Tomorrow the No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats look to kickoff the highly anticipated 2021 season when they welcome the Miami Redhawks to Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats are looking to keep the Victory Bell back here in Clifton where they have beaten rival Miami the last 14 times these teams have faced off.
Head coach Chuck Martin joined the Redhawks staff in 2013 where he went 4-26 in his first 30 conference games before flipping the RedHawks program around. Since then the Redhawks are 25-9 in the MAC, which is the best in the conference since 2016. Miami won the MAC championship in 2019 and have been bowl eligible four of the last five seasons which has shown tremendous growth since he has taken over the program.
Miami is coming off a 2020 season where the RedHawks only played three games unfortunately due to COVID-19. The Redhawks went 2-1 in those three games with victories over Ball State and Akron. The RedHawks are returning their two experienced quarterbacks who both saw significant playing time in 2020 with Brett Gabbert and AJ Mayer. Gabbert was the better quarterback on paper as he went 23-of-35 completing 65% of his passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns. Mayer on the other hand went 23-of-49 with one interception, completing 46% of his passes tallying 328 yards and four touchdowns as well. Look to see Gabbert as the RedHawks starting quarterback tomorrow when the Bearcats kick off their season opener at 3:30.
Other players to note ahead of this rivalry matchup for the RedHawks is linebacker Ivan Pace, the brother of Bearcats sophomore linebacker Deshawn Pace. The brotherly duo is looking to share the field for the first time since their playing days at Colerain High School where they were a dynamic force in the middle of that Cardinal defense. Pace was 2nd on the team in tackles in 2020 as he finished with 24 total tackles, 14 assisted, 12 solo. That is impressive for only three games, so Pace looks to be the leader in the linebacker room along with Ryan McWood who led the RedHawks in tackles in 2020. The RedHawks also have senior defensive back Mike Brown returning for his senior campaign and will look to be the big piece in the Redhawk secondary next to Sterling Weatherford who both are veterans and will look to lead the defense. Miami also returns defensive edge rushers Ben Kimpler and Kam Butler, those will be the big pieces on the defensive line as they both combined for four sacks, 5.0 tackles for loss in the short 2020 season.
