It is finally upon us! Everybody with a twitter account or talk show was quick to say in August that the college football season was impossible to have, but this week we have reached Championship Saturday, one of the best days in the sport. The No. 9 Cincinnati Bearcats has dominated anyone and everyone on their way to an undefeated season and the right to host the AAC title game. Trying to play spoiler to the perfect season will be Tulsa. Both teams survived schedule shakeups and COVID-19 worries to finish the AAC slate undefeated (Tulsa lost to Oklahoma St.) This game brings with it a lot of spice, Tulsa is not a team anyone thinks of as UC’s rival per se, but if you have spent anytime online this season then you already know UC and Tulsa has been rescheduled/cancelled multiple times which has led to fans and players going back in forth about which school is ducking which and will be made all the more interesting as this will be the first game of the season UC will allow fans to attend. To get ready for Saturday night let’s take a look at what Tulsa brings to the table.
Normally we would start these previews looking at a teams offense, but for Tulsa it only seems right to start with the defense, and more importantly with linebacker Zaven Collins. Collins was the unanimous AAC Defensive Player of the Year. It really wasn’t a hard decision to make either. Collins leads the team in sacks with four, leads the team in interceptions with four, and he has forced and recovered a fumble to go with his 51 tackles. To keep it simple, he does everything for them and he is seemingly everywhere on the football field. He has been the star on a defense that is holding opponents to 19.9 points a game, and surrendering just 330.1 yards a game. It will certainly be the best defense UC has had to face, but Ridder and company have had multiple weeks to do nothing but prepare for Tulsa now so they should come out ready.
Leading Tulsa on the offensive side will be quarterback Zach Smith. Smith has not exactly been the most dynamic passer, throwing for 1,434 yards and 11 touchdowns, however he has thrown six interceptions and has a completion percentage of just 57.8%. He will have to be at his best if Tulsa is going to have a chance in this one. The Bearcats secondary has been lights out all season against the top offenses in the conference.
