It was an offseason of everyone collectively holding their breath, but one postponement later and the Austin Peay season opener is finally upon us. The 2020 Cincinnati Bearcats will take the field this Saturday at Noon on ESPN+ to officially kick off their season. Austin Peay will be the opponent, so let’s take a moment to get to know what UC can expect to see and then what UC fans should be watching for.
Austin Peay enters the game 0-2, including last weeks 55-0 shutout loss to Pittsburgh. This should not be a game UC has any type of resistance with other than shaking off the early season rust. AP will be led by junior quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall who comes into the game with a 42.8% completion rate, 277 yards and no touchdowns to go with two interceptions. His number one target will be senior wide receiver Baniko Harley, who has seven receptions for 122 yards on the year.
Freshman CJ Evans, Jr. is the leading rusher to this point in the season with 102 yards, a touchdown and a 7.3 average per carry. With only two games on the season it’s hard to say what Austin Peay’s true strength is, the run or the pass, but it’s safe to say UC has the personnel well equipped to handle either.
The Governors are giving up 39.5 points per game so far this season. Teams are averaging 458.0 yards a game against this defense, so the Bearcats should be able to get some positive running and passing plays off this Saturday.
Since Austin Peay is part of the D1 subdivision and are currently 35+ underdogs that should serve as nothing more than a warm up game for the Cats on Saturday, I also want to mention some things to watch for.
If the game goes as expected and is out of hand by halftime, one reason to hang in there and watch the second half can be summed up in two words. Evan Prater. The thing I might be most interested in seeing Saturday is if the Freshman Phenom recruit actually gets to see some game action in his first game as a Bearcat.
Does the defense keep everyone out of the end zone? There is no question this UC defense is great, at almost every level, my only question for this game is can you sustain that greatness for all four quarters even as subs get on the field and not allow a touchdown for the game?
How does the running back room shake out? After last season when Michael Warren declared for the draft early, it obviously left a giant portion of the offense to be spoken for, but here we sit on the eve of the season and all the sudden UC looks to be very deep and very talented at the position. Gerrid Doaks is the veteran of the group, joined by a now healthy Charles McClelland, and then Alabama transfer Jerome Ford who was a 4 Star recruit out of high school. As the season goes on it will be interesting to see how the snap distribution breaks down between these three and who separates themselves from the others.
Saturday and the start of the UC season was something that seemed like it would never happen just a short time ago, but it is all systems go at noon so let’s take some time to appreciate and enjoy college football being back in the Queen City. Go Bearcats!
