5 Keys To The Cincinnati Bearcats vs. The Ohio State Buckeyes
By Chris Bains
We’re inching closer and closer to the Cincinnati Bearcats and Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night. As we begin wrapping up our previews of the game, we’ll look at the five keys for UC to pull the upset and break OSU’s 93-year winning streak against in-state schools.
1) Play Your Assignment
The Cincinnati secondary needs to be as disciplined as ever this Saturday to slow down the Ohio State offensive attack that boasts several weapons on the outside. My worry here is that UC’s defensive backs have been tested in the last two weeks and failed both times. But those were mere warm ups compared to the Buckeyes whose receivers, running backs, and even their quarterback can scamper for long touchdowns.
The key for the Bearcats’ secondary is communication and playing their assignments in zone and man schemes. Lapses in either resulted in broken coverage against Toledo and Miami (OH) and I’d expect the same thing this week.
2) Contain, Contain, Contain
In the same vein of #1, the front seven needs to stay disciplined to contain quarterback J.T. Barrett. He’s more of a passer than the runner that Braxton Miller is but that doesn’t mean Urban Meyer has changed his schemes so drastically such that he won’t run his quarterback at all. He’s still running him to the tune of almost 14 carries per game. It’s a means by which Ohio State can suck up the defense then attack them with an aerial assault. But if Cincinnati’s defensive line and linebackers can do their jobs by swallowing up running lanes so UC’s secondary doesn’t need to assist, it will go a long way to slowing down the Buckeye offense as a whole.
3) Unleash The Passing Attack
Ohio State’s secondary hasn’t really been tested this season with the Buckeyes facing triple-option Navy, run-heavy Virginia Tech, and MAC bottomfeeder Kent State. Cincinnati’s prolific passing attack has the opportunity to catch OSU off guard. I’m sure Urban Meyer and his coaches are game planning against it and have their players as mentally prepared as possible. But you never really know until the bodies start flying just how the defensive backs will respond when Mekale McKay, Shaq Washington, and Chris Moore are darting around the field.
4) Gantz He Keep It Up?
Redshirt freshman kicker Andrew Gantz has looked solid on field goals and extra points this season. It’s still early but he seems to be an upgrade over Tony Miliano who shanked 10 of 17 attempts last year. Gantz has been perfect on field goals this season and missed a single extra point. Given that it was his second ever collegiate attempt in his career, I think we can let it slide. But Gantz hasn’t put his skills and mental stability to the test on the road yet, let alone in front of 105,000 people.
5) Take Advantage When Blitzing
Urban Meyer’s been around for a while. He’s seen it all and has infused that knowledge into his players. As such, they probably have an array of options and safety valves if and when the defense sends extra players across the line. Now, Virginia Tech was more than successful against it three weeks ago. But I’m sure Meyer has worked out the kinks and J.T. Barrett has a better understanding of how to bail out of a blitz.
As such, Cincinnati needs to make sure that when they’re blitzing 5 or 6, at least one of them is getting to the quarterback or running back. They can’t get bottled up at the line of scrimmage a la Tennessee in 2011. Ohio State has too many weapons on the outside and UC’s secondary is still too shaky to allow those receivers to work with extra space on the back end if Barrett finds an outlet under pressure.