PreGameday: Cincinnati

Fast forward to this week and it’s time for the Wildcats to put the pedal to the metal as they hit the road for the first time in Coach Klein’s tenure to face the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats have an undefeated start of their own with wins over Boston College, Western Carolina and Miami of Ohio. Though they’re 3-9, UC has had their fair share of questionable moments under HC Scott Satterfield, especially after a 35-31 comeback win over a MAC school in Miami OH. But, looking through the noise and preseason expectations, what have the Bearcats actually put on tape?

Offense

Much like Collin Klein, a Scott Satterfield led squad always starts with the offense. Coach Satterfield has the Bearcats offense working like a well-oiled machine to start the season, with the offensive line playing like one of the top units in the country. 

Senior QB JC French IV has been playing at an elite level to start the season, throwing for 631 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions with a 77% completion percentage. The Georgia Southern transfer plays with poise and has a good pocket presence, but also has the ability to run the ball when needed. His top target, JV Gibson, is the only receiver with more than 100 yards on the season so far. The Oklahoma transfer put together 201 yards in 16 receptions and has been the go-to guy for French.

Along with the air game, Cincinnati’s run game has been really efficient through three games. Junior RB Cole Tabb has yet to have double digit carries in a game, but he’s averaged over 11 yards per carry in his 17 rushes so far. The Stanford transfer is the perfect Snyder archetype; five foot eight, fast, agile and can bulldoze defenders. Along with Tabb in the backfield is senior Gi’Bran Payne who leads the team in rushing yards thus far. The Notre Dame transfer struggled in the Bearcats matchup with Miami OH but averaged over seven yards per carry in their first two games. Tabb may be more explosive, but Payne has been the more reliable back, averaging over 10 carries per game.

This will be the first time the Cats will have to balance a strong run game and pass game at the same time. Though Tulane had a good game, Cincinnati is a step above any of K-State’s past opponents and has beat their opponents in different ways. Against Boston College, the Bearcats ran all over the field and only threw the ball 15 times. In a tighter game against Miami OH, UC looked a lot more balanced and had a nice mix of run and pass throughout. 

The Cats have had some great performances from the defensive line, but this Bearcat offensive line will be their biggest test yet. Starting defensive tackle Kamari Burns transferred from Cincinnati, so I’m expecting him to show out in his first game back at Nippert Stadium. For the rest of the defense, it’ll come down to how much pressure JC French faces and how fast the defense can read the run game for the Bearcats. Take the run game away, and UC becomes a lot more beatable.

Defense

Defensively, Cincinnati is coming off of their worst performance since last year’s game against BYU. The Bearcats have some glaring holes in their secondary and have been really slow to start games, letting opposing teams get off to a hot start. With that being said, the Bearcats are still statistically the best team the Cats have faced, ranking 74th in total defense in all of the FBS. 

The Bearcats’ defense plays two completely different halves of football in a given game. In their past two games, UC has allowed 41 points total against WCU and Miami OH. Among the 41, only three of those points were scored in the second half. Credit to Coach Satterfield and his staff, the halftime adjustments have been the name of the game for Cincinnati’s success this season even if the first halves were a mess. 

In their game against the Redhawks, Cincinnati forced four fumbles in just the second half while allowing only eight rushing yards all half. Miami OH went from offensive masterclass to completely moot over one halftime as if the two halves were completely different teams. As much as the first half is their fault, the Bearcats also deserve credit for their incredible adjustments mid game.

This defense for UC is really strong against the run, allowing less than 80 rush yards in their past two games. Where the wheels start to fall off for the Bearcats is through the air; this Bearcats secondary gave up a lot of chunk plays to Miami OH and David McComb ended the game with 334 passing yards.

So for K-State’s offense, Avery Johnson needs to find his deep ball quickly. Avery has been pretty inaccurate when looking downfield and it has taken away an important part of his game that he flashed a lot as an underclassman. With UC’s defense playing so well against the run, expect guys like Rodney Fields Jr and Joe Jackson to have a similar performance to last week, where they had to get involved more as passing backs than running backs. K-State needs to strike early and be ready to change things up when the second half begins, because UC is a completely different unit when they come back after halftime.

Overall, K-State and Cincinnati are very similar teams that both have looked unstoppable at times and very shaky at times. K-State’s line on either side of the ball is in for a real test this week, especially when it comes to the run game. Defensively, that’s been K-State’s weak point and offensively that’s been their strong suit, but the Bearcats are a team that is capable of taking that away. Another point of emphasis for the Cats should be special teams; Miami OH punched UC in the mouth with a house call on the opening kickoff and UC missed a field goal later on. Brandon White could be due for a major game if Cincy doesn’t tighten up, so keep an eye on number eight. But either way, this is a great game to open up Big 12 play and could really be the proper test for Coach Klein to fix things before the season heats up with Houston and Kansas.