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As you may have heard, the Bearcats are facing the Vanderbilt Commodores in the Liberty Bowl in 5 days. I’ve already showcased the 5 keys for Cincinnati stop Vanderbilt’s offense and for UC to score on the ‘Dores’ defense. Last but certainly not least is a breakdown of Vandy’s special teams unit and how the Bearcats can win the battle of field position in the game.
Let’s start with punting. The Commodores’ primary kicker in this regard is Junior Richard Kent. He’s built in the same mold as Cincinnati’s Pat O’Donnell: Tall and lanky, with long legs that generate a lot of velocity when kicking. Kent is 31st in the country averaging about 42.5 yards per punt. His ability to flip the field allows Vanderbilt to take advantage of short fields and pin their ears back with the opponent working close to their own endzone. It also takes pressure off of the inexperienced Jordan Rodgers and the Commodores defense. In 3rd-and-long situations, they don’t have to worry about takbecause they know they have Kent in their back pocket to boot the ball deep into enemy territory. As Cincinnati fans have seen, a strong punter is a great weapon in your arsenal.
On the flip side Vanderbilt’s punt return unit is one of the weakest areas of the team. Of course they are playing against SEC teams whose special teams players would probably start on most other teams. Anyways, sophomore Jonathan Krause takes the majority of reps in this area and averages about 3.5 yards per return. The Commodores have had a few solid returns from other guys that have bumped up their average to around 6, but they are still 87th nationally in punt returns. They have also blocked a punt this year. Vanderbilt is slightly better on kick returns nestled right behind Cincinnati at 44th returning the football about 22.5 yards per carry. Sophomore DBs Andre Hal and Steven Clarke get the majority of the load. The duo has taken 1 kickoff to the house this season and by-and-large give the Vanderbilt offense solid field position.
The final unit to cover is place kicking. It’s basically been kicker-by-committee in Nashville as the Commodores have yet to settle on a guy to take all of the reps. Neither Carey Spear nor Ryan Fowler are making the decision easy on head coach James Franklin as the former has made 57% of his field goals while the latter has made 50%. Based on that, I guess Spear would be better? Right? Tough to say and with them kicking a combined 54% it’s not exactly a stellar performance from that unit.
1. It’s Okay to Punt: Punters on both teams are good but Cincinnati has the better one in Pat O’Donnell. This will be a game of field-position as defenses will dictate the flow of the game. O’Donnell is an important factor on the Bearcats and should be used to give the defense an opportunity to get safeties and defensive touchdowns deep in Vanderbilt territory. Remember, Vandy has a suspect OL and UC’s DL is among the best in the nation. They will be licking their chops if the Commodore offense starts inside the 5 or 10 yard-line.
2. Bend-Don’t-Break: James Franklin has little confidence in his kickers and neither do I. So if Cincinnati can stiffen in their redzone and force the Commodores to go for field goals it will work in the Bearcats’ favor. Heck they might even miss a couple and completely swing momentum in UC’s direction.
3. Hat on a Hat: It’s an often-used cliche but Vanderbilt is a 10th when defending punt returns and 15th against kickoff returns. They get downfield quickly and exploit any mistake a blocker will make. With an experienced, confident defense, keeping opponents’ return games in check starts with making sure they have a long field to work with.
4. Take the Points: I’ll get to my final prediction later this week but I think this will be a close game between two teams with good defenses. Cincinnati boasts the better field goal kicker in Tony Miliano and should use him whenever possible. In 3rd and long situations near the redzone it shouldn’t be the team’s priority to get the first down. If a receiver is open, sure, go for it but giving Miliano a shorter field for a chip-shot FG is just as important. 3 points is better than nothing.
5. Hold the Line: The Commodores have blocked a punt this year and it was in the game against a ranked Georgia squad that Vandy only lost to by 5. The swing of momentum of a blocked kick/punt can be critical to the outcome of games.