Cincinnati Football: Injury update as the Bearcats prepare to face South Florida

The Bearcats are expected to be without a handful of players this weekend as Devin Hightower, Chamon Metayer and Will Pauling hope to return soon after suffering various injuries. South Florida won’t have four players available including a pair of receivers.

Hightower and Metayer remain questionable but it seems more likely both will sit out with a bye week around the corner. Pauling should return at some point during the regular season but he is still out indefinitely after recently suffering a knee injury.

South Florida has three players ruled out this week including offensive lineman Donovan Jennings and wide receiver Latrell Williams. Clemson transfer receiver Ajou Ajou is questionable after going down with a hip injury while warming up in September.

The Bulls will have to rely on junior receiver Xavier Weaver even more than normal as Ajou and Williams continue to deal with lower body injuries. Weaver has a team-high 25 catches and 307 receiving yards but is coming off a minor leg injury of his own.

Cincinnati Football: Injury update as the Bearcats prepare to face South Florida

After missing three weeks in late September, Ryan Montgomery returned for the Bearcats last week and gave special teams a boost. The senior running back recorded career-high 31-yard punt return that led to a touchdown in the 31-21 win over Tulsa.

Montgomery left the season-opening loss against Arkansas with bruised ribs and was out for nearly a month but should be back to full speed fairly soon. Following the win over Tulsa, Luke Fickell discussed Montgomery’s latest status via Cincinnati Enquirer.

"“He’s been limited obviously. He got hurt in Week 1 against Arkansas and hasn’t been able to practice. We were really hoping we would get him this week just to return kicks. If he’s feeling better, obviously we’ll get him some more opportunities offensively. He was our starting tailback when we started the year.”"