Surprises Abound In UC Football’s Seemingly Cupcake Non-Conference Schedule

The Cincinnati Bearcats just wrapped up their spring practice compiling hours and hours of film to review this coming Summer. The coaches and players will surely ease into watching these videos as a much needed break is in store for all members of this football team. But for us fans, the analyses, breakdowns, and conversations about UC football never ends. Most of us (and probably every player on the team) know the importance of what September 6th means. If you don’t, take a look at the countdown time to the left. If you need further explanation, Cincinnati will be opening up their 2012 football season against the Pitt Panthers. It will be the first time since the Bearcats traveled to Rutgers on opening weekend of the 2009 season that they will play a Big East opponent in their first game.

There’s no questioning how important that game is for a team that is replacing a number of leaders and continuing to find its identity. While opening up against a Big East foe isn’t ideal, it had to be done to literally put a full 12-game schedule together. In that same vein, UC Athletic Director Whit Babcock was also forced to compile a non-conference schedule that on the surface looks very weak. It’s certainly not nearly as difficult as the combination of Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and San Diego State that was originally drawn up before conference realignment mucked it up. But it won’t be a walk-through, either.

The headliner of the five games is an Orange Bowl rematch with the Virginia Tech Hokies. This is one of the contests that survived the scheduling shuffle. While technically a ‘home game’ it will be played on the neutral turf of FedEx Field in Washington, D.C. and act like a pseudo-away game for the Cincinnati Bearcats considering its location. Expect Hokie fans to outnumber UC fans at this one. On the field Frank Beamer’s machine has been marching through the ACC the past few years behind solid run games, suffocating defenses, and game-changing special teams. The good news in this one is that Virginia Tech returns just 3 starters on offense. The bad, and slightly nauseating, news is that they return just about everyone on defense. Thank goodness Munchie Legaux has at least some experience under the belt because I would seriously feel for him if Butch Jones threw him to the wolves.. err.. turkeys this September. Even so, this will not be an easy team to score on as UC fans have seen.

Two out-of-conference games include matchups with the Toledo Rockets and the annual Victory Bell game versus the Miami Redhawks. The Rockets are accustomed to hosting big time programs in the Glass Bowl such as Boise State last season, Arizona in 2010, and Ohio State in 2009. There will not be an awe factor for the Rocket football players when UC travels up to Toledo next season. They have also established themselves to be the class of the MAC with a propensity to score at will. While they lost their head coach to Illinois, they essentially promoted the curator of that offense, Matt Campbell, to the head coaching position. Toledo will also be returning their starting quarterback next season so they shouldn’t miss a beat.

The other MAC game is of course against the Miami Redhawks. Since joining an AQ conference, the Cincinnati Bearcats have reeled in better and better talent than their foe in Oxford and the gap is widening after each season. As a result UC hasn’t lost a game to the Redhawks since 2005. I wouldn’t sleep on Miami, though. One of the best quarterbacks in the MAC Zac Dysert will be a senior next season and MU boasts a battle-hardened defense. This will be probably be Cincinnati’s easiest game of the FBS opponents but the Redhawks always seem to play with a chip on their shoulders against the Bearcats.

Then of course are the final two games on the non-Big East schedule against FCS programs Delaware State and Fordham. If critics were going to go after the non-conference schedule they would target these games. I’m not going to lie. I would agree with them, playing Delaware State and Fordham does suck. One or the other isn’t bad and if it weren’t for the crap the occurred in the offseason the Bearcats would have only had to play the originally-scheduled DSU. But having both of them on the schedule forces Cincinnati to win 7 total games next season to become bowl eligible instead of the usual 6. I don’t think this will affect the Bearcats’ postseason hopes, however, as Butch Jones won’t let this team slip that much. UC will be going bowling in 2012. As far as the opponents go, they went a combined 4 – 18 last season. So critics of the non-conference schedule sort of have a point in this regard.

Looking up and down the non-conference schedule it does look pretty lame, like I said, with two FCS schools and two MAC schools filling the majority of the slots. Of course the Frank Beamer-led Virginia Tech Hokies have always been thought of as a tough test for the ‘Cats. And they certainly will be. But the Toledo Rockets could prove to be a difficult opponent as well and, who knows, this could very well be Miami’s year. In the end I think Cincy goes at least 4 – 1 during this stretch but don’t go jumping off a bridge if the Bearcats lose to Toledo or have a close win against the Redhawks. Nothing is certain in college football. As they say, that’s why you play the game!