Like Tommy Tuberville said in his weekly press conference, this game is more about the Cincinnati Bearcats than the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. The five keys for UC, and not necessarily the game itself, is below.
1) Show Me Something, Defensive Tackles
Last season converted defensive end Brad Harrah accounted for more sacks (3.5) than all of Cincinnati’s regular defensive tackles combined (2.5). Not ideal. But in 2015 the Bearcats are rather loaded at defensive tackle, not necessarily from an experience standpoint but from a raw talent and depth one. It’s unclear if talent will beat out experience from a production standpoint but one thing’s clear, it couldn’t get any worse than last year. The rotation of Alex Pace, Cortez Broughton, Lyndon Johnson, and Sione Tongamoa are as large as UC’s ever had along the interior of the defensive line, measuring in at 6’3″, 289 lbs to a man. Plus with Chris Burton and Hakeem Allonce, who average 300 lbs, Cincinnati’s all of a sudden ginormous and deep at the tackle position. But they’re guilty until proven innocent as far as I’m concerned and we’ll find out the ruling on Saturday.
2) Nobody Touch Kiel!
It goes without saying that every week the offensive line’s goal is to keep their quarterback Gunner Kiel upright and relatively unscathed. But this week is especially critical. Not only is it week one and we’ve got 11/12 more of these to go through this season but UC’s playing an opponent their second stringers could probably walk all over. This should be a glorified scrimmage for Cincinnati’s starters and like any scrimmage the name of the “game” is to keep everyone healthy, most notably the Bearcats’ star quarterback.
More from Cincy on the Prowl
- Cincinnati Football: Bearcats aim to get back on track against Oklahoma in Big 12 opener
- Cincinnati Football: Red zone concerns could be a recurring issue throughout season
- Cincinnati Football: Players of the game from the Bearcats recent loss to rival Miami
- Cincinnati Football: Defensive standouts from the disappointing Battle for the Victory Bell loss
- Cincinnati Football: Can the Bearcats bounce back from frustrating loss against Miami?
3) Is Hayden Moore The Future?
There’s a very real possibility that Gunner Kiel will leave for the NFL after this season. He knows it, you and I know it, and Tommy Tuberville knows it. As a result, UC’s head coach advised that redshirt freshman Hayden Moore will get some reps with the first team offense on Saturday, presumably preparing him for the starting role in 2016 should it be available. I’ve been blown away with what I’ve seen from him during Fall practices but it’s anyone’s guess as to how that will translate to a live game.
4) Is Kahlil Lewis The Kahlil Deal?
The true freshman has been wowing coaches and other observers during Fall practice. Lewis is a silky, smooth outside receiver with the athletic abilities not seen from a freshman wide out, I dare say ever? Most recently he’s been worked in with the first team offense in the redzone, the coaches obviously looking to utilize his talents however possible this year. But like with Moore, no matter how good he looks in practice, it won’t make a difference unless he displays those same abilities during games. We’ll see this Saturday.
5) Can Someone Take A Punt Or Kickoff To The House, Please?
It’s been 2,182 days since a UC punter took one to the house and 1,342 days since a kick off returner did the same. Those players were Mardy Gilyard on September 12th, 2009 against Southeast Missouri State and Ralph David Abernathy IV on December 31st, 2011 against Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl. That’s some kind of egregious dry spell that really needs to be broken if only to reset those clocks list above. The good news is Cincinnati is facing an FCS opponent who is outmatched at every single position and especially special teams, where depth is the key and, let’s face, these programs have next to none. So it’s as good a time as any for Chris Moore, Shaq Washington, or Max Morrison to finally break UC out of this funk.