s Six game. The Bearcats are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and they could crash the party if they get some help. They will get to 10 wins<\/a> barring injury and should win the AAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow our <\/em>Twitter account<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news and wagering odds, and come to our <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for more useful betting info too.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best mid-major team in the country in 2021 should be the Cincinnati Bearcats. Luke Fickell has done an incredible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaaf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18763,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18755\/revisions\/18763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}